LIQUIDS FLOW CONTROL Coupling ensures safe passage and spill-free disconnection
- Todo's sef-sealing couplings allow liquid transfer only when adapter and coupler are properly mated.
The increasing volumes of oils and other hazardous liquids in transport have helped to create a growing demand for Todo's dry-break couplings. The company already exports some 70% of its production, and from a secure base in northern Europe has now extended its marketing operations to the US and Canada.
Todo's success is rooted firmly in the Todo-Matic dry-break coupling, which allows liquid flow only when the coupling and adapter are mated. Similarly, the flow is stopped when the two hoses are disconnected, thus avoiding accidental spillage.
The Todo-Matic is available in sizes from 3/4 -in. to 6-in., the biggest range of any manufacturer today, according to company president Tony Mann. The Todo-Matic comes in aluminium, brass/gun metal, titanium and stainless steel. Viton is normally used for the seal, but other materials such as EPDM and fluorsilicone are also available.
The coupling is designed for an operating pressure of up to 10 bar, with a safety factor of 5, and can be connected or disconnected at pressures up to 7 bar. Further benefits are provided by the optional selectivity system, which makes it impossible to couple up the wrong hoses and end up with a cocktail of hazardous liquids.
The offshore industry is one of the main users of Todo products, which also include API couplings, ball valves, nozzles, swivels and vapour recovery equipment. "In Norway, for example," says company president Tony Mann, "two of our three distributors deal with the offshore sector. It is responsible for about 50% of our sales in that country."
Worldwide, the sales operation encompasses more than 20 countries, including a strong presence in the Far East and Australasia.
Among offshore users, many supply boats are equipped with the 4-in. coupling. Long bunkering hoses are used by companies such as Safe Service, the accommodation rig operator. The products also sell widely in many other sectors: for instance, Todo had to meet an emergency order from the Pentagon when the Gulf War broke out.
Currently the company is on course to gain ISO 9000 certification by early 1996. Its products already have a wide range of approvals from bodies such as the VdTuV in Germany, and multinationals such as Air BP and Shell.
For more information contact Niklas Rydell, Todo: telephone +46 506 12120 or fax +46 506 12636.
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