4 - Sealing Materials that are Ideal for High Temperature Applications

Jul 20, 2016 Materials

Industrial seals are designed to prevent leakage, while helping to combine systems or mechanisms together. While seals created for ambient and low temperatures are not extremely difficult, creating seals for high temperature applications is a challenge. This is because standard sealing materials cannot perform well in such conditions for long periods of time. This can result in leakage. Hence, it is important to choose the right manufacturing materials to ensure prolonged seal performance in high temperature applications.

What are the Problems found in High Temperature Applications?

Applications with high temperatures can include ethylene production, steam and gas turbines, solid oxide fuel cells, and industrial exhaust systems. Such applications comprise immense levels of heat, aggressive chemicals, and strong transfer fluids. Due to these elements, the temperatures can be of at least 400^oF or above. Traditional sealing materials like mica or graphite lose their physical integrity, and their performance diminishes quickly in such environments. This can result in total leakage, which can be lead to a shutdown, and downtime.

Preferred Sealing Materials for High Temperature Applications

The right type of sealing material can make a huge difference to the performance of an industrial seal in an application. Seal manufacturers recommend the following materials for high temperature applications:

PTFE: Polytetrafluoroethylene is one of the reliable polymer materials. It can resist strong industrial chemicals, and maintain its integrity in temperatures above 500 ^oF for long time periods.

PEEK: Polyetheretherketone is a high performance thermoplastic, and is capable of maintaining its integrity in applications with temperatures up to 500 ^o It provides excellent resistance to wear, chemicals, and abrasions.

Fluorosilicone: This elastomer material combines high liquid resistance of fluorocarbon, and extreme temperature stability of silicone. With a temperature above 400 ^oF, fluorosilicone O-rings can be exposed to sunlight, and will not degrade due to air, ozone, aromatic, or chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Silicone: A rubber-like polymer, silicone has a high temperature resistance up to 482 ^o The material is resistant to UV rays, ozone, and oxygen. It has great electrical insulation properties, and high gas permeability. It is mainly used to manufacture aerospace seals, and automobile gaskets.

A successful sealing product depends on the collaboration between the customer and the manufacturer. Customers should provide the right information to ensure that the right material is used, and the manufacturing process is completed precisely. This can lead to the creation of high quality and durable industrial seals.