Freudenberg-NOK engineered profiles address complex food and beverage issues
PLYMOUTH, Mich., Sept. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sealing profiles are deceptively simple.
Profiles are engineered geometries comprised of a single or multiple materials that are used to seal complex systems where extreme environments are present. Profiles are a common sealing solution in the food and beverage industry where scalding temperatures, extreme cold, high and low pressure, aggressive cooking mediums and strong cleaning solutions can damage the elastomer, sometimes in a matter of days or weeks. Engineering an optimal profile requires thorough analysis of sealing materials, FEA (Finite-Element-Analysis) data, manufacturing processes and end use factors and environments in every case.
Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies customers know they can rely on the company's engineered profiles to safely and securely seal their equipment with the best materials under the harshest environmental conditions. The company's custom, high quality, long-life elastomer profiles, for example, provide the food and beverage industry with hygienic and superior sealing solutions that are compliant with multiple international material regulations while outperforming competitor's products. A winning combination of designs and materials, in combination with comprehensive environmental assessments, assures customers that they are buying the very best sealing solutions available today.
Freudenberg-NOK has assisted numerous customers to resolve demanding sealing applications for their commercial combi ovens, steamers, refrigerators, microwave and convection ovens and beverage dispensers.
Design advantages
Freudenberg-NOK profiles offer food and beverage manufacturers clear advantages because of their size flexibility. This is important when a huge industrial oven, freezer or dryer has to be sealed. Tooling for such applications can be cost prohibitive. But Freudenberg-NOK has developed a unique production process that allows the profile and the joint area of a seal to consist of the same material, thus ensuring that the joint is as strong as the rest of the seal when exposed to process media, cleaning agents and thermal effects.
The company's manufacturing and assembly methods further guarantee that tolerances and changes in tolerances in a low pressure environment are no problem. The special design accommodates small and large gaps and is suitable for addressing changes in gap size due to thermal expansion, contractions or deflections.
The low pressure sealing design allows a very low load deflection force, which means that it is easy to compress the seal while maintaining an ability to hold back pressure. This is vital because low-pressure-applications cannot use seals that require high closure forces. Additionally, the seals can be actively or passively inflated or energized. State-of-the-art in-house FEA methods ensure sealing and load deflection.
High-performance materials
Freudenberg-NOK has developed a wide range of high-quality materials for both high and low temperature applications as well as for the contact with aggressive media. In the food and beverage industry the range of temperatures is extremely high. In an oven, for example, temperatures can reach +500 degrees F. Temperatures as low as -85 degrees F occur in flash freezers. The challenge for the seal is here to keep its flexibility and composition.
Freudenberg-NOK also offers chemical resistant materials to meet particularly aggressive environments. These seals perform flawlessly at extremely high temperatures and in the presence of challenging environmental media like high temperature animal renderings, fat and cooking oils used in preparing foods.
Importantly, success stories abound. In one case, Freudenberg-NOK provided an engineered profile to a high volume franchise customer who was having trouble with oven seals. The customer asked for Freudenberg-NOK's help because the formerly installed seals were destroyed after just a few days of oven use. The environment conditions were extremely demanding. Besides large gaps and tolerances, daily automated cleaning processes using liquid sodium hydroxide and contact with animal renderings exposed the seals to continuous temperatures of 450 degrees to 475 degrees F, which exceed even the flash point of animal fat. The seal also had to be resistant to smoke and steam and the sealing force had to be secured with low load deflection forces.
The profile developed by Freudenberg-NOK withstands all these challenges, conforms to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) standards and performs as required for 12 months without failure, well beyond the life span of competitors' products and satisfied the customer's life expectancy.
In another example, the company worked to develop a material that blocks stray microwave radiation. A customer contacted Freudenberg-NOK's Special Sealing Competence Center in Tillsonburg, Ont., Canada to assist in development of a profile that would meet their seal requirements. Dr. Paul Hochgesang, Fellow, helped the plant develop a new composition that incorporates fillers into the material and uses a new manufacturing process to address the customer's sealing needs. The oven door gaskets being molded from the composition eliminates the problem of stray microwave radiation and the technology is being transferred to other product lines.
More information can be obtained from the Freudenberg-NOK specialists at the company's stand at Process Expo (Stand 6533, North Hall, level 3), Sept. 15-18, 2015 in Chicago.
About Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies
Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies is the Americas joint venture between Freudenberg and Co. in Germany and NOK Corp. in Japan. Freudenberg-NOK is a leading producer of advanced sealing technologies for a variety of markets including: aerospace; agriculture; appliance; automotive; construction; diesel engine; energy; food and beverage; heavy industry; and pharmaceutical. Founded in 1989 under the legal name Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, Freudenberg-NOK is headquartered in Plymouth, Mich. and operates more than 20 facilities across the Americas. For additional information, please visit www.fnst.com.
SOURCE Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies
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