Monthly Archives: October 2017
- October 31, 2017
The Orion Engineered Seals patented Bearing Protection Device (BPD) represents state of the art bearing protection technology and is the premier non-contacting bearing protection device offered. The BPD was designed with an understanding of the nature of the bearing housing environment under all operating conditions and utilizes the laws of physics to create what has proven to be the best performing and most cost effective way to protect the bearings of your rotating equipment.
BPD-GB - Motor Bearing Protection Device
Problem: The increased use of VFD’s offers substantial efficiency improvements. However, a key drawback is stray VFD generated currents that result in premature motor bearing failures.
- October 26, 2017
Clean in Place Service Benefits from Kalrez® O-rings
Hilge-Pumpen AG, Swiss subsidiary of Philipp-Hilge GmbH, Bodenheim, Germany, selected Kalrez® 6221 perfluoroelastomer parts to seal its Euro-Hygia®, Hygiana-HT and Contra pump series, to meet the stringent safety, cleanliness and sterilization requirements demanded by the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and cosmetics industries.
The Challenge
Pumps used in pharmaceutical, biotechnological and sterile processes are subject to some of the highest standards and safety requirements worldwide. In addition to ease of operation they must also provide maximum biological safety without any unfavorable hydraulic characteristics that could adversely influence sensitive products.
- October 24, 2017
When sealing raised or flat face flanges, there are two choices of gasket shape: ring-type or full-face. Each has its own advantages, so you should know which will best suit your application before ordering and installing. First, let's discuss the types of flanges in which gaskets are installed.
Flange Faces
Different types of flange faces are used as the contact surface to seat the sealing gasket materials. ASME B16.5 and B16.47 define various types of flange facings, including the raised face, the large male and female facings which have identical dimensions to provide a relatively large contact area.
Raised Face (RF) Flanges
The Raised Face flange is the most common type used in process plant applications, and is easily to identify. It is referred to as a raised face because the gasket surfaces are raised above the bolting circle face. This face type allows the use of a wide combination of gasket designs, including flat ring sheet types and metallic composites such as spiral wound and double jacketed types.
The purpose of a RF flange is to concentrate more pressure on a smaller gasket area and thereby increase the pressure containment capability of the joint. Diameter and height are in ASME B16.5 defined, by pressure class and diameter. Pressure rating of the flange determines the height of the raised face.
- October 19, 2017
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.
New Sealing Material HiFluor® FB for Hygienically Sensitive Applications
Be it in the production of food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics or medical devices coming into contact with the human body, excellent purity and media resistance combined with a wide range of robust properties is always required of the materials used for the components in the manufacturing processes. Specifically for these challenging applications, Parker has developed a new sealing compound with very good mechanical properties and excellent permanent elasticity: HiFluor® FB V8991.
Fluoroelastomeric materials have proven their viability in chemical and food processing, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and life science applications involving non-polar solvents, aliphatic compounds, greases, oils and aromatic substances whenever the resistance of standard materials such as hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) and ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM) is no longer sufficient.
Innovative “Pure” Sealing Solution HiFluor® FB V8991
As a compound and seal manufacturer, Parker Prädifa, in the light of the growing demands made on sealing elements in the aforementioned markets, has developed a HiFluor® FB compound with very good mechanical properties and excellent permanent elasticity.
- October 17, 2017
NEW White Paper Available!
Gallagher Fluid Seals recently added a new white paper to its Resources Page, Perfluoroelastomers for the Semiconductor Industry, written by Russ Schnell. Below is an excerpt from the new white paper discussing thermal process manufacturing. You can download the white paper in its entirety by clicking on the thumbnail to the right.
The term “thermal process” covers a fairly wide range of applications. Per the name, these application temperatures are generally higher than plasma processes, ranging up to 300°C. This general term can cover processes including: Sub Atmospheric Chemical Vapor Deposition (SACVD), Metal CVD, Low Pressure CVD (LPCVD), Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP), and Oxidation or Diffusion furnaces. In these applications the wafers and the equipment that surrounds them, are heated to extremely high temperatures. In the case of thermal deposition, the high temperatures aid in the uniformity of the coating thickness.
