Easy Engineering: Which are the most successful products/solutions in your lineup?
Stefan Penno: The technology of flameless venting, that REMBE invented in the 1980s, is nowadays a real groundbreaker when it comes to protect processes and equipment against hazardous gas or dust explosions. Typically dust filters, storage silos and bins or material handling devices are safeguarded by REMBE explosion mitigation systems. But in addition, we have developed special designs and solutions for various other applications ranging from power stations over chemical plants to exotic installations in space. For the latter we often combine our know-how in flameless pressure relief with the unique REMBE rupture discs. Those discs, made from noble alloys such as titanium or Hastelloy, are tailored to process requirements and manufactured with ultimate precision to guarantee safety and business continuity for our customers.
E.E: How do your products differ from others on the market?
S.P: It’s the passion we put in producing our solutions. We love what we do and we live and work hard for our mission “Safety is for life”. Not just manufacturing a commodity item but comprehensively engineer a perfect product is what drives us. Starting with a professional consultancy, listening to the customers’ needs and making sure, we are fully compliant with national and international regulations, we engineer a solution that is both, economical and safe.
Stefan Penno, CEO REMBE
E.E: Tell us about their special features.
S.P: Unparalleled performance. With every product or turn-key-project we deliver we bring maximum safety and profitability. For example, our unique rupture disc designs like the KUB or SFD. They of course protect equipment like blenders, mixers, reactors and general pipework against excessive pressure. But they simultaneously avoid leakages and emissions which saves our customers lots of money in regard to energy and environment. Correctly designed rupture discs can offer additional benefits that make them a low budget safety product in relation to the massive advantages.
REMBE rupture disc SFD
E.E: How important are these features for the users in their work?
S.P: We tell our customers that we keep their money machine running. Nobody wants a safety product that handicaps or even interrupts their process. The latter is often the case with amateurishly engineered rupture discs that burst due to fatigue. This premature failure leads to an uncontrolled shutdown. And that leads to a big loss of money because time is money. And loss of production time means loss of margin. Our reverse acting rupture disc KUB for example is made from two different layers. One taking care of the burst pressure, the other stabilizing the entire construction, maximizing lifetime of the disc. This allows users to easily install the kub since it is not too sensitive while being handled under rough conditions. Additionally, it performs much better when it comes to extreme parameters like heat and cold, vibrations or pressure fluctuation. Once installed you can really forget about the KUB. Until the moment comes when it is needed. compare it with an electrical fuse in your home or an airbag in your car. You do not want to stop driving anytime just because your dashboard shows an airbag malfunction.
E.E: How do these features maximize productivity and efficiency for the users?
S.P: They definitely reduce total cost of ownership. whilst mechanically actuated pressure relief devices require regular maintenance, which leads to downtime and holding up intensive infrastructure for overhauling, rembe rupture discs enhance the efficiency for users. That is because of much lower investment in the product itself and less waste of money keeping it intact. Just recently we developed a solution for a cooling system in a chemical plant here in Germany. Safety relief valves were used to protect the equipment against overpressure. But the valves leaked after a couple of weeks and led to ugly emissions. Now, with a REMBE high performance rupture disc upfront the valve the installation is tight and maintenance intervals were stretched. That increases productivity as the process is running smoothly and maximizes efficiency as there is no unnecessary reporting to authorities about environmental pollution.
REMBE rupture disc KUB
E.E: Where are your products/solutions being used?
S.P: From deep-sea to space. We produce safety solutions for any kind of pressure or vacuum applications, be it in gas or liquid services or dust and solids applications. All fields of industry around the globe rely on REMBE safety and trust in our 50 years expertise in protecting process equipment against excessive pressure, vacuum or explosions. Due to this wide range of applications, we have gained interdisciplinary knowledge of our customers processes and understand both, the individual needs of our users but also the necessity to fulfill legal requirements.
E.E: How important is innovation in your field?
S.P: It is our daily bread and butter business to innovate. There is no rupture disc like the other. All are singletons and bespoken. And with this approach innovation is a routine for us. REMBE engineers and technicians are inventors. We create special solutions that offer special benefits and advantages for our customers. Together with us they become even more successful and that is our motivation.
E.E: What are the most common problems of the users and how do your products help?
S.P: One crucial point is of course performance. Many rupture disc manufacturers are producing quite good devices. But it is not just about the product. More often special certifications and approvals are required and rembe has built up a fully comprehensive portfolio of those. We are audited by numerous authorities and customers every year. Almost one audit per week. During the pandemic in a virtual way with our RDA (REMBE Digital Audit) or physically in our factories or on site at the final destination of our product. That is a pretty big chunk of administration as well but the user needs to have a trustworthy partner for explosion and pressure protection. If something goes wrong there is no second chance to avoid a disaster.