A customer in the chemical industry came to NEXA sharing a challenge that he was experiencing on a valve whose seal was in contact with solvents.

NEXA sealing solution

NEXA decided to proceed testing the seal currently used by the customer. The seal was a simple FKM elastomer.

Other unused seals provided by the customer were tested in operation and showed hardness changes in the range of -30% and a delta volume of +60% on average.

On the basis of these results, NEXA suggested to use an FFKM specifically developed for this application: NEXA XFluor® 8032.

Samples were tested and, upon satisfactory results, NEXA XFluor® 8032 compound was approved for use by the customer.

Findings

• Zero leakage
  
• Improved sealing performance and safety
  
• Increased life of the seal
  

A customer in the aerospace industry requested NEXA to verify compliance of NEXA XFluor® 8050 compound to aerospace industry specification ANS 7257C.

NEXA sealing solution

XFluor® 8050 was originally developed to be used in high temperature applications where high resistance to oxidation (at 320°C) and water steam (at 300°C) was required.

Upon request of the customer, the compound was tested at 175°C (347°F)  for 72 hours for all physical properties as original and versus synthetic lubricant resistance (reference oil: 300).

Aromatic fuel resistance was tested with Fuel B at 23°C (73°F).

Aging resistance (dry heat) was tested at 290°C (554°F) for 72 hours.

Hydraulic fuel resistance was tested in Skydrol LD4 at 125°C (257°F) for 72 hours.

Upon testing, NEXA XFluor® 8050 proved to meet the specifications of ANS 7257C.

Findings

• Outstanding thermal stability
• Excellent resistance to aromatic fuels, hydraulic fluids and gas turbine engine lubricating oils

A customer in the semiconductor industry was in need to increase the temperature of its manufacturing process up to 325°C, in order to improve production speed.

NEXA was asked to develop a new compound with Ultra-Low high temperature compression set that could provide the same purity and chemical resistance of the former seal.

NEXA sealing solution

NEXA chose to customized its XFluor® 9090 compound to meet the customer’s latest requirements.

To verify compliance, the seal was tested to 325°C and 350°C, in direct comparison with the seal formerly used by the customer manufactured by a competitor of ours.

Chemical resistance was established measuring the levels of particles and impurities released in hydrochloric acid (HCl) at 3.6% for 24 hours, in hydrochloric acid (HCl) at 3.6% for 168 hours and in hydrofluoric acid (HF) at 0.5% for 160 hours.

Findings

• The seal has consistently performed above the technical requirements specified by the customer.
• At 325°C the seal has exceeded the technical requirements of the customer even from the compression set standpoint while the seal from our competitor was completely destroyed.

• The aging test at 350°C has shown a great stability of the new XFluor® 9090 compound.