Chain failures can be expensive to repair and disruptive to normal operations. While usually robust and reliable, chain that is used in harsh environments requires additional protection in order to ensure a long working life.
Tsubaki has developed a new solution which is based on a two layer protection scheme applied to high quality carbon steel chain components. A specially developed top coat resin protects the chain from physical impact and forms the front line defence against corrosive agents. Beneath this is a base coating which prevents oxidisation from reaching the chain.
The coating system is applied prior to the chain assembly processes to ensure that each chain component is completely coated. Further, the application process is at low temperature so it will not affect chain strength, meaning that Neptune chain has the same high tensile strength and allowable load as standard Tsubaki chain.
The resultant Tsubaki Neptune is a top quality carbon steel chain that can be used in wet environments and even underwater. Neptune is available as roller chain and as single- and double-pitch conveyor chain. The conveyor chain is complemented by a wide range of attachments that have the same two-layer treatment.
Tests show that Neptune chain has superb resistance against alkaline chemicals such as Sodium Hypochlorite and Sodium Hydroxide which are commonly used in the food industry to clean and disinfect. The chain operated reliably for over 2,000 hours when tested against a 5% Sodium Hydroxide solution. Further, in salt water spray tests Neptune showed no sign of rust at all for 700 hours.
The newly developed coating is RoHS compliant and environmentally safe compared to other industry standard coatings which may contain harmful hexavalent chromium or other hazardous substances, such as lead, cadmium, mercury, or arsenic. It is therefore ideal for use in those industries that are already phasing out hexavalent chromium from their plant.
Typical uses for Neptune chain include food processing, waste treatment, packaging and PET bottle sterilising.