What is a blind flange

 
What is a blind flange?
A blind flange is a solid flange as shown below. The purpose of these is to block off a section of pipe or a nozzle on a vessel that is not used. (A nozzle is typically a pipe coming out of a vessel and is usually flanged so it can be connected to valves or piping). Many times a nozzle will be blanked off with a blind flange for pressure tests in a plant, or simply because the customer does not need all the nozzles that were supplied on the tank. The best practice is to use a standard gasket for these blinds. Blind flanges, just like standard pipe flanges, can be raised face (RF) or flat faced (FF). If the flange is RF we would recommend a standard ring gasket that is appropriate for the service and/or test. If it is FF we would TYPICALLY use a full face gasket, because the most common reason the flange is FF is that it is not designed to handle the bending forces that result when using a ring gasket or a RF flange against the FF flange. Agai... [Details]