Fluoroelastomers.Increasingly stringent regulations are said to be pushing automotive evaporative emission limits beyond the capabilities of many sealing materials. Consequently, fuel system and engine sealing OEMs are said to have been searching for next generation materials with fuel permeation performance to meet US LEV II and PZEV PZEV Partial Zero-Emission Vehicle regulations and Euro 4 requirements. An automotive engine Automotive engine The component of the motor vehicle that converts the chemical energy in fuel into mechanical energy for power. The automotive engine also drives the generator and various accessories, such as the air-conditioning compressor and power-steering sealing manufacturer is said to have found such a material in Viton fluoroelastomer. The company has commercialized an air intake manifold Noun 1. intake manifold - a manifold consisting of a pipe to carry fuel to each cylinder in an internal-combustion engine fuel system - equipment in a motor vehicle or aircraft that delivers fuel to the engine gasket of Viton, already installed in over 250,000 automotive engines to date. Following extensive testing of alternative sealing materials and other fluoroelastomers, the firm is said to have found that Viton offered superior permeation resistance to meet or exceed all of the current evaporative emission requirements for air induction systems. Although the industry benchmark was silicone, its permeation resistance is said to be extremely poor. While HNBR HNBR Hydrogenated Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber is better than silicone, the company needed a gasket seal material that would comply for at least 15 years/150,000 miles of vehicle life to meet LEV II and PZEV requirements. Viton is said to have met these requirements. Compliant end-use performance was not the only consideration. Processability was said to be key to achieving cost-effectiveness through the company's highly automated injection molding injection molding n. A manufacturing process for forming objects, as of plastic or metal, by heating the molding material to a fluid state and injecting it into a mold. process. The goal was to run Viton at the same production rate and cavitation cavitation Formation of vapour bubbles within a liquid at low-pressure regions that occur in places where the liquid has been accelerated to high velocities, as in the operation of centrifugal pumps, water turbines, and marine propellers. as a silicone tool. The company found that it processed very well. FKM FKM Fluoroelastomer FKM Fogarty Klein Monroe (Houston, Texas) FKM Field Kitchen, Modular was also said to be the only seal material that could meet the emission requirements put forth by the OEMs. Viton is said to offer a good blend of processability, cures very tight and consistent, and the company is said to have developed an optimal formulation that works very well with robotics. In over six months, the company is said to have had not sticking or mold fouling issues. The company is said to be applying what it has learned with Viton in air intake gaskets to develop applications like fuel seals, throttle body gaskets and other under-the-hood fuel delivery system components. The firm employs robotic automation. DuPont Performance Elastomers Circle 7 on card [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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