CinchSeal Saves World’s Biggest Food Manufacturer $160,000 in Just One Year
CinchSeal Saves World’s Biggest Food Manufacturer $160,000 in Just One Year
The CinchSeal 9700 series are split industrial seals for stainless steel rotary shafts that are used in mixing and blending equipment. This series is manufactured from stainless steel, which is typically required in the food service, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Installing CinchSeal’s rotary shaft seals provides a measurable return on investment (ROI) by preventing materials from passing through the seal while the equipment is in operation, reducing waste. The CinchSeal also provides additional benefits that add to its ROI including ease of service and longevity of equipment life.
Issue
One of the world’s largest food and beverage companies was experiencing flour leakage due to shaft penetrations on its tilt-bowl dough mixers. This leakage was resulting in the loss of material and product yield.
Solution
The CinchSeal 9700 seals eliminated the flour leakage and also reduced downtime for the dough mixers. Their high performance and long life in this application provided a documented ROI of $79,000 in the first year and $81,000 in the second one.
Benefits
The CinchSeal 9700 offers a number of benefits over braided packing, which is the traditional solution for rotary seals for food industry applications. Braided packing breaks down over time, which is a source of contamination that the CinchSeal eliminates. The CinchSeal also consumes less power than braided packing.
The CinchSeal rotary shaft seals are effective in sealing the rotary shafts used by food service equipment manufacturers, whether they’re processing dry powder, semisolids or slurries. It’s also successful in sealing particularly challenging materials such as cocoa powder, liquid chocolate, spices, salt, and sugar. The CinchSeal is also effective against additional materials like plastics and resins.
The CinchSeal protects the shaft from wear and extends the life of the bearings, reducing lost productivity from premature equipment failure. It also prevents the loss of materials such as flour, water and yeast due to their movement along the shaft past the seal. In addition, the CinchSeal is certified to meet USDA sanitation requirements for food handling equipment, which includes minimizing airborne dust particles. The CinchSeal 9700 is easy to disassemble, clean and re-assemble for daily maintenance, which also reduces cleaning time.
Installation
The CinchSeal 9700 must be mounted squarely onto the shaft, so it shouldn’t be installed on severely worn equipment. Adjustment problems such as excessive float or misalignment should also be corrected before installing a CinchSeal. The installation guide and website provide additional information for mounting the seal, and CinchSeal also offers technical support.
Operation
The CinchSeal 9700 uses an FDA-approved elastomer to create a tight fit around the shaft that allows the seal to rotate with the shaft, eliminating friction between the shaft and seal as a source of wear. The elastomer seal also turns a set of cups made from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), commonly known as Teflon. A stationary face compresses the seal and cups with a precise amount of pressure as they move with the shaft, which prevents materials from moving past the seal. The rotor cups are designed to be the wearable part of the CinchSeal. Repair kits are readily available, which include two rotor cups and a split elastomer seal.
The CinchSeal food handling seals are specifically designed to be purged with plant air that’s pressurized by five to eight PSI above the pressure in the vessel, keeping the seal cool and free of material as it rotates. This design also increases the life expectancy of the wearable parts of the seal. For best results, each seal should have its own individual air regulator that isn’t shared with other seals. The seal can also be purged with nitrogen or silicone grease, depending on the application.
Accessories
Accessories for the CinchSeal include repair kits for the seals and additional elastomers. Individual air pressure regulators can also be purchased for each seal. A clean-in-place (CIP) option is another accessory available for the CinchSeal 9700.
Looking To Improve Your ROI?
If you need a solution to product manufacturing leakage and want a quote to see how CinchSeal’s rotary shaft seals can show you an immediate ROI, contact us today!
