Elettra S.R.L., of Olgiate Molgora, Italy, a leading producer of blanket, impression and ink roller washing systems for the printing industry, has solved the problem of critical valve seals requiring replacement every 12 hours due to aggressive solvents, by switching to Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer parts.
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Giovanni Ratti, R & D Manager of Elettra, Italy is very satisfied: Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer O-rings installed in the distribution nozzles of Elettra's 'FastWash' cloth blanket washing systems has lead to extending MTBR from 12 hours to over one month. |
Dr. Marco Corti, President of Elettra, explains. "Some of our big commercial off-set web-press customers in Asia and Japan tend to use much more aggressive hydrocarbon-based solvents with our 'FastWash' cloth blanket washing systems than normal. O-rings made of high performance elastomer were swelling and failing after only 12 hours exposure to these solvents, causing not only costly press downtime, but requiring our technical experts to fly out to the customer to change the 'MM' Series valve units, incurring further expense."
"Our seal supplier Angst + Pfister recommended testing Kalrez® SpectrumTM 6375 O-rings in these aggressive conditions. These O-rings have been immersed in the solvent for over one month to date without any signs of swelling or damage. As a result we have decided to fit and retrofit Kalrez® O-rings to all FastWash systems operating with such solvents."
Elettra's patented 'FastWash' cloth blanket washing systems are designed to clean printing ink, paper dust and impurities from blanket, impression and ink rollers in web and sheet-fed off-set printing machines. The unit uses a dry cloth roll of DuPont Sontara® spunlaced fabric impregnated with cleaning solvent that revolves to present a fresh cleaning cloth to the roller for each wash cycle. This either takes place automatically during print production, or off-impression after every 100'000 prints.
Up to 12 valve washing heads are fitted across the unit, equivalent to the length of the print rollers. The system relies on three O-rings and one custom shape to prevent solvent loss and leakage. Outstanding resistance to aggressive cleaning solvents is now provided by Kalrez® SpectrumTM 6375 perfluoroelastomer O-rings and custom shapes.
Kalrez® SpectrumTM 6375 has been developed specifically for use in chemical and hydrocarbon processing environments. It provides outstanding performance in a wide range of chemicals including acids, bases, amines and steam up to 275°C, in applications such as mechanical seals, flanges and pumps.
Sontara® is a registered trademark of DuPont.
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