An internationally recognised refractories manufacturing company supporting local & international customers are using Pinch Valves from AKO within their bagging process. They are a producer of monolithic castables (cements) & refractory bricks, mainly in the steel & glass industry as well as service repair facilities for furnaces, incinerators and boilers.
How does the Pinch Valve assist with this application?
The Pinch Valve is used to close off the path the material takes before and after filling a poly lined bag to a precise volume or weight that is dispensed from the chamber. (Initially a high-volume air rate, followed by a low volume air rate for accurate weights normally 5% tolerance)
Application Details
The Pinch Valve for refractories is normally closed, and is postitioned on a bagging unit, pressurised when active for bagging. On average, the valve performs around +/-600 cycles per day.
Coarse aggregates (light & abrasive materials) are passing through the valve at ambient temperature. The media is not under pressure, only under own weight (only pressurised when a push button is activated for bagging off material). 4 BAR air pressure is used to shut off the valve.
A pressure regulator and solenoid valve are used in conjunction with the Pinch Valve.
How a Pinch Valve for Refractories was chosen
This system of dispensing material has been a practice with this company for 20+ years.
The machine was supplied to the refractories manufacturing company by the original equipment manufacturer with these set requirements. As far as the Technical Engineer who we spoke to is aware of, there are other methods that could be used but generally they are not as accurate when dispensing materials, compared to the accuracy when controlling the flow of product using a Pinch Valve.
Pinch Valves by an alternative manufacturer were originally supplied on the equipment, but the refractories manufacturer decided to switch to AKO Pinch Valves a few years ago, as the original supplier became too expensive.
When the Technical Engineer presented the pricing from AKO to his manager, he told us that it was competitive and that they were impressed at the fast response time when enquiring about the Pinch Valve product. He also confirmed that the AKO Pinch Valve for refractories seems to be better as they have less ruptures or breaks, reducing maintenance or breakdowns.
Pinch Valve used within this application: VF065.03X.31.30LA
VF model, air operated, aluminium body, aluminium flanges PN10/16 with mild steel bushing contact parts, natural rubber sleeve.
How have the advantages of using a Pinch Valve benefitted your company/process?
“The AKO valve is quite robust and seems to have a better performance and lifespan that previous companies used. (Also, all depends on the grades of monolithic we produce during the year). They work well. Reasonably priced and easy to get spares.”
Sleeve Lifetime
Generally, the rubber sleeves inside the valves last between 4-6 months but can be factor dependent on the types of monolithic the company produce, as some grades are more abrasive than others. The sleeve lifetime also depends on the operator – sometimes there may be a blockage within the valve area or chamber and needs prodding to release material, resulting in the valve being spiked and ripped in some cases.
With the sleeves being extremely quick and simple to replace, this is another benefit to the company, and they keep a few on the shelf as spares at all times.