Small Volume Prover Seal Materials
There are two common types of seal materials that are available when choosing seals for a small volume prover. They are carbon or Ekonol®. Please note that other seal materials are available, for non-standard applications, however, today our discussion will focus on the two standards.
Seal Function:
Small Volume Prover seals are critical for accurate measurement and for containing the process material within the Prover. The seals are used in several key components of SVP’s, such as the piston, poppet, and shaft seal retainers. (See image above).
Seal Material:
Although the seal materials are called out as Carbon and Ekonol®, the base material used in the construction of both seal types is polytetrafluoroethylene otherwise known as PTFE. PTFE is commonly known as Teflon and is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene. It is widely used in numerous applications, seals just being one of them. The properties of PTFE make it chemical, temperature, corrosion and weather resistant.
- Carbon seals are a combination of PTFE and carbon. This combination provides strength, resistance to wear, thermal conductivity and low permeability.
- Ekonol® seals are a combination of PTFE with the aromatic polyester trademarked as Ekonol®. This blend provides flexibility, high-temperature resistance, wear resistance and increased service life.
Click here to read the complete article to find out which seal type is best for your application.