Equilibar Sanitary Valves

Equilibar® FD sanitary valves are designed with special features for biopharmaceutical and other sanitary applications.

What is a Sanitary Valve?

Sanitary valves are specifically designed with cleanability in mind for biopharmaceutical and other industries with sanitary requirements. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has a special body of standards, Bioprocessing Equipment standards (BPE), pertaining to equipment used in BioPharma industries. Sanitary valves are designed using criteria outlined by ASME BPE, making them different from standard industrial valves in material and construction. Sanitary valves following BPE guidelines are made of SS316L and Class VI polymers, have a crevice-free flow path and easy drainability to allow thorough valve cleaning and sterilization.

Equilibar Sanitary Valve Features

The Equilibar FD Series sanitary 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 sanitary valves can be used for pressure control or automated flow control operations.

The FD Series valves feature Equilibar’s patented dome-loaded multiple orifice technology delivering instantaneous control, frictionless operation, superior precision, and exceptionally wide flow rate range. Equilibar valves offer advantages for sanitary applications such as gradient chromatography /inline conditioning, tangential flow filtration, transmembrane pressure control, tank blanketing and liquid dosing.

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FD SANITARY VALVES – PRESSURE PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES

Traditional back pressure regulators use springs to gradually open up as the overpressure is used to compress the spring. This often results in significant inlet pressure loss with increases in process flow. Equilibar regulators feature ultra-sensitive diaphragm-operated back pressure technology capable of controlling pressure with high precision over a wide range of flows. They fully open in less than 1% overpressure in most applications.

The graph to the right shows an example of the consistent performance of an FDO6 3/4” sanitary FD regulator controlling water pressure across a wide range of flow.

SIMPLE COMPACT DESIGN

With its simple design, FD sanitary regulators are easy to disassemble for maintenance, reassemble, and return to use quickly and easily. The compact design facilitates a simple process layout.

CIP / SIP COMPATIBILITY

The FD Series sanitary valves are made of SS316L stainless steel and contain USP Class VI diaphragms. The design is compatible with temperatures up to 135°C experienced during steam sterilization, and the valve’s wide working flow range allows one FD size to effectively control during high flow CIP rates as well as very low flow dosing rates. The video below demonstrates how the FDO8 can keep precise pressure control across a wide range of flow rates from 30 ml/min to 100,000 ml/min. These sanitary valves have undergone comprehensive design and testing to have optimum drainability when oriented with the inlet down. Equilibar FDO cleanability and drainability testing information. 

SMOOTH COMPUTER AUTOMATION

Equilibar FD sanitary back pressure regulators respond instantaneously to changes in flow or setpoint to maintain the desired inlet pressure. Because of its capacity to control within milliseconds, the FD Series is a perfect match for computer automated control. Paired with an electronic pilot regulator, the FD regulator may be connected to the process control system, and it is ready for automation. The FD valve is versatile and can be used for pressure control or as a flow control valve.

Watch a video showing precise pressure control using an FDO8 valve across a wide flow range.

 

Product Summary

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If you don’t find a suitable regulator here, please visit Steriflow back pressure regulators to learn about the Mark 95 Series.

Application Spotlight – Biopharmaceutical filtration