Usbellows logo.png
EJMA Logo

US Bellows is a Standards Subscriber | Exp: Dec 31, 2026 | See ejma.org to check verification process
Celebrating over 20 years of EJMA membership

Types of refineries are petroleum and chemical.

Types of power plants include conventional and nuclear. Examples include: thermal (coal, oil, nuclear and geothermal), hydroelectric, solar, wind and wave/tidal.

Types of consumer facilities are food, pharmaceutical, air and refrigeration.
Piping is used in power plants, refineries, transmission, treatment and consumer facilities.
Piping systems transfer media, including solid, liquid and gas.
Piping systems transfer resources from ports to consumers, upstream to downstream facilities and between process within facilities.
Piping systems are essential to transfer resources and transport media.

Liquid Natural Gas – It is light hydrocarbon gasses that are compressed into a liquid state for cheaper and more efficient transportation.

The clamps are distinguished by their load rating. In some cases, gas service loads could be less than loads in liquid service for the same pipe size. This would allow you to use a light duty clamp.

It is a plate welded to the outer arch of a pipe to restrict the sliding of the insulation assembly against the pipe wall.

The most common area in a pipe to find deformations is in the middle. This area is the farthest distance away from the supports.

Media that can pass through a transition piece include air, liquid, gasses, dust,dirt, and chemicals.

 

Duct work assemblies can include fabricated elbows, tees, straight sections of duct work, fabric or metallic expansion joints and can be rectangular or round.

125695a1
Duct work and expansion joint assembly.

Ducts are a series of sectioned tubes, which transfer either heated or cooled air from the furnace or air conditioner, throughout the building.

Large diameter duct work for ammonia plant
Large diameter duct work 

What is duct work?

Ducts are a series of sectioned tubes, which transfer either heated or cooled air from the furnace or air conditioner, throughout the building.

Large diameter duct work for ammonia plant
Large diameter duct work 
Read More

We use CAESAR II software to conduct pipe stress analysis on duct systems.

66 inch duct work
66 inch duct work

Bellows squirm because they have surpassed the critical design pressure limit. This can occur in small diameter bellows with a large number of convolutions.

Example of Bellows Squirm
Example of Bellows Squirm

By using an in-line pressure balanced expansion joint.

In line pressure balanced expansion joint diagram
In-line pressure balanced expansion joint diagram

 

Axial deflection refers to the movement of the expansion joint in regards to changes in the dimensional length of the bellows parallel to the centerline of the expansion joint.

Axial deflection

Hinged expansion joints take angular rotation in only one place. Gimbal expansion joints take angular rotation in two planes.

102 dia tied universal and hinged expansion joints 6975870849 o
Hinged Expansion Joint
U.S. Bellows, Inc., a Division of Piping Technology & Products, Inc., Designed and Fabricated a 44" Double Gimbal Universal Expansion Joint for an Oil Refinery in Wyoming.
Double Gimbal Universal Expansion Joint

We do not put slots on our expansion joints, but we leave a minimum gap between the nuts and the lug depending on the lateral movement.

112276a1
Tied Universal Expansion Joints Designed for a Power Generation Plant in Texas