The Engineered Materials Group of Parker Hannifin, the global leader in motion and control technologies, is presenting a further development of its universalnobrox compound as part of its diverse materials portfolio for the food, pharma and chemical processing industries showcased in Hanover. Due to its technical properties and possibilities for component integration and reduction of the need to use diverse materials, nobrox W6101, as a versatile material for seals and engineered components, enables new approaches to solving engineering challenges and saving costs in the food industry.
Delivering top performance in terms of wear resistance, chemical stability and resilience, reliability and service life, ease of installation and economy, Parker’s compounds from the nobrox family are equally well suited for use as sealing elements and other engineered components with and without a sealing function. Due to their properties profile, they open up opportunities to reduce the need for using diverse compounds and enable the integration of several functions in a single component. Parker Prädifa is now presenting W6101 as a variant from the nobrox family that meets all the requirements for food applications.
Compound versatility beats compound diversity
In food processing machines, polymeric components such as tubes, covers or housings, as well as highly stressed engineered elements such as seals, wipers, guides and pistons are increasingly used. As a cost-efficient alternative the utilization of plastic materials as a substitute for metal makes sense in many areas as well. The technical requirements in terms of temperature resistance and structural strength can usually be met by selecting appropriate plastic compounds. Typically, various tailored materials are utilized to cover diverse demands. In addition, every one of these materials has to conform to legal requirements for food applications, which entails high documentation and testing requirements.
nobrox W6101 offers new possibilities to meet many market-specific challenges and to thus limit the variety of required materials and associated expense. The material is resistant against media commonly used in the food industry, FDA-conformant and meets the requirements of Regulations (EG) No. 1935/2004 and (EU) No. 10/2011 as well as NSF 61 (U.S. drinking water approval).
Reduction of compound variety and functional integration
Due to its mechanical properties profile, nobrox can be classified to range between thermoplastics such as polyamides and PEEK as well as their derivatives. However, infood industry applications, it offers crucial benefits compared with conventionally used polymeric compounds. A substitution of PEEK, PA, POM, PTFE, UHMW-PE, TPE-U or other elastomers commonly used in the industry makes technical and economic sense in a wide application window.
nobrox is suitable for use in dynamic seals or wipers and a wide variety of engineered components such as pistons, guides or gearbox components. Functional integration – for instance of a seal, wiper or guide in a piston and the associated reduction of the number of components is possible as well.
Improved hygiene and ease of use due to fewer components
As the number of components decreases, so do installation requirements as well as splices and joints in the design, which pose the greatest risk of contamination and accumulation of food resides or micro-organisms. The typically difficult accessibility of narrow gaps (e.g. in front seal of grooves, splices and joints) is reflected in long and costly cleaning cycles. Consequently, instead of fighting contamination by excessive cleaning with increasingly aggressive media, the appropriate approach to be used here is to counteract the causes and risks with materials expertise and intelligent seal or component design. Particularly in domestic appliances, component reduction results in ease of use. The frequently necessary partial dismantling of the devices for maintenance and cleaning is facilitated, saves time and is more convenient.
Wear-resistant even in low-lube and dry running conditions
Machine elements like seals, wipers and guides typically operate under high tribological loads in dry running or low-lube conditions. Therefore, high lifetime requirements make the use of wear-resistant materials indispensable. The utilization of lubricants is often impossible or should be avoided. The excellent wear and creep resistance ofnobrox® has been confirmed by test results.