Saturday Mission: Special Gasket Ordered in the Morning, Delivered by Afternoon
When a long-standing customer in Gelsenkirchen faced the risk of downtime in their FCC unit, speed and reliability were essential. Working closely together, a tailor-made revoseal JP gasket was designed, produced, and delivered within the same day. That ensured operations could continue without interruption and reinforcing the strength of our partnership.
Why FCC Units Can’t Afford to Stop
Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) is one of the most important processes in a refinery. It converts heavy, high-boiling hydrocarbons into lighter, high-value products such as gasoline and olefins. In many plants, the FCC unit is the beating heart of production: it runs continuously, and every hour of downtime translates into significant financial losses.
At our customer’s refinery in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, the FCC unit operates under particularly demanding conditions:
- Medium: Hydrocarbons
- Temperature: above 500 °C
- Pressure: 16–30 bar
- Requirement: tightness according to class L 0.01
In such an environment, gaskets face enormous challenges. Conventional camprofile gaskets are often the first choice for high-temperature, high-pressure service. They combine metallic strength with a soft sealing material (usually graphite) and are known for excellent tightness.
But not every flange can withstand the seating loads required by a camprofile. In this FCC unit, the flange design was too weak. A standard solution was therefore not feasible. What the refinery needed was a gasket that could deliver class L 0.01 tightness without overloading the flange – a situation tailor-made for our revoseal JP technology.
Case Report: Custom JP1 Gasket in Record Time
On a Saturday morning, the maintenance manager of the Gelsenkirchen refinery urgently requested a special gasket to prevent an unplanned shutdown of the FCC unit. Within minutes of approval, production started on a custom revoseal JP1 made of 316Ti with graphite insert, optimized for FCC conditions. Thanks to its load-efficient geometry, JP technology ensures excellent tightness even at low bolt loads – the perfect solution for the flange challenge in this case. Despite the time pressure, all quality checks were carried out, and by Saturday afternoon the gasket was delivered to the site, ready for installation.
Downtime Prevented, Trust Reinforced
For the refinery, the outcome was decisive:
- ✅ No shutdown – the FCC unit continued operating without interruption.
- ✅ Tightness achieved – JP1 met class L 0.01 requirements without overloading the flange.
- ✅ Partnership strengthened – a long-standing customer received immediate support when it mattered most.
What usually takes several days was accomplished in just a few hours. Not by chance, but by commitment.
More Than Technical Expertise
This case shows that reliability is more than technical know-how. It is about acting quickly, understanding the application, and being there when customers need it most.
On that Saturday, a morning call turned into a working solution by the afternoon – a clear example of how partnership, speed, and technology can prevent costly downtime.
Do you face similar challenges in demanding refinery or chemical processes?
👉 Get in touch – we’ll find the right sealing solution, no matter the urgency.
