Someflu, a French company specialising in the design and manufacture of corrosion resistant centrifugal pumps, uses DuPont Teflon PFA C-980 as the material of choice for most components in its range of antistatic pumps. The material’s excellent conductivity allows the discharge of electrostatic charges, thus enabling the pumps to comply with the ATEX European Directive (94/9/EC) concerning the use of equipment in potentially explosive atmospheres. Further benefits include the melt-processable fluoropolymer’s high chemical resistance and ability to withstand high service temperatures combined with good melt-flow properties (MFR: 2.5 g/10 min).
Teflon PFA C-980 is produced by a patented process from fully fluorinated perfluoroalkoxy. For this reason, a low level of conductive filler is sufficient to achieve a volume resistivity of only 0.25 ohm×m (maximum), thereby efficiently suppressing static charging. Components with this antistatic fluoropolymer lining ensure increased safety in handling potentially explosive substances. Moreover Teflon PFA C-980 has an increased cracking resistance and flexural fatigue strength because of its low filler content.