Conventional tank passages often only work with improvised solutions that are neither chemically resistant nor 100% leakproof. At SMC, we have developed a fitting that allows you to put a tube through a tank wall without having to cut the tube off.

In this video on our YouTube channel you can see how SMCs bore trough fitting works.

The special thing about the SMC bore trough fitting

Chemical resistance and tightness – these are the two outstanding properties of our bore trough fitting.

The PFA plastic that the fitting is made of is perfect for chemicals such as acids, alkalis and deionized water (demineralized water) and an operating temperature of max. 200° Celsius.

With our fitting you can remove liquids from a container (tank, pipe, etc.) without having to cut the tube on both sides. The fact that the tube remains intact ensures a particularly tight connection.

What else can be done with the bore through fitting

• It can be used for metric (3 to 25 mm) and imperial (1/8 to 1 inch) tubing.
• You can freely choose the line position: The tube or sensor can be inserted as far as you want into the tank or pipe – without cutting it off.

Applications and uses

The SMC bore trough fitting is suitable for a wide range of applications due to its chemical resistance and tightness:

• Pressurization of chemicals
• Filling chemicals into a tank or draining them from a tank
• Monitoring the temperature of media
• Measuring parameters such as pH value or conductivity of a medium
• Taking samples from large pipelines, e.g., for dirty water
• Allow liquids to drain from an elevated tank
• Tube-in-tube heat exchanger: using LQHB, it is possible to run a tube with a smaller diameter through a tube with a larger diameter, with the cooling medium located between the two tubes

Would you like to find out more about our chemical-resistant, leak-proof fitting for tank feedthroughs and its possible applications?

Contact us – our team will be happy to answer your questions.

Chemical valves and needle valves are used in various industries that work with chemicals. These are, for example, large printing companies, electroplating or commercial disinfection.

The most important characteristic of the valves is that they are resistant even to aggressive chemicals such as acids, bases, or solvents. Only then the necessary security can be guaranteed.

Needle valves for adjusting the flow rate

A needle valve has a small opening and a needle-shaped, threaded valve piston. They can be used to precisely adjust the flow rate, which must be larger or smaller depending on the process and can be regulated between 0 and 12 liters per minute. Needle valves are designed to prevent bubbles from forming when slightly viscous liquids are used.

LVN – needle valves from SMC are made of a PFA material that is compatible with acids, alkalis and ultra-pure water and suitable for temperatures from 5 to 90° Celsius.

Chemical valves with LOTO function

Chemical valves are used to turn the flow mentioned above on and off.

The special LOTO function (lockout tagout) enables maintenance work to be carried out safely. With this safety feature, a valve is closed manually and fixed in this position. Accidental opening during maintenance work can thereby be avoided.

Areas of application in the chemical industry

Chemical valves and needle valves from SMC withstand aggressive chemicals such as acids and alkalis, as well as solvents used for industrial disinfection or dissolving printing ink, which can attack seals.

SMC valves for the chemical industry are especially suitable for use in the following industries:

• Fertilizer
• Plant protection
• Varnishes, paints and printing inks
• Professional cleaning and hygiene
• Textile, leather and paper auxiliaries (special chemicals as auxiliaries or finishing materials enable the manufacture, processing, finishing or care of textiles, leather products or paper)
• Adhesives

Versions

Depending on the area of application, different valves make sense. For example, if organic solvents are used, it is advised to use valves made of stainless steel. We offer a wide variety of variants and our chemists will be happy to help you make the right choice – just contact us.

We carry the following series of chemical valves:

• LVD chemical valves are pneumatically operated, with integrated screw connections, and are suitable for media temperatures of up to 100° Celsius
• LVA chemical valves also work pneumatically, with a threaded connection
• LVH chemical valves are manually operated valves with integrated screw connections or with thread and available as latching or non-latching valves
• LVQ chemical valves with integrated screw connections of various designs; both pneumatically and manually operated. There is also an option for media temperatures of up to 170° Celsius.

Features of SMC chemical valves

A new type of guide ring on the piston rod ensures a stable sealing surface by preventing lateral play of the valve seat. This extends the service life of the seals and reduces particle formation thanks to a stable working surface.

The special membrane design guarantees soft opening and closing, which prevents the formation of microbubbles.

The housing is designed for evenly flow with minimal internal dead spaces. Integrated fittings prevent residual liquid from accumulating in the pipe threads.

