July 2008 Editor's Picks: Parker Fluid Control Division and Watson-Marlow Bredel

Parker Fluid Control Division
Valves provide high flow and long life
Parker Fluid Control Division (New Britain, CT) offers its high-flow line of NAMUR valves for direct mounting to pneumatic actuators. The durable, compact valves control larger pharmaceutical process-control valves and actuators of all sizes.

The patented sealing system of the high-flow series features a swimming O-ring design. This design allows valve sealing to increase proportionally as pressure increases. Regulating the seal contact pressure reduces seal wear and fosters long valve life and reliable switching. The valves have a life expectancy of 5 million cycles.

Built with an anodized aluminum body and a stainless steel spool, the new solenoid valves feature internal parts made of brass. The valves are designed for direct mounting in any position on a NAMUR interface. These high-flow devices operate in a 22–150-psi pressure range.

Watson-Marlow Bredel
Pump operates at laboratory and production scales
Watson-Marlow Bredel (Wilmington, MA) has introduced its “520Di” pump for filtration, fermentation, and dispensing applications. The machine’s ramp-and-drip feature enables a soft start and graduated dosing to reduce splashing and foaming while the product is being pumped. Users can perform periodic dose recalibration without disturbing the flow of the batch.

The 520Di device is suitable for laboratory applications such as preparing benchtop media and reagents. In addition, the unit can accurately perform production-scale filling of pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals. The 520Di machine can perform batch dispensing and automatic or single-shot dispensing of sensitive fluids in sanitary environments.

Watson-Marlow Bredel’s 520Di pump accepts eight different tubing materials and tube sizes as large as 9.6 mm. The device operates at flow rates ranging from 4 µL/min to 3.5 L/min at pressures as high as 100 psi.