Fluids can have very different roles in industry. In some cases they are the industry’s end product, like in food, beverages or pharmaceutical industry. In others they are a tool or a means to creating or processing the final product or keeping the manufacturing machines running smoothly, like in refineries, mines or quarries, steel industry and many others. Additionally Fluids can transfer energy via pressure (Hydraulic) or temperature (Heating systems).
But one thing they all have in common is that the engineers looking after the plants want to make sure the fluids in question remain within the closed systems of containers and pipelines. The most vulnerable points on which leaks can occur are the points where the piping components are connected, usually by a threaded joint or fitting.
Ever since fittings came to existence, the threaded joints were sealed with something to make sure the leak-proofing does not depend only on metal to metal contact. Typically, it has either been done by hemp and paste or by PTFE tapes.
Nowadays there are much more innovative solutions for the same purpose, though. One of them is Loctite 55. It comes in a form of a thread and it’s a perfect product for the more traditional among you, who feel like the joint isn’t sealed if they haven’t wrapped something around the threads. It allows readjusting of assembled joints and works on plastics as well as on metals. But technical properties should be observed to make sure that’s the suitable product for your application.
Where Loctite 55 is not suitable, there are other elegant solutions in the form of liquid thread sealants, which cure after application and assembly of the parts. They are quick and easy to use and make no mess of your working place. There are grades available with potable water approvals, DVGW approvals, or NSF approvals, securing there’s no health hazard in case of accidental contact with foodstuffs or beverages.
Several of these innovative thread sealants (Loctite 55 included), seal gas systems as well as fluid. And gases are definitely something you don’t want leaking.
All jokes aside, leakages of either fluids or gases can mean losses in terms of production downtime, damage to expensive hydraulic or pneumatic equipment, but also health hazard for people operating such equipment. And this is something no serious company will risk.
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