Long-Term Compliant and Therefore Future Proof

Fluororubber (FKM) has become an integral material for the process industry. It is suitable for applications under high temperatures and with aggressive media. These properties are critically important for the food and beverage as well as in the pharmaceutical industries. Those beneficial properties lead to high demand for the material and this in turn to long delivery times. The material from Freudenberg Sealing Technologies meets high purity standards and is strongly resistant to media and temperature. In addition, it scores with its good availability.

Meeting long-term regulatory requirements

Thanks to the dedicated work of the material developers, the elastomer also meets all current regulatory requirements of the process industry in the long term. These include, on the one hand, certifications and approvals that ensure that materials that come into contact with food do not transfer harmful substances to the food [EU (Reg.) 1935/2004, FDA § 177.2600 and BfR XXI]. "This uncompromisingly complies with the latest regulations," explains Dr. Martin Scherer, material developer at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies. "This is important because there are constant updates on the cleanliness of food contact materials, especially in Europe." Furthermore, the USP Chapter 87 (in vitro) confirmation required for use in medical and pharmaceutical applications is available, which proves that the material has no toxic effects on cell cultures. The strict hygienic requirements of the food and pharmaceutical industries for the elastomer are met with the certification according to 3-A® Sanitary Standards. In addition, the material does not contain any ingredients of animal origin (ADI free). The USP Class VI (Chapter 88) approval, which is important for use in medical applications, is currently still in progress.

The peroxidic-crosslinked material offers very good resistance to aggressive process media and is toxicologically completely harmless based on the release tests carried out. These outstanding properties compared to commercially available materials and the very wide range of applications at temperatures from -25 °C to +200 °C make it the ideal material for product-contacting applications in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries.

High-performance material for demanding tasks

The new FKM is well suited for applications where seals made of other elastomers, such as EPDM or HNBR, are too weak. For example, in processes in the beverage industry involving pure citrus juices, dairy products or aromatic oils, such as orange or hop oil.