PTFE Tubes and its Unique Properties – Useful in Most Industries
PTFE tube is popularly also called Teflon Tube. PTFE Tube appears milky white or semi transparent product. Due to fluorine carbon chemical bonds, it has very high chemical resistance and interesting is a non toxic material. PTFE Tubes is classified food grade by FDA and hence used in many food and pharmaceutical applications around the world. PTFE tube is also called Poly Tetra Fluro Ethylene tube.
Manufacturing Process of PTFE Tubes
PTFE tube is manufactures using paste extrusion method in a batch process. The length of the PTFE tubes is hence limited by the batch size. PTFE tubes are manufactured in various diameters and lengths. Advanced Fluro Tubes also manufactures PTFE tubes in different colors like yellow, red, orange, green, blue & black.
PTFE tube is the most ubiquitous among all flexible Fluoropolymer Tubing.
The inside and outside surface of PTFE Tube is smooth and has very low coefficient of friction and extremely good lubricity. The surface of PTFE tube is so smooth that there is minimal resistance to fluid flow.
PTFE Tube is preferred for its high corrosion resistance which makes PTFE Tube very useful in laboratory environments, where it’s used to transfer highly corrosive chemicals like acids and many other chemically aggressive solvents. There are situations where glass tubes are not preferred due to their rigidity and the fact that tubing connections in glass apparatus cannot be guaranteed to be leak free. Due to these reasons PTFE Tube is preferred in laboratory applications.
PTFE Tube offers a very high electrical insulation. The pantographs in trains, for example, contain PTFE tubes, for providing electrical insulation at thousands of volts. The break down voltage of PTFE tubes manufactured by Advanced Fluro Tubes is > 20 KV/mil. PTFE tubes manufactured by Advanced Fluro Tubes are hence sought after by OEM customers.
Properties of PTFE Tubes
Another interesting properties of PTFE tubes is that this material doesn’t absorb water. One reason for this is the surface contact angle of around 115 exhibited by PTFE tube. This is the max surface contact angle for any smooth surface. This property of PTFE tube is very useful in many industries including pharmaceutical industry. Silicone is the preferred material for gaskets and fluid transfer material in this industry. It has been observed that newer active molecules or active ingredients are adsorbed in material like Silicone degrading the quality and effectiveness of the drug. Such customers are looking to solve this problem. Advanced Fluro Tubes has solved this problem by introducing PTFE tubes. We have not only replace Silicone with PTFE tube but also innovated and manufactured food grade metal and non metal fittings to provide a complete solution.
PTFE tubes have very high working temperature of +260 degree Celsius and have a flammability rating of V0. Rating of V0 means PTFE tubes don’t aid or participate in combustion or fire. It’s due to such properties that it is preferred tubing in Aviation & Aerospace industries. For example spiral cut PTFE tubes are used to wrap wires and cables.
The minimum working temperature of PTFE tubes is -70 deg Celsius and so PTFE tubes can be used in cryogenic conditions, for example in liquid Nitrogen applications and in space applications.
There are many applications where UV light is used for either killing germs or for quick drying materials. Since PTFE tubes have excellent resistance to UV light they are used extensively in technologies using UV light.
Due to high working temperature & smooth and non sticky inside surface of PTFE tubes, they find use in 3D printing industry to transfer filament from the spool to the hot printing nozzle.
