LEFF is integrated as standard in the T.VIS A-15 control head of the 24/7 PMO 2.0 valve. Path-controlled electronics, for which GEA already holds a patent.
Sealing zones
According to Bernd Porath, product manager, hygienic valve technology, GEA, the principle is based on a flip-flop movement of the valve disks.
“At the moment when the disk lifts from the seat and opens up a cleaning gap, the cleaning medium flows in. That’s when shear forces are at their greatest, and they clean most effectively. We leverage this principle, and the closing and opening of the valve disks, in a very specific manner,” he said.
GEA claims dairies in the US can save up to 90% on CIP (clean in place) with the double-seat valves because they can be deployed in non-aseptic dairy processes where milk is drawn off, stored, distributed and filled.
Sealing zones on the valves can be cleaned separately by LEFF with their sealing function retained, which means they can work around the clock, regardless of process run-times and product pressures.
The faster a valve disk opens and closes, the less cleaning medium runs through, with optimal cleaning performance.
“Our customers want their production to be optimized when it comes to operating costs, while remaining constant and consistent,” added Porath.
“They are saving up to 90% on CIP media, including expensive cleaning agents as well as water and wastewater.”
Cleaning fluids
Low emission flip-flop is already standard in Europe for a number of milk-processing operations, but to date, GEA says the function had not been approved in the control head of the double-seat valve in the US.
To totally exclude the risk of contamination, the US PMO regulation had not permitted the product and the cleaning fluids to run through a valve at the same time. As a result, cleaning cycles have incurred considerable, cost intensive downtimes for producers.
GEA engineers have now redesigned double-seat valves for milk processing in line with the PMO specifications, and eliminated the risk with an underpressure in the leakage space suctioning up any cleaning medium that may have overflowed.
This means if a line and its sealing points are being cleaned, the other line can still continue to conduct product.
GEA is the first manufacturer of double-seat valves able to meet the strict requirements of the PMO.
“This is a breakthrough in the US where water shortage is a critical issue, especially in California,” said Bastian Tolle, head of product group management, Flow Components, GEA.
“We can now help our customers in the US with LEFF by lowering water consumption and alleviating other cost pressures in their operations.”
This is good news for existing customers in the US because LEFF is already integrated in the T.VIS A-15 control head of the GEA 24/7 PMO 2.0 valve.
It only needs to be switched on to be used in existing applications.