Flexitallic

The Flexitallic Group is the international market leader in the manufacture and supply of high quality, high value industrial static sealing products. Based on sales and geographic reach, The Flexitallic Group has become a global supplier of industrial gaskets.

Developer of the spiral wound gasket in 1912 in the US, Flexitallic today continues its legacy of innovation with product materials like Thermiculite® and Sigma®. Flexitallic’s sheet materials product lines began in the mid 1800’s in England. Flexitallic is a privately held company headquartered in Houston, Texas USA.

Flexitallic’s global customer service network of owned manufacturing facilities, manufacturing licensees and distribution network (over 750 distributors in 30 countries) ensure local demand is met quickly, with a combination of the highest product quality and customer service.

In 1998 Flexitallic set a new standard for sealing technology with the introduction of Thermiculite Critical Service gasket material available in tanged sheet form. Thermiculite is now available as filler material for spiral wound gaskets and as a facing on kammprofile gaskets. This material has solved numerous end user problem applications, particularly those applications with high temperature processes where traditional sealing materials failed. Thermiculite Critical Service materials are rated for temperatures up to 1600 F and have passed the API 607 fire test.

Through continued dedication to research and development Flexitallic added Thermiculite Performance Grade Materials-developed for use in more moderate temperature applications. These Thermiculite materials maintain the same broad chemical resistance and freedom from oxidation that has made the Critical Service Grade such a success. These innovative and versatile materials are available in a calendared sheet and as filler in spiral wound gaskets. They are suitable for replacing aramid fiber, glass fiber, carbon fiber, PTFE and graphite in a wide array of applications. Performance Grade Flexitallic has passed the API 607 fire test.

Thermiculite 866, has been developed specially for the difficult task of sealing solid oxide fuel cells [SOFCs] and has proved to be very successful in this role.  

Thermiculite 866 is a very special sealing material in that it is entirely free of any organic binder material but it is available in sheet form, is very soft, easily cut into gaskets and has excellent sealing characteristics. Thermiculite 866 has been adopted by a number of fuel cell development teams in Europe and the US. 

Sigma® is a range of sheet sealing materials developed by Flexitallic that provides highly reliable gaskets for a wide variety of applications. Based on structurally modified PTFE, a unique combination of excellent chemical resistance and enhanced creep reduction is achieved when compared to conventional PTFE sealing products. Sigma provides a high integrity, low maintenance sealing solution across the whole pH range, from concentrated mineral acids to strong alkali. Structural modification of the base PTFE polymer means Sigma can be used across a wide range of temperatures (-200 to 260 C) and pressures (vacuum to 85 bar).

Sigma is in use in many different environments around the world from chemical production and pharmaceuticals to general manufacturing.. The benefits of its superior technical performance can be translated into financial terms, providing significant cost savings. Sigma’s sheer flexibility of use means that because it is effective in such varied conditions, a single gasket type can be incorporated in different areas of a plant. This clearly reduces the need to carry different levels of stock, while its performance compared to lower quality materials means reduced maintenance and less downtime.

With a varied product offering that includes spiral wound gaskets, semi-metallic gaskets, RTJ gaskets, kammprofiles, sheet gaskets, and dynamic and static packings, The Flexitallic Group draws upon its storied past and present day mixture of leadership, quality, service and technology to develop sealing solutions for industry all around the world.