BIRKOSIT Filling Basic, Filling 1000 and Filling 2000: Selection Guide
All four products — BIRKOSIT, FILLING Basic, FILLING 1000, and FILLING 2000 — are high-temperature sealing compounds rated for turbine and rotating-equipment service. You do not select between them on temperature. You select on surface damage depth. This guide explains how.
When a turbine or compressor casing is opened for overhaul, the condition of the parting-plane surfaces determines which product you need. If the surfaces are sound — within the original machined specification — BIRKOSIT applied directly is all that is required. If the surfaces are damaged by pitting, fretting, or corrosion, one of the three FILLING grades must be applied first to restore the surface before the joint is reassembled.
This is the critical point that is frequently misunderstood: BIRKOSIT, FILLING Basic, FILLING 1000, and FILLING 2000 are all high-temperature sealing compounds rated for turbine service. The selection between them is not made on temperature — it is made on surface damage depth. All four products handle the temperatures encountered in steam and gas turbine service. The FILLING grades are the next-generation evolution of BIRKOSIT, offering higher pressure resistance and the ability to compensate progressively deeper surface damage. Available from Project Sales Corp for customers and applications within India.
Temperature and Pressure Ratings — All Four Products
| Product | Temperature Resistance | Pressure — Split Joints | Pressure — Flanges | Service Life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIRKOSIT | 900°C | 250 bar | 450 bar | 10 years guaranteed |
| FILLING Basic | 950°C | 275 bar | 570 bar | 10 years guaranteed |
| FILLING 1000 | 950°C | 275 bar | 570 bar | 10 years guaranteed |
| FILLING 2000 | 950°C | 275 bar | 570 bar | 10 years guaranteed |
All four products are resistant to hot steam, air, water, light fuel oils, lubricants, crude oil, and natural gas across their full temperature range. All are halogen-free and sulphur-free — a critical requirement for turbine service, where halogen and sulphur contamination under high temperature initiates stress corrosion cracking in the casing metal. The FILLING grades exceed BIRKOSIT's temperature and pressure ratings by 50°C and 25 bar respectively on split joints.
The Real Selection Criterion: Surface Damage Depth
The three FILLING grades differ not in temperature resistance but in how deep a surface defect they can fill and seal. This is the parameter that determines which product is correct for your joint.
| Product | Max Surface Damage Depth | Typical Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| BIRKOSIT | ≤ 0.2 mm (sound surface only) | Sound, precision-machined parting plane with no significant surface damage. Applied directly — no surface restoration step needed. |
| FILLING Basic | ≤ 0.2 mm | Sound or very lightly damaged surface where the next-generation higher pressure rating is preferred. Applied like BIRKOSIT — directly to the cleaned surface. |
| FILLING 1000 | ≤ 0.5 mm | Moderate surface damage — pitting, fretting, or corrosion to a maximum depth of 0.5 mm. Fills voids before assembly. |
| FILLING 2000 | ≤ 1.0 mm | Heavy surface damage — deep pitting, erosion defects, or significant corrosion up to 1.0 mm depth. Applied in a layer of 0.2–1.3 mm. Used in combination with FILLING Basic for the remaining surface. |
OEM Approvals — Siemens and GE
FILLING products carry formal OEM approvals from both Siemens Energy and GE (Alstom) for turbine parting-plane sealing. The Siemens approval (TMI-Nr.: 431/93b, Index b, issued 28.11.2019) specifies FILLING and BIRKOSIT products for all joints of inner casings and blade rings in fossil and nuclear (pressurised-water reactor) units. For nuclear boiling-water reactors, FILLING products are specified for outer casing joints. The GE/Alstom part reference is HTCZ655929P0004.
BIRKOSIT carries a separately established approval history with major turbine OEMs. Both product families originate from the same German manufacturer — Chemotechnische Fabrik e.K., Görlitz — and share the same chemical safety philosophy: no halogens, no sulphur, no calcium compounds, no lead.
Operational Test Requirements — An Important Difference
| Product | Commissioning Test Requirement |
|---|---|
| FILLING Basic | Test must use steam, temperature and pressure. Minimum: 80°C and 15 bar. Cold water alone is not suitable — temperature is essential for the material to activate and bond permanently. |
| FILLING 1000 | Test may use cold water, cold or hot air and pressure. Minimum: 15°C and 3 bar. Suitable for hydrotests. Remains elastic and permanently seals on testing. |
| FILLING 2000 | Test may use cold water, cold or hot air and pressure. Minimum: 15°C and 3 bar. Suitable for hydrotests. Remains elastic and permanently seals on testing. |
This difference matters for overhaul planning. If your plant's post-overhaul testing protocol is a cold hydrotest, FILLING 1000 and FILLING 2000 are compatible with that procedure. FILLING Basic requires a steam test to activate — which must be factored into the recommissioning sequence.
Selection Summary
| Surface Condition | Max Damage Depth | Correct Product |
|---|---|---|
| Sound, precision-machined — no damage | None / < 0.2 mm | BIRKOSIT or FILLING Basic |
| Light pitting or fretting | Up to 0.2 mm | FILLING Basic |
| Moderate pitting or corrosion | Up to 0.5 mm | FILLING 1000 |
| Heavy damage, deep pitting or erosion | Up to 1.0 mm | FILLING 2000 (damaged areas) + FILLING Basic (remaining surface) |
| Damage exceeding 1.0 mm | > 1.0 mm | Mechanical re-machining required before sealing compound can be applied |
Project Sales Corporation — Sealing Compounds for Indian Industry
sales@projectsalescorp.com · +91-891-256-4393
Product Support: Anil +91-98664-67276 · Shivani +91-96031-66448
28 Founta Plaza, Suryabagh, Visakhapatnam — 530020, Andhra Pradesh