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Novel square core promises long valve life

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jan 19, 2006

A new series of 0.125in process valves offer a service life of up to 20 million cycles on a wide range of fluids and gases thanks to a unique design of square core.

Asco Joucomatic's new 256/356 series of 0.125in process valves offer a service life of up to 20 million cycles on a wide range of fluids and gases thanks to a unique design of square core.

The valves are designed for tasks such as shutoff, dosing, filling and actuator piloting in a host of applications including sanitary equipment, industrial laundries, food machinery, compressors, heating and refrigeration equipment, washing machines, petrochemical milking machines animal feeders, car washes and welding machines.

The two-way (2/2) 256 and three-way (3/2) 356 series valves are direct-acting stainless steel or brass bodied units designed for demanding applications that require fast (5-10ms) and frequent operation.

They can be supplied as discrete units in NC, NO and universal configurations, and also as manifolds, with from two to five stations (valves) for stainless steel bodied units, and up to 10 stations for brass-bodied variants.

Both single and manifolded versions of the valves provide high levels of reliability and service life when controlling fluids such as air, water, hot water, detergents, chemical reagents, and gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and chlorofluorocarbon.

Key to this performance is a unique design of square core, which provides a number of operational advantages.

First, it prevents calcium build-up when used with water.

Secondly, the square design prevents the core malfunctioning when the valve is used with contaminated fluids.

Thirdly, the square design offers less friction, and so the valve is more efficient in operation.

Fourthly and finally, the square core has a shock absorber on its top face, which has the effect of reducing operating noise, by preventing hammering of the core surface.

Compact in design and lightweight, the 256/356 valves offer users the benefits of a wide range of flow and pressure ratings.

They can operate with high differential pressures of up to 35bar to cater for a wide range of applications.

In addition, the fitting of FPM (Viton) seals, as standard, enables the valves to operate at temperatures up to 100C.

The facility for 24V DC operation, and the integrity of the 256/356 design means that the valves are suitable for outdoor use without requiring any specific protection.

Captive O-rings ensure excellent sealing between the coil and the core tube, and also prevent moisture from entering the coil actuation mechanism.

In addition the coil itself enjoys high levels of ingress protection to IP65.

Key to enabling the 256/356 valves to meet the widest range of application requirements is an extensive list of options.

These include: the facility for EPDM, NBR or PTFE seals; spade plug connectors to IP67; explosion proof enclosures for use in zones 1/21, 2/22 categories 2-3 to ATEX Directive; flying leads; magnetic latch execution; plugs with visual indication; oxygen service valves; and valves without manual operators.