Presentation of the Kel-F brand – KEL-F81

The name Kel-F81®, from MW Kellogg’s company, came into being after the Second World War. It is an abbreviation of the name “Kellogg” and “fluoropolymer” for PCTFE material. It was acquired by 3M Company in 1957, but the company discontinued manufacturing Kel-F® in 1996. Currently, the Kel-F® brand remains the most commonly used trade name although it no longer exists. Examples of the current trade names are: Voltalef®, Neoflon®, Halon®, Aclon®, Aclar®, Fluon®, Plaskon® and Hostaflon®.

All products currently manufactured with PCTFE / Kel-F® benefit from all the qualities of this material which is a fluoropolymer, whose chemical composition is strictly close to PTFE : high level of creep and tensile strength, incomparable thermal characteristics, very low coefficient of thermal expansion, very high LOI or oxygen limit indices, good chemical stability, resistance to oxidation, moisture absorption and permeability close to zero, very low melting point compared to other fluoropolymers, extremely wide temperature range: from -240 °C to +150 °C, hence its good mechanical and physical behavior when exposed to cryogenic temperatures. In particular, it is used as a seal for liquid oxygen, nitrogen or hydrogen.

Many industrial products are thus manufactured with Kel-F® because of all these exceptional properties. This is why Kel-F® is often widely used in cryogenic environments, but also in other highly specialized sectors such as aerospace, pharmaceutical laboratories, the specialty gas industry or the semiconductor industry. Indeed, Kel-F®, thanks to all these numerous properties, can meet all needs, especially in terms of sealing.

Currently, Kel-F® semi-finished products can be found in the form of bars, tubes or plates, but there are also many types of machined parts such as seals or non-return valves, valve seats, valves, etc.