All sanitary processors must prioritize keeping a clean, safe, and secure working environment. Maintaining sanitary standards is challenging, though, because wall-penetrating pipe exposes your facilities to dust and debris and serves as a breeding ground for bacteria and pests. Closing gaps may continue to be expensive and continuing issues without the right tools.
New Piping Installations
Although it isn’t always practicable, the optimum time to prevent many potential plumbing penetration issues in new installations is when a project is first being built. Determine the quantity, placement, and size of penetrations in collaboration with the contractor to reap the benefits of pre-construction penetration design.
Although it’s not always practicable, the optimum time to prevent many potential plumbing penetration issues in new installations is during the project’s initial construction. Determine the quantity, placement, and size of penetrations in collaboration with the contractor to reap the benefits of pre-construction penetration design.
Existing Piping Installations
Sealing around piping penetrations in older installations can often be more challenging than in modern ones. You can no longer install the sealing device by simply slipping it over the end of the piping as it is being installed with existing piping.
Tube-In-Tube Transitions
To shield the process piping that goes through it, floor and ceiling penetrations frequently include a piece of pipe or sanitary tube in the opening. The sleeve acts as a kick-guard and provides the process piping with enough space to move and vibrate freely.
To keep undesired particles, moisture, or debris from dropping through the gap between the floor sleeve and the process piping (inner tube), the gap between these two components must be sealed. The inner tube must be able to move and vibrate as necessary, and the tube-in-tube seal for this application must entirely seal the gap.
Due to their stiff construction, metal escutcheon plates are useless as tube-in-tube sealing mechanisms. But because they can be welded or bolted into position without putting excessive strain on the process piping, they are frequently employed to fill the space between the sleeve and floor decking.
Fire-Rated Applications
Numerous food and pharmaceutical facilities contain:
- Flammable liquids and vapors.
- Combustible oils.
- Explosive specks of dust.
- Other fire dangers.
It may be necessary to seal penetrations with some passive firestop that slows or stops the spread of fire in processing environments that could pose a risk to fire safety.
Pressure Rated Applications
A particular pressure rating is not necessary for most penetrations in processing plants. The settings are often airtight, so all that is required to prevent airborne debris, moisture, or vermin from passing through is a dependable, clean seal surrounding the penetration.
Modular mechanical seals offer pressure ratings of up to 40 psi or higher and can be used for penetration applications that call for a pressure-rated solution. Most applications typically require performance levels that this rating meets or surpasses.
The modular mechanical seal assembly must be encased inside a hygienic seal, such as a flexible silicone boot, to shield the processing area from the non-hygienic mechanical seal to be used in a sanitary environment. The impermeable silicone boot shields the mechanical seal from potentially dangerous cleaning agents.
Wire/Cable/Pneumatic Applications
Electrical cabinets, control panels, and enclosures must be adequately sealed to satisfy NEMA or IP standards for all wire, cable, and pneumatic tubing that enters and exits. Rigid plastic connections or regular elastomer grommets are commonly used to seal these penetrations.
A silicone grommet offers a tight, dependable seal that withstands high temperatures and demanding processing environments when applications call for more flexibility and sealing area than a rigid connector or standard grommet can supply.
Electrical Conduit Applications
Process areas frequently see electrical conduit penetrations up to 4″ in size. For conduit penetrations through knockout holes in thin sheet metal and plastic, several conventional conduit connectors are available in various materials and designs.
Air Hoses/Air Lines Applications
The traditional solution for air hose or rigid airline penetrations through walls has long been to plug the space with a liquid sealant and cross your fingers. The sealant invariably rips, dislodges, or slips out completely because hoses flex and rigid air lines lurch with pressure changes.
Although sealants can’t endure the movement and vibration independently, they perform a decent job of sealing gaps and providing some vibration and sound-dampening qualities until they fail.
The inclusion of a base-mounted flexible silicone boot on each side of the wall considerably increases the lifespan of liquid sealant barriers by supporting the hose or airline and permitting movement without losing the seal.
Jacketed Tanks And Vessels
The inclusion of a base-mounted flexible silicone boot on each side of the wall considerably increases the lifespan of liquid sealant barriers by supporting the hose or airline and permitting movement without losing the seal.
For sealing the penetration in the jacket in these applications, a low-profile solution is necessary. Despite constraints preventing them from being used in other sanitary penetration applications, metal escutcheon plates have a suitably low profile. They are employed in particular situations (non-hygienic, require caulks or sealants, mounting failures, etc.).
Outdoor Applications
It is uncommon to enforce sanitary compliance for penetrations constantly exposed to the weather and placed outside, but they still need to be adequately sealed. Durability has started to take precedence over sanitary sealing as the main priority.
Devices that seal exterior penetrations must survive continuous exposure to UV radiation and drastic temperature variations. Stainless steel escutcheon plates can overcome the UV and temperature hazards of outdoor use, but the caulk or sealants they need to create the actual seal are prone to shrinkage and brittleness with time.
If an outside seal is compromised, water and airborne debris may enter the perforation. Due to their capacity to retain their flexibility and maintain their seal even after years of outdoor use, flexible silicone boots have proven to be a successful method for outdoor penetrations.
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