Process valves help meet targets
12 Aug 2015
Efficient autoclave uses compact Bürkert process valves to meet cost and performance targets.
The latest Logiclave type vertical closing autoclave from ESTS claims to reduce running and maintenance costs by up to £60,000 over an average 10-year operating period.
The secret to achieving this figure is low maintenance, high reliability and low energy consumption.
This is largely made possible by the use of an innovative flash steam generator and a combination of Bürkert Type 2000 angle seat steam valves and rotary ball valves.
The Logiclave LAB300 autoclave unit comprises 14 Bürkert valves, some of which have been adapted to reduce inventory and purchase costs as well as withstand the high temperatures associated with repeated steam sterilisation.
The LAB300 uses pulsed vacuum / pressure cycles to replace the air in the chamber with steam in order to achieve sterilising conditions.
When the cycle starts the first of the Bürkert valves, a stainless steel bodied Type 2000 pneumatically operated angle seat valve, opens as an exhaust and then closes when the machine reaches a vacuum set point of 100 millibar within the chamber.
When it reaches this level, steam is injected via another Bürkert angle seat steam valve.
The specification of the valves in this instance is very important in order to achieve high reliability over an extended operating life with frequent and arduous operating cycles.
What’s more, the lack of a conventionally heated pressure vessel boiler in the machine is a crucial aspect in the reduced maintenance cost calculations, as they are subject to comprehensive legal service and inspection procedures.
The physical cost of these checks amounts to over £1,000 on a bi-annual basis, plus the cost of two days of operational downtime.
Experience also shows that immersed elements either in chamber or when fitted to conventional electrically heated steam boilers are prone to failure with typical costs associated with replacement at well over £1,000.
For more information, please visit: http://www.dmaeuropa.com/Clients/Burkert/News/tabid/1197/itemid/3744/Default.aspx
