Types of Gaskets
What is a gasket?
Gaskets are mechanical products that sit between two mating surfaces to fill the gap and create a strong seal.
Selecting the right gasket based on:
1. Temperature: – The gaskets should be selected on the basis of their sustainable temperature
range. The gasket should have to handle the temperature of the fluid that it contains.
2. Pressure: – the gasket should be selected in such a way that it should handle the pressure of the
fluid it contains during the operation.
3. Resilient: – The gasket should be resilient enough to handle the vibration and load fluctuation
during the operation.
4. Type of fluid: – The gasket should be selected on the basis of type of fluid that will be in contact
with the gasket. According to the fluid, the corrosive resistant of the gasket material is
determined and then the type of gasket should be chosen.
5. Availability: – The gasket should be easily available in the market.
6. Cost: – The gasket should be cheap enough for the required application.
7. Service life: -The gasket should be chosen on basis of their life cycle in particular application.
Which materials are most commonly used?
Material Minimum temperature Maximum temperature Maximum pressure
Rubber -50ͦ C 70ͦ C - 120ͦ C 25 bars
PTFE -200ͦ C 250ͦ C 80 bars
Fiber -100ͦ C 400ͦ C 80 bars
Graphite -200ͦ C 450ͦ C 100 bars
Semi/metal -270ͦ C 700ͦ C 160 - 400 bar
Metal -270ͦ C 1000ͦ C > 1000 bar
Material Suitable for
Rubber plastic pipes requiring 'soft' gaskets, pipes through which natural gas
passes at low pressure, pipes for waste or tap water.
PTFE pipes for chemical media, dairy products and production processes in the
pharmaceutical industry.
Fiber pipes for medium-pressure gases, pipes for non-aggressive chemicals.
Graphite medium-pressure steam, hot oil systems, exhaust systems and other
applications particularly in the petrochemical industry and refineries.
Semi/metal high-pressure reactors, medium-pressure steam and refining processes.
Metal high-pressure reactors, drills and pumps under very high pressure in
offshore industry.
Types of Gaskets
1- Non-metallic gaskets
the most common materials used for this type of gaskets are Graphite, Neoprene, Rubber, Teflon,
(polytetrafluoroethylene ) PTFE, and Compressed Non-Asbestos Fiber (CNAF). These gaskets are also known as soft
gaskets. It can be full face or inside bolt circle type.
Full-face gasket types are suitable for flat-face (FF) flanges. Flat ring gasket types are suitable for use with
raised-faced (RF) flanges.
Applicable Standards:
ASME B16.21: Non-metallic flat gaskets for pipe flanges.
Advantages and disadvantages:
Non-Metallic gaskets can easily compress with low tension
bolting
These types of gaskets are used with low-pressure class
flanges such as 150 and 300 Class and also in low-temperature
However, graphite gasket can be used up to 500 Degree
centigrade.
Non-Metallic gaskets are the cheapest and most easily
available
2- Metallic gaskets
Metal gaskets are manufactured from a material such as soft iron,
Low Carbon steel, Stainless Steel, Monel, and Inconel. These gaskets
are also known as ring gaskets or RTJ gaskets.
Metallic gaskets are used in high-pressure class flanges,
normally above 900 Class; they can also be used for high-
temperature
High tension bolting is required when we use metallic gaskets.
They are very robust & most costly.
The RTJ Gasket fits in a groove machined on the flange face of both
mating flanges. Two types of the metallic gasket are used with RTJ
flange Octagonal and Oval. You can see the difference in their cross-
section view.
Applicable Standards:
ASME B16.20: it covers materials, dimensions, dimensional tolerances, and
markings for metallic and semi-metallic gaskets.
There are three Types of Ring Type Joint gasket designs, the R Type,
RX Type and BX Type. The R Type is the most often used supplied with
two different profiles, oval or octagonal.
The oval type was the original design with an oval shaped groove
machined into the Flange Face. The octagonal RTJ is a modification to
the oval design and is the most common because of its sealing
efficiency. The R and RX octagonal gaskets use the same groove
design.
The RX is designed for higher pressure up to 5000 psi and is more
effective where vibration and shock loading is present.
The BX Type gasket is only to be used in API 6BX Type Flanges and is
good for pressure ratings up to 20,000 psi.
Typical RTJ gaskets
3- Composite gaskets