Rapid Thermal Processing is used to very rapidly heat a wafer up to temperatures of 1000°C or greater for short periods of time. “Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) can be used to reduce the thermal redistribution of impurities at high temperature…. RTP was originally developed for ion implant anneal, but has broadened its application to oxide growth, chemical vapor deposition, and silicidation.” For oxidation or diffusion furnaces, the applications are different, but still involve high temperatures. For oxidation applications, the procedure involves formation of a thin oxide film on the wafer surface. For diffusion applications, the furnace may assist in silicon dioxide formation on the wafer surface or it may be used to diffuse dopants in the wafer. For these applications, temperatures may range up to 1200°C.
- October 12, 2017
Seals are increasingly being asked to do more than just seal. In the future, they should be able to forecast when they will break down and perform condition monitoring in real time – all on their own. As a technology specialist, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies is not just anticipating the steadily rising demands on seals but on future sealing materials as well. At Drinktec 2017 in Munich (Germany), the company presented a new generation of smart seals that is becoming possible for the food and process industries, thanks to a combination of various material characteristics.
Seals primarily consist of materials that cannot process signals in their pure form. That’s why Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ material developers are investigating materials that seals can employ to become sensors or even actuators, for example, without impairing their original mission.
- October 10, 2017
The Orion Engineered Seals patented Bearing Protection Device (BPD) represents state of the art bearing protection technology and is the premier non-contacting bearing protection device offered. The BPD was designed with an understanding of the nature of the bearing housing environment under all operating conditions and utilizes the laws of physics to create what has proven to be the best performing and most cost effective way to protect the bearings of your rotating equipment.
The BPD-C Works in Flooded Environments
Problem: Traditional sealing methods for the flooded gearbox shafts are inadequate, resulting in oil leaking out of the gearbox, creating an environmental and safety hazard.
- October 05, 2017
TEKLEEN® water filters are the industry's highest quality automatic, self-cleaning water filters and strainers. They specialize in providing industrial water filters and irrigation filters which are designed in accordance with ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII standards.
The TEKLEEN® filter is self cleaning and operates on line pressure alone, eliminating the need for an external power source. As water passes through the water filter, the dirt particles are collected on the screen. This causes a drop in water pressure. When the pressure drop reaches a preset level, the cleaning cycle is initiated. The Vacuum Screen Cleaner aggressively suctions the dirt from the inside of the screen and flushes it out the drain. The backwash cycle is accomplished in seconds without interrupting the main flow.
But how do the automatic, self-cleaning filters stack up against alternative filtration methods in the marketplace today? A TEKLEEN® water filter not only saves you time and money replacing cartridges and bags by automating the cleaning cycle, but is also more advanced and cost-effective than other water filter options available.
- October 03, 2017
NEW White Paper Available!
Gallagher Fluid Seals recently added a new white paper to its Resources Page, Perfluoroelastomers for the Semiconductor Industry, written by Russ Schnell. Below is an excerpt from the new white paper discussing plasma process manufacturing. You can download the white paper in its entirety by clicking on the thumbnail to the right.
Plasma Process
In plasma process manufacturing, a remote plasma source generates a plasma gas. Note that this type of process is run in a vacuum environment. This gas is composed of ions, electrons, radicals and neutral particles. The flow of these particles must be carefully controlled for etching, deposition, or ashing/stripping processes. These processes often use oxygen, fluorine, and other exotic plasma gases, which are extremely aggressive to many materials. In addition, cleaning processes often use oxygen plasma. Precise control of the plasma gas in the chamber is critical so processes perform as expected, for all the individual chips, across the entire diameter of the wafer.
In the plasma process, which typically operate under a high vacuum, FFKM seals can be critical for maintaining system integrity and providing a long seal life. The term “long seal life” is relative. However these seals must perform at high temperatures, up to 250°C, and still maintain low offgassing and low particle generation to prevent contaminating the manufacturing process. In some cases, under extremely aggressive conditions of plasma gases and high temperatures, 6-8 weeks may be considered a long service life for an elastomer seal.