Trelleborg Sealing Solutions recently launched the Tran-Secure Fluid Sealing Management Program, and introduced new gaskets for tank cars, tank trucks, and ISO tank containers.
The Tran-Secure program provides the Americas’ chemical transportation market immediate availability of components critical to the maintenance and repair of railcars. Comprising high-performance engineered solutions, including manway and flat gaskets, o-rings, and valve repair kits, the Tran-Secure Program is backed by Trelleborg’s global resources, local support, and material research, the Swedish company said.
Regardless of the commodity transported, customers receive the right seal for their tank car to maximize seal life, and minimize maintenance and downtime.
“When a tank car requires maintenance, it isn’t on the rails transporting chemicals and other commodities, which means the equipment owner and shipper are losing money,” said Thijs Menzel, segment director for chemical transportation at Trelleborg Sealing Solutions. “To minimize costly downtime, it’s critical that high-quality seals, gaskets, and other valve repair components are available in the right materials for immediate shipment.
Through the Tran-Secure program, we provide that peace of mind to our customers. All of our materials—many of which are proprietary formulations and compounds designed to be compatible with a broad range of even the most aggressive chemicals—are fully tested and proven to be compliant with industry regulations.”
Tran-Secure program customers are supported by a dedicated team of materials experts, sales engineers, and customer success advocates focused solely on the chemical transportation market, Trelleborg said. Customers also enjoy 24/7 access to Tran-Secure Fluid Sealing Management Program documents, material compatibility charts, training, and online ordering of in stock repair kits and components through the Chemical Transportation Seals-Shop
Seals-Shop users can easily search for products, access payment and order history information, and track shipments.
“At Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, we have a long history of providing materials research, testing, and development, as well as root-cause failure analysis to support the chemical transportation market,” Menzel said. “And in 2020, we launched the Chemical Transportation Seals-Shop to provide the industry’s only comprehensive portal for convenient, 24/7 access to fleet management documentation and support materials, online ordering, and shipment tracking.
“Today, we’re bringing it all together under the umbrella of the Tran-Secure Fluid Sealing Management Program and expanding our product offering to include a new line of flat gaskets and manway gaskets. Our ambition is to be the one-stop-shop supplier of choice to the chemical transportation market.
“The Tran-Secure program puts us in a great position to achieve that goal.”
New flat gaskets line
Trelleborg now has gasket-cutting capabilities and is bringing to market its own HMF FlatSeals technology for industry-standard materials, including elastomers, flexible graphite, compressed non-asbestos fiber, and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in both standard and custom geometries.
“To minimize costly downtime, it’s critical that operators in the chemical transportation industry have immediate and consistent single-source access to components, including our new line of flat gaskets, which are designed to be compatible with a broad range of even the most aggressive chemicals,” Menzel said.
Turcon manway gaskets
Trelleborg’s new Turcon Tran-Secure PTFE manway lid gaskets offers customers an enhanced sealing solution with an improved design featuring the company’s proprietary, high-performance Turcon PTFE material, Trelleborg said.
The glass-reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) delivers improved compressive and tensile strength, while minimizing creep relaxation to ensure a tight seal over an extended period of time. The chevron-based design of the gasket uses the PTFE’s inherent elasticity to create its own sealing pressure, which helps it resist the deformation common to other manway gasket materials without sacrificing sealing force or surface pressure.
“The chemical industry faces many challenges both in the processing of materials and in the transportation of these materials to customers,” Menzel said. “According to the Association of American Railroads, the manway is the leading cause of non-accident releases (NARs), meaning it is critical that the industry has a readily available and reliable source for high-quality gaskets.”