New Projects
When somebody decides to replace a failed expansion joint with an unlike expansion joint laying in the boneyard, things will eventually go wrong. INTEREP was able to right this wrong by redesigning a new metal bellows and spring support to allow for many more years of worry-free operation. Call us if you’re ever in a sticky situation – we’ll bail you out.

An oil refinery had blown out their bellows by hydro testing their sulfur unit at pressures that exceeded what the system was designed to handle. INTEREP upgraded the poorly designed expansion joint to a much sturdier, lasting design, and this was the end result. INTEREP designs for longevity and serviceability. Give us a call and we’ll deliver Peace of Mind to your operations.

Installing Expansion joints against pipe with stub ends and metal rings that back up against our rubber flange causes problems with sealing. The best system with pipe like this is to add an HDPE Flange Ring that lays against the stub end and then attach the rubber flange to the full face HDPE flange.

This reverse air baghouse expansion joint was made of EPDM operating at above 400F, the EPDM got brittle and ended up adhering itself to the duct and cracking across the bottom – filling the penthouse with SO2 gas. Our team retrofitted the expansion joint with one made of PTFE (Teflon) that could handle the temperature. Reverse air ducts can be hard on equipment because they switch from positive to negative pressure, so you want an expansion joint belt with no excess width in it, or it will get sucked into the duct during pressure changes and wear the edges of the belt out.

What happens when you heat liquid carbon dioxide? #Cardox – high-pressure gas (>40,000psi) Cement plants use it to clear plugged preheater tower meal-pipes. This metal bellows was too close to a Cardox charge (top left) which destroyed the refractory meal-pipe lining & damaged the expansion joint. The refractory was repaired with Blu Ram (phos-bonded mullite) and we manufactured a new bolt-in metal bellows expansion joint which slides into the meal-pipe (bottom left & right).

The rectangular metal bellows on this feed shelf was exposed to 1600F temperatures and deformed. The duct is lined with high-temperature refractory and the expansion joint is packed with ceramic insulation. The air cannons here blew the refractory off of the walls near the expansion joint and so it was no longer protected from the high gas temperatures.
