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ALPHARETTA, Ga.—A thermoplastic housing for high-performance industrial sensors manufactured by Advanced Sensor Technologies Inc., Orange, Calif., is made of an engineered plastic that is said to boost resistance to high temperatures and chemical attack. The housing, made of unreinforced KetaSpire® KT-880 NT polyetheretherketone (PEEK) from Solvay Advanced Polymers, reportedly withstands the harsh operating conditions found in process-control measurement and monitoring applications in industries ranging from chemical manufacturing to environmental control, mining, pulp and paper, wastewater, and food and dairy.
Many of the sensors, which measure pH, oxidation reduction potential (ORP), and ion concentration, are required to handle temperatures up to 135°C (275°F) and resist attack by a range of chemicals, according to Martin Patko, president of Advanced Sensor Technologies. KetaSpire PEEK reportedly meets these requirements by providing high heat resistance, broad chemical resistance, ease of processing, and excellent ductility. Specifically, the material exhibits a heat deflection temperature of 315°C (599°F) and continuous-use temperature up to 240°C (464°F). Additional properties include high impact strength, excellent fatigue resistance, and outstanding chemical resistance to organics (particularly solvents), acids, and bases, according to Solvay. KetaSpire PEEK is also said to have excellent mechanical properties, particularly in high-pressure environments.
The injection-molded housing exhibits less visible strain, is easier to mold, and takes only 40% of the time that other commercially available PEEK grades require for annealing, thus providing increased productivity, according to Patko. The material can also handle a range of secondary operations, including machining, and is said to offer improved surface finish and reduced tooling abrasion. KetaSpire PEEK is available in unfilled, glass-reinforced, and carbon-reinforced grades and can be easily processed via standard injection molding, extrusion, and compression molding processes.
Advanced Sensor Technologies Inc. (www.astisensor.com), located in Orange, Calif., manufactures durable industrial pH sensors, ORP sensors, ion selective sensors, and conductivity sensors for demanding inline process control measurement and monitoring uses. The company’s sensors are used in the chemical, mining, pulp and paper, wastewater, and food and dairy industries, among others.
Solvay Advanced Polymers, LLC (www.solvayadvancedpolymers.com) produces a variety of engineered, high-performance plastics that are said to increase the options available to design engineers working in industries with demanding applications. The company’s plastics reportedly enable engineers to achieve design objectives in industries such as automotive, healthcare, electronics, and aerospace, for example, by allowing them to design more complex shapes, reduce part weight, and consolidate multiple parts into fewer components.
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