Is there a relationship between the production process and quality of woven silicone tubing? Due to the influence of traditional production processes, silicone braided tubes have become widely used silicone tubes in the market. This type of silicone tube can be used not only in the food hygiene industry, but also in industrial production. Silicone braided tubes are mainly divided into single-layer braided tubes and four layer braided tubes. The single-layer braided tube process can be divided into extrusion process and vulcanization process, while the four layer braided tube can only be vulcanized.

Single layer braided silicone tubing is often used for industrial transportation of high-temperature materials due to its extrusion and vulcanization processes. The melt performance of woven silicone pipe fabrics produced by extrusion process using silicone as raw material is poor, and vulcanized silicone pipes are mainly vulcanized with peroxide. The silicone tubing produced is commonly used in food processing and food equipment, such as peristaltic pump silicone tubing and filling tubing.

Generally, the braided silicone tubes that require disinfection are food grade or medical grade. Both series of products are produced through platinum vulcanization and high-temperature catalysis, and their prices are generally higher than ordinary silicone tubes. A customer found that white flocculent substances were produced when disinfecting medical silicone tubes with sodium hydroxide. What is the reason for this? Is it because the silicone tube cannot be disinfected with strong alkali, or is there a quality issue with the silicone tube itself?

Firstly, domestically produced medical silicone tubes are generally tested according to the relevant testing standards of the European Union or the United States, so quality issues with silicone tubes can be temporarily ruled out.

Secondly, it may be a reaction between sodium hydroxide and silicone tubing. Because strong alkali sodium hydroxide was added to ice water, warm water, and boiling water, after half an hour, it was found that there was no abnormality in the silicone tube in the ice water. There was a small amount of white flocculent substance on the silicone tube in the warm water, and white flocculent substance was everywhere on the silicone tube in the boiling water.

The above experiment proves that sodium hydroxide will undergo a slight reaction with silica gel at room temperature to form a sodium silicate solution, while at high temperatures, a violent reaction will occur, and the generated sodium silicate will be slightly soluble in water, leading to crystal precipitation. Silicone tubes can be disinfected with sodium hydroxide, but when cleaning them with sodium hydroxide, they need to be disinfected or treated with room temperature water.

Platinum silicone tubing is mainly used in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. The woven silicone tubing produced includes single-layer silicone braided tubing, four layer silicone braided tubing, silicone steel wire tubing, etc. Due to the influence of production technology, the raw materials of this silicone tube need to meet hygiene requirements, and the production process is relatively strict. It is suitable for producing imported drugs or supporting tubes for laboratory and vacuum weighing equipment.