To reduce friction, oil and grease are used in almost all valves to make movements smooth. However, in systems designed for oxygen, this can lead to significant problems and fatal accidents.
Why is that? Oil and fats can self-ignite in an oxygen atmosphere and cause disasters. In addition, the pressure in the system influences the behavior by reducing the ignition temperature and increasing the combustion rate. In presence of oxygen, oils and grease can therefore easily ignite, burn explosively and spread. Therefore, when selecting the materials, special attention must be paid to the medium used.
At SVS-Automation we therefore offer the “oil and grease-free” variant, even in small quantities. The “oil and grease-free” treatment includes a multi-stage cleaning process and the use of special tools to avoid contaminating the valve with residues of oil and grease during the assembly process. Each valve is individually protected by foil packaging and delivered this way. If lubricants are still required for a valve, special certified oxygen greases are used, which on one hand do not ignite and on the other hand have a high level of biocompatibility (e.g. for artificial respirators).
The advantage is that it can be used without hesitation, e.g. with oxygen as medium.
Valves free of oil and grease are given the suffix S025 in the article labeling so that they can be clearly identified. The other characteristics of the valves remain the same as for the ordinary valves.
These are primary areas of application in which oxygen is used as medium:
- In medical technology, e.g. in artificial respirators
- In the chemical industry
- In fuel cells
- As a process gas
