Our last post about fluoropolymers was about how it is important to spread the word about your company, products, executives, etc.  This post is similar, yet will discuss using a marketing agency in general and the importance of improving your Web site.

Fluorotherm’s fluoropolymer products can be utilized by many companies in a variety of industries, but it is our job to let that be known.  Small businesses do not always have the time to direct resources towards marketing and advertising though both are important in recruiting new sales.  Many small companies decide to outsource to marketing agencies in order to facilitate marketing and advertising.

Our major products are fluoropolymers such as PTFE, PFA, FEP, and MFA.  In addition, other popular items with our customers include immersion heat exchangers and shell and tube heat exchangers.  We wanted current and potential customers to easily find these items and learn more about them on our Web site.  This was a top priority in working with our marketing firm.

The best suggestion we can provide to other small businesses with Web sites is to clearly display your contact forms on your Web site.  This enables your company to gather their information regarding a desired service/product, and you can also maintain their contact information to provide more insight and information about future products and services.

In addition, our marketing firm helped us with some public relations initiatives and facilitated higher rankings on the search engines for our keywords such as fluoropolymers, PTFE, FEP, MFA, and so on.

To Our Valued Customers,

Beginning this month, we would like to selectively pick one of the unique characteristics of fluoropolymers and briefly elaborate on the reasons why they are the materials of choice over other polymers for applications that require specific performance criteria.

 

Some of these criteria may require electrical, chemical inertness, non-shedding, optical, thermal (both high temperature and cryogenic conditions), ultraviolet light transparency, lubricity, weathering and corrosion resistance characteristics, among others. Fluoropolymers such as PTFE, FEP and PFA uniquely meet one or a combination of these criteria.

 

Chemical Resistance

 

Specifically perfluorinated fluoropolymer materials such as PTFE, FEP and PFA contain only carbon and fluorine with single chemical bonds in the chemical structure. Their hydrocarbon counterparts, such as polyethylene and polypropylene; contain carbon and hydrogen. The morphology or structural shape of the fluoropolymer molecule containing strong C-F single bonds is uniquely tailored to prevent chemical attack of the carbon-carbon backbone by most common chemicals. Think Caesar’s Roman army with rectangular shields that received better protection against flying spears than the round shields of opposing armies.

 

PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) is highly resistant to attack by most highly corrosive chemicals. For example, Fluorotherm has many instances of heat exchangers and other products that continue to operate in hot sulfuric, nitric and hydrochloric acids. Our heat exchanger designs were originally introduced to the market in the mid-1960′s., and new combinations of increasingly robust design and materials have evolved ever since.  An example of our heat exchanger frame initially installed in 1982 is shown below. The tubing material has been replaced but the frame is relatively clean considering its exposure to hot nitric and hydrofluoric acids for  26 years.

Fluorotherm Teflon Heat Exchanger  - 1982 Installation !

FLUOROTHERM TEFLON® IMMERSION HEAT EXCHANGER – 1982 INSTALLATION – AND STILL OPERATING !

 

FEP (polytetrafluoroethylene-co-hexfluoropropylene) and PFA (polytetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluoro alkoxyvinyl ether) have similar chemical resistance to PTFE. Tubing made of these materials have a long life in aggressive environments in the simultaneous presence of harsh chemicals and high temperatures compared to other plastics and materials where failure may occur due to either structural or thermal degradation.

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Extreme chemical inertness of perfluorinated polymers serves well in a broad range of industries and applications. Some of these include the oil well and oil services industries; refinery and petrochemicals, pharmaceutical applications; the chemical process industry (CPI); pulp and paper mills, environmental sampling and laboratory environments among others.

 

The list of chemicals that are compatible with our tubing materials is too numerous to mention. In fact, it is easier to list the few materials that do not work with our fluoropolymers. For additional information please click on the following link:http://www.fluorotherm.com/chemical_resistance.html

 

 

For additional information on chemical resistance of PTFE, FEP, PFA and PVDF please contact us at sales@fluorotherm.com. We will be happy to discuss the suitability of our products in your particular application and suggest alternatives if necessary.

Fluoropolymers

Hello everyone, this blog is meant for people with questions and concerns about different fluoropolymers and fluoropolymer products.

Please come to this blog and let us know your questions or concerns and feel free to visit  www.fluorotherm.com for more information. 

Thanks and we look forward to helping you.

PTFE

PTFE(Poly tetra-fluoro ethylene) is a fully fluorinated polymer available in various unmodified and modified grades. PTFE is processed by compacting the powder under pressure at ambient or slightly higher than ambient temperatures. Methods of forming products include paste extrusion, ram extrusion, molding and calendaring between rolls. Many formed PTFE products are consolidated by sintering in an oven or used in unsintered form ( eg: thread sealant tape). Paste extrusion and calendaring methods are used with fine powder PTFE resins while granular PTFE resins are processed by ram extrusion and molding.

Fluorotherm manufactures PTFE paste extruded tubing with the following features:

·    Extremely high lubricity, thus low coefficient of friction compared to other materials
·    Non-stick and non-wetting (hydrophobic), low surface tension with water
·    Excellent dielectric and electrical insulation characteristics
·    Exceptional chemical inertness
·    Upper temperature use limit for PTFE is 500°F (260°C) under non-stress conditions
·    Suitable for cryogenic conditions: -320°F (-96°C) the boiling point of liquid nitrogen
·    PTFE has UL 94 VO rating for flame resistance, does not burn
·    Autoclave and ETO sterilizable
·    PTFE tubing is easily purged and cleaned

Visit our PTFE detailed properties page to discover why PTFE is the right choice for your industry.

 

FEP Tubing

 

FEP (Fluorinated ethylene propylene) is a fully fluorinated copolymer. FEP is established for its excellent chemical resistance, outstanding electrical properties and a wide service temperature range extending up to 400 deg F. A list of its key properties is shown in the table below. FEP is UV light transparent – a property that is effectively utilized in water disinfecting by ultra violet light of the appropriate wavelength. FDA regulation 21 CFR 177.1550 is applicable to FEP for use as article or components of articles intended to contact food. FEP is classified as USP Class VI and applies to tubing products.

To see the comparisons of all our Teflon ® products including PFA, MFA, ETFE, PCTFE, and PVDF please visit our product comparison chart.