Application Knowledge

Sanitary Seal Division


Sanitary Gaskets and O-Rings used in food, beverage and pharmaceutical production equipment can be damaged during installation or deteriorate over time due to exposure to continuous vibration, extreme temperatures and corrosive chemicals.

Platinum cured gaskets and o-rings (VMQ) can often be the best choice for food, beverage, pharmaceutical and biotechnology production applications.

The material that an o-ring is made from is the principle determining factor on whether it can be identified as food grade or food safe.

The use of metal detectable o-rings is a very effective method for locating rubber fragments of seals and gaskets that have migrated into the process stream.

Regardless of government regulations it is important that production processes are designed to keep foreign materials from entering the process stream and critical that a system is in place to detect contaminated product and prevent it from leaving the production facility.

An important aspect of food safety is keeping foreign materials from contaminating the food product. Because sanitary gaskets and other elastomeric sealing components are a potential source of contamination, it is important to take the necessary steps to reduce this risk.

FEP-/PFA-encapsulated o-rings combine the outlasting chemical resistance of PTFE with the sealing force of an elastomer. In general, Teflon® Encapsulated O-Rings should be applied standard elastomers do not provide sufficient chemical resistance.

Unitized sanitary gaskets are a novel approach to solving some of the problems encountered with Tri-Clamp sealing applications, particularly those involving aggressive environments.