Three Rivers, Mich., December 3, 2019 – Kadant Johnson LLC, a subsidiary of Kadant Inc. (NYSE: KAI), announced its newest innovation, the ELSX™ rotary joint. The ELSX rotary joint is designed to transfer steam or thermal oil into and out of rotating equipment. The new design significantly increases the reliability, durability, and overall speed and pressure capability of Kadant Johnson extended life joints.

“Two key customer insights were identified in the development of the ELSX rotary joint,” said Matt Beach, director of product development. “The first is that customers are increasing operating speed and pressure. The second is that customers are demanding greater uptime. The ELSX rotary joint addresses both needs.”

In steam applications, the ELSX proprietary seal ring extends the life of the rotary joint by increasing the allowable seal wear while decreasing the seal wear energy. When used with thermal oil, the application-specific seal ring prevents leaks during break-in and offers high reliability. In both steam and thermal oil applications, internal support guides have been redesigned and enlarged to handle high energy, high vibration applications.

Carl Howe, vice president of sales, commented, “Our customers are increasing production rates to increase profits. To do this, they need more heat, so they are increasing operating steam pressure. They also have less maintenance staff as employees retire and budgets shrink. We developed a solution that safely handles high speed and high-pressure applications with limited maintenance.”

The new ELSX rotary joint delivers safety, reliability, durability, and operating performance. Steam applications have a maximum design speed, pressure, and temperature of 300 rpm, 300 psig, and 500 F, respectively. Thermal oil applications have a maximum design speed, pressure, and temperature of 300 rpm, 150 psig, and 650 F, respectively.

About Kadant Johnson

Kadant Johnson LLC, based in Three Rivers, Michigan, is a leading provider of rotary joints, precision unions, and fluid handling systems and equipment used to optimize the transfer of power, fluid, and data in rotary sealing applications found in process industries. The Company’s systems division specializes in the engineering, design, and supply of steam systems, controls, and related equipment used to manage steam and condensate flow. It also provides project management and remote monitoring to optimize steam energy utilization. For more information, visit www.kadant.com.

About Kadant

Kadant Inc. is a global supplier of high-value, critical components and engineered systems used in process industries worldwide. The Company’s products, technologies, and services play an integral role in enhancing process efficiency, optimizing energy utilization, and maximizing productivity in resource-intensive industries. Kadant is based in Westford, Massachusetts, with approximately 2,800 employees in 20 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.kadant.com

Safe Harbor Statement

The following constitutes a “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking statements about our customers, products, technologies, and markets. These forward-looking statements represent our expectations as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in Kadant’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2018 and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.