The food and pharma sectors are especially demanding with respect to safety in their processes. It is very important to prevent contamination with the manufactured products and the halting of production lines during the entire workflow.

For this reason, the use of CIP (Cleaning in place) or SIP (Sterilisation in place) processes is quite usual. The complex chemical mixtures (alkaline solutions) used in CIP processes may damage the seals of the mechanical seals in a short time, and in SIP, high temperatures reaching values of up to 150° C can destroy conventional elastomer materials.

Due to these extreme conditions, the use of elastomers in resistant materials such as EPDM peroxide, FFKM, and Aflas® is essential, and they must also comply with the strictest compulsory standards required in these industries: FDA, CE 1935, KTW, WRAS, 3-A, etc.
Many different kinds of machines exist for transferring temperature-sensitive products, viscous substances, and fluids with particles or particles in suspension: screw pumps, stirrers, mills, homogenizers, reactors, and mixers. The most appropriate mechanical seal design is the hygienic one which reduces the possibility of product remains being deposited and not eliminated during CIP/SIP processes, which could give rise to sources of contamination.