The food and beverage processing industry spans a wide range, including dairy, meat, baked goods and canned goods. This industry is extremely diverse, and understanding the unique complexities of food or beverage is the key to finding the ideal valve for your processing needs. Valves specially designed for the food and beverage industry with extreme precision can meet the requirements for cleanliness and sterility.
What is a food and beverage valve?
Valves are an important part of process control and automation, and play a very important role in the food and beverage processing industry. For example, control valves help improve efficiency by reducing process variability to help maintain consistency. What's more, valves can help keep dangerous disease-causing pathogens out of food. For example, the good sealing of ball valves or dairy butterfly valves can help prevent leakages and cross-contamination of dairy products. Another benefit of food and beverage valves is that they can help food manufacturers increase production and uptime while reducing costly unscheduled downtime as long as the valves are well maintained.
Automation is one of the biggest driving forces of most global industries in the world today, including the food and beverage industry. With rising labor costs and strict food safety regulations, processors are actively looking for ways to reduce manual labor. Valves play an integral role in automation, enabling increased productivity without compromising quality. Therefore, choosing the right valve can greatly improve the competitive advantage.
Types of valves in food processing
Valves are used to open and close pipelines, control flow direction, adjust and control the parameters such as temperatures, pressure and flow of the conveying medium. Generally speaking, valves used in food and beverage processing can be divided into two categories: sanitary valves and general-purpose valves.
Sanitary valves
Sanitary valves, also known as process valves, are in direct contact with food and beverage products and require good cleanability for food safety. In the food and beverage industry, the most common type of valve is the seated valve, which can be used to open, close, divert or control flow. Seat valves are used because all parts in contact with the liquid are easy to clean, easy to maintain, and come in a variety of configurations to work well in almost any piping system. Anti-mixing valves can be used to replace seated valves where multiple products share the same pipeline and there is a risk of cross-contamination. The anti-mixing valve can provide double opening and closing and discharge protection, and can be operated in partitions when producing different products without cross-contamination. Butterfly valves can be used as a low-cost alternative to seated valves in some sanitary applications. Its compact design maximizes space savings in complex production lines and provides direct maintenance access. There are some limitations to using butterfly valves in food processing. For example, butterfly valves are not recommended on high-pressure pipelines because they have lower pressures than other sanitary process valves; these valves are less effective at closing fluid flow and may increase the risk of hydraulic shock that can damage the piping system. Additionally, these valves cannot be used in dairy facilities because they do not meet the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for pasteurized milk.
General valves
General-purpose valves do not require cleanability and are not limited in design. As a result, food manufacturers use general-purpose valves in a variety of shapes and sizes, such as ball valves, butterfly valves, gate valves, plug valves and globe valves. Each type of valve is available in different variants for specific applications. Ball valves and butterfly valves can be used as globe valves in many of the same applications. Because ball valves have better closing than butterfly valves, ball valves are suitable for smaller pipelines. Butterfly valves are lighter and cheaper to manufacture, so they are suitable for larger pipelines, while gate valves are often used in steam systems. They enable slow opening and closing, reducing the interaction of steam and condensation during system start-up and also limiting flashing. Angle seat valves are used in systems that require closing under pressurized fluid. They are designed to reduce hydraulic shock during actuation.
What is a food and beverage valve?
Valves are an important part of process control and automation, and play a very important role in the food and beverage processing industry. For example, control valves help improve efficiency by reducing process variability to help maintain consistency. What's more, valves can help keep dangerous disease-causing pathogens out of food. For example, the good sealing of ball valves or dairy butterfly valves can help prevent leakages and cross-contamination of dairy products. Another benefit of food and beverage valves is that they can help food manufacturers increase production and uptime while reducing costly unscheduled downtime as long as the valves are well maintained.
Automation is one of the biggest driving forces of most global industries in the world today, including the food and beverage industry. With rising labor costs and strict food safety regulations, processors are actively looking for ways to reduce manual labor. Valves play an integral role in automation, enabling increased productivity without compromising quality. Therefore, choosing the right valve can greatly improve the competitive advantage.
Types of valves in food processing
Valves are used to open and close pipelines, control flow direction, adjust and control the parameters such as temperatures, pressure and flow of the conveying medium. Generally speaking, valves used in food and beverage processing can be divided into two categories: sanitary valves and general-purpose valves.
Sanitary valves
Sanitary valves, also known as process valves, are in direct contact with food and beverage products and require good cleanability for food safety. In the food and beverage industry, the most common type of valve is the seated valve, which can be used to open, close, divert or control flow. Seat valves are used because all parts in contact with the liquid are easy to clean, easy to maintain, and come in a variety of configurations to work well in almost any piping system. Anti-mixing valves can be used to replace seated valves where multiple products share the same pipeline and there is a risk of cross-contamination. The anti-mixing valve can provide double opening and closing and discharge protection, and can be operated in partitions when producing different products without cross-contamination. Butterfly valves can be used as a low-cost alternative to seated valves in some sanitary applications. Its compact design maximizes space savings in complex production lines and provides direct maintenance access. There are some limitations to using butterfly valves in food processing. For example, butterfly valves are not recommended on high-pressure pipelines because they have lower pressures than other sanitary process valves; these valves are less effective at closing fluid flow and may increase the risk of hydraulic shock that can damage the piping system. Additionally, these valves cannot be used in dairy facilities because they do not meet the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for pasteurized milk.
General valves
General-purpose valves do not require cleanability and are not limited in design. As a result, food manufacturers use general-purpose valves in a variety of shapes and sizes, such as ball valves, butterfly valves, gate valves, plug valves and globe valves. Each type of valve is available in different variants for specific applications. Ball valves and butterfly valves can be used as globe valves in many of the same applications. Because ball valves have better closing than butterfly valves, ball valves are suitable for smaller pipelines. Butterfly valves are lighter and cheaper to manufacture, so they are suitable for larger pipelines, while gate valves are often used in steam systems. They enable slow opening and closing, reducing the interaction of steam and condensation during system start-up and also limiting flashing. Angle seat valves are used in systems that require closing under pressurized fluid. They are designed to reduce hydraulic shock during actuation.
Next: The Role of Food and Beverage Valves in Temperature Control
Previous: Notes for Quick Installation of Ball Valves
English
Español (España)
العربية