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| Cutaway view of sanitary ball valve on clean steam trap piping Courtesy PBM Valve Solutions |
A major consideration for sanitary applications is the practical reduction or outright elimination of dead areas in piping systems. Any section, regardless of size, that can trap liquid is considered a potential harbor of contamination.
PBM Valve Solutions addresses some challenges posed by the use of ball valves at trap locations in a clean steam system. The valve materials and design modifications make them well suited for the intended application and reduce the pipe and fitting requirements for the trap installation.
The common design for a ball valve allows some amount of fluid to be retained within the port area of the valve when it is closed. This is undesirable for a clean steam system where the steam may come in contact with manufactured product. There can also be a requirement in such a system to maintain a minimum temperature throughout the steam distribution system under all conditions, to assure sterility is maintained. The specialty clean steam trap valve has purge holes that drain the port area to the valve outlet that leads to the steam trap. Other features of this specialty valve support the effective use of clean steam in sanitary processing.
The document below, from PBM Valve Solutions, provides more detail on the operating features of the clean steam trap ball valve. Share your steam system and fluid processing challenges with application specialists, combining your own process and facilities knowledge with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.
