Fluoroelastomers
- April 07, 2022
This is a notification of a planned reformulation of several of the Precision Associates, Inc. (PAI) FDA Fluorocarbon compounds. This notification is intended to meet the change notification requirements included in any quality or supply agreements in place with your company.
Precision Associates is a supply of Gallagher Fluid Seals.
Precision Associates was recently informed by one of their suppliers that it was discontinuing the supply of a polymer used in several of its FKM compounds as of June of 2022. Upon notification, Precision began procuring as much of the material as possible and began identifying suitable alternatives. Their evaluation is complete, and they were able to identify a suitable replacement and reformulated their compounds.
The various compounds we are reformulating are certified to a variety of material standards, most notably (FDA) 21 CFR 177.2600, and 3A sanitary standards.
- March 23, 2022
Natural Rubber Short Supply
Plagued by global supply chain issues stemming from coronavirus and environmental issues, the natural rubber shortage continues to be exasperated by the war in Ukraine and Russia.
In 2021, shortages were reported mainly due to flooding and leaf disease. A poor crop led to a decrease in the cultivation of these highly desirable trees. The supply for raw gum already was expected to remain tight for several years due to the 7-year maturity period for the trees, but the unfavorable seasonal crop significantly affected the availability of rubber.
This blog article will also dive into the short supply of carbon black and its affect on the rubber availablity on a global scale.
- February 24, 2022
components their machines need in order to operate and produce their desired end product. The ways that tooling impacts a manufacturing operation are imperative. Not only is the tooling of your own manufacturing important, but also of the tools themselves that will be a part of your own operation. It’s necessary to have components that have been tooled to specifications, have high quality, and will perform under stress.
Potential Effects of Tooling
The end result of your operation’s tooling is going to affect every aspect of the business and its success. If an operation has been improperly tooled, then it will inevitably have a less efficient running cost, slowing things down. When an improperly tooled machine fails, it can have disastrous consequences, not limited to time lost, loss of product, and potential hazard to employees or customers.
- November 02, 2021
Gallagher Fluid Seals' is happy to present our newest case study for customers who would benefit from reading through a custom FKM seal application.
Our customer is a global leader in the manufacturing of premium residential and commercial venting systems. Their systems and products are designed for ventilation of exhaust gas and other specialty gases.
CUSTOMER PROBLEM:
Acidic condensate was attacking the silicone seal when the pipe was in a horizontal position, causing corrosion, failure, and downtime.
Read this case study to see the GFS solution and great results.
- December 15, 2020
Fluids play a critical role in sustaining life. Keeping animals and humans hydrated and helping plants grow are obvious ways. Less obvious ways include moving cargo around the world and keeping equipment operating (hydraulic oils, coolants, engine oils, etc.). All these applications require seals of some sort ranging from public water systems to hydraulic pumps. What happens when these fluids become aggressive? People typically think of acids as being an aggressive media, but for many fluoroelastomers, bases are more aggressive presenting severe challenges.
Using material science and technology, Parker has created a new class of Base Resistant (fluoro) Elastomer (BRE) compounds.
- November 14, 2019
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by Fred Fisher, Technical Sales Manager for Parker O-Ring & Engineered Seals Division.
ASTM Elastomer Compounds
When looking at drawings to define a specific application or elastomer requirement: Is there value in using an ASTM elastomer
- August 22, 2019
Strong oxidizers can damage metal, causing pitting or rust and treating possible safety concerns.
In chemistry, strong oxidizers are substances (like chromic acid) that can cause other substances (like seals and gaskets) to lose electrons. So, an oxidizer is a chemical species that undergoes a reaction that removes one or more electrons from another atom.
This causes a change in mass. Metals will turn into their respective heavier oxides, and the carbon in graphite will oxidize into carbon dioxide—which, although molecularly heavier, is a gas at room temperature.
This happens in pumps, valves, pipelines or any other equipment that have seals and gaskets carrying a strong oxidizer. It will cause pitting or rust and, depending on your choice of seal material, may require shorter service intervals. Ultimately, you may have to look for a more suitable material that can handle strong oxidizers.
More importantly, an oxidizing agent can cause or contribute to
- June 27, 2019
Freudenberg Sealing Technologies introduced several new material and sealing innovations at the 2019 International Paris Air Show.
These new products are designed to help aerospace customers address ever increasing safety and performance requirements in the industry.
During the June 17-23 event in Paris, Freudenberg showcased a new high temperature, fireproof material; an Omegat OMS-CS cap seal; and new ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and a fluoroelastomer (FKM) developmental material.
“Our aerospace customers strive continuously to be faster, safer and more efficient, which in turn requires us to innovate to help them reach those goals – a challenge we enthusiastically embrace,” said Vinay Nilkanth, vice president, Global Mobility Sector, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies. “The launch of several new products aimed at improved performance underscores Freudenberg’s commitment to being a global
- August 21, 2018
Gallagher recently released our High Performance Elastomer Seals for the Instrumentation Industry White Paper. This was written by Russ Schnell, an Elastomer Consultant contracted by Gallagher Fluid Seals, and a former Senior Application Engineer with the Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer parts business at DuPont. This white paper is now available for download on our Resources page.
Below is the third and final section of the white paper, which will discuss the importance of proper seal and groove design.
Proper Seal & Groove Design
Proper seal design is a necessity for elastomer seals to perform reliably over the long term. Many of the instrument applications mentioned above use o-ring seals. The suggested compression for an elastomer o-ring seal to perform properly is typically a minimum of 16%, and a maximum of 30%. However, this range must also take into account the thermal expansion of an elastomer at elevated temperatures as well as any swell due to chemical exposure. Many of the elastomer seals used in instruments are small o-rings, which can create design issues. This is especially true for perfluoroelastomer parts which have a relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Fluoroelastomers have a lower CTE, making seal design easier at elevated temperatures.
- July 31, 2018
Gallagher recently released our High Performance Elastomer Seals for the Instrumentation Industry White Paper. This was written by Russ Schnell, an Elastomer Consultant contracted by Gallagher Fluid Seals, and a former Senior Application Engineer with the Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer parts business at DuPont. This white paper is now available for download on our Resources page.
Below is the second section of the white paper, diving into applications where the measurement is made in analytical laboratories which employ numerous solvents in a wide range of analyses and test equipment.
Laboratory Equipment
The final set of instrumentation is laboratory test equipment. As opposed to the laboratories in chemical plants, which often perform the same routine analyses on plant process streams, general analytical labs employ numerous solvents in a wide range of analyses and test equipment. As such, the ability of seals to resist a breadth of chemicals without degradation or leaching contaminants into a sample is of great importance. Although instrument seals are easily replaced in a laboratory environment, this operation still takes a technician time. It is always easier if the system can be flushed with a cleaning solvent and then be ready to run the next sample versus having to change out an elastomer seal due to incompatibility with a solvent.