Specialty gas cylinders are often deployed in manifolded situations, with cylinders permanently connected, supplying calibration, carrier, and analysis gases to laboratory-installed systems and equipment. This situation brings about both the need to confirm at a glance whether a particular cylinder valve is open or closed and also the ability to open and close supply valves quickly and easily to ensure process-critical supply precisely when required. Add to this an increasing prevalence of compact, lightweight cylinders in this field, and a new market-specific valve requirement is emerging for an elegant solution to these very specific new needs. That’s according to gas control solutions leader GCE, which has recently introduced to the market a new member of its valve family, in the shape of the GCE One Touch 316L Stainless Steel compact diaphragm valve.
The diaphragm valve is one of four basic valve types, of which there are several versions and designs for each. Often used for highly toxic and/or high purity gases, the diaphragm valve is a handwheel-operated valve type, using a two-piece stem construction separated by non-perforated diaphragms which prevent leakage along the valve stem. The movement of these stems is governed by the operation of the handwheel, with the stem(s) movement effectively ensuring a double layer of leak security. When it comes to GCE’s new valve, the company says that laboratory technicians will be familiar with the high quality provided by its druva® range of gas control equipment products and many of the technological advances utilised in these laboratory-specific devices have been deployed in its new 316L Stainless Steel diaphragm valves to ensure both longevity of service and operational ease of use.