FlexEJ

Not what you would normally expect a pressure vessel to look like? This unusual toroidal design was driven by our customer’s requirement to pressure test high technology components at high pressure but with minimum foot print and floor load in their test cell.Designed and fabricated entirely by FlexEJ’s in-house team, it’s been a long and successful project for us.Working in close partnership with our customer over many months, using SolidWorks 3D modelling and extensive Finite Element Analysis, our engineering team came up with this shape as the best way to meet all the design constraints. It’s light and compact yet capable of operating in excess of 120 Barg.Fabricated in 5” 304 SS pipe with 100% X-ray Weld examination; dimensions are approximately 2.6m long x 1.6m wide. The flanges are all 1500# and act as the test ports. Complete with the stainless steel support frame underneath designed with ease of installation in mind.FlexEJ specialises in high specification pressure vessels and pressure fabrication in general; if you have a project in mind, our in-house design team is always pleased to discuss.If you are interested in finding out more about FlexEJ's design and manufacturing capabilities, please contact our Technical Sales Team on +44 (0) 1384 881188 or send an email to sales@flexej.co.uk.

FlexEJ is proud to announce the successful completion of JOSCAR registration. This important Defence Industry accreditation is invite-only and means FlexEJ is recognised as a fully compliant partner and supplier.WHAT IS THE JOSCAR REGISTER?JOSCAR stands for the Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register. The JOSCAR register is a central register of approved suppliers which is used by several major defence organisations including MOD, BAE Systems, Babcock and Rolls Royce.WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?FlexEJ has now joined an elite group of suppliers that have been hand-picked by some of the most established defence and aerospace organisations in the country. This accreditation proves to our clients that FlexEJ is an accomplished design and manufacturing partner with an exceedingly high technical ability.SECURITYFlexEJ is already a key supplier to the nuclear, power and aerospace industry, so the extension of our data security systems and policies to cover the defence requirements were already close to completion. Customers can feel safe that their data and designs are safe with FlexEJ.FURTHER DETAILSIf you are interested in finding out more about JOSCAR, further details are available on hellios.com/joscar/ or if you have enquiries for aerospace and defence related projects, please contact our Technical Sales Team on +44 (0) 1384 881188 or send an email to sales@flexej.co.uk.

FlexEJ were approached to modify and overhaul exhaust ducting for the Royal Navy to coincide with ships being in for refit.This highly technical and time critical project called on our extensive experience with working in Titanium.Will Robinson, FlexEJ’s General Manager, praised our welding team saying, “Our skill in welding is why the Royal Navy approached FlexEJ. This project was both time and accuracy critical; requirements our welding team are perfectly suited for.”If you are interested in finding out more about FlexEJ's welding capabilities, please contact our Technical Sales Team on +44 (0) 1384 881188 or send an email to sales@flexej.co.uk.

FlexEJ has designed and manufactured lateral expansion joints with Inconel 625 bellows designed to install in existing pre-cast concrete forms.The London City Airport terminal expansion is being built on a concrete deck supported on over 1000 piles. Between the sections of the deck there can be movement and where critical services pass between sections a fully enclosed expansion joint is required.INSTALLATIONDesigning the expansion joints for installation at site into the existing concrete sections was a challenge. FlexEJ designed and supplied installation tooling which allowed the expansion joint to be inserted into the concrete from one side – complete with internal removable pre-extension bars – and then finally seal welded.FURTHER DETAILSIf you are interested in finding out more about our expansion joint design and manufacturing capabilities, or if you have enquiries for utility related projects, please contact our Technical Sales Team on +44 (0) 1384 881188 or send an email to sales@flexej.co.uk.

FlexEJ has completed the design and fabrication of a batch of metal expansion joints for a UK pharmaceuticals manufacturer.Specifying an expansion joint in a pharmaceutical production line can be problematic. For this project, the piping design required expansion joints but a fundamental requirement was ease of cleaning and a complete avoidance of product retention.A possible solution could have been a pharmaceutical rubber expansion joint which is crevice free but its inherent design limits its flexibility and – as with any rubber expansion joint – it has a relatively low operating temperature limit.This formed the basis of the specification brought to FlexEJ’s engineering team. The design case was to meet 270 Deg. C and 10 Bar G with a high degree of flexibility so a metal bellow would be best suited to this application. But in a conventional bellow or expansion joint the convolutions are prone to retain product or contaminants. A liner can sometimes be used but again product can get behind the liner so the problem is not entirely eliminated.So how to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness inside the bellow once installed and in operation? The solution lay in designing a specific ‘open’ convolution profile which prevents contaminants getting lodged within the joint. The team’s clever design of profile, combining with the unit being used in vertical alignment leads to the bellow being self-draining – and at all movement positions. To achieve the high levels of purity and cleanliness required for this application’s flowing media, the bellow had to be fabricated in 316 stainless steel with a very high surface finish.The expansion joint also includes threaded mounting bars – these enable the bellows to be contracted slightly to enable easy removal from the pharmaceutical line when required. The smooth, polished rods seen in the image here are limit bars to prevent accidental over-extension. Each joint is also fitted with pharmaceutical grade aseptic flanges – smooth on the inside and sealed with an ‘o’ ring. On completion, the complete units were electro-polished for additional surface improvement and cleaning – and that gives them their photogenic qualities seen here.If you are interested in finding out more about FlexEJ's range of pharmaceutical & aseptic metal bellows, please contact our Technical Sales Team on +44 (0) 1384 881188 or send an email to sales@flexej.co.uk.

FlexEJ partners with its sister-company Safetech to design and fabricate specialist large diameter rubber expansion joints.Typically, particularly in the Gulf States, these are used in water treatment, distribution and desalination plants – and it’s these processes that took contingents from our sales and management teams to the UAE recently to see our product installed and operating.Desalination and water distribution in the UAE and surrounding countries are vital, integral components helping to supporting these oil-rich economies, thriving as they do in a desert region.The teams flew into Dubai to meet with our local representatives Parvez Mohiuddin and Mansoor Pullat and find out a little more about how the potable water supply operates in this thirsty city. Plants all over this region are in a continual process of refurbishment; the team were able to see how rubber expansion joints of various sizes had been replaced with high quality Safetech joints during a recent plant upgrade.We have an ongoing and growing commitment to the Gulf region and various projects underway there. Building relationships and developing understanding in the field are very much how we like to do business in both Safetech and FlexEJ so this was an ideal opportunity to share information and make plans.If you are interested in finding out more about FlexEJ’s large and custom-engineered rubber expansion joints, please contact our Technical Sales Team on +44 (0) 1384 881188 or send an email to sales@flexej.co.uk.

FlexEJ routinely welds very thin materials in the range 0.3 to 2mm thick. The materials are typically stainless steels, high Nickel alloys (625, 800, 825), Titanium and Duplex.Not only do we weld these thin materials we weld them to (relatively) thick dissimilar materials, a process which requires very high skill and ability. These welds are often unique and made in custom engineered parts.We also have experience with welding very thin perforated plate used to manufacture strainer baskets, silencer internals and filters.For higher volume manufacture we can also offer autogenous welding in thin materials.All our welders are coded; most have both ASME and EN qualifications.If you are interested in finding out more about FlexEJ’s welding capabilities, please contact our Technical Sales Team on +44 (0) 1384 881188 or send an email to sales@flexej.co.uk.