Manufacturers of food and other hygienically processed products face the challenge of maintaining reproducible processes so that their products have the appearance, taste, and consistency that consumers expect.
GEA has designed the VARIVENT MX with elements that keep products from mixing with the cleaning liquid, even under exceptional loads. The cavity chamber is fitted with a vacuum self-drainage system and balancers on both valve discs. For maximum physical safety, GEA makes use of the Venturi effect which is created by the special shape of the flow channels, causing a vacuum on the opposite seal during lifting, preventing pressure increases. As a result, no cleaning liquid can enter the opposite pipe carrying the product while a valve seat is being lifted or cleaned, even if a seal is defective.
When new systems are set up and adjusted in a short time, there is a higher risk of overpressure during operation. The valve discs must stay in place when water hammer occurs, and the valve must remain closed. For this purpose, GEA has equipped the valve discs in both pipelines with balancers – pressure compensators. This makes the closed valve resistant to water hammer up to 50 bar in the upper and lower pipelines. The new MX valve type also has an integrated balancer cleaning device. It ensures that the balancer is completely flushed from the outside during seat lifting at the same time as cleaning-in-place is taking place. All surfaces in contact with the product can be cleaned without any additional components protecting the product from contamination.
