Method and apparatus for temporary sealing of flange leaks on industrial pipelines

A method of temporarily sealing a leak between flanges of a pipeline wherein the flanges are spaced apart by a flange gap and interconnected by a plurality of bolts, comprising:

• providing a system for temporarily sealing leaks between flanges of a pipeline comprising a flexible tube, a sealant fluid, a fluid pump, and a gas-release assembly, wherein;
• the flexible tube comprises a tube material impermeable to the sealant fluid such that an outer surface of the flexible tube is essentially free of the sealant fluid;
• the tube material is selected from one or more of nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber, neoprene rubber, and combinations thereof;
• the sealant fluid comprises a viscosity of from 100 cps to 50,000 cps and a volume elasticity of from 0.1 MPa to 10 MPa under a pressure of from 1 bar to 220 bar and at a temperature of from −40° C. to 150° C.;
• and
• the sealant fluid is selected from silicones, polyurethanes, or combinations thereof;
• disposing the flexible tube between the flanges such that the flexible tube substantially fills the flange gap between the flanges, wherein disposing the flexible tube between the flanges comprises encircling the flange joint and filling the flange gap with a plurality of staggered layers of the flexible tube;
• introducing the sealant fluid into the flexible tube using the fluid pump;
• and
• pressurizing the sealant fluid using the fluid pump to an operating pressure of from greater than or equal to 5 bar to less than or equal to 220 bar and concurrently removing a gas trapped inside the sealant fluid and the flexible tube using the gas-release assembly, wherein the pressurized sealant fluid expands the flexible tube to fill the flange gap between the flanges, and thereby stops or reduces the leak between the flanges.