The sluice gate at Faraday Dam in Oregon operates fully submerged with approximately 40′ of head at the middle of the gate. The estimated operation pressure on each of the bushings is around 4,000psi (4ksi). The gate is used for water level control, therefore continuously makes small adjustments to its elevation.
The gate was removed in September 2014 to perform inspection of gate wheel assembly and bearings. It was determined that several of the wheels had either stopped working or fallen off due to corrosion and lack of lubrication. The remaining bearings were found to have excessive clearance due to wear. New stainless steel sleeves were fabricated by Portland Manufacturing and welded onto the gate wheel stub shafts. New composite greaseless bushings supplied by CIP were installed to replace the failed bearings.
In May of 2016, a cruise ship went into dry dock for service which included replacing a broken stabilizer. It was determined that the flap bearings from the OEM for the new fin stabilizer would not work, and needed to be replaced. CIP is known for its 24-hour dry-dock emergency support for replacement bearings. When the call came in CIP answered the request for this urgent delivery and provided the bearings the same day!
Oil leakage and lubricant discharges from marine equipment such as fin stabilizers are causing marine operators to find alternative solutions to previous standard grease and oil systems. Although the EPA has provided accommodations allowing the use of environmentally acceptable lubricants (EAL), the better alternative is to replace bearing grease systems altogether with water lubricated materials.
CIP Composite fin stabilizer bearings are water lubricated with the added ability to have axial grooves machined into the bearing, providing better water flow and lubrication. Columbia Industrial Products offer 24 hour emergency support, minimizing dock time. CIP Composites are easily machined onsite and can be freeze fitted or press fitted. Their knowledgeable team can provide technical support for the design calculations for interference and clearance fits for your application.
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.
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.
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.
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.
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.
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.
The substances used in the food and in the chemical process industries are identical in many cases, whether they are of natural origin or synthetically produced. Irrespective of their type and occurrence – be it in process media, in raw materials for products or in finished products – the materials for seals and engineered components used in production equipment coming into contact with diverse chemical substances have to meet specific purity requirements and be resistant to chemicals under the given process conditions. Purity and stability are therefore basic prerequisites for materials in the chemical process industry and the food industry. The challenge lies in selecting the proper sealing material for an application.
Consumer health and safety are of paramount importance in food, beverage and pharmaceutical production processes. Therefore, the materials have to comply with specific legal requirements and standards, depending on their application. The harmlessness of the materials for the intended uses, such as applications involving contact with foodstuffs and drinking water, must have been certified by relevant approvals and conformities. Equally important to consumer safety is that the materials are free of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), phthalates, mineral oil based plasticizers and animal derived ingredients (ADI).