Resistant seals assure process quality

Highly purified, deionised water at high temperatures used for production processes in biotech and pharmaceuticals has a destructive effect on the elastomer seals used in the production equipment. The degradation of the seals can lead to a deterioration in the quality and purity of the end products.

Accordingly, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has co-operated with a leading producer of pharmaceutical products to find the most appropriate sealing material for use in environments exposed to highly purified water at high temperatures.

During an 84-day test period, seven selected materials were exposed to separate samples of deionised 90°C water from the pharmaceutical company's process systems.

Material specialists from Trelleborg subsequently measured the effects of the test environment on the rigidity, weight, volume, expansion and tensile strength of each of the materials.

The test results clearly indicated that the two EPDM compounds (E7502 and E7518) produced by Trelleborg provided superior resistance to high-temperature deionised water compared with the other materials tested. On the basis of the test results, the pharmaceuticals company replaced all seals in contact with deionised water with seals made from the two specially developed EPDM materials from Trelleborg.