Gaskets being an important item during repair and maintenance work in oil and petrochemical companies, it was no surprise that Klinger Warba would have their factory close to those complexes.

The manufacturing facility is located in South Subhan, within 20 minutes from any major refinery and petrochemical plant in Kuwait.
The Klinger Warba gasket facility was a natural outcome of the activities of Warba National Contracting Company, which, since its formation in 1976, has been providing a variety of services to the oil, petrochemical and power sectors of Kuwait. Warba today represents some of the world’s most reputable contractors, suppliers and manufacturers of equipment, spare parts and chemicals.

Warba, established by Nasser Al Salem, who was later joined by Abdul Razzak Al Awadi, has itself developed from a small company acting as agents to suppliers of the oil industry into a conglomerate of companies and investments which spans four continents and numerous disciplines.

In addition to Klinger Warba, the company has one other manufacturing company in the group — International Warba Coatings. The other Warba companies are Warba National Contracting  (oil and energy division), Warba National Equipment and Repair Centre and Warba National Medical and Scientific Product Centre.

When gaskets maker Klinger Warba began production in September 1997, it marked the first time that the Warba group had ventured into manufacturing.  Operating with a manufacturing licence from the UK’s Klinger Ltd, Klinger Warba is today a single source supplier of gaskets to almost all the major industries in Kuwait including Kuwait National Petroleum Company, Kuwait Oil Company, Ministry of Electricity and Water, Equate Petrochemical Company and Joint Operations.

The joining of Warba and Klinger Ltd (UK) brought together the many years of technical experience from Klinger and the understanding and knowledge of the local market from Warba. The plant, while being Kuwaiti-owned, adheres to Klinger quality assurance tests and procedures.

Klinger Warba has a long and distinguished pedigree. The Klinger Group, market leaders in gaskets and jointing materials, was founded in 1886 on production innovation and development and this approach continued to be the cornerstone of its policy. Klinger was the original inventor of compressed asbestos gasket materials, developing in time into one of the world’s leading fluid sealing manufacturers with 11 factories and 18 trading companies on five continents. Over more than a century, many other products were introduced which further enhanced the company’s role in the manufacture and supply of fluid sealing products.

With the increasing concern for safety and the environment, reducing leaks from flanged assemblies is a high priority.  Making the change to asbestos-free gaskets, the company introduced several new materials. Following the acquisition of MacMichael Gaskets Ltd, the Klinger Group is now able to further complement its existing quality range of fluid sealing products with Mariflex spiral wound gaskets, metal-jacketed heat exchanger gaskets and solid metal ring joints.

MacMichael Gaskets was established in 1971 and has since built a solid reputation as a manufacturer of high quality metal gaskets for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries worldwide.
Klinger Warba maintains extensive stocks of all standard products in its factory in Subhan. The company makes metal ring joint gaskets, Klinger Statite treated paper gasket material, flange insulation gaskets, Mariflex spiral wound gaskets, metal jacketed gaskets, Maxiprofile gaskets, the Klinger Sealex, the Klinger Maxiflex, flexible graphites and graphite laminates.

The Klinger Statite is based on cellulose fibre and can be supplied in sheet, roll or gasket form. It is used extensively in the automotive industry where its excellent oil and fuel resistance provides long-lasting and reliable sealing at low cost.

Flange insulation gaskets are designed to minimise the effects of electro-chemical erosion and are used to isolate sections of pipework. They are made from materials with high dielectric strength. Each set comprises of one central flat or oval section gasket, one insulating sleeve per bolt and two insulating and two plated-steel washers per bolt. They are manufactured to suit flanged joints to ANSI, BS, DIN and customised designs.
The metal-jacketed gaskets have jacket materials of soft iron, soft steel, stainless steel 304, 321, 410, copper, brass, monel, chrome, aluminium, incoloy, titanium, inconel and nickel.

In Maxiprofile gaskets, a solid metal ring is machined on each contact face to provide a serrated surface finish. Under compression this finish develops high surface stress values enabling the soft coating to flow into any imperfections in the flange facing. A variety of surface coatings can be applied to service high temperature, pressure or corrosive media applications.

The Klinger Sealex is described as a reliable, versatile gasketing on a roll. The Sealex PTFE joint sealant is a soft, highly compressible sealing material’ which has a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing strip to assist with installation. Sealex is manufactured from 100 per cent virgin PTFE by a unique process, which gives a soft, pliant and highly compressible product.

The Sealex is suitable for use over a wide range of operating temperatures and pressures. Sealex will not support bacterial growth or contaminate operating media being sealed. It is easy to use and unlike conventional PTFE, Sealex has good creep resistance and bolt torque retention properties. It is also an excellent chemical resistant inert to practically all chemicals.

Sealex can be used practically anywhere including glass joints, plastic rubber or glass-lined flanges, GRP vessels and flanges, fume extractor hoods and ductwork, ventilating and air-conditioning ductwork, ceramic flanges, heat exchangers, pump or compressor housing flanges, water systems, hydraulic and pneumatic systems and vessel manways.

Flexible graphite and graphite laminates are the latest in the range of non-asbestos materials offered by Klinger.
Maxiflex gaskets rely on the reaction between the metal winding and filler combination with the surface of the flange to effect a seal. When the Maxiflex spiral wound gasket is compressed the homogenous filler material flows into the flange imperfections and the metal windings serve to completely trap the filler material and provide necessary strength and resilience to the gasket assembly.

Flexible graphite consists of pure carbon in which the crystalline structure has been considerably expanded through a special chemical and thermal procedure. The expanded crystals are formed into foil by a multi-stage calendaring process. The thin flexible graphiite foil can then be laminated into thicker sheets formed into tape for gland packings die-formed  into rings or incorporated into spiral would caskets.

Klinger flexible graphite sheet can also be supplied with reinforcements such as ANSI 316 stainless steel or aluminium etc. These reinforcements increase the tensile strength of the material, its load-bearing capacity and considerably improve the handling characteristics.