Bursting discs - the basics

Bursting discs are special components.
Their most notable characteristic is the fact that they are components which are constructed for failure.

This results in various special features:

• No overdimensioning is possible, in order to increase the durability. A particularly long durability and operational strength can only be achieved by sophisticated designs and special materials. There are limits:
  
  
• There must be sufficient headroom between the normal operating pressure, which the bursting disc is to withstand, and the response pressure, the bursting pressure, at which it is to open. Otherwise, the service life of the bursting disc will be shortened. A standard value is, for example, operating pressure = 80% of the nominal bursting pressure. However, this value is dependent on details such as the operating temperature, type of operating pressure and the design of the bursting disc.
  
  
• The most important function of the bursting disc, the bursting pressure, can only be tested destructively. The deductions made regarding the examples tested must therefore always apply to the remainder of the production batch. Therefore, bursting discs are always manufactured on a batch basis. The documentation refers to the batch.
  
  
• The bursting pressure reflects the bursting disc's safety function. Whatever happens, it always has priority over the other requirements of the bursting disc for us. These other requirements are: long service life, sealing qualities, a particular opening behaviour and others. We are entitled to advise our customers in detail about this issue. If the potential risk of the bursting disc opening prematurely is too high, we also advise against using a bursting disc.
  
  
• The installation of bursting discs must be tailored to their unique nature: maximum sealing must be attainable, the contact forces should be controlled, the flow must not be impeded and it should be possible to replace them easily.
  In many cases, bursting discs can be inserted between standard flanges or in standard fittings. In other cases, we develop the installation location with our customers or weld in the bursting discs.
  
  
• Materials: bursting discs are generally manufactured from high-alloy, corrosion-resistant high grade steels. A great deal of pure nickel is also used for low pressures; nickel-based materials such as Hastelloy and Inconel are used for high-temperature applications and particularly corrosive environments. Light metals such as titanium and aluminium are also used. We have an extensive stock of materials, from which we can usually quickly create samples.