is it time to upgrade the industrial machinery?

What To Look For When Purchasing Pneumatic Valves For Biological Processing

Whether your lab operates under research protocols or pharmaceutical manufacturing guidelines, when you are getting ready to install new process lines or update current pneumatic systems there are a few things you need from your fluid control centers (such as DEWCO Pumps & Equipment, Inc). Fluid controls are instrumental in water treatment, fermentation, compound separation, and trituration processes that take place in biological analysis and manufacturing. So valves that serve as your fluid control units need to be precise, versatile, and sterile to meet the high standards of laboratory processing.     

But finding the right valves for your lab can be a challenge when you're given choices of fluid controls that serve industrial and commercial applications. So if you're in charge of updating or implementing new equipment used for biological processing in a lab, there are a few things you need to look for before you invest in new valves.

Component Precision

Your next pneumatic valves should not only be strong enough to withstand heat and pressure extremes but exposure to a wide range of chemicals as well. Valves for lab work should also include tubing, rubber gaskets, screening, and steel components that adhere to stringent ASME and ASTM standards, because purity and contamination control are factors that will make or break your end results. Your valve selection should also include electropolishing of the metal surfaces, to ensure a smooth finish that can be easily cleaned and sterilized, as well as a choice of either ball or diaphragm valves that eliminate back flow and dead leg space that can hinder aseptic materials preparation. Beyond the design of your valve, you should also consider using fluid control devices that have improved technology in the form of electronic controls for greater precision during routine usage.

Universal Applicability

If you're adapting new valves onto dated automation or manufacturing equipment in your laboratory, you want to know that the valves you're using are optimized for universal applications. Although you may want to eventually update all process equipment in your lab to be uniformly precise and consistent, investing thousands may not be an option. So instead of opting for new machinery and automation controls, you may want to consider an affordable and reliable upgrade to your pneumatic valve system. Newer, optimized pneumatic valves, are enhanced by controlled actuators and electronic regulation that can be coupled with both new and dated technologies to elevate precision, aseptic sterility, and output regardless of your equipment's make and model.