Gasket Versatility

[I’ve gone from] going up on tanks to replace gaskets every ten days, to not being needed in the area for the last three months!

— Operator, Progress Energy

Background

Across Western Canada faulty thief hatches exist on storage and production tanks. Two major problems are present. The first are harmful vapors leaking into the atmosphere and the second is
Canadian winters causing hatches to freeze and prevent pressure or vacuum release. Hawkeye addressed the freezing issue with the design of the Marsh Hawk Anti-freeze Thief Hatch. This same hatch can significantly decrease maintenance and potential leaks.

Challenge

Progress Energy in an area near Fort St. John B.C. began having problems with their standard gasket material they used for sour service application. They put the challenge before Hawkeye; provide the operators with an alternative gasket material that can withstand extreme conditions better than our current fluorocarbon material does.

Solution

The solution was the AFLAS gasket, which has a greater durability in different types of atmospheres and a higher temperature range. AFLAS also has a higher freezing point, it is typically not
used for gasket material in conventional thief hatches. However, the Anti-freeze design of the Marsh Hawk thief hatch allows Hawkeye Industries to be the only provider of AFLAS gasket material for thief hatches.

Benefit

This unique design of the Marsh Hawk increases safety by decreasing the frequency in which an operator has to perform maintenance on the thief hatch.