- Email: [email protected]
Parker purchases French EMI shielding supplier
NEWS
Peelable grommet seals arrange of sizes AFL Telecommunications has introduced a new Peel & Seal Grommet System, which it claims has passed stringent qualification tests and is now ready for the OSP telecommunications market. Each grommet is designed to accommodate several cable diameters. There are a number of separated thin layers of material working toward the core of the grommet. The installer determines how many layers of material to peel away from the core that will give the best fit on a cable diameter for a seal. This can be determined with a diameter-tape measuring
tool. By wrapping the tape around the cable, the installers will be able to view markings that will direct them towards peeling away the proper number of layers from the grommet. The grommet is then placed around the cable and installed in its seat. Once the bolts are tightened via the pillow blocks, the cable is sealed. Contact: AFL Telecommunications Ltd, Unit H, Newcombe Drive, Hawkesworth Trading Estate, Swindon SN2 1DZ, UK. Tel: +44 1793 647 200, Email: [email protected], Web: www.afltele.com
Parker purchases French EMI shielding supplier US-based Parker Hannifin Corporation has acquired Acofab SAS and its common majority shareholder Adecem SARL, a European supplier of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and thermal management products. Acofab employs 64 people in the Vert-Galant industrial area of Saint-Ouen l’Aumone, near Paris, and had revenues in 2005 of approximately $12.9 million. The products manufactured by the company include engineered EMI shielding gaskets and accessories,
conductive thermoplastics, thermal management materials, HF absorbers, dielectric materials and gaskets. The major markets include telecom, military and consumer electronics. Acofab will be integrated into Parker’s Chomerics Division, of the Parker Seal Group. Contact: Parker Seal Group, Chomerics Division, 77 Dragon Court, Woburn, MA 018884014, USA. Tel: +1 781 935 4850, Fax: +1 781 933 4318, Email: [email protected], Web: www.parker.com
Flowserve acquires Czech Republic seal manufacturer Texas-based Flowserve Corporation has purchased Hydro Technik Olomouc sro, a privately owned mechanical seal manufacturer based in Olomouc, Czech Republic. HydroTechnik Olomouc (HTO) was established in 1992 by seal specialists from the former SIGMA Pumps Research Institute and offers a range of mechanical seals and related products, focusing on Czech original equipment manufacturers, and power and process industry markets. The acquisition is intended
Sealing Technology September 2006
to provide Flowserve with a rapid route into supporting customers and expanding business in the Czech Republic and throughout Eastern Europe. The Olomouc facility will be configured as a Flowserve Quick Response Center (QRC) to support regional customers. Contact: Flowserve Corporation, Flow Solutions Division, 5215 North O’Connor Boulevard, Suite 2300, Irving, TX 75039, USA. Tel: +1 972 443 6652, Fax: +1 972 443 6952, Web: www.flowserve.com
SEALS IN THE NEWS Sealing problems threatened round-the-world voyage In May 2006 Dee Caffari became the first woman to sail single handed around the world, the wrong way, against the prevailing wind. Among the problems that she had to overcome were two sealing problems that could have caused her to abandon the trip. Little more than a week into the voyage her desalinater, for producing fresh water, failed. The shore team stripped down a similar machine and decided that the high pressure seals needed changing and rebuilt it. The information was relayed to Caffari, who then did the same. As she was about to enter the Southern Ocean her autopilot failed. ‘I had trouble with it as I was about to enter the Southern Ocean. I was debating whether it was too dangerous to go on.’ A leak from the hydraulic pump was the cause of the problem, and after
Dee Caffari successfully completes the first lone circumnavigation the wrong way round by a woman, after overcoming sealing problems that could have made her abandon the trip.
fixing this she decided to continue. The autopilot is of course crucial to a lone sailor on a long voyage. From the Daily Telegraph of 22 July.
Wrong gasket partially to blame for fatal explosion A fatal explosion at a chemical plant in Morganton, North Carolina, USA last January was partially due to the use of an incorrect gasket according to evidence presented to the investigation. Workers reported that the batch of paint additive being processed at the plant owned by Synthron was much larger than normal. They also said a gasket used on the reactor was not the correct type. The week before the accident the company had
fitted a new gasket on the reactor, but witnesses said it was slightly larger than required. One worker suggested the ill-fitting gasket could have inhibited safety release valves, contributing to the uncontrolled chemical reaction, that investigators suspect triggered the explosion. One worker was killed and 14 injured. The company was ultimately found guilty of 40 safety offences. From reports in the Charlotte Observer during June.
