Mucon Oyster Butterfly Valve for Glove Box Pass-Through
CASE STUDY
Valve: Mucon Hygienic Oyster™ Butterfly Dosing Valve
Handling / Material: Pharmaceutical powders
Client / Industry: OEM, Pharmaceutical processing
Geo Location: UK
Application required:
- Dosing valve for use in glove box
- All actuator and control components to be located outside glove box, with airtight pass-through
- Retractable sleeve to protect rotating parts from possible contact with operator
The problem:
The inside of a glove box is not a suitable environment for a pneumatic actuator as it tends to be a dusty confined space with poor access for maintenance. By the same token, a pneumatic actuator is not a suitable device to install inside a glove box processing pharmaceutical ingredients because it contains oil that can possibly leak, it requires high-pressure air to operate, and requires a suitable exhaust system.
Fitting the actuator on the outside is a better option but this requires an airtight pass-through for the drive to be located inside of the glove box and also must allow easy removal of the valve from the actuator for maintenance and cleaning. It is also vital that there be no possibility of damage to the products or injury to personnel as a result of the presence of rotating components.
The solution:
The valve itself is an Oyster™ dosing valve, fitted easily to the host system inside the glove box by tri-clover connections.
An extended drive shaft was produced for the valve that interfaced with the actuator by means of a pass-through unit welded to the side of the glove box with ball bearings to ensure smooth operation.
The whole drive was protected by a retractable steel tube, which can be slid aside to gain access to the coupling, this enables easy and quick connection or removal of the valve.
There are no small parts and so all operations can easily be performed wearing gloves.
All wetted parts were polished to a high mirror finish.