NEWS

October 2011 Sealing Technology5

tapping into a level of technical expertise and ‘‘best in class’’ products that are second to none in the market place.’

‘I look forward with great optimism to releasing the potential of the New-Seal branch network, utilising the Sealex model of customer service, combined with the expertise contained within New-Seal and the technical experience from the FDS Group.’

The acquisition of Sealex will take the group’s UK workforce to over 250, with further job opportunities to be announced across other UK sites. It is also expected to increase the group’s UK sales by over £3 million.

FDS Group says that Flexitallic and Novus Sealing have traditionally worked with OEMs and key end-users to create sealing products. The route to market has been a mix of direct trading and the use of the well established distributors and gasket cutters that are prevalent in the UK market place. Most of these are successful inde-pendent companies and, therefore, have tended to promote a range of preferred products often from a wide selection of manufacturers.

Recently there has been a trend where manu-facturers in the UK have purchased distribu-tion companies or major European distributors have purchased UK outlets, and this has made it difficult to find distributors to help promote Flexitallic and Novus products in a way that it is preferred. Therefore, the group has set up a strat-egy to enhance the distribution of its products through a network in the UK providing cover in the key end-user areas. However, the company says that it will continue to support independent distributors and cutters so that its customers con-tinued to receive the products they require.

Contacts:

FDS Group, 1 rue Villaret de Joyeuse, 75017 Paris,

France. Tel: +33 1 48 88 88 87, Web: www.fdsgroup.net

Sealex Ltd, Poole Hall Road, Poole Hall Industrial

Estate, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH66 1ST, UK.

Tel: +44 151 357 1551, Fax: +44 151 357 1734,

www.sealexltd.co.uk

CT scanning unit gives Freudenberg an ‘‘inside view’’ of components

The microscopy department at Freudenberg Forschungsdienste

(Freudenberg Research Services) has started using a computed tomography (CT) scanning unit to obtain an insight into the characteristics of the internal

structure of materials and components.CT is a powerful, non-destructive (NDE)

medical imaging technique that employs tom-ography based on data processed by a com-puter. Digital geometry processing is used to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image of the inside of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation.

These 3D images provide a perfect, faith-ful insight into the inside of the object being examined. Using software, these images can be viewed and analysed in a variety of different ways. The object being examined can be turned and rotated on screen as required and can be viewed from all conceivable angles.

With the help of CT images Freudenberg checks whether material samples, prototypes and initial sample components meet the stipu-lated specifications. These images also can be used to identify component damage and analyse its causes. It says that components can be virtu-ally ‘‘carved up’’ at any point.

Freudenberg also uses CT scanning to find out whether air has been trapped in cast parts, develop elastomer components and perform fracture analysis.

Contact:

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies GmbH & Co Kg,

69465 Weinheim, Germany. Tel: +49 6201 80 6666,

Fax: +49 6201 88 6666, Email: fds@freudenberg.de,

Web: www.freudenberg-ds.de

Success for The Academy of Joint Integrity

The Academy of Joint Integrity (AJI) reports that it has seen a significant

increase in the number of enquiries from people wishing to book places on its range of courses.

I N B R I E F

Rick Dawson is named CEO of Bal SealBal Seal Engineering Inc in the USA has announced that its board of directors has appointed Rick Dawson as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) and president. Dawson will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of Bal Seal, a privately-owned firm that supplies custom-engineered sealing, connecting, conducting and EMI/RFI shield-ing components to the medical, aerospace, automotive and other industries worldwide. Dawson commented: ‘The company’s ability to combine the simple, elegant Canted Coil Spring with polymer sealing and metal retain-ing technology has enabled it to build a vast application knowledge-base and help manu-facturers solve some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges.’

Fluoroloy materials qualified to API 6A standardsSaint-Gobain Performance Plastics says that its Fluoroloy brand grades of high-performance, custom formulated compounds and alloys for extreme and speciality sealing applications – including PTFE and PTFE blends, fluoropol-ymers, PEEK and UHMW-PE – have been qualified to API 6A standards. The company tested the materials to API 6A ‘Specification for Wellhead and Christmas Tree Equipment’ section F1.13.5.2 Immersion Testing in fluid HH. This involves immersing samples in a sour (hydrogen sulphide-containing) environ-ment to assess the changes in mechanical and physical properties. Five Fluoroloy thermo-plastic materials were immersed in the liquid phase (diesel) of a sour fluid for 160 hours, 10/80/10% H2S/CO2/CH4, at a test pressure of 1000 psi (6.9 MPa) and temperature of 200°C. Mass, volume and tensile measure-ments were recorded for both un-aged samples and for samples following ageing in H2S. The tensile properties were calculated according to the method set out in ASTM D638. The firm says that none of the materials showed severe damage following exposure, and changes in tensile properties of less than 10% were seen.

Alfa Laval offers next-day delivery service for PHE gasket rangeAlfa Laval Ltd in the UK says that is now able to offer ex-stock, next-day delivery of most of the products in its plate heat exchanger (PHE) gasket range. Any item that has been picked more than three times in the preced-ing 12 months automatically becomes avail-able for delivery from stock, says the firm. Consequently, 97% of its gaskets are now available for next-day delivery. The firm’s pur-pose-equipped, UK-based workshop is capable of ‘‘re-gasketting’’ and reconditioning up to 54 000 large PHE plates every year.

Freudenberg Forschungsdienste is using Computed Tomography (CT) images to provide an insight into the characteristics of the internal structure of components.

NEWS

6Sealing Technology October 2011

The FDS Group – comprising Flexitallic Group, Novus Sealing, Siem Supranite and Induseal Gaskets – launched the AJI earlier this year (Sealing Technology February 2011, page 6). It has dedicated facilities in the UK in Aberdeen, Teeside/Humberside and West Yorkshire, and worldwide in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand, China, the Middle East and Kazakhstan.