Gasket failure causes fire A fire at the Citgo Refinery West in Corpus Christi, Texas in July was blamed on a gasket that failed. The leakage occurred on a pipe feeding hydrogen to a tower on
the refinery. The fire was contained and the pipe purged with nitrogen. There were no injuries. From a report in the Corpus Christi Caller Times, Web: www.caller.com
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Peelable grommet seals arrange of sizes AFL Telecommunications has introduced a new Peel & Seal Grommet System, which it claims has passed stringent qualification tests and is now ready for the OSP telecommunications market. Each grommet is designed to accommodate several cable diameters. There are a number of separated thin layers of material working toward the core of the grommet. The installer determines how many layers of material to peel away from the core that will give the best fit on a cable diameter for a seal. This can be determined with a diameter-tape measuring
tool. By wrapping the tape around the cable, the installers will be able to view markings that will direct them towards peeling away the proper number of layers from the grommet. The grommet is then placed around the cable and installed in its seat. Once the bolts are tightened via the pillow blocks, the cable is sealed. Contact: AFL Telecommunications Ltd, Unit H, Newcombe Drive, Hawkesworth Trading Estate, Swindon SN2 1DZ, UK. Tel: +44 1793 647 200, Email: [email protected], Web: www.afltele.com
Parker purchases French EMI shielding supplier US-based Parker Hannifin Corporation has acquired Acofab SAS and its common majority shareholder Adecem SARL, a European supplier of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and thermal management products. Acofab employs 64 people in the Vert-Galant industrial area of Saint-Ouen l’Aumone, near Paris, and had revenues in 2005 of approximately $12.9 million. The products manufactured by the company include engineered EMI shielding gaskets and accessories,
conductive thermoplastics, thermal management materials, HF absorbers, dielectric materials and gaskets. The major markets include telecom, military and consumer electronics. Acofab will be integrated into Parker’s Chomerics Division, of the Parker Seal Group. Contact: Parker Seal Group, Chomerics Division, 77 Dragon Court, Woburn, MA 018884014, USA. Tel: +1 781 935 4850, Fax: +1 781 933 4318, Email: [email protected], Web: www.parker.com
Flowserve acquires Czech Republic seal manufacturer Texas-based Flowserve Corporation has purchased Hydro Technik Olomouc sro, a privately owned mechanical seal manufacturer based in Olomouc, Czech Republic. HydroTechnik Olomouc (HTO) was established in 1992 by seal specialists from the former SIGMA Pumps Research Institute and offers a range of mechanical seals and related products, focusing on Czech original equipment manufacturers, and power and process industry markets. The acquisition is intended
Sealing Technology September 2006
to provide Flowserve with a rapid route into supporting customers and expanding business in the Czech Republic and throughout Eastern Europe. The Olomouc facility will be configured as a Flowserve Quick Response Center (QRC) to support regional customers. Contact: Flowserve Corporation, Flow Solutions Division, 5215 North O’Connor Boulevard, Suite 2300, Irving, TX 75039, USA. Tel: +1 972 443 6652, Fax: +1 972 443 6952, Web: www.flowserve.com
SEALS IN THE NEWS Sealing problems threatened round-the-world voyage In May 2006 Dee Caffari became the first woman to sail single handed around the world, the wrong way, against the prevailing wind. Among the problems that she had to overcome were two sealing problems that could have caused her to abandon the trip. Little more than a week into the voyage her desalinater, for producing fresh water, failed. The shore team stripped down a similar machine and decided that the high pressure seals needed changing and rebuilt it. The information was relayed to Caffari, who then did the same. As she was about to enter the Southern Ocean her autopilot failed. ‘I had trouble with it as I was about to enter the Southern Ocean. I was debating whether it was too dangerous to go on.’ A leak from the hydraulic pump was the cause of the problem, and after
Dee Caffari successfully completes the first lone circumnavigation the wrong way round by a woman, after overcoming sealing problems that could have made her abandon the trip.
fixing this she decided to continue. The autopilot is of course crucial to a lone sailor on a long voyage. From the Daily Telegraph of 22 July.
Wrong gasket partially to blame for fatal explosion A fatal explosion at a chemical plant in Morganton, North Carolina, USA last January was partially due to the use of an incorrect gasket according to evidence presented to the investigation. Workers reported that the batch of paint additive being processed at the plant owned by Synthron was much larger than normal. They also said a gasket used on the reactor was not the correct type. The week before the accident the company had
fitted a new gasket on the reactor, but witnesses said it was slightly larger than required. One worker suggested the ill-fitting gasket could have inhibited safety release valves, contributing to the uncontrolled chemical reaction, that investigators suspect triggered the explosion. One worker was killed and 14 injured. The company was ultimately found guilty of 40 safety offences. From reports in the Charlotte Observer during June.
Gasket failure causes fire A fire at the Citgo Refinery West in Corpus Christi, Texas in July was blamed on a gasket that failed. The leakage occurred on a pipe feeding hydrogen to a tower on
the refinery. The fire was contained and the pipe purged with nitrogen. There were no injuries. From a report in the Corpus Christi Caller Times, Web: www.caller.com
5