A nation’s welfare relies on the strength of its infrastructure. Sure, the modern conveniences are important, but electrical currents aren’t vital, not in the same way as a clean water supply. Water supports life while waste disposal networks remove dirty sewage. Keep these infrastructural consequences firmly in mind now as we evaluate the common gasket materials employed in a typical fluid-based framework. Choose them wisely, and reap the rewards.

Drinking Water Seals 

What factors affect the quality of a region’s drinkable water? Well, there are probably contaminants suspended in the life-sustaining fluid. They’ve been leached from the soil or introduced by way of a secondary contaminant source. Chlorine is often added to regional water lines, as are other additives. A capable water supply gasket needs to withstand the pressure variances that alter as the water flows through kilometres of pipe. Furthermore, the selected gasket material has to retain its material characteristics, no matter how abrasive these added chemicals and suspended particulates become in any pipeline section. To deal with these line factors, potable water quality is protected by styrene butadiene (SBR) flange gaskets, by acrylonitrile butadiene (NBR) rubber and other chemically stable polymer solutions. Better yet, EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) rubber has made large inroads here, with its synthetic material backbone performing as a superior defence against chloramine penetration. Basically, EPDM water supply gaskets won’t fail when harsh chemical additives attack crucial infrastructural lines.

Toxic Sewerage Systems 

If this noxious discharge penetrates a substandard seal, it’ll impact the ecosystem. The soil above the leak then becomes a stinky swamp while the effluent load makes its way towards the local water table. A healthy mains water grid simply can’t afford that kind of damage. To make sure this threat never becomes a reality, we use the toughest, most chemically toughened sealing materials. EPDM is again the tried-and-trusted nominee here, for this synthetic rubber is extremely durable, even when the wastewater discharge is packed with nasty acids and reactive chemical compounds. Notably, however, EPDM gaskets are not suited for petrochemical applications. That one drawback isn’t likely to trouble a regular wastewater line, not unless some reckless individual decides to pour motor oil down into the drainage channels.

Styrene Butadiene and neoprene are the preferred polymer solutions when the gaskets are expected to handle average water supply issues and corresponding sewage loads. Still, should the soil conditions and wastewater problems call for something tougher, EPDM is the steadfast gasketing candidate, one that will withstand every water-bound contaminant and every wastewater toxin.

Gaskets are an absolutely integral aspect of the production landscape. When you go into any factory, anywhere in the world, you are going to be introduced to machines that require all sorts of mechanical parts in order to operate effectively. Unknown to your eye, at least at first glance, are the gaskets that help keep the entire machine operational and effective. Gaskets themselves are not typically expensive pieces of equipment, but their importance cannot be stressed enough. Today, we are going to break down gaskets and their uses for vibration dampening and sound reduction. Gaskets, as you will soon find out, are flexible and important tools.

Gaskets for Sound and Vibration Dampening

You could probably spend a week of your life reading up on different types of gaskets and you still wouldn’t have reached the end to all that there is to know about the important sealing devices. Gaskets themselves have been around for over 200 years, since the early 1800’s, and they continue to be used to this day. This is a fact that simply isn’t going to be changing any time soon. Gaskets come in a variety of different shapes and sizes and they are also comprised of different materials for different sorts of jobs. Today’s discussion, as we highlighted above, will be on gaskets for the purpose of dampening vibration.

Why would you be pursuing gaskets in order to help dampen sounds and vibrations? What kinds of fields would this be beneficial in? We’re glad that you asked. Typically, there are certain fields with vibration needs to be reduced in order to allow for the operation of the machine to be smooth in a distraction-free environment. Consider the HVAC field or your automobile, both fields have machines that need to operate within the vicinity of human ears.

The common materials used in gaskets can be discussed all day, but today we are going to limit the material to those that are effective at dampening vibration. The most common materials for dampening vibration are silicone runner, foam, nitrile sponge, and polyurethane as well as rubber. These materials are all perfect for helping to attenuate vibration and thus cut the transmission of sound and vibration. These specific materials help to expand and absorb when struck, thus keeping the vibration and corresponding sound from being launched out into our ears.

The materials we listed above act as a spring and they compress and de-compress when force is exhibited upon them. As such, it is important to find the right quality gaskets that have both the proper material and durability for your chosen job.

A seal fracture is imminent because a gasket has become brittle. The extreme chill has transformed the gasket material into a shadow of its former self. Although all liquefied gasses are moving properly in their pipes and fittings, that system flaw is jeopardizing the whole operation. Beyond question, a freeze resistant gasket should have been fitted. Having said that, is there a material type that can defy such stone-cold conditions?

Phenyl-Formulated Silicone 

Most elastomers harden and become less deformable when they encounter subzero fluids. That stiffened seal simply can’t support a pressurized load when the temperature drops this low. Regular silicones are designed to endure when the chill hits -60°C, which is extremely cold. Phenyl silicone keeps on performing, even when the fluid’s temperature hurtles towards -100°C.

PTFE or Teflon Gaskets 

Manufactured under the brand name Teflon, Polytetrafluoroethylene based seals perform well when they’re utilized in cryonic cooling environments. Penetrating below -100°C and barreling down towards -185°C, Teflon doesn’t stiffen when these extremes are accessed. Beware, PTFE gaskets do experience creep when they’re pressed into service as low-temperature fluid seals.

Freeze Resistant Tungsten Carbide 

For abrasion proof functionality, tungsten carbide is the logical low temperature sealing material. Sintered graphite is often used as a compressible face here, so this is a composite gasket group. Expect to find ceramics and other exotic metals employed as key freeze choking materials when the tungsten carbide catalogue is accessed. Selected when harsh chemicals are present in the cold fluid, the material also endures when abrasive forces are being processed.

