Innovative membrane valve housings thanks to modern IHU technology

Bürkert presents innovative membrane valve housings for the highest hygiene standards.

Bürkert Fluid Control Systems presented at ACHMEA 2015 a completely new type of housing for membrane valves, specifically aimed at applications in hygienic environments. The housings, manufactured using a patented production process called internal high-pressure forming (IHU), meet the highest requirements for materials and cleanability. With a lightweight, sustainable, and hygienic design, the pipe valve housings are unique and compensate for the weaknesses of forged and cast valve housings.

With the introduction of the new pipe valve housing, Bürkert completes its range in the membrane valve sector and presents a powerful alternative to forged and cast valve housings. Certified for cleanability according to EHEDG, high stability, excellent surface quality, and the use of 316L stainless steel, the pipe valve housings made with internal high-pressure forming are on par with the already market-known designs. On the contrary: a major advantage of the new housings is that they are made from high-quality stainless steel pipe, just like other plant or system pipelines. This allows for hygienic pipe-to-pipe welding using nearly identical materials, ensuring consistently high quality of the weld seams. Compared to cast housings, no blowholes or other defects occur in the raw material during manufacturing, significantly reducing the risk of contamination.

By processing high-quality pipe in combination with IHU, it is possible to produce variants up to 75% lighter than forged housings, which offers significant customer benefits. Users can reduce energy consumption and the heating or cooling times of systems during cleaning or sterilization processes through decreased material use. This lowers energy costs and reduces downtime. Additionally, the lightweight housings enable optimized temperature control, simpler process validation, shorter reaction times, and reduced installation costs by eliminating supports. The lightweight design of the housings also has a positive ecological impact. Due to their low mass, users benefit from energy savings, reducing the CO2 footprint during operation. The manufacturing process itself is also more environmentally friendly. While producing a cast valve body with nominal size DN 25 releases nearly 7,000 grams of CO2, the new Bürkert pipe valve body releases just over 2,000 grams.

In detail, the internal high-pressure forming process involves filling a standard stainless steel pipe of pharmaceutical quality with a water-oil emulsion and subjecting it to high internal pressure. The pipe is then formed into a valve body and simultaneously firmly connected to a flange. Afterwards, flange and pipe are joined via laser welding to ensure cleanability and stability of the product. A special annealing process follows to increase durability. Finally, precision surfaces with the highest quality are produced. The result is an innovative product where a medium comes into contact exclusively with a pharmaceutically suitable pipe and a membrane: a quality product "Made in Germany".

The target applications for the new pipe valve housings are found in the demanding markets of pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, cosmetics, as well as food and beverage industries. The valve housings meet the current requirements and regulations of these markets from technical, economic, and ecological perspectives. For example, they comply with the globally established ASME-BPE standard regarding sizes and tolerances, as well as EHEDG requirements for hygienic design. For market launch, the pipe valve housings are available in welding connection sizes ½", ¾", 1", 1½", and 2" with Bürkert membrane valve types 2031 and 3233. Overall, Bürkert has many years of experience in the field of membrane housings and is considered one of the world's largest providers of products and system solutions for measuring, controlling, and regulating liquids and gases.