For instance, positive displacement pumps, such as lobe or 3 phase diaphragm pumps, are popular in the biopharma and food industries for product transfer and chemical additives. The nature of these pumps, moving a specified volume of fluid for each stroke, typically results in downstream pulsation causing disruptions for the next process. In particular, biopharmaceutical filtration and chromatography are easily disrupted when fluid is delivered in pulses. The sensitive resins in the chromatography column can be significantly disturbed due to these pulsations, which can be damaging to the final product. Due to the high costs of biological material, any disruption in the delivery lines is undesirable.
Equilibar pulsation dampening design
Upstream pulsation dampening is a natural behavior of the Equilibar® valve because the upper diaphragm naturally responds to slugs of fluid moving through the valve, keeping upstream pressure constant. The ultra-wide Cv range of the Equilibar valve allows it to keep up with positive displacement pumps to maintain consistent upstream pressure.
The Equilibar FD sanitary fluid control valves can also help reduce downstream pulsations. FD valves include a unique passive dampening design as standard.
The passive pulsation dampening comes from a special insert below the lower diaphragm that absorbs energy through the natural compression of the material. The insert has a unique geometric pattern to allow ample compression while also providing uniform pressure to the underside of the lower diaphragm to maximize its sensitivity. The insert is standard in the Equilibar FDO valve and reduces pulsation amplitude an average of 25%.
Please contact an Equilibar application engineer for more information.
FDO6 Sanitary fluid control valve can be configured with pulsation dampening
An Equilibar FDO placed downstream of a product transfer pump can reduce pulsations
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