Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin has so many divisions—covering so many types of products—that it can be difficult to keep up with the company’s initiatives and products. But I had the chance to catch up with Christine Stehmans, Marketing Communications Manager for the Engineered Materials Group-Europe, at the recent Hannover Messe press preview. The Group was formed last year from a merger of Parker’s O-Ring Division and Packing Division, bringing the static and dynamic parts of the sealing world together. Stehmans told me that one area of focus for the company at the April tradeshow will be sealing materials for high purity processes.

“We see a high need for seals that are compliant with all those regulations like FDA and-drinking water, or for the pharma industry and we have materials that can meet all these demands,” she said. “Applications depend on a lot of factors—what is your media like? Is it oily, or is it based on water? Do you have requirements like harsh surfaces, or something? Do you need more resistant in a physical way? Plus, there are all those conformities and approvals you have to meet. So, whether it is an elastomer and in the various families like EPBM or NBR or even fluroelastomers, in all those groups we have materials that can meet those recommendations or requirements.”

Stehmans explained that if it’s really beyond everything that can be met by elastomers and plastics, the company even has metal seals, for truly harsh requirements.

Scroll down to read the Group’s press release for the Hannover Fair.

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Purity and stability of the materials used for the sealing elements and sealing systems in food and pharmaceutical production processes are indispensable prerequisites for the safety of the final products intended for human consumption. As well as industrial production systems, this includes appliances for catering and food service operations, and for domestic use, such as food processors and coffee machines.
Product Safety
To protect the health of consumers 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).

In addition, qualitative aspects such as neutrality with respect to taste and odor generally have to be ensured whenever materials are utilized in food and beverage production. In the production process, the sealing compounds must not release any components which—even if not harmful to human health—would affect the quality of the final product in any way that could be perceived by the senses or otherwise.

Process Diversity
As particularly the processes in the food and beverage sector are as wide and varied as the products themselves they make special demands on the seals and sealing compounds used in them as well – be it in terms of resistance against chemical substances and various process media, temperatures, pressures and mechanical loads or special sanitary requirements. Of particular relevance here are CIP/SIP processes for cleaning and sterilization involving disinfectants, superheated steam and acids. The reliable functionality and durability of the seals has to be ensured even in harsh application conditions.
Material Diversity
This wide range of requirements can only be covered by a wide range of materials and material groups. The appropriate selection from Parker Prädifa’s extensive portfolio of sealing compounds is made based on the required properties profile in combination with the necessary approvals and conformities existing for the respective material. With pure to ultra-pure materials optimized for the respective applications in the material groups of EPDM, NBR, FKM, FFKM, TPU, PK, PTFE and metal Parker Prädifa offers precisely this diversity of possible choices and combinations to be showcased in Hanover this year, for example:

• EPDM compounds for highly sensitive production processes in the food and beverage industry, biotechnology and medical device technology
  Properties: very good media resistance in hot water, steam, lyes and acids, in polar CIP/SIP media and resulting long life even in cleaning and sterilization processes
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, USP Class VI, 3A, (EC) No. 1935/2004
• EPDM compounds for drinking water applications
  Properties: very good mechanical properties, outstanding compression set, good low-temperature performance down to -50 °C
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, WRAS, W270
• NBR compounds for food applications
  Properties: very good media resistance in media containing oil and grease, very good wear resistance
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, (EC) No. 1935/2004.
• FKM and HiFluor^® compounds for the food and beverage industry, biotechnology and medical device technology
  Properties: excellent media and temperature resistance
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, 3A USP Class VI, (EC) No. 1935/2004, BNIC
• Parofluor^® FFKM compounds for the food/beverage and pharmaceutical industries
  Properties: pure high-performance compounds with extended service life and suitability for extreme chemical and thermal requirements
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, (EC) No. 1935/2004, USP Class VI.
• TPU compounds for food industry applications including food gases and household appliances
  Properties: high wear resistance, good hydrolysis resistance and good permeation properties
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, (EC) No. 1935/2004.
• PTFE compounds for the food industry
  Properties: best media resistance and widest temperature range, excellent friction behavior
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, (EC) No. 1935/2004, USP Class VI.
• PK compound nobrox^® for sealing elements and engineered components in the food industry
  Properties: outstanding wear resistance, chemical resistance and resilience
  Approvals/conformities: FDA, (EC) No. 1935/2004, USP Class VI.
• Metal seals for harsh application conditions, outside the application range of polymer materials

Parker Prädifa’s portfolio of sealing solutions for the chemical process, food and pharma industries ranges from conventional O-rings to highly complex multi-component system solutions.

Hanover Fair, April 24 – 28, 2017, Hall 20, Stand C50