Telstar has developed a new chamber/condenser main isolation valve for application in GMP industrial freeze dryers. The Cartridge Mushroom Valve (CMV) is an innovative solution with less complexity and easier maintenance; providing enhanced process safety. The new valve has been designed to operate using rotational movement in a manner, which enables elimination of the protective bellows system characteristic of the conventional mushroom valve.
The new valve has been designed to be either installed in new freeze dryers or retrofitted to existing units currently equipped with butterfly valves. The new CMV has been carefully designed to fit in the space normally occupied by a butterfly valve. Furthermore, the new CMV requires less maintenance than a traditional mushroom valve.
The valve is provided with lifting lugs in order to ease its installation in the freeze dryer. The very small volume of the new valve enables end-users to install it in a space as narrow as that required for a butterfly valve. Gaskets have been minimised to reduce elastomer surfaces in contact with the process and have been engineered for easy cleaning and sterilisation. The valve design utilises standard O-rings rather than the custom elastomeric moulded seals of a butterfly valve and achieves the same leak-tightness as a conventional mushroom valve without the use of a sealing bellows.
