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Tests for BP give top rating to Supagraf Premier

Supagraf^® Premier, James Walker's world leading compression packing, has beaten TA-Luft VDI 2440 emission control requirements by a significant margin in independent tests carried out by the Amtec laboratory in Germany. Recorded gas emission levels in the test at 240°C would not fill a golf ball in a year!
The tests on a set of 56mm OD Supagraf Premier rings were carried out for Ruhr Oel, a 50/50 joint venture of Deutsche BP and Petróleos de Venezuela.
BP Refining & Petrochemicals operates the Ruhr Oel Gelsenkirchen refinery. It needed to know the sealing efficiency of graphite valve packings from several suppliers in order to comply with the European Union's IPPC pollution prevention and control directive.
The targets of the investigation were to confirm TA-Luft leakage rates less than 10-4 mbar.l/(s.m) at sealing system temperatures below 250°C, and less than 10-2 mbar.l/(s.m) above 250°C.
The test cycle involved 1000 vertical valve stem movements of 40mm — without live-loading on the packing — whilst sealing helium at 25bar for 24 hours.

Anyone for golf?
Leakage measurements after 24 hours at 240°C showed 7.0 x 10 -6 mbar.l/(s.m).
"You can visualise this as less gas than will fill a golf ball in a year, measured at ambient pressure", explained business development manager Brian Milford.
"It also demonstrates that Supagraf Premier very easily meets TA-Luft requirements for a high grade valve packing."
After 24 hours at 400°C, the leakage rate was 2.3 x 10-5 mbar.l/(s.m).
Said Brian: "This rate is exceptionally better than TA-Luft requirements for duties above 250°C. A year of emissions at this level would not even fill a tennis ball."

History of success
Supagraf Premier has a 10 year record of beating fugitive emission control specifications.
   In 1997 it was subjected to over 12,000 valve operating cycles with methane at 40bar and kept emission levels below 500ppm.
   In 1999, it came top of its class in comparative tests run by the Materials Technology Centre of Akzo Nobel. Leakage rates were between six and 100 times less than competitors’ brands — and it lasted 12 times longer than the next best valve packing.
   Since then it has twice been certified to TA-Luft requirements by different customers, and third-party verified for emission control by CETIM to Shell SPE 77/321 Class A specification.

13 Mar 08