Drain valves comprise up to 20% of all valves in a typical processing plant. But cleaning them is costly, difficult, and time-consuming due to long cleaning cycles and the risk of pressure shocks. The new Alfa Laval ThinkTop pulse seat clean addresses all these issues, quickly and effectively making drain valves spotless while delivering savings of up to 95% in Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) liquid. ThinkTop is raising the bar on water savings yet again. The new pulse seat clean feature does for drain valves what the burst seat clean did in 2019 for mixproof valves. While burst seat clean reduce CIP liquid for mixproof valves by up to 90%, the pulse seat clean cuts drain valve CIP liquid consumption by up to 95%.
Imagine the savings made possible by using this standard automated valve-position feature, triggered by a rising programmable logic controller (PLC) signal and controlled by the Alfa Laval ThinkTop V50 and V70 sensing and control units.
Short bursts, or pulses, drive the valve cleaning process, activating the valve when shear forces peak. Each position-based pulse takes less than a second, preventing pressure shocks in the system. The pulse creates high turbulent flow as the liquid passes through the narrow gap between the valve house and valve seat, effectively removing all residuals for spotless drain valves.
The pulse seat clean makes control and validation of valve cleaning cycles easy. The valve position is not controlled by the PLC timer but by the Alfa Laval ThinkTop. Besides reducing the volume of CIP liquid used, programming the sensor to open and close the seat quickly ensures faster, more rigorous cleaning and hygiene than timer-controlled cleaning. The ThinkTop also verifies that valve cleaning has been completed.
