In the pharmaceutical industry K Controls products are predominately used to accurately monitor or control the position of on/off valves. Most of these valves are used on primary process plants that produce active ingredients in batches via chemical synthesis, fermentation or extraction.

Valve monitoring and control has to be accurate and reliable in order to ensure consistent standards of product purity and quality.

Acetone, alcohol, methanol and other potentially ignitable solvents are used in chemical synthesis and also in the solvent extraction stage of the fermentation process. Finished products can be in fine powder form so combustible dust hazards can also be created. For these reasons K controls products are often supplied with Exi intrinsically safe certification, to the very latest standards, for use in hazardous gas and dust Zones 1,2, 21 and 22. Water can be present in areas that are washed down, so enclosures are rated IP66 or IP67.

Pipes can be close to one another in the area of the reactors or fermentation vessels and this leaves little space for valve actuators. To overcome this problem 007 switchboxes have compact, low profile enclosures. In addition optional highly visible position indicators have been engineered into the space between the actuator and switchbox.

Solenoid valves are sometimes located in remotely sited panels but this can lead to problems with valve identification and lags in actuator response times. K Controls combines one or more pilot solenoid valves for actuator control with the position switches in the same compact enclosure local to each actuator. The result is the 007C Control Monitor. Envelope dimensions of the 007C and actuator assembly remain the same, the solenoid is protected from the environment and if solenoid manual override is specified it is “tamperproof” because it can only be accessed by deliberately removing the cover.

Exi switches can be mechanical or “Namur” proximity, depending on the type of safety interface being used. Solenoid function can be 3/2 single acting, 5/2 double acting or 5/2 double acting stay put. Low powered solenoid valves are available for use with virtually all remote I/O systems or field bus valve couplers.

The K44 “Checktite” swing check valve is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. It is available with the same range of end connections, seats and seals as three piece ball valves. The K44 has a very low cracking pressure and pressure drop. Optional FDA approved PTFE seats and seals, and or chemically polished internals are available.
 

A reference list of K Controls pharmaceutical clients is available on request.