When I started working in the hose and fitting industry in 1991, many of my high school friends and family members would often ask “what exactly do you do?” Over 20 years later, just as the products and materials have evolved and improved, hopefully so has my answer to this question.
What Is Industrial Hose?
Merriam Webster defines hose as “a long, usually rubber tube that liquids or gases can flow through.” Although true, this barely scratches the surface of the variety of configurations, compounds, sizes, and applications that modern hoses can handle. Along with rubber based hydraulic hose, synthetic hose, pneumatic tubing, natural gum rubber based products, the list is long, and might seem confusing at first glance.
Cross Company has long had a reputation for being the hydraulic hose experts in North Carolina. However, the truth is that Industrial Hose is just as important and has much more varied application requirements. So the evolution of my response can be partially attributed to an evolution to the question: “What is Industrial Hose and how can I help?”
Helping NC Solve Its Industrial Hose Problems
Industrial hoses are used in such a variety of industries and applications, so it would be hard to begin listing all of the types. When customers ask what industries we serve, my answer is typically “anywhere from rock quarries to pharmaceutical plants, and most anything in between.” This is because anytime you need to move ANY type of media, whether it’s a solid, liquid, or gas, you’re going to use a specific Industrial Hose for that application.(Yes you can move solids with hose, and it’s quite common!)
For example, with a more basic style of hose, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Industrial Hoses are typically a more economical option because of the compound’s affordability and wide availability. For an introduction to a common PVC hose, a layflat discharge hose is commonly used in conjunction with various sump pumps and trash pumps to move water and debris from one location to another.
Along with this discharge hose, pumps would also utilize a hard wall PVC suction hose on the intake side of a pump. These discharge and suction hoses are offered in a large range of sizes, with inside diameters from 1” up to 12”, and custom lengths to fit our customer’s specific needs.
A higher grade PVC is also compounded into Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved hoses and tubing that can be used anywhere from food and beverage manufacturing to conveying a variety of items in pharmaceutical plants that need to adhere to an FDA approved end-product.
Hopefully this has given you a basic look into one type – of many – Industrial Hose we carry, and begins to show the various solutions to your hose needs that we can offer here at Cross Hose & Fittings. In an upcoming blog, I will cover rubber based industrial hose compounds, their properties, and applications. If you have any questions, I’d love to talk to you about your hose needs!
