Sanitary Butterfly Valve

Design

The dairy butterfly valve contains of a round, split stainless steel body and a movable stainless steel disc which is positioned in the center of the pipe. The sanitary butterfly valve disc has a shaft protruding from the top and that slots in the valve body and can be attach to a handle or actuator on the outside of the valve. A sanitary butterfly valve is available in SS 304 and SS 316L. A rubber seat is positioned between the body and the stainless steel butterfly. Seal materials are normally available in EPDM, Viton and Silicone. The most commonly used handles are the stainless steel pull handle, and multiple position gripper handles. Dairy butterfly valves usually come in weld and ferrule ends, but other less commonly used sanitary union connections such as DIN Male Part or DIN Liner and Nut ends can be requested.

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Method of Operation

Turning the handle turns the disc either parallel or perpendicular or anywhere in between to control the flow. Butterfly valves can be used in both horizontal and vertical applications.

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Automation

Most sanitary butterfly valves can be highly automated. Many offer different switch packages to mount to their actuators. Also, as they are quarter turn valves, hygienic butterfly valves can be automated with double rack and pinion pneumatic actuators. 

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CIP Cleanability

The fact that they are offered with sanitary tri clamp ends and are made from polished stainless steel and food safety approved elastomers makes tri clamp butterfly valves relatively clean. They are a straight through valve so they are relatively drainable.  But in some industries, the seals around the stems on the disks are problematic. They often don’t get completely clean in a CIP cycle. So to truly clean the valves, they must be dismantled and washed manually. Because of this, butterfly valves do not get 3A approval and you rarely see them in biopharmaceutical applications. But we do see them in food and beverage applications on a daily basis.

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Features

• Relatively inexpensive

• Few spare parts, easy to repair

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• Hygienic butterfly valves have lower pressure rating compared to ball valve

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Size Availability- 0.5" to 4" (if you need a different size, call us to request it)

 

Material Availability- Body in SS 304 or SS 316L, Gasket in EPDM, Silicone, or BUNA

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Connection Availability- Weld end, Ferrule End, other Sanitary Union connections

 

Pressure Rating- Up to 9.5 Bar, decreases along with size