Material certifications, seal geometry and even seal color must also be factored in to allow for maximized seal life, minimized risk and reduced total cost of ownership for both the seal and the rotating equipment.
The most challenging operational environments for sealing mixers, agitators and pumps are often found in the food and pharmaceutical industries. When designing, selecting, or implementing a dynamic seal into operation in the food and pharma space, it is crucial to consider all the physical challenges the seal may face to ensure sealing success. Further, material certifications, seal geometry, and even seal color must also be factored in to allow for maximized seal life, minimized risk and reduced total cost of ownership for both the seal and the rotating equipment.
In this article, we will highlight some of the common environments found within these industries, discuss how the operating conditions affect seal design and selection, and finally, share some
The world has entered a pivotal moment in water treatment, and the challenges continue to worsen as municipalities grapple with the risk of encountering premature failure in elastomeric gaskets. Such a risk brings up several problems, including reduced efficiency, sudden equipment failure, costly maintenance and downtime, and perhaps worst of all — contamination.
Prior to 2013, gasketing products were not subject to the NSF61 (Drinking Water System Components – Health Effects) standard, leaving a critical gap in the safety and compliance of materials used in contact with potable water. However, as the demand for reusing treated wastewater grows, the influx of chlorine and chloramine levels — ensuring potability — has exposed the vulnerability of elastomeric gaskets. This has emerged as a serious issue.
In the ever-changing world of water treatment, it is important to address this challenge and explore innovative solutions to safeguard the reliability and longevity of gasketing
Garlock has expanded their Ultra Low Emissions family of products to include a spiral wound gasket. The FLEXSEAL® ULE is designed for use where leakage control is critical and the aggressive application requires a spiral wound design. It’s manufactured using high performance graphite, and offers maximum protection against oxidation. The standard design includes an inner ring and outer ring, as well as preformed metal wire to enhance compressibility and sealability. The FLEXSEAL® ULE spiral wound is another product born from Garlock’s customer driven innovation.
The majority of nuclear power plants in the United States are approaching 40 years of age and some of the components installed during initial construction are beginning to show signs of wear. This is especially true of emergency diesel generator sets (EDGs) that provide backup power as necessary. Although varying in design, EDGs manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse, Cooper-Bessemer and Electro-Motive Diesel all produce excessive vibration. Propagated throughout a system, this vibration can cause various metal components to fail, often resulting in inoperability of the generators.
These failed components range from simple pipe supports and anchors to major piping for diesel oil or cooling water. There have been two common solutions that power plants have tried to remedy this problem, occasionally with temporary success. One solution is to use pipe loops to absorb some of the movement associated with the pipe’s thermal expansion. While these will support the
In industries such as chemical processing, hydrocarbon refining, and power generation, leakage from extreme temperature process streams can result in loss of efficiency and production as well as adverse environmental impacts and compromised employee safety. One of the most commonly used sealing products in systems subject to high pressures and temperatures is a spiral-wound gasket. These gaskets typically consist of filler and winding materials selected on the basis of application requirements and end-user preference. Proper selection of these materials is critical to achieving the desired performance in all applications.
The two most common filler materials in spiral-wound gaskets are graphite (can withstand temperatures up to 850 ºF) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE; tolerance up to 500 ºF). Other filler materials are used mainly for their thermal insulating properties, not for sealability; these include mica, exfoliated mica, and ceramics. While graphite and PTFE perform satisfactorily in terms of temperature and chemical resistance, they have limitations. Graphite is not compatible with heavily oxidizing media at any temperature, nor can it withstand continuous operating temperatures above 850 ºF. Beyond 850 ºF, volume loss through oxidation becomes excessive and sealing effectiveness is compromised.
Many high-temperature systems, such as exhaust manifolds and flanged piping connections in exhaust systems, are oxidizing. Other services are oxidizing because of the operating temperature and media involved.
The purpose of this 2-minute video is to provide the definition of a flash cutter, what makes them ideal for custom, or standard gasket shapes, and the capabilities of Gallagher Fluid Seals.
0:13 What is a flash cutter?
Successful fluid sealing of valves and pumps cannot be accomplished without the appropriate sealing device. Whether using mechanical seals or compression packing, one must understand the specific needs of the application.
While mechanical seals in general are considered the superior sealing device, they are more expensive and less versatile than compression packing. Compression packing is more versatile due to the vast selection of materials used to make it and the various ways it is constructed. Materials such as vegetable fibers, man-made fibers, metals, graphite, and hybrids are all used to make packing. Construction types include braided, twisted, wrapped (rolled, folded), extruded, laminated, bulk, and die formed.
Construction types of compression packing each have variations within. This article will focus on braided
Every year, approximately 1 in 6 people in the U.S. get sick (~48 million people), 100,000+ are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne illnesses or diseases, according to data from the CDC. Though this is largely a preventable problem, it still poses a significant public health burden.
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), enacted by Congress in 2011, is "transforming the nation’s food safety system by shifting the focus from responding to foodborne illness to preventing it."
Although one might think the
Modern technology often requires rare or ultra-pure materials that can only be handled or obtained within extreme environmental conditions. These same conditions present unique and hazardous difficulties when transporting or utilizing these resources. Resources such as liquid oxygen, nitrogen, or argon; all of which are classified as “industrial gases” are handled well below the normal temperature ranges that every-day liquids exist; ranging as low as -195.8°C (-320.4°F). This often makes it a challenging task to find a low temp gasket to fit the specifications for the application.
As an example, let’s look at argon; an important gas used in Welding, Neon Lights, 3D Printing, and Metal Production, just to name a few. It is far more economical to house and transport argon in its liquid state. However, it must be held at an astonishingly low -185.9°C. Fitting the pipes together and maintaining