Polytetrafluoroethylene apphcations

Aqueous hydrogen fluoride of greater than 60% maybe handled in steel up to 38°C, provided velocities are kept low (<0.3 m/s) and iron pickup in the process stream is acceptable. Otherwise, mbber or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) linings are used. For all appHcations, PTFE or PTEE-lined materials are suitable up to the maximum use temperature of 200°C. PTEE is also the material of choice for gasketing. AHoy 20 or Monel is typically used for valve and pump appHcations. Materials unacceptable for use in HE include cast iron, type 400 stainless steel, hardened steels, titanium, glass, and siHcate ceramics. 

In some cases particles have been added to electrical systems to improve heat removal, for example with an SF -fluidized particulate bed to be used in transformers (47). This process appears feasible, using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles of low dielectric constant. For a successful appHcation, practical problems such as fluidizing narrow gaps must be solved. 

Dispersion Resins. Polytetrafluoroethylene dispersions in aqueous medium contain 30—60 wt % polymer particles and some surfactant. The type of surfactant and the particle characteristics depend on the appHcation. These dispersions are appHed to various substrates by spraying, flow coating, dipping, coagulating, or electro depositing. 

Perfluoroalkyl ether greases thickened with polytetrafluoroethylene (MIL-G-38220 and MIL-G-27617) are used from —40 to 200°C in missiles, aircraft, and appHcations where fuel, oil, and Hquid oxygen resistance is needed (55). Polyphenyl ether greases find special use from 10 to 315°C in high vacuum diffusion pumps and for radiation resistance. 

Plastics. Almost all commercial plastics find some use both dry and lubricated for sliding at low speeds and light loads the most commonly used thermoplastics are nylon, acetal resins, and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Typical thermosetting resins for bearing appHcations are phenoHcs, polyesters, and polyimides. Table 8 compares the characteristics of plastic bearing materials with those of graphite, wood, and mbber which find use in somewhat similar appHcations. 

Chloroform was used chiefly as an anesthetic and in pharmaceutical preparations immediately prior to World War II. However, these uses have been banned. Annual output in both the United States and the United Kingdom was between 900 and 1350 metric tons. During the war, chloroform production in the United States tripled, largely to meet the requirement for penicillin manufacture. Demand for chloroform continued to increase in the postwar period as its technical appHcations were extended. Consumption continues to increase at a comparatively rapid rate. Chloroform is now used primarily in the manufacture of HCFC-22, monochlorodifluoromethane, a refrigerant, and as a raw material for polytetrafluoroethylene plastics. 

Fluoropolymers are technical polymers with very special properties and apphcations. Their properties are derived mainly from the strong carbon-fluorine bond energy of 507 kJ moU compared with typical energies of 415 kJ moU for C-H or 348 kJ moU for C-C bonds. The most important fluoropolymer is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). In... 

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