Since it opened, the academy, which is also an Energy Institute Approved Training Provider (a professional body for the energy industries) has seen considerable interest for its accredited training courses that cover joint integrity and flange management processes, with an empha-sis on the importance of certified bolted joint assemblers, in order to achieve and maintain a leak-free bolted connection.

Gary Milne, head of the academy and man-ager of the FDS Group’s Global Client Training Division, commented: ‘Welders are able to train and become certified to industry standards, but bolted joint assemblers did not have the same opportunity.’

‘Opening the academy has proved to be a prudent decision by FDS, which although not designed to generate revenue, offers integrity within the industry through the delivery of first-class training to accommodate a genuine industry need.’

The academy has also invested in an easy-to-use flange assembly demonstration unit (FADU). Unlike other units, the simplified FADU design is based on more than 15 years of teaching key, bolted joint assembly techniques to diverse groups of process engineers, mechan-ics and other support organisation personnel around the world.

‘Not only do we know what it takes to illus-trate the key technical principles that determine effective gasket bolted joint assembly, but we also understand what is needed to be able to effectively convey that information to students in a decisive manner. The FADU is designed to do just that,’ added Milne.

The training, which is provided by industry experts, can be held at the academy’s purpose-built training facilities or can be conducted at the client’s premises – using mobile training rigs and equipment. A Web-based learning portal, using a e-learning programme will be available soon, says the academy.

Contacts:

FDS Group, 1 rue Villaret de Joyeuse, 75017 Paris,

France. Tel: +33 1 48 88 88 87,

Web: www.fdsgroup.net

The Academy of Joint Integrity.

Email: info@academyji.com,

Web: www.academyofjointintegrity.com

Companies combine strengths to analyse turbine performance

In the UK, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has brought

together three companies to produce engineering design and good materials data that can be used to analyse the performance of turbines and help them to operate efficiently.

Modern regimes of operating power-generating units put stress on critical turbine compo-nents, leading to wear and fatigue. This project attempted to identify and test materials that might improve the resilience of turbine components.

Traditionally, gas turbines in power stations would be shut down only at weekends, says NPL. Today, they increasingly operate “on-demand”, starting up and shutting down many times a day. This puts greater stress on turbine components, particularly combustion seals, and accelerates wear. There is therefore a need for robust engineering design and good materials data which can be used to analyse the performance of turbines and help them to operate efficiently.

To address this need NPL brought together the expertise of three industry partners – Alstom Power UK Ltd, a designer and manu-facturer of gas turbines; manufacturer of resil-ient metal seals Nicholsons Sealing Technologies Ltd; and Praxair Surface Technologies Ltd, a specialist in seal coatings.

The project aimed to improve the selection of materials used to make combustion chamber seals – critical components at risk of degradation. It developed reliable test procedures to measure wear and friction up to 850ºC – the temperature regime over which the gas turbines typically operate – and will enable the development of products that meet future market needs.

‘We were able to select a new type of seal as a result of the project, and we are now looking to build on this knowledge,’ commented Alstom Power’s Dr Pete Barnard.

Contact:s:

National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road,

Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0LW, UK.

Tel: +44 20 8977 3222, Web: www.npl.co.uk

Alstom UK, The Place, 175 High Holborn, London

WC1V 7AA, UK. Tel: +44 207 438 9230,

Fax: +44 207 438 9298, Web: www.alstom.com

Nicholsons Sealing Technologies Ltd, Amos Drive,

Greencroft Industrial Park, Stanley, County Durham

DH9 7YE, UK. Tel: +44 1207 523010,

Fax: +44 1207 523011, Email: info@nicholsons.com,

Web: www.nicholsons.co.uk

Praxair Surface Technologies Ltd, Drakes Way,

Greenbridge Estate, Swindon, Wiltshire SN3 3HX, UK.

Tel: +44 1793 512 555, Fax: +44 1793 611 608,

Email: pst_uk@praxair.com, Web: www.praxair.com

Rijkswaterstaat ship retrofitted with durable, closed oil-lubricated system

Earlier this year, Rijkswaterstaat, part of the Dutch Ministry of

Infrastructure and the Environment, decided to retrofit the seals and bear-ings used in the stern tube system of its multifunctional ship Kennemer.

The project involved changing it from an open water lubrication unit to a closed oil-lubricated stern tube system.

The Kennemer used to sail in relatively deep waters, until the company decided to deploy the ship in the West Frisian Islands area. Even though the existing system functioned quite well in deep waters, it failed in the new unpre-dictable area.

Rijkswaterstaat’s Henk Bos explained: ‘The sea around the West Frisian Islands tends to turn in to tide-land quite unpredictably. If pos-sible, we try to sail through, even in very shal-low waters. In this situation a lot of sand and debris enters the stern tube. This is disastrous for open water lubricated systems.’

While sailing in shallow waters, the filters, membranes and retaining ring become heavily polluted or even clogged. As a result, the ship had to dock more than once a year to replace the bearings – resulting in high maintenance costs. At that point Rijkswaterstaat decided to retrofit to the alternative, durable, closed oil-lubricated system.

The company chose IHC Lagersmit to deliver fully compatible Supreme lip seals and bearings. Unlike the water-lubricated system, the oil-lubricated unit is closed to ensure that oil stays inside and water is prevented from entering the stern tube. To protect the system against sand and debris the aft seal is equipped with multiple lips and an extra dirt barrier.

‘We find that the problem with sand and debris is main reason to switch from open water to closed oil-lubricated systems,’ said IHC Lagersmit’s application engineer Jan Boomsma.

The Supreme LD is designed for use in small, seagoing and inland vessels. It effectively seals conventional propulsion systems – those