What are the differences in the applications of various types of control valves in the food and beverage industry?

Release time:

2025-12-17

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Abstract

Structural Features: The valve utilizes a disc-type spool that rotates to adjust the flow passage opening. It features a simple structure, compact size, and lightweight design. Hygienic butterfly valves often adopt either an axle-free design or a sealed valve shaft to prevent medium contact with the shaft and eliminate dead zones.

Hygienic Butterfly Valve—High-Capacity Regulation for Large-Diameter, Low-Pressure-Drop Applications

Application advantages: Strong flow capacity, capable of handling high-flow regulation in large-diameter pipelines (e.g., DN100 and above); high regulation efficiency under low-pressure-drop conditions; lower cost compared to ball valves of the same diameter; easy disassembly and cleaning, suitable for CIP/SIP processes.

Typical application scenarios:

- Water treatment stage: High-flow water distribution and regulation for raw water pretreatment in food plants and for pure water preparation systems; as well as the conveyance and flow control of cleaning water (CIP cleaning solutions).

- Central air conditioning and refrigeration: Cooling water and chilled water flow regulation for beverage production line cooling systems and cold storage refrigeration systems (auxiliary systems for non-contact food media).

- Powder ingredient assistance: Airflow regulation (compressed air piping) for conveying powdered raw materials such as flour and powdered sugar, controlling the powder delivery rate.

Limitations: Moderate adjustment accuracy; not suitable for high-precision flow control. Sealing performance is slightly inferior to that of ball valves and is easily affected by the viscosity of the medium. It is not recommended for use with highly viscous media or media containing particulates (such as jams). Avoid disc wear or jamming.

Sanitary Shut-off Valve—High-Precision, Fine Adjustment for Low Flow Rates

Structural Features: The valve core, which operates via a plunger mechanism, moves up and down to adjust the flow passage opening. The flow passage is narrow yet offers high adjustment accuracy. The hygienic design optimizes the smoothness of the flow passage, eliminates dead corners, and is compatible with CIP cleaning.

Application advantages: High adjustment accuracy, enabling precise control of extremely small flow rates; excellent sealing performance with minimal pressure loss, suitable for high-pressure, low-flow applications; ideal for fine adjustment of clean, low-viscosity media.

Typical application scenarios:

- Additive dosing: Precise and微量 addition of food additives (such as sweeteners, preservatives, and colorants), with strict control over the dosage ratio between additives and raw materials (e.g., small-flow adjustments of several liters per hour).

- Fine-tuned steam control: Precise adjustment of steam pressure during the milk product pasteurization process to ensure accurate control of sterilization temperature (e.g., precise control of pasteurization temperature within ±0.5℃).

- Laboratory and Pilot Production Line: Flow-rate process control for food R&D laboratories and small-scale pilot production lines, tailored to meet the precise production needs of multiple product varieties in small batches.

Limitations: High flow resistance, making it unsuitable for regulating large flow rates; narrow flow passages, prone to clogging by high-viscosity or particulate-containing media (such as jams and syrups); relatively large in size, resulting in higher costs under large-diameter operating conditions.

Keywords:

What are the application scenarios of butterfly valves in the petrochemical industry?

Application areas of control valves