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DuPont Performance Elastomers, Hall 9, Stand H36-H38, ACHEMA 2006FDA compliant Viton® GF-600S & ETP-600S fluoroelastomers improve pharma sealing performance  Download Graph 1 (jpg) Relative Performance of Elastomer Sealing Materials
Spider chart illustrates the three CPI performance envelopes of DuPont Performance Elastomers Viton® Viton® GF-600S and Viton® Extreme™ ETP-600S – the latest FDA compliant types of specialty fluoroelastomers designed to outperform silicone, EPDM and bisphenol-cured FKM in critical pharmaceutical, food and beverage process sealing – spearhead DuPont Performance Elastomers (DPE) Viton® products line-up for DPE also features Viton® A-401C, a chemical process industry standard fluoroelastomer offering excellent resistance to compression set and to aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The company are using the occasion to reinforce its “Genuine Viton®” programme which provides assurance to the industry that the sealing products are made of 100 per cent Viton®. Fluoroelastomers for repeat use food contact Viton® GF-600S and Viton® Extreme™ ETP-600S fluoroelastomers have been developed to seal pharmaceutical, food and beverage processes where repeat-use food contact compliance is required. According to DPE, these FDA-compliant fluoroelastomers provide superior steam resistance than silicone, better caustic cleaning fluid resistance versus EPDM and bisphenol-cured FKM, and low total organic carbon and metal extractables similar to PTFE. The new Viton® types are made with Advanced Polymer Architecture (APA), a proprietary development by the company that improves the performance of specialty fluoroelastomers. Viton® GF-600S is a high-fluorine, peroxide-cure type of specialty fluoroelastomer that exhibits superior resistance to steam and to a much wider variety of cleaning fluids than older bisphenol-cured FKM, and also offers excellent physical properties, including resistance to compression set. FDA food contact compliance for Viton â GF-600S with limitations/specifications for repeat-use applications is outlined in Food Contact Notification (FCN) 510*. Viton® Extreme™ ETP-600S is a unique specialty fluoroelastomer copolymer that exhibits excellent resistance to steam and to attack by an exceptionally broad variety of chemicals and fluids, including aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, acids, bases, all types of alcohols and even low molecular weight ketones, esters, and aldehydes. FDA food contact compliance for Viton â ETP-600S with limitations/specifications for repeat-use applications is outlined in Food Contact Notification (FCN) 539*. Comparative tests Comparative laboratory test results have shown Viton® GF-600S and Viton® Extreme™ ETP-600S to provide: • Improved resistance to steam and caustic cleaning fluids versus bisphenol-cured FKM. • Superior steam resistance compared to silicone. • Better caustic cleaning fluid resistance than EPDM. • Significantly lower total organic carbon and metal extractables. • Sealing capability up to 200°C in continuous service, and at higher temperatures for short-term excursions. The new level of sealing performance claimed for Viton® GF-600S and Viton® Extreme™ ETP-600S is based on comparative laboratory tests by DuPont Performance Elastomers on seals made with EPDM, platinum-cured silicone, bisphenol-cured FKM, and PTFE, obtained from a commercial supplier of seals used in the food and pharmaceutical industry (see Aggressive sterilization processes Sterilization processes used by pharmaceutical, food and beverage manufacturers frequently use steam, caustic chemicals or a combination of both. These aggressive conditions are very demanding on commonly used sealing materials such as EPDM, silicone, PTFE and bisphenol-cured FKM. EPDM is capable of providing excellent steam resistance, but exhibits relatively poor resistance to some commonly used cleaning fluids. Seals made with silicone may provide good resistance to a wide variety of cleaning fluids, but have relatively poor steam resistance. PTFE seals offer excellent resistance to steam and chemical attack, but, because of their plastic nature, can creep under stress, resulting in leaks or failure. Bisphenol-cured FKM has good steam resistance but is less resistant to some caustic sterilization processes. Viton® A-401C Viton® A-401C fluoroelastomer combines excellent resistance to compression set and to aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons with good low temperature sealing performance. Its wide availability and good cost-to-performance economics establish Viton® A-401C as an industry standard for broad chemical process sealing. Genuine Viton® Mark Many FKM products are available on the market, and some are incorrectly referred to as Viton®, causing confusion. Some FKMs are blends or made with reprocessed fluoroelastomers or non-fluorinated rubbers with significantly inferior resistance to heat and fluids. As a result, there is a risk that users could install sealing products that fall short of expected performance levels. DuPont Performance Elastomers operates a “Genuine Viton® Program” with licensed suppliers who use 100 per cent virgin Viton® fluoroelastomer as the sole elastomeric component in their products. Only Genuine Viton® Program Licensees can label these products as Viton® fluoroelastomers, or use a mark that states “Made with Genuine Viton®”. The programme is designed to protect users from imitations or blends passed off as Viton® that are not labelled with the mark of authenticity. * Information relative to FCN 510 and FCN 539 can be reviewed at FDA's website of effective notifications for food contact substances : http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/opa-fcn.html/ About DuPont Performance Elastomers # # #
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