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Oxygen service

Sealing solutions developed, manufactured under clean conditions and tested for safety to minimise hazard risk from gaseous and liquid oxygen media.

Cleanliness and purity

Oxygen - essential for life yet so dangerous, posing huge potential risk when utilised in industrial processes. To ensure the safety of plant and personnel, extreme caution is required to ensure that all systems used for handling oxygen are correctly specified, designed, manufactured and maintained because the smallest error at any stage can prove catastrophic.

Although oxygen itself does not burn, it supports combustion. The more oxygen present in a system the greater the risk of fire occurring and the lower the temperature at which ignition will occur until, in its purest form, it can cause the rapid or spontaneous combustion of most materials - even metals.

Oxygen bonds with all elements in the process known as oxidation. If this process occurs rapidly fire can result. It is therefore essential that materials which will oxidise rapidly are not present in oxygen processing systems. Contaminants such as oils and greases, including anything from lubricants to simple residue contamination from handling components with bare hands, are very capable of reacting with oxygen to cause fire and potentially an explosion.

In addition to ensuring cleanliness when working on oxygen handling systems all components, including sealing products such as gaskets and compression packings, must also conform to the same levels of cleanliness - containing no potentially reactive lubricants or materials.

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Supagraf® OX

Developed specifically for valve services with gaseous and liquid oxygen, to provide safe operation and low emission rates. This valve stem packing is manufactured in a clean-room environment, from yarn to finished product. It comprises high purity flexible graphite yarn treated with oxidation inhibitors. The yarns are individually reinforced with Inconel 600 wire mesh.

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Supagraf® OX
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Metaflex®

Metaflex spiral-wound gaskets are available to meet the needs of oxygen service applications and gas to liquid environments where fire safe approval is essential. Typically manufactured in a combination of 316L stainless and high purity graphite, these products are manufactured in a controlled clean-room environment to ensure a finished item that is free from any contaminants that could react with oxygen.

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Metaflex®

Case study

Valve stem sealing for critical oxygen service

One of the largest global producers of gas-to-liquid products had been looking for the most reliable packing solution for their critical oxygen on/off valves in the gas separation process plant, part of a large refinery facility.

Looking for the safest, fully controlled and most temperature resistant packing, this customer has run an extensive validation programme reviewing all well-known oxygen packing solutions available on the market.

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Valve stem sealing for critical oxygen service

Expert to Expert

Want to discuss your project, engineering or materials challenge expert to expert? Simply provide us with your contact details and a little information about the application you are working on, and one of our experts will contact you as soon as possible.

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