Hydrogen sealing applications
Hydrogen can be sealed as both a gas and a liquid so depending on the application, different conditions must be considered. Generally chemical compatibility is not an issue and most seal materials are suitable. For hydrogen seal applications with no particular challenging demands in any one area, our EPDM elastomer based seals are often the most cost effective.
For permeation resistance, we can offer chlorobutyl elastomer or polyurethane seals.
For applications below -60°C our PTFE, PCTFE and metal sealing solutions can be used down to cryogenic temperatures. For high temperature applications, some FKM or FFKM seals can be used up to 220°C or even 300°C, but the normal preference here would be PTFE sealing solutions.
For high pressure applications, elastomers or polyurethanes with high extrusion resistance and resistance to rapid gas decompression (or PTFE which is not affected by RGD) can be used.
Our metal seals are capable of even higher temperatures up to around 870°C. Metal seals can also have soft coatings such as tin or indium to achieve gas tight sealing, or gold or silver to reduce the risk of hydrogen embrittlement.
Renewable energy sealing applications
For rotary applications in wind and tidal applications we have a selection of materials with outstanding friction and wear resistance characteristics. We manufacture large diameter seals for high pressure and high velocity shafts, and any additional components with oscillating or rotating parts.
For hydraulic applications our seals provide leak free operation at high temperatures and pressures, and prevent the ingress of contaminants into critical areas of equipment to ensure service life and minimise maintenance.
We also have a range of sealing solutions suitable for applications within solar energy fields; for example low friction environmental rotary seals for gearbox shafts used for solar panel positioning.
For geothermal energy applications we offer seals suitable for typical downhole applications such as high pressure and high temperature environments, and seals required for high expansion and extrusion resistance.
For applications with specific requirements, our engineers can assist with the development and testing of new elastomer compounds in order to meet customer needs. We can develop our base elastomer materials to meet particular requirements such as low temperature capability, long term compression set resistance and low susceptibility to gas permeation.
