Introducing foreign substances, like thread lubricants, to production suites can be challenging for end users and original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s) supplying equipment to them. While some lubricant manufacturers have tested and advised their product is approved, such as FSA approved, food grade, or even sanitary grade, users have the option of using one of the tested or approved materials, using simple, metal-free liquids, like glycerin, or possibly nothing. With the continual development of new products and processes, the interaction of, or potential contamination from, a new lubricant can be too much of a risk to take, so the lubrication may be omitted. This scenario will be the basis for our article.
We will first review how uniform gasket compression is paramount to successful sealing and longevity of hygienic unions. At the core of our discussion, will be a review of common clamp component materials with their applications, and then common customer practices, including some of which that had previously proven to be detrimental to their success of a given process. In “Engineered hygienic clamps — how precision gauging leads to hygienic union reliability and product quality”, Processing Magazine, March 2021, the discussion is more detailed than the review below, but at that time, stopped short of discussing torque in detail. In this article, we will review various clamp choices, installation, tightening, proper torque techniques, and special materials that had previously been considered overkill for common applications, but are now more cost-effective than ever.