Asbestos Gaskets for sealing
Asbestos is a mineral that occurs abundantly all around the world. In 1899, an Austrian engineer named Richard Klinger developed the first compressed asbestos sheet gasket material, and in 1912, the Flexitallic Gasket Company began selling the first spiral wound gasket.
Asbestos mixed with fiber fillers served as the ideal material for sealing any mechanical system that involved the transport of hot gases, oil, steam, acids or other chemicals. It could be combined with metal, plastic, or synthetic materials to make gaskets of all shapes, sizes, and purposes. There are two main classes of asbestos: serpentine and amphibole. Both asbestos types,
despite being dangerous were used to make gaskets for sealing purposes.
Asbestos gaskets have been used in various industries like -
Oil and Gas
Chemical Processing
Petrochemical Industry
Process Industry
Ships
Automobiles
Power plants
The most common types of asbestos gaskets included:
Rope gaskets: These used white asbestos fibers to reduce flammability. In the present, most rope gaskets are made out of fiberglass and not asbestos.
Ring gaskets: Ring gaskets are typically made out of metal and are used where there is a need to withstand high pressure and heat like in the production of oil and other natural gases. Ring gaskets can be oval, circular, or even octagonal in shape.
Sheet gaskets: The most common type of asbestos-containing gasket were usually made of synthetic plastic. They were hand-cut and manufactured right on the job site. Sheet gaskets were used to seal pipes, tanks, and other containers.
Spiral-wound gaskets: Spiral-wound gaskets are used to seal manholes, boilers, and other high-pressure containers.
Today, asbestos is banned or heavily regulated in much of the developed world because of its toxicity.
We have been providing ready stock asbestos free spiral wound gaskets to established names like Larsen and Toubro and Jubilant in India.