April 2021

In order to ensure that process plants meet hygiene requirements, industry-specific approvals and resistance to CIP/SIP media, FREUDENBERG SEALING TECHNOLOGIES has developed a new series of high- performance seals for butterfly valves. The company says the seals have been developed in conjunction with French customer Definox, one of the leading manufacturers of first class process valves and stainless steel equipment for high-end applications in sectors such as food, beverage, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and animal feed. Freudenberg says following rigorous tests, 70 EPDM 291 O-rings have already been delivered to Definox, where they have been successfully deployed and demonstrated and based on this first success, both companies decided to launch a project for the development of new butterfly seals. Developing the new seals saw the two companies draw up a list of technical targets, which included simple installation, uncompromising tightness, wear-resistant materials and sealing geometry free of dead space. With the concept finalised, the development team at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies set to work. As part of an initial phase, Freudenberg performed extensive validation testing of the new valve seal on its in-house test bench. Seals in three reference dimensions were tested in Definox butterfly valves under operating conditions similar to reality. Results from the long-term tests could then be transferred to other seal dimensions. The co-operative partnership between Freudenberg Sealing Technologies and Definox resulted in an advanced butterfly valve seal offering both design innovation and high levels of wear resistance. This can make it ideal for process sector requirements. t | 01332 524422 e | fst-food-beverage@dichtomatik.co.uk | https://foodandbeverage.fst.com/en www.fst.com Flexible conduit manufacturer, FLEXICON has announced it has extended its flexible conduit system offer to include a new liquid tight flexible metal conduit (LMFC), which complies with UL and CSA standard UL360 / CSA C22.2 No. 56-17. The company says the new certification ensures that critical performance factors have been verified by the listing agency, with full transparency through the UL website and stringent periodic testing to verify that performance is maintained. The conduit is compatible with Flexicon’s range of LTP-CUL fittings, which are UL listed to UL514B and offer IP ratings of IP66, IP67, IP68 and IP69. This makes it ideal for applications requiring high levels of ingress protection – for example, in machine tool, industrial, rail, marine, defence, construction and outdoor applications requiring UL and CSA certification. t | 01675 466900 e | flexiconsales@atkore.com w | www.flexicon.uk.com SICK has announced it has launched the versatile W4F family of miniature smart sensors, developed to achieve next-generation detection performance and incorporating powerful new optical technologies, each purpose-designed to master common sensing challenges with complete reliability. The SICK W4F family of photoelectric smart sensors pack a choice of class-leading detection options and application-specific optics into the same, rugged, 16mm x 40mm x 12mm housing. Each features SICK’s trademark BluePilot push-turn pinpoint alignment and on- sensor status display. Impressing with their resilience to bright ambient light, the versatile W4F smart sensors multiply intelligent machine integration options for almost any application, no matter how tight the available mounting space. t | 01727 831121 e | andrea.hornby@sick.co.uk. w | www.sick.co.uk Mini smart sensors Industrial process heating equipment and solutions specialist BABCOCK WANSON has launched the SteamPack range of Fire Tube Steam Boilers, for steam outputs from 3500 kg/h to 8000 kg/h. The company says SteamPack boilers feature unique Babcock Wanson technology in the form of three-pass design and a water tube flue gas reversal chamber for operational flexibility, very high long-term efficiency and reliability and low operating costs. The chamber is welded outside the pressure part body, and does not require any furnace tie rods or reinforcement, giving exceptional flexibility to the shell and furnace expansion allowing large steam load changes with minimal operational stress. This confers to the boiler an increased resistance to cold starts and a great structural strength for very long life. t | 020 8953 7111 e | info@babcock-wanson.com w | www.babcock-wanson.com/products/steam-boilers/steampack/ SteamPack fire tube steam boilers High-performance seals for butterfly valves Pressure sensors perform a vital role in the development of effective robotic solutions for an ever-increasingly diverse and in some cases highly specialised manufacturing applications. One recent example of this is a high-precision pressure monitoring application for concrete processing using 3D printing robots resulting in automated concrete prints, without the need for complex formwork. This new development approach to enhance printing processes was the result of close cooperation between sensor manufacturer BAUMER and the renowned research institute NCCR DFAB (National Centre of Competence in Research - Digital Fabrication), part of the ETH Zurich. Meeting the challenges of pumping concrete consistently and reliably for intricate designs, layer upon layer, without the traditional preparation methods involving complex formwork or mouldings was the key factor. Visit www.pwemag.co.uk for the full release. t | 01793 783839 e | sales.uk@baumer.com w | www.baumer.com/gb/en/ https://www.baumer.com/gb/en/high-precision-pressure-monitoring-for-improved-quality-in-3d-concrete- printing/n/high-precision-pressure-monitoring 24 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk April 2021 Process, Controls & Plant Pressure sensor benefits set in concrete Liquid-tight conduit system range