What’s the Right Elastomer for Your Application?
Fluorinated, carbon-based synthetic rubber materials, known as fluoroelastomer or FKM, emerged as a popular choice for high-performance seals in the late 1950s. Those materials can withstand temperatures greater than 200°C and are still used to manufacture O-rings, seals and gaskets for automotive, aerospace, energy and other industries.
In the 1970s, DuPont™ introduced Kalrez®, a perfluoroelastomer or FFKM compound, as the gold standard elastomer for high-performance seals in aggressive media environments. FFKM has since been enhanced for even greater performance and is more widely available.
What is a Perfluoroelastomer?
FFKM has a fluorinated backbone and higher fluorine content than the FKM compound, which allows for greater material elasticity. It also has a higher temperature rating of up to 325°C. FFKM has a nearly universal chemical compatibility, making it an ideal choice for challenging applications.
Advantages of a Perfluoroelastomer
Due to its superior inert properties, FFKM resists volume swell when exposed to more than 1,800 chemicals, solvents and plasmas. FFKM can also withstand the harshest conditions, including those found in medical applications where aggressive agents and steam are used for sterilization and semiconductor manufacturing where oxygen plasma is present.
Because of those advantages, FFKM parts are a viable choice for chemical processing, aerospace, oil and gas exploration, paint and ink production, water and irrigation, life science, medical, and food manufacturing and processing applications.
FKM & FFKM Elastomers Available at Humphrey Products
Humphrey Products has offered FKM as a temperature and chemical compatibility sealing option on their industrial and specialty valves for many years.
Today, Humphrey offers an FFKM diaphragm option for our 350 Series 2-port and 370 Series 3-port iDP aggressive media solenoid valves. We’ve paired the FFKM diaphragm option with our inert Radel® body material to ensure our iDP valves can safely control the most difficult liquid and gas media, including reagents, chemicals, cleaners, and even steam.
Trust the long-term, proven performance of FFKM parts to reduce the frequency of seal changes, lower inspection and repair costs, improve equipment uptime and increase productivity and yield.
For more information, contact Humphrey Products online or call 1.800.477.8707.