FFKM - perfluoroelastomer - has application potential in a wide variety of very demanding situations - from the harsh down-hole conditions of oil well drilling to the ultra-pure environments inside semi-conductor manufacturing plant. But FFKM has problems: it is very difficult to mould – which means many rubber moulders fight shy of specifying it – and it can be expensive.

By solving the first problem, DP Seals makes the second problem go away.

But why pick FFKM?
FFKM offers a higher temperature performance beyond that of most elastomers (see right).

Its chemical make-up (see “the science bit”) makes it highly resistant to an extremely wide range of solvents and chemicals – ensuring applications across the oil, gas, petrochemical and pharmaceutical arenas – and plasma’s, allowing use in, for example, semi-conductor manufacturing where its low permeation and outgassing characteristics are also important.

It is this combination of thermal and chemical resistance that sets FFKM apart from other materials (see right).

So which industries use FFKM?

Petro-chemical
	mechanical seals, pumps and pipe work in all kinds of chemical processing plant
Semiconductor
	manufacturing equipment, chemical delivery/recovery pipe-work, component transport, analytic/process instrumentation
Automotive
	engine gas sensors and similar near-engine components
Energy
	down-hole electronics for oil and natural gas exploration, pipelines and valves
Aerospace
	jet and rocket engine components

If FFKM’s so good…
Nothing’s perfect:

	compression set increases with temperature
	gland volume may need to be increased to allow for expansion at higher temperatures
	can swell from contact with uranium hexaflouoride, fully halogenated Freon®, and some fluorinated solvents
	is expensive
	and processing is difficult.

These last points are why most rubber moulding manufacturers do not offer FFKM as one of the materials they provide.

Why DP Seals?
Because we have overcome the processing problems and the price issue.

We have already delivered FFKM parts to oilfield, pipeline and automotive customers’ specifications, enabling us to get to grips with and surmount the problems that this material presents. And on price: we currently appear to be less than half the price of our competition.

If you have a demanding rubber seal or moulding application and been frightened of using FFKM, talk to us. We deliver custom rubber mouldings at competitive prices.