When it comes to getting the maximum value out of your factory’s limited floor space, planning an efficient, compact, and safely combined route for your liquid pipelines is crucial. One great way to boost your available room and save money is to invest in robust mixproof (double seat, double seal or block and bleed) valves.
What is a Mixproof Valve?
Traditional valves limit the flow to one direction on one pipeline, pressurising or containing moving fluids and stopping backwash. An inline check mechanism prevents your product / CIP from pushing backwards or escaping under pressure.
A mixproof valve doubles the concept, providing layouts with a system of one-directional valves controlled by a pressurised, vertical actuator. The valve acts as an X-junction (or crossroads). The tower configuration allows two (or more) liquid pipelines to pass over each other seamlessly without cross contamination, all through the same control unit – hence ‘mixproof’.
Why Mixproof Valves?
While one-directional, one-stage valves are useful in plumbing and hydraulics, food, beverage, chemical, and pharmaceutical factories frequently handle lots of different liquid compounds and ingredients at the same time. While the pipes might feed the same machine, heavy-duty, in-tank mixing is often needed before the batch goes to the next stage.
If you’re dealing with two recipes or many lines placed close together, preventing cross-contamination is a vital concern. Tight spaces mean that fluid production factory lines need to cross over each other and close-proximity valves need to be stacked to work.
Each mixproof unit contains a blocking chamber system and valve dividers, keeping the liquid flowing as and where it should. Mixproof valves can also work as solo ‘bridges’ between machine clusters, pipeline grid dividers, feed splitters, and traffic.
Matching the specs, configuration, and build to each application and pipeline pathway helps engineers get the best out of their valves.
What other benefits are there?
Mixproof valves reduce waste spillage (thanks to their compact, tight, drip-free tower design), cut maintenance, and make cleaning (including automatic CIP) and quick replacement far simpler. Their ‘crossroads’ functionality and modular installation make the design stage more straightforward and machine layouts more flexible, too.
What Features Do the Best Mixproof Valves Have?
Look out for:
- Plug-and-play, seamless designs (no conjoining or flexing connectors)
- Trusted brand name quality (for assurance and easy replacement)
- Internal seals and security chambers (spacers)
- Stainless steel, easy clean designs
- CIP ‘second line’ flush and cycle compatibility
- Tested and proven high pressure, stress, and temperature resistance
- Sterile locking and exterior ingress protection
- Multi-chamber add-on capability (for extra pipelines)
- Anti-corrosion, ph.-balanced coating
As always, the best mixproof valve is the one that best matches your system and production needs. Check with your own technicians, engineers, or our in-house experts at ITS if you’re unsure what you need.
Alfa Laval Mixproof Valves from ITS…If you’re looking for a reliable mixproof valve for your factory, we recommend the Alfa Laval Unique Mixproof valve. Built to withstand heavy operation with minimal fuss, it’s compatible with any fast-yield industrial application up to 125°C.
Watch the Alfa Laval Unique Mixproof Valve video here:
As a trusted Alfa Laval specialist, we can also supply mixproof integrated manifolds, combined systems, and full loops to match almost any task. Please get in touch to find out more.
Contact us – UK’s Leading Distributor of Flow Control Components – Contact Us (industrialtradingsolutions.com)
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