Industries that transport problematic materials have special requirements for hose systems. As little wear as possible, due to high abrasion resistance, as well as the energy required to operate the system, are important for the cost-effectiveness of the application. With the Master-PUR Inline, Masterflex AG has a hose in its product range whose concept addresses precisely this issue. At the same time, it offers additional properties that are particularly advantageous in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries.
The industrial hose has an outer wall made of pure polyurethane, which is reinforced by a spring steel wire spiral. The inside is also made of polyurethane, but its composition and hardness are flexibly adapted to the respective area of application. Hardnesses of 50° Shore A to 70° Shore A are possible for different DNs, and the wall thickness can be varied from one to 10 millimeters. The materials used ensure high robustness with low weight and the smallest bending radii. The hose is not only extremely resistant to abrasion and vacuum, it can also withstand temperatures from -40 °C to +125 °C (for short periods).
No chance for residues
Thanks to a patented manufacturing process, there are no edges whatsoever on the inner surface of the hose. The inner surface is absolutely seamless and smooth. This is advantageous in many respects. On the one hand, it makes the Master-PUR Inline suitable for all those applications where easy-to-clean inner hose surfaces are required. Residues have hardly any chance to adhere and thus cannot mix with downstream material. For example, it is used for feeding and cleaning in mineral processing plants, steel mills or glassworks. On the other hand, the absolutely smooth inner wall results in lower frictional resistance when transporting the material to be conveyed. In this way, the transported particles/substances and also the hose itself are protected, wear failures are minimized accordingly and long service lives are achieved. According to DIN 53516, the Master-PUR Inline from Masterflex achieves up to 6.5 times longer service lives than the best tested rubber hose under comparable operating conditions with the lowest wall thickness. From an economic point of view, this means that the system has to be taken out of service less often for assembly or maintenance work. If hoses have to be replaced less often, costs can be avoided that would be incurred during plant shutdowns and the associated production losses. Assembly and maintenance costs are also reduced by longer intervals. This means a more reliable plant with increased availability and cost savings at the same time. This is also evident in energy consumption. Due to the smooth inner surface and the resulting minimal friction, conveying performance improves, i.e. the user requires significantly less energy (electricity) to transport goods through the hose.
Always the right connection
However, operators of process plants not only place high demands on the industrial hose itself, but also on the type of connection. Masterflex's objective is to meet user requirements under economic aspects and with a maximum of flexibility. Masterflex offers numerous solutions: from the proven Combiflex connection, to clamping shell connections, to hydraulically pressed connections. Milk pipe, Kamlok or tanker connections can be integrated directly into the hose if required, and standard connections from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries as well as customer-specific special designs are also possible. The components interlock in such a way that costs are optimized and handling is simplified.