The body material (PFA) is suitable for ultra-pure DI water as well as for acids and bases, as it has an extremely high chemical resistance.

A damping disk absorbs the force of the piston and thus minimizes the formation of particles due to friction.

The membrane is supported by a shock absorber so that it deforms as little as possible, which ensures high back pressure resistance and durability.

You can also choose from a variety of tubing sizes.

Do you want to find out which of our needle valves and chemical valves are best suited for your application?
Contact us – our team will be happy to answer your questions.

Microchips have become an integral part of our lives today – they are in use almost everywhere: automotive and vehicle technology, industrial automation, robotics, energy and environmental technology, home electronics, healthcare and agricultural electronics.

However, before wafers and finally ready-to-use microchips are made from quartz sand, numerous work steps are necessary. Many of the media used in semiconductor production require precise, constant temperatures. This is the only way to ensure an optimal process result.

Lower manufacturing costs thanks to constant temperatures

One of the working steps in semiconductor technology is lithography. For this purpose, special photoresist and developer media are delivered in small containers and placed either in the gray room or directly in the machine. Both photoresist and developer need a certain temperature, which also remains stable.

Fluctuating temperatures have a negative impact on the process. A temperature difference of 1 ° C results in longer process and rework times, among other things. This in turn causes the manufacturing costs of the wafer to skyrocket. On the other hand, if you manage to keep the temperatures surrounding the medium constant, the costs of production decrease.

The tube-in-tube principle ensures stable temperature control of media up to +/- 0.1 ° C

Liquids or media such as photoresists do not have a chemical supply with independent temperature control. A tube-in-tube solution that ensures constant temperature control makes sense here.

The tube-in-tube principle for medium temperature control works as follows:

• An SMC temperature control unit pumps a pre-tempered circulating medium or circulation medium into an (outer) tube.
• In this outer tube there is a high-purity PFA inner tube hose with a smaller diameter, which contains the process medium.
• The pressurized medium container conveys the process medium directly to the point-of-use in the process chamber and onto the wafer by means of a stop-and-go process.
• During the stop phase, the medium in the inner tube is brought to the required temperature.

Based on the tube length and size, you determine the amount of process medium to be pre-tempered and you can set the set point to up to +/- 0.1 ° C.

This tube-in-tube principle is suitable for both cooling and heating.

Advantages of the SMC tube-in-tube solution at a glance

• Thanks to the pre-tempered medium, continuous process operation is possible.
• Using the tube length and tube hose diameter, you determine how much process medium is to be pre-tempered.
• Temperature accuracy +/- 0.1 ° C.
• Cost reduction, as no expensive and time-consuming rework is necessary.

Complete solution for medium temperature control

With us you get a complete solution for your application: From temperature control units to a high-purity, chemical-resistant PFA tube-in-tube solution to fittings or screw connections (also chemical-resistant), we can offer you everything from a single source.

Would you like to find out more about our tube-in-tube temperature control and its possible applications?
Contact us – our team will be happy to answer your questions.

There are valves in almost all areas of industries and they usually have to be operated and automated pneumatically. Industrial valves control and regulate the flow of gases, steam or liquids in pipelines. If necessary, the valves also shut off the flow.

Components for automated industrial valves

In order to be able to do all of this automatically, industrial valves require the following three components:

• Actuator
• Compressed air supply
• Positioner

An actuator is a drive unit used to control a valve. This happens by converting an electrical signal into mechanical movements and thus actively intervening in the controlled process. In process automation, pneumatic or hydraulic drives are often used for this.

In order to be able to control large valves safely and easily, compressed air is required, and a positioner is necessary to regulate the compressed air to the cylinder.

Positioners are electrical-pneumatic control units that adjust pneumatic cylinders precisely in any position – they control the compressed air to the actuator. The positioner is connected to the drive mechanically or with a remote sensor and converts the electrical or pneumatic input signal into a corresponding output signal that determines the target position. The actual position is determined by means of position feedback and any difference of the actual position to the target position is adjusted accordingly.

Complete solutions and one-stop-shop for valve automation

What sounds like a lot of effort in procurement and solution development is actually quite simple and you benefit in two ways:

We offer you all-in-one solutions for your valve automation and develop individual solutions for your applications according to your wishes and requirements with high-quality SMC products.

As a one-stop shop, we have all the necessary components available, from positioners and special valves to complete compressed air supplies including accessories such as one-touch fittings made of stainless steel.

