New Anti-Stick Agent Speeds Gasket Removal
Palmyra, NY - Garlock Sealing Technologies has developed a proprietary, anti-stick agent that facilitates removal of gaskets from flanged joints. Called Flange Free, the new material is a high- temperature, inorganic coating that Garlock is initially applying to its line of extreme-grade gaskets for critical service applications. All of the company's compressed sheet gasketing will be treated with the new material beginning in the first-quarter of 2009.
Gaskets treated with Flange Free dramatically reduce the time and effort required to remove them after extended service -- in most cases seconds versus hours and with just a fraction of the force required to remove untreated gaskets. Unlike most anti-stick agents, Flange Free is fused to the surface of the gasket material and does not contain chemicals that can cause the gaskets to crack or otherwise degrade. To assure proper gasket selection, product branding was redesigned for high visibility and clarity even after individual gaskets have been cut from a sheet of material. The new branding is applied with a specially formulated, water-based ink that prevents transfer to the flange.
"In developing Flange Free, we conducted extensive research into what makes gaskets stick to flanges, and determined the binders in them act as visco-elastic materials that tend to flow at elevated temperatures and pressures," explained Mike McNally, senior chemist in Garlock's research and development group. "As the binders 'wet out' and make intimate contact with the metallic face of a flange, chemical adhesion, mechanical interlocking and other modes of adhesion come into play. As a result, removing such gaskets can be a tedious, laborious, and sometimes dangerous task that can damage equipment and injure workers.
"Our Flange Free anti-stick compound acts as a barrier that prevents the binders from 'wetting out', making the gaskets easier to remove," said McNally.
In addition, gaskets treated with Flange Free- reduce the potential for residual particles to adversely affect the performance of replacement gaskets or to break loose, contaminate piping systems and impair the operation of downstream equipment such as pumps and valves. And because they can be removed intact, the gaskets are easier to dispose of properly.
SOURCE: Garlock Sealing Technologies