The start of a new year is always exciting at Equilibar. After the quiet of the holidays, we’re eager to explore the flurry of inquiries showing up in our inboxes.
The new year also seems to be an appropriate time for a quick review of the product literature we have available for download. We’d like to invite engineers and researchers around the world to explore our fluid control offerings in depth.
In addition to brochures in English, much of our collection is available in German, French, Spanish and Japanese. In 2022, we were especially glad to offer our first brochures in simplified Chinese and four additional brochures in French.
See our product literature page or read on for a round-up of our most popular offerings.
Research series:
As research into hydrogen and other forms of renewable energy accelerates, the Equilibar® Research Series of back pressure regulators and flow control valves remains popular. These compact, easily automated devices solve critical performance problems for laboratory, gas analysis and other challenging scenarios. They are especially useful for applications such as catalysis research and reservoir core analysis.
Equilibar has several different trim styles and many different diaphragm materials in Research Series designs. Research Series back pressure regulators and flow control valves work through an incredibly wide range of flow, pressure, and temperature. Materials include Hastelloy, SS316L, PTFE, and FFKM (Kalrez), to name a few.
Maximum temperature ranges are standard 150°C, with the capability to go up to 200°C (with viton seals and metallic diaphragm) and 325°C (with Kalrez seals and metallic diaphragm). In extreme temperature cases, High Temperature (HT) models can be used in processes up to 450°C. They are available in port sizes of 1/16″, 1/8″ and 1/4″ to accommodate most low flow / low dead volume requirements.
Sanitary devices:
This year we’re especially pleased to focus on the Equilibar® SD Series single use back pressure regulators. These are designed for the rapidly expanding single use technology (SUT) segment of the biopharmaceutical industry and form the foundation of Equilibar’s new Single Use Technology division. The disposable SD body and diaphragms are made from USP Class VI polymers and are inserted into a permanent stainless steel support housing with wing nut closure for quick and easy assembly.
The Equilibar® FD Series valves are machined from stainless steel or Hastelloy and are suitable for use in industries such as personal care products, food and beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Equilibar back pressure regulators can be used for pressure control or automated flow control operations.
Both sanitary valve series feature Equilibar’s patented dome-loaded multiple orifice technology delivering instantaneous control, frictionless operation, superior precision, and exceptionally wide flow rate range . They offer advantages for sanitary fluid control applications in consumer products and biopharmaceutical production such as gradient chromatography, tangential flow filtration, and liquid dosing.
General service:
Equilibar’s GS valves and regulators provide stable pressure control for gases, liquids, and mixed-phase fluids in inlet/outlet port sizes from 1/4″ to 1″. Common materials in stock are SS316L and PVC; depending on application needs, other materials available for order are Hastelloy C276, Titanium, Monel, Zirconium, Aluminum, CPVC, PVDF, PTFE and PEEK.
The GS Series comes in different trims to suit process parameters. A GR trim is more efficient for the lower pressures and NR is more robust for higher pressures.
Common applications for the GS Series include fuel cell testing, continuous API manufacturing, pressure bypass control and high resolution flow control.
Industrial service:
Equilibar’s industrial BD Series of back pressure valves are designed for applications requiring larger sizes and higher throughput. They are available in port sizes from 1.5″ up through 4″ standard, with custom sizes on request. They are designed using the same precision technology as the smaller back pressure regulators, but our custom is to use the term valve when referring to the larger sizes.
The BD Series has external elbows attached to the ports on the bottom plate to save significant space compared to the side-ported cylindrical designs of our smaller regulators. Metal elbows are welded to the valve bodies while polymer elbows are glued. Standard elbows are NPT and there are options for BSPP, flanges and Tri Clamp.
BD valves are used for gases, liquids, and mixed phase applications and are particularly popular for fuel cell testing, biogas production, pump bypass pressure control, and other industrial applications.
Vacuum controllers:
Like our unique back pressure regulator technology, the Equilibar® vacuum regulator (EVR) uses multiple orifices sealed by a flexible diaphragm instead of a single large valve seat and is dome-loaded by a pilot regulator setting the vacuum setpoint. As flow requirements change, the diaphragm moves a few millimeters to open and close over some or all of the orifices, providing instantaneous and frictionless control. The pilot setpoint pressure may be set with a manual or electronic vacuum pilot regulator.
The EVR played a critical role in building the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis mission, which made a successful test flight in late 2022.
Photo courtesy of NASA
EVR devices are available from 1/4″ to 4″ port sizes. Starting at $600, they offer a good option for complex vacuum applications where conventional solutions have not worked.
Additional offerings:
Equilibar products are well suited to provide flow control for challenging applications. We also offer electronic regulators and many styles of pressure reducing regulators. Specialty devices include supercritical valves, Mity Mite replacement valves and others. For more information please contact one of our application engineers.
