Sanitary Gaskets (Dairy Fittings): Which material to use

Sanitary Gaskets For Dairy Fittings

Commonly used gasket materials in the food processing systems include EPDM, Viton, NBR, Silicone, and PTFE. The first four are rubbers, and PTFE is plastic.

PTFE is a not flexible but able to handle most chemicals in the food and beverage industries. It is white in colour.

To determine which type of gasket to use, the following are a few simple ways.

Product temperature is an important factor to look at. PTFE, Viton, and Silicone can all handle 200+ degrees Celsius, while EPDM and NBR will fail at around 150 C.

The cleaning method of your system, CIP and SIP, will also help decide on the gasket to use.

The steam from SIP will usually bring the process line temperature up to at least 120 C, this will put some on materials with lower temperature rating. If steam cleaning is frequent, choosing materials with high temperature resistance could help save gasket replacement costs and time.

The acidic and caustic chemicals used in CIP will also damage elastomers like Silicone and NBR.

The sanitary gasket material you choose must also be suitable for your product. If you are processing drinking water, cheaper materials like Silicone and EPDM will be enough. For stronger fluids like tomato sauce, Teflon and Viton are usually the go-to materials.

NKE stocks a wide range of sizes and materials of Sanitary gaskets.

To see a more comprehensive chemical compatibility chart, click on the link below.

Chemical Chart