Pune, March 04, 2013 - With the inauguration of the new Research & Development facility in Pune, EagleBurgmann, a joint venture between the German Freudenberg Group and the Japanese EKK Group, invested Rs nine crore in India. With state-of-the-art technology and seven new test beds a wide variety of products will be approved, e.g., dry gas seals for compressors for the oil & gas industry. The oil & gas industry has a high strategic priority for both companies. R&D in this market is crucial and this investment finds perfect conditions in the new facility.

The grand opening ceremony of the R&D centre was hosted by Yasunari Unemura and Dr Stefan Sacr?, members of the EagleBurgmann Executive Board, and the General Manager of EagleBurgmann India, Jimmy Panthaki. The new facility offers manifold testing possibilities and will help to strengthen the company's position as the market leader in the mechanical seal industry in India. The Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, gave approval for the new R&D centre.

Most seals tested there are designed for the chemical and petrochemical industry, especially for the oil & gas segment. Thanks to the largest of the seven new test rigs wet seals can here be tested up to pressures of 150 bars and speeds up to 8,000 rounds per minute (rpm). Another test rig will equip the center as a dry gas seal test facility. It allows testing for dry gas seals up to pressures of 350 bar and speeds of 24,000 rpm. Four other pump test rigs are designed to work for testing of wet seals for pumps up to pressures of 150 bar and speeds of 5,000 rpm. These test rigs are designed not only for testing seals for special engineered applications but also with a view to using them for seal qualification testing as per the latest edition of the API 682 (American Petroleum Institute) standard.

All test rigs are fitted with wireless transmitters and the entire testing will be managed and viewed electronically via state-of-the-art control mechanisms. The high-tech control room will allow the test engineers to monitor all vital test parameters like pressure, temperature, flow, speed, vibrations and more. Every test bed will be fitted with an IP camera to monitor the running tests even from a remote location via the internet. The customized testing software allows capturing, recording and storage of live test data and the same can subsequently be used to interpret, analyze and further process the data for product development and upgradation. "With these state-of-the-art equipment components we bring our Research & Development activities to a new level," says Jimmy Panthaki appreciates the manifold testing possibilities in Pune.

The new R&D centre counts 700 m? and is also a good representation of the Green Initiatives at EagleBurgmann India, as the layout of the building and test areas allow maximum use of sunlight. Additionally the installation of more than 50 industrial LED lamps to illuminate the test area will lead to savings of about 15,000 kWh of electrical energy per year.