Alfa Laval has introduced sampling valves for use in the dairy, food and beverage, personal care and biopharm industries. The Unique single and double-seat sampling valves are said to offer high operational reliability, enhanced cleanability and ease of operation and maintenance.
The Unique single-seat valve can handle all but the most stringent sanitary sampling applications, the company says. When the environment or the product hygiene requirements are more demanding, the double-seat valve is the solution that provides truly representative sampling.
The single-seat sampling valve combines a weld-free design and FDA-approved EPDM membrane seal to ensure excellent cleanability. Product flow is started or stopped manually by opening or closing the valve using the ergonomically designed handle.
The patented double-seat sampling valve is supplied with the same ergonomic handle for manual operation or can be equipped with an actuator. It provides three operating options: open to start product flow, closed to stop product flow and sterilising to ensure all valve surfaces are fully sterilised.
To ensure thorough sterilisation and access the hard-to-reach areas on the seat surface, the inner spindle pushes the membrane seal down onto the inner seat. When the inner spindle is in position, the outer spindle retracts, lifting the membrane seal away from the outer valve seat. This enables thorough sterilisation of the channel and the entire valve seat.
To complement the new Unique sampling valves, Alfa Laval offers sampling accessories including a check valve, and aseptic sampling bottle and a steam generator and spray gun to steam sterilise all of the components between operations.