All about Grafoil Gaskets

Also known as flexible graphite, Grafoil gaskets retain their operational properties until the deep freeze strikes -240°C. The chemically formed rings conform well to their installation surfaces. However, Grafoil isn’t as pliable as a synthetic polymer, so these gaskets must be manufactured according to a high-tolerance fabrication methodology. Designed to handle wide temperature extremes, Grafoil gaskets do not tolerate misalignment errors.

Low-temperature seals employ natural and synthetic polymers when a liquidized gas manifests a subzero thermal profile. If that thermal reading then drops below -100°C, the joining faces turn to flexible graphite, to composites and exotic metals. Ceramic inserts are also on hand when these gaskets face the brittleness test. The polymers, as expected, are pliable, not stiff, when the flow is supercold. Meanwhile, the harder composite solutions deal with the severest temperature drops, but they must be manufactured precisely, for they won’t adapt when compressed, at least not as well as a synthetic rubber would manage.

 

Neoprene, a versatile synthetic rubber, is a tolerant material. Used in gaskets, this well-established polymer retains its fluid-sealing characteristics when a fluid turns hot. It’s physically and mechanically stable, abrasion resistant, equipped with a handy flame retardant feature, and the rubber won’t break down in the presence of a petroleum-based fuel. That’s an attractive list of material traits. Neoprene gaskets obviously deserve more coverage, so let’s get going.

Deconstructing Neoprene Gasket Materials 

Polychloroprene, also known as Neoprene, is ozone resistant, so expect to find this material in use in sealing products in outdoors applications. In automobiles and vehicles with superbly sealed fuel lines, there we find the polymer, faithfully generating a strong fluid seal. Chemically adept, the synthetic rubber also offers a -40°C to 121°C spread of temperature handling pliability. As long as the application stays inside that tolerance range, the selected Neoprene gasket will compress and seal. Accordingly, these rubber rings are commonly used in heater elements, air conditioners, freezers, and many other thermally active situations.

Conforms to Other Surfaces 

This is a singularly beneficial feature, a material trait that suits the roughest surfaces. To put it another way, Neoprene gaskets are physically tough yet unusually yielding. When the seal is fitted between two surfaces, it will instantly adjust its outlines to match the underlying flange face, even when those surfaces are raised or formed from special locking profiles. As a ring of fasteners bears down on the polymer, it compresses readily without ever surrendering that inbuilt quantity of elasticity. Viewed from a fabrication engineer’s perspective, those key properties dovetail neatly back at the production factory, for this material is a work-friendly commodity. Die shaped or water cut, Neoprene gaskets roll off the production line in their thousands every day because of that workability quality.

Neoprene Versus All The Rest 

Here’s a gasket material that hits the exact centre of the industry sweet spot. The synthetic is ozone resistant, although perhaps not as sun-friendly as EPDM. Meanwhile, Neoprene is a better option for oil and fuel resistant utilization. Additionally, the -40°C to 121°C temperature range covers practically every imaginable subzero and water-boiling scenario. This rubber is also remarkably dense. It’s simply not a permeable polymer, so Neoprene is commonly employed in the medical industry, perhaps as a series of peristaltic pump seals.

All-purpose by design, Neoprene gaskets are thermally stable and fuel friendly. They compress readily while conforming to complex raised flange faces. In plain English, this material, when it’s used as a sealing medium, can suit many possible applications, at least until those thermal/compression ratios reach exorbitantly high extremes. At that point, it’s time to consider an alternative synthetic rubber.

Compressed Non-Asbestos gaskets go where that heat-resistant but potentially deadly silicate mineral cannot. Shortened to CNA, the following gasketing materials are every bit as thermally capable as that now defunct fibre, plus they’re chemically inert. Let’s check out some common applications, places where these fibre-based products function as entirely safe gasket materials.

High-End HVAC Sector 

Far away, at the terminating end of this heat chain, hot radiators sip water from a multi-storied heating system. There are no CNA gaskets in range here. No, they’re located way back at the first-stage boiler room. The flames are licking around a tiny window above the furnace, all while the aramid fibres produce a formidable layer of heat-restraining weave around the pressurised vessel. The temperature might be topping the 260°C mark in there, but the nitrile-bonded gasket resolutely endures.

Robust Power Generation Barriers 

Utilized in the generation of electrical energy, this particular application has much in common with the boiler and furnace scenario mentioned above. Only this time, we’re referring to the pressurized realms and super-heated steam that powers massive turbines. Water, the source fluid medium, is heated by some heavy fuel source, perhaps a nuclear reactor or crushed coal. The steam generates motive force, it circulates a special chamber at high velocity, and the resulting force impacts a series of spinning turbine blades. Like a jet engine, the energy creates massives amounts of rotating torque. CNA or Compressed Non-Asbestos Gaskets are equipped to deal with this form-crushing quantity of thermal energy.

Introducing Caustic-Qualified CNA Gaskets 

In furnaces and industrial boilers, compressed non-asbestos fibreglass seals prevent seal breaches. Meanwhile, out on a distant offshore installation, the same gaskets are handling raw petroleum. At the other end of the processing chain, blended aramids and fillers are bonded to EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer), a synthetic rubber that can take a great deal of punishment. The die cut substance is inserted into a flanged joint that conveys petroleum-based fluids and pressurized gasses. Further away, a cryonics facility is utilizing the same gasket class while a caustically active food processing factory is pumping a vinegary substitute towards its final destination.

This has been something of a whirlwind journey. We’re dizzy from visiting oil platforms and chemical processing facilities. Then the journey caused whiplash to the neck as we sped over to a food processing site and a material refrigeration plant. Even a wastewater treatment installation, a place that transforms raw sewage into potable water, gets a mention, for CNA gaskets function under the most adverse conditions imaginable.