Teflon seals are often thin, round pieces with a large hole in the middle, usually manufactured by stamping sheets of material. Chemical plants, petroleum refineries, oil and gas drillers, refrigeration units, furnace systems and a wide variety of industrial machinery use seals made of Teflon to reduce friction or keep an area watertight.
Teflon seals are any machinery components that provide an air tight seal between two surfaces; they are made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a synthetic material that is better known by its brand name, Teflon. Teflon is a popular material for seals that must withstand moisture, harsh chemicals, a wide range of temperatures (anywhere from 450°F to 1000°F) and oil. It cannot be wet by any substance and will provide an optimum sealing performance because it will creep a small amount and conform to mating surfaces, creating a completely watertight seal. Teflon can be manufactured to be FDA approved, meaning it is non-contaminating and appropriate to use in food processing equipment, machinery and pharmaceutical devices. Rod and piston seals, wear bands, bushings, guides, rod buffer seals, o-rings, u-seals and t-seals are all hydraulic seals that are commonly made of Teflon because it is reliable, strong and extends the machinery's operational life.
Teflon has the lowest coefficient of any solid, making it useful in sealing applications where other materials tend to wear. These seals can withstand vacuums as well as high pressures. Teflon is cost efficient and non-reactive, which means that exposure to most chemicals does not cause it to react in any way. Teflon seals are either made entirely of Teflon or of other kinds of rubber that are coated with Teflon. Teflon is a material that cannot be melted and therefore is formed into seals through compression and sintering, a high-temperature forming process that takes powdered Teflon, places it in a hollow mold in the shape of the desired seal, and places it in a sintering furnace until the material has become homogenous and adhered together. The sintering process takes short lead times and the seals are manufactured in mass numbers. The resulting seal is seamless and therefore much less likely to split or crack under extreme wear or pressure. To increase mechanical strength, stability and wear resistance, Teflon seals are often made with additives like glass, carbon, graphite and bronze.
