High Purity Ball Valve – Sanitary Type Applications

High Purity Ball Valve – Sanitary Type Applications

Valves are small devices that are common in most industries that deal with transporting materials such as liquids or gases. Valves are used to regulate, direct or control the flow of these materials in a piping system or in a machine. There are several types of valve that are made of different materials, serve different purposes and have some distinguishing features that separate them from one another.

One of the many valves that are available is the 3-piece high purity ball valve. This type of ball valve are very common in microbreweries and other industries that deal with manufacturing or distributing food. They are most suitable for hygienic processing, where the control of materials such as gases and liquids require the use of high quality instruments and networkability.

Product profile:

·         3 Piece Direct Mount High Purity Ball Valve

·         ½” – 4” available

·         316 stainless steel

·         Oxygen cleaned

·         800 WOG

·         Cavity filled seats

·         10rA finish

·         Manual, Electric or Pneumatic

A very common question that is frequently asked about ball valves is “What is the difference between a sanitary valve and a high purity ball valve?” Well, the answer to this question is quite short and simple; saying you have a sanitary ball valve is incorrect. In fact, a true sanitary ball valve https://www.kp-lok.com/product/purge-valves/ does not exist. Due to the cavities present in the structure of a ball valve, it is impossible to have a true or perfectly sanitary ball valve.

However, in a bid to make ball valves as sanitary as possible, a few things can be done to try and eliminate those cavities. The most common way of getting rid of these cavities is by:

·         Cavity Filled Seats: the use of cavity filled seats greatly helps to reduce the size of the cavity between the body of the valve and the ball itself. This leaves no room for bacteria to grow.

·         10rA Finish: the 10rA finish is used on the stainless steel that the ball valve is manufactured with to ensure that it does not have any grooves or cavities. The major reason for doing this is to reduce the ability for bacteria to grow.

·         Tri-Clamp End: the use of tri-end clamps kicks out the need for threaded ends. Threaded ends can be a breeding spot for bacteria. 

·         Oxygen Cleaning: the oxygen cleaning is used to get rid of any residual or leftover grease from the process of building the valve that might still be present in the valve.

Conclusion

It might be impossible to have a perfectly sanitary ball valve, but the above listed features and processes can greatly help to reduce or eliminate cavities in the ball valve and help to keep it as sanitary as possible. The 3 piece high purity ball valve is great for several residential, industrial and commercial applications such as microbreweries, dairy production, brewing at home and many more.