Parker Hannifin flared cone tube connection technology

Parker Hannifin has released a high-integrity tube connection technology offering instrumentation system designers and installers performance and time-saving advantages. Designed for working pressures as high as 1550 bar, the ‘flared cone’ technology advances the performance of compression-style tube connections. It provides users with a simple and reliable means of speeding the assembly of instrument tubing systems for use in higher pressure applications in the oil and gas industries.

The flared cone connections are much simpler to make up. Installers can typically complete the task in less than four minutes, after only minimal training. Flared cone connections are also especially cost effective in applications where leaks caused by vibration are an issue.

Parker’s FCC technology is based on a single sleeve compression-style system. However, unlike conventional designs, the tube end is flared to prevent any possibility of ejection - and also provides the connection’s primary metal-to-metal seal. When the gland nut is tightened, the inside surface of the anti-ejection flare mates with a cone in the fitting or valve. The compression sleeve then mates with the body of the component to form a second, redundant, metal-to-metal seal. This dual seal approach has a major reliability benefit: in the unlikely event that the primary seal fails, the secondary seal preserves the integrity of the connection. Installing a flared cone connection is simply a matter of screwing the gland nut into the fitting or valve and tightening it to the prescribed torque.