The story:
Krayden partnered with a global design and contract manufacturing company to leverage Henkel’s Technomelt PA6344 for level sensors in natural gas storage tanks. The material’s Elongation and UV stability were superior to EPDM rubber, and the customer’s low-pressure molding press and resources made for a low-cost tooling solution. Customer saved $25k year due to increased production output and decreased labor.
| What is the application? | Level sensor for natural gas storage tanks |
| What issues was the end-user having? | Difficulty finding a form-in-place gasket material that formed a watertight seal due to low surface energy wire insulation that was difficult to bond to. |
| What material was used to solve the issue? | Henkel Technomelt PA6344 |
| Why was the material chosen for the application? | Elongation and UV stability were superior to EPDM rubber. The customer had a low-pressure molding press and the resources to make low-cost tooling, making this a good decision. |
| Why did this material work better than other materials? | In addition to good elongation and UV stability, the Technomelt exhibited excellent adhesion to the HDPE housing and thermoplastic wire insulation. |
| Was this material lower cost than other materials? | No |
| Did this material improve the process? | Yes |
| If so, how? | Automated equipment will greatly increase manufacturing volume vs. hand-placed hard gasketing. |
| Savings to end user in cost of material or process improvement? Time, $ or both? | The customer has estimated greater than $25,000 / yr. savings with the Technomelt PA6344 vs. EPDM rubber parts, due to increasing production output using existing equipment (with new tooling) and reducing labor (number of workers hand-placing gaskets). This offsets any cost advantage to using low-cost rubber parts. |
| What industry/market was this material used in? | Electronics |
