Greene, Tweed signs agreement with Flowserve for the distribution of WR™ and AR™ materials in Europe

Halsteren, 2 February 2004. Greene, Tweed & Co. Holdings International BV has signed a collaboration agreement with Flowserve BV, Flow Solutions Division, in Roosendaal, placing Flowserve in charge of the European distribution of the WR™ and AR™ materials made by Greene, Tweed. The agreement will apply for five years and originates from a worldwide agreement signed by both parent companies at the end of last year in the United States.

“We are very pleased with the deal with Flowserve,” says Robert van de Velde, General Manager, Greene, Tweed & Co. Holdings International BV. “Worldwide, the company has a great reputation in the field of producing and maintaining mechanical seals for pumps in the process industry. Our WR™ and AR™ materials fit well with the high quality products and service offered by Flowserve.”

Ben van Eyndhoven, Director of sales EMA of Flowserve FSD adds: “We have extensively tested the WR™ and AR™ materials from Greene, Tweed and these tests confirmed what we believed. Pumps run more efficiently when these high-quality composite pump elements are used and the required frequency of maintenance clearly shows a strong decrease. This is good news for our clients in the chemicals and petro-chemicals industries, who certainly don’t want to lose any more time to stoppages for repairs or maintenance than is necessary. We regard this as a valuable addition to our product range.”

In the context of the agreement Flowserve will be responsible for a major share of the distribution of Greene, Tweed’s WR™ and AR™ materials. Greene, Tweed & Co. Benelux BV in Halsteren will remain the first port of call for other Greene, Tweed materials. That also applies to Humitab in St. Job in ’t Goor, which will continue to distribute the Greene, Tweed product range in Belgium.

The WR™ materials made by Greene, Tweed consist of long carbon-fiber reinforced, high-quality thermoplastic composite and are intended for use as rings, bushes, seals and wear plates in a variety of pumps used in the chemicals and petro-chemicals industries. The material has very high resistance to wear and good self-lubricating properties under almost all conceivable circumstances. It also has a low coefficient of expansion, so that it is possible to work with much smaller tolerances. It reduces internal leakages losses, which results in increased pump efficiency and reduced vibrations. Because of this, and the other material characteristics, the WR™ materials from Greene, Tweed constitute an excellent alternative for metals, carbon and graphite pump elements.

The AR™ products from Greene, Tweed consist of a composite material and are specially developed for bushes, bearings and wear rings in pumps that are used for pumping abrasive and erosive substances. The material is also highly resistant to thermal shock and is very impact-resistant, making it a good alternative to the more traditional rubber and bronze materials used in pumps for the offshore and process industries, and for public utilities companies.

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