Where is valve automation used?

Valve automation makes sense for users who have to control large valves for gases or liquids. These include

• chemical industry
• water supply, water and wastewater treatment
• sewage treatment plants
• paper industry
• thermal power stations

Integrators such as system builders, mechanics, metal workers, engineers or valve specialists often take care of the installation of the automated industrial valves at the user’s facility.

You can find examples of our solutions for valve automation on our YouTube channel.

If you are planning a new system or have problems with your existing valves, we can recommend various integrators and answer your questions – just contact us.

We developed the air-cooled dual loop chiller of the HRL series especially for industrial applications with high-power lasers. It ensures constant temperature of the cooling water. Such laser applications are cutting, welding, measuring, coating, sintering and stereolithography.

Since lasers generate heat, cooling is an important part of any laser process. Exact and stable temperature control extends the service life of the sensitive laser devices, prevents failures and ensures continuous availability. You can find more about laser temperature control in this link.

The fact that the chiller can operate two cooling circuits at the same time saves space – the dual loop chiller reduces the space required by around 22 percent compared to two individual devices.

At the same time, the temperature control unit saves a lot of energy. With a triple inverter, it adjusts the motor speed depending on the load. The chiller uses up to 34 percent less energy than non-inverter devices.

A sealless mechanical immersion pump also ensures that there is no leakage and reduces maintenance costs.

Versions of the HRL Dual Loop Chiller

The air-cooled temperature control unit of the HRL series is available in three versions with different cooling capacities: 10 kW, 20 kW and 27 kW, with 1 kW each reserved for the second circuit. The temperature stability is +/- 0.1 ° C or +/- 0.5 ° C.

High temperature accuracy and stability

The simultaneous control of the compressor, fan (both frequency-controlled) and the electronic expansion valves keep the temperature stable even with fluctuating heat loads (oscillator with stable load +/- 0.1 ° C and optical system +/- 0.5 ° C) .

Due to the power density, this high temperature accuracy ensures optimal energy yield and enables excellent focusing of the laser. The stable temperature contributes to low component wear, which in turn ensures a long service life.

To prevent the formation of condensation, the HRL Dual Loop Chiller does not allow you to set a lower temperature for channel 2 (optical system = laser head) than for channel 1 (oscillator = laser source). This means that incorrect settings are pretty much ruled out.

Saves space and saves time

With the Dual Loop Chiller from the HRL series, you not only save up to 22 percent floor space, but also benefit from the reduced cabling effort: You only need one power supply for the separate temperature control of two media circuits and therefore less work for the cabling.

Less energy consumption

In non-inverter devices, the speed depends on the mains frequency, which means that power is wasted. With our dual HRL industrial cooler, however, you save up to 34 percent energy. This is made possible by the built-in triple inverter, which controls the motor speed of the compressor, fan and pumps depending on the load of the user system.

In addition, our dual loop chiller heats the circulating fluid without an electrical heating element, thereby saving additional energy. Instead of the heating element, the process heat from the compressor is used by using the already heated refrigerant (gas).

Easy to use touch panel

The user-friendly touch panel enables various displays and settings: The status display provides information on temperatures and flow rates, for example; individual data can be entered using the numeric keyboard; the temperature profile of the circulating fluid can be traced via the display.

As soon as an alarm is triggered, the screen automatically changes to the information screen and shows codes and contents of the alarm.

If a component reaches the specified service life and needs to be replaced, a maintenance notice is given.

Further features and advantages of the HRL Dual Loop Chiller

There are three different operating modes of the circulating media pumps that you can select via the touch panel:

• Pressure control mode
• Flow control mode
• Pump operating frequency (rotation) control mode

In addition, both circuits use mechanical, sealless pumps. This saves you regular checks for leaks as well as the replacement of mechanical seals and reduces the overall maintenance effort.

The following are also included as standard:

• Integrated bypass (one bypass valve each for oscillator and optical system)
• Electrical conductivity control with DI filter and built-in solenoid valve for control, whereby you can freely set the specific electrical conductivity of the circulating medium using the touch panel
• Particle filter set to remove impurities from the circulating medium – thanks to a transparent container, contaminated elements can be easily identified and effectively protect your system from the ingress of foreign matter
• Transport rollers for moving as well as adjustable feet for fixing the cooler

Would you like to find out more about our HRL series dual loop chiller and its applications?
Get in touch with us – our team will be happy to answer your questions.