O-Ring Feed-Through Can Prevent Leaks Into Enclosures

Parker Hannifin's new captured O-ring feed-through and bulkhead fitting products are suited for use in process analyzer sampling and electronics enclosures. Developed by Parker's Instrumentation Products Division (IPD), the feed-through and bulkhead fitting products are designed for the prevention of air, gases and liquids leakage into sample system and electronics enclosures.

The captured O-ring sealed feed-through and bulkhead fitting products can be used to protect the internal components of enclosures in a wide range of markets, including petrochemical, chemical processing, oil and gas, power generation, analytical OEMs, system integrators, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical.

The three new Parker IPD products include a captured O-ring pneumatic feed-through, a captured O-ring electrical feed-through, and a captured O-ring tube fitting. While originally developed as optional custom accessories in Parker's Pilot ProTM process sampling I/O interface enclosure, the feed-through and fitting products can be used in a wide variety of basic enclosures, including those housing sample systems or sensitive electronics. Parker recommends these products to accommodate system integration and enclosure interfaces where stringent environmental and hazardous area specifications are required.

The captured O-ring was engineered to prevent thread leakage in bulkhead union connectors. Conventional bulkhead unions do not isolate and seal fitting threads, resulting in the potential ingress or egress of air, gases, or liquids from the enclosures due to poor thread sealing. The captured O-ring also is designed to improve containment of pressurized enclosures. In addition, when the captured O-ring pneumatic and electrical feed-throughs are incorporated into an enclosure, penetrations into the enclosure are reduced because each feed-through can accommodate multiple fitting or wiring connections.