Dry Disconnect Couplings Help a Manufacturer Manage the Toxic Substance Phenol Safely

Related Vendors

DÜPERTHAL Sicherheitstechnik GmbH & Co. KG

Italvacuum, Srl

Donadon SDD Srl

OPW Engineered Systems

The Containment Plan

The combination of phenol’s hazardous characteristics and the potential for product releases when unloading railcars means that the hose connections used must be highly reliable. Since 2007, SI Group Manufacturing has relied on Drylok Dry Disconnect Couplings from OPW Engineered Systems, Lebanon, OH/USA, for handling phenol.

“We’ve had the Dryloks on our phenol vapor and liquid lines since 2007 because we were looking for something that would give us as close to total containment of the phenol as possible,” says Paris Watson, Maintenance Technician at SI Group Manufacturing.

The Drylok meets the stringent needs of SI Group Manufacturing because its design features an interlocking handle that averts accidental spills by preventing uncoupling while the valve is open. The Drylok can be opened and closed against pressures up to 150 psi.

The Drylok can be repaired without the coupling being removed from the piping, and all primary seals are standard O-rings for easy replacement. Its unobstructed flow passage speeds the transfer of viscous materials.

Most important, the flat face of the coupling minimizes fluid loss, which further reduces exposure risk during operation. In fact, the 3-inch Drylok allows less than 1 ml of fluid loss, making it the driest disconnect in the industry, according to OPW Engineered Systems.

“The Dryloks have worked very well,” says Wright. “Even on the pressure-assisted railcars they close off any remaining pressure, so there’s less of a concern that something can be sprayed back at you.”

SI Group Manufacturing worked out some initial kinks with the Dryloks by heat-tracing and insulating the supply lines, which keeps the phenol in a liquid state and keeps it from plugging the lines, and using PTFE-encapsulated O-rings.

According to Watson, since 2009 the Dryloks have performed without incident. “OPW was great throughout the process,” he said and remarked as a positive result: “We talked with them, walked through it, discussed the problem and came out with a solution that has worked. With equipment like this it can take a bit to get it figured out and get used to it in the specific application, but once we got everything straightened out, the Dryloks have done a great job in this phenol application.”

Here you can download the Drylok data sheet as pdf.

* The author is with OPW Engineered Systems.

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