Garlock products
- April 03, 2024
Garlock Stress Saver® Gaskets
Since 1996 the Garlock family of companies has successfully sealed low load flanges with their Stress Saver® family of products. The molded raised ribs help to create a tighter seal by concentrating the compressive load, ideal for lightweight piping. This blog will examine five stress saver gaskets that are all available on the Gallagher Fluid Seals website.
GARLOCK STRESS SAVER STYLE 3504 GASKET
STRESS SAVER® GYLON® Style 3504 combines the proven sealing advantages of molded, raised ribs with the performance characteristics of the industry recognized
- March 27, 2024
Determining Low Temperature Ratings for Rubber Seals
Temperature ratings are typically published for industrial seals so you know where they can and cannot be used.
Many sealing products have testing standards, allowing manufacturers to publish results for easy product comparison.
However, there is no standard that tells you how to determine minimum and maximum temperatures, so how do companies come up with their ratings? Furthermore, if two suppliers offer the same type of material with vastly different temperature ratings, how do you know who is correct, or which number to trust?
Rubber isn’t just made of rubber
Rubber is made up of more than just the raw polymer (nitrile, neoprene, fluoroelastomer, etc.).
On its own, the raw polymer has very poor properties and is difficult to work with, so a variety of materials are added to improve performance and allow for
- March 14, 2024
As a trusted supplier of high-performance sealing solutions to the pharmaceutical industry, the Garlock family of companies knows that gaskets can make or break a sanitary process. But how has material technology been evolving? This blog will discuss how material technologies are meeting manufacturing challenges to help pharmaceutical companies adapt to smaller batch sizes, frequent changeovers, leaner operations, vendor consolidation and stricter regulations.
- February 02, 2024
Corrosion with Braided Packing
Galvanic corrosion is an electrochemical process that occurs between two dissimilar metals, or between a metal and a conductive non-metallic material, when both are exposed to an electrically conductive media. In the case of a packing gland, it occurs between a metal component and the carbon or graphite packing. Under these conditions, the material that is closest to the anodic end of the galvanic scale will be corroded in preference to the one that is closest to the cathodic end of the scale. (See Table 1.) As the distance between materials on the galvanic scale increases, a corresponding rise occurs in the rate and the extent of the corrosion.
In a valve or a pump using packing made of either graphite or carbon, a galvanic reaction may be initiated as soon as any electrically conductive fluid, such as water, is introduced. Since graphite is more cathodic than the metals that make up valves and pumps, it is the metal that may
- January 18, 2024
Enhancing the surface profile can improve sealing capabilities, extending the functionality of aging piping systems in chemical plants.
There are many aged and aging process plants in operation today. In fact, many of the processing plants for power, chemicals, oil, etc., have been in service for more than 50 years. And while the piping itself may remain intact, their bolted flange gasket joints and connections are becoming misaligned, corroded and damaged due to repeated handling, chemical exposure and thermal cycling. This can lead to costly ruptures that may result in millions of dollars in damages, downtime, noncompliance penalties, irreparable environmental impact and litigation.
There is a solution that can extend the life of aging piping systems, preserving their functionality: raising the surface profile on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) gaskets. This design modification can prevent leaks, spills and other releases in chemical processing plants by reducing and managing
- January 11, 2024
Garlock GYLON® Style 3545 Exceeds in Chemical Processing
INDUSTRY
Chemical Processing
OPERATING CONDITIONS
Size: Various
Temperature: 200° F
Application: Carbon steel, lead-lined flanges
Media: Bromine
Pressure: 150 psiCUSTOMER PROFILE AND BACKGROUND
A manufacturer of specialty inorganic chemicals needed a gasket recommendation for bromine service using carbon steel lead-lined flanges.
CHALLENGES FACED
The expanded PTFE (ePTFE) gasket
- December 14, 2023
The Potential Benefits of Investing in High Performance Expansion Joints
Material validation is a critical step when designing a high-performance expansion joint. Therefore, it is important to know what is on the inside of the expansion joint and not just the outside. There are numerous issues that could arise from improper material selection and layering construction that will ultimately affect the life and performance of the expansion joint. Some of the key issues users will see are delamination between expansion joint layers, leaks at the flange, low pressure and vacuum ratings. - November 20, 2023
Pump Diaphragms Made from Elastomers
Pumps that operate with a diaphragm have been in use since the mid-1800s because of their simplicity and effectiveness.
That isn’t to say these pumps have remained unchanged in all that time. More than 150 years of innovation and technical improvements in diaphragm profiles and elastomeric material sciences have secured their use for a wide range of pumping and reciprocating applications.
The design and utilization of diaphragms in pumping applications is a vast topic, yet it is one that Gallagher Fluid Seals’ application engineers have mastered by approaching the manufacturing and design of diaphragms with a step-by-step process.
- October 27, 2023
Abrasive media comes in many forms—from mining slurries to wood pulp and even substances as seemingly mild as liquid chocolate. This diversity rules out a one-size-fits-all solution for abrasive pumping applications. However, today’s broad range of materials, from carbon fiber packing to graphite-filled polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bushings, includes products capable of meeting an equally broad range of abrasive wear requirements.
Carbon Fiber Packing
Few materials offer the abrasive resistance and heat dissipation of carbon fiber yarns. Braided compression packing made from this material excels under extreme conditions, including exposure to a variety of chemicals, temperatures approaching 850 F (454 C) in oxygen-rich atmospheres (up to 1,200 F/649 C in steam) and shaft speeds in excess of 4,000 feet per minute (fpm).
- October 18, 2023
Flange gasket storage is often an after-thought for many of our customers. While incorrect gasket installation procedures is the #1 culprit when it comes to gasket failure, gasket storage can play a large role in the quality of the gasket being installed.
Get the Most Out of Your Flange Gaskets
Gasket Performance Depends on Many Factors
Flange gaskets are highly engineered products, and their performance depends on many factors. Certainly design, manufacture, installation, and process conditions are all critical, but so is storage before use. Gasket materials often remain in storage for a long time before they are placed into service. Unfortunately, storage practices for gasket materials are generally not optimal or controlled well enough. This article provides guidance for the storage of different gasket materials to preserve their integrity.