In order to be able to offer users of its heavy-duty seals more testing possibilities, the Performance Plastics division of the building materials group Saint-Gobain (Paris / France; www.saint-gobain.com) intends to expand the pilot plant of its Seals sub-division in Kontich / Belgium. The extension, with an additional customer laboratory and training rooms, is to be completed in 2019.

Back in 2017, the pilot plant moved to a new building on the company site where it took over an area of 390 m² to replace the previous 150 m². There, customers can carry out test series and pre-validation processes that may include mechanical and tribological tests as well as test set-ups for specialised applications.

At the Kontich site, the Performance Plastics division produces heavy-duty seals for applications in the fields of aerospace, oil and gas and industry generally. Here, the seals are sometimes subjected to high pressures and temperature differences, and may even have to face extreme temperatures down to -253 °C. On the materials side, use is made here of high-performance plastics such as PTFE ("Omniseal"), polyimide, PPS and PEEK (all "Meldin").

In addition to the Belgian site, the Seals sub-division has other research and development centres in Garden Grove, California / USA and in Bristol, Rhode Island / USA, as well as in Willich and Wertheim in Germany.