Companies operating in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and many other industries face specific challenges and regulations with their application’s equipment. Many of these challenges revolve around the fact that manufacturing systems need to be sanitary in order to prevent impurities in the final products. One critical component of these high purity systems is the tri-clamp fittings and gaskets. In this article, we’ll talk about what exactly a tri-clamp fitting is and how they work!
What Is A Tri-Clamp Fitting?
Food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals need to travel through a number of components in the manufacturing system in order to become final products. These components include sanitary pipes, valves, and tri-clamp fittings. The role of a tri-clamp fitting is to connect different sections of process lines with varying sizes and end-point connections. Tri-clamp fittings are so popular because they are highly versatile and can be used to make connections between a wide variety of endpoints, including national pipe thread, end caps, butt welds, and much more. Tri-clamp fittings are used in high purity systems because they are highly polished and resistant to nicks and scratches that can lead to impurities.
How Does A Tri-Clamp Fitting Work?
A tri-clamp fitting has a few different components: two flanged ends (or ferrules), a gasket, and a clamp that secures the connection. Secure connections are made by bridging the gap between the faces of the two flanged ends with a gasket, then hand tightening the clamp to keep everything in place. It’s important to ensure that the gasket is placed properly in the seats of the faces of the flanged ends. Hand tightening of the clamp on a tri-clamp fitting is recommended because over-tightening can cause undue pressure and potential bulging of the gasket, while under-tightening can lead to gaps between the ferrules and the gasket, compromising the sanitary system. Tri-clamp fittings also allow for easy removal when it comes time to clean the system.
Shop Tri-Clamp Gaskets Online or Contact Sentrol Life Sciences Today!
If you have any questions about tri-clamp fittings in relation to your application, please don’t hesitate to contact our team at Sentrol Life Sciences! We provide facilities in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and Eastern Canada with instrumentation sales, repair, calibration, and much more! Call us today at (888) 877-1778 or fill out the contact form on our website, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible! Shop our online store to purchase tri-clamp gaskets from industry-leading manufacturers!