AGC’s Newly Expanded Fluoroelastomer Lab Supports Product Innovation

EXTON, Pa., July 31, 2017 – AGC Chemicals Americas, a leading global supplier of high-quality fluorochemicals and materials, expanded its AFLAS^® testing lab in Exton, Pa., with the latest equipment for fluoroelastomer testing. The 2,000-square-foot lab can better support both AGC R&D and customers’ product development.

AFLAS fluoroelastomers are used to enhance the durability and longevity of equipment components used in demanding industries such as oil and gas production, chemical processing and transportation. AGC uses the lab to test specific formulations and to help customers select the AFLAS grade that best meets their specific product performance requirements.

The enhanced lab will support all new grades of AFLAS, including AFLAS 600X, 400E and FFKM products. New equipment includes:

• Extrusion resistance test fixture, which evaluates aspects of material suitability for seals under high pressure;
• Thermtest thermal conductivity testing system, which evaluates a material’s ability to function as a thermal insulator;
• Automated and programmable temperature and pressure controller for a 10 L Parr pressure vessel. This allows automated programming of pressure and temperature profiles to help determine rapid gas decompression resistance of molded parts while tracking and saving all data;
• Four-inch two-roll rubber mill with fully temperature-controlled rolls, which lets operators independently control roll speeds and allows for creation of small batches of polymer for lab evaluation; and
• French Vision Series 100-ton molding press with 18-inch-square isothermal platens, which allows for precise temperature and pressure control featuring programmable process cycling.

“The expanded fluoroelastomer lab demonstrates AGC’s commitment to continuous improvement in product development and customer service,” said David Lavanga, innovation engineering manager at AGC Chemicals Americas.

AFLAS fluoroelastomers are copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene and propylene, which give products unique properties over conventional FKM-type fluoroelastomers. The AFLAS lab has all the equipment required to create and test resin formulations that offer superior resistance to heat, acids, bases, many solvents, ozone and steam.

AGC encourages customers, prospective customers, and members of the scientific and local community to tour the new laboratory facility to view equipment operating in real time. For more information, contact Kristin Carlin at kristin.carlin@agc.com.