Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Global warming is currently one of the biggest universal challenges. The escape of primary pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds has been the subject of a lot of criticism as these substances represent not only a major threat to the atmosphere and the environment but a high risk to human health and safety. A significant amount of these pollutants comes from pressure equipment leaks such as pressure vessels, piping, tube joints, flanges, valves and fittings. This research program unravels the complexity of the integrity and leakage tightness of the different connection styles of piping systems. The increasing demand for equipment requiring sealing compliance and the new strict environmental regulations on fugitive emissions have led to the development of a new sealing technology worldwide. With the ubiquitous use of non-metallic piping fabricated from polymeric and composite materials for the domestic, desalination, chemical and even nuclear power plant services, the need to develop tightness-based design methodologies of piping joints and connections and their qualification tools becomes a priority. The cutting-edge research in sealing technology is focused essentially on developing new sealing materials while their qualification tools and design procedures of piping joints in which they operate remain rudimentary. This research program treats the development of realistic experimental test procedures based on performance to qualify sealing materials and improve design procedures of piping joints. This is achieved by experimental testing that is conducted in our special purpose test rigs for gasketed and non-gasketed joints. The analytical and numerical modelling will also be developed to capture important trends. They will not only serve as predictive and optimization tools but coupled to the experimental work complement the fine-tuning of the parameters required for design and fabrication of the piping joints covered in this research program. To ensure the long-term reliability and safety of pressure vessels and piping systems, the candidate strives not only to develop realistic test procedures to qualify sealing products but implement the level of sophistication needed in modern design calculations of piping joints. With the development of new sealing and structural materials to accommodate the wide range of applications encountered in the pressure vessel and piping industry, there is a need to update existing standards. This research program seeks to address the glaring gaps and shortcomings of current code design procedures used in North America. It provides recommendations to improve piping joints conformity to regulations on the reduction of volatile organic compounds. This work is an effort to reduce health and environmental risks to Canadians and help the Canadian industry provide leading edge pressure vessel technologies and consulting with a highly qualified workforce.