Sanitary clamps are used in food, biotechnology, beverage, medical, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Also known as sanitary fitting, sanitary clamps seal two ferrules together securely, easily. It eliminates the risk of contamination, and that can breed bacteria. These fitting are designed to meet the stringent requirement of these industries. In these industries, sterility and cleanliness are highly prioritized. They should be easy to disassemble, detach, and clean thoroughly in bid to control flow solid materials.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications require fast connections. The tube and pipe connections are disassembled frequently for reconfiguration and cleaning purposes. The design of sanitary fitting varies depending on the intended purpose. While some designs are suitable for dry powder, others are ideal for fragile capsules. A reliable leak-free connection is a prerequisite to meet sterile process control in accordance with FDA requirements.
Sanitary clamps often perform at high temperature and pressure. The food and beverage production process also require sanitary strainers to remove impurities. Ultimately, sanitary strainers provide uniformity while improving the quality of the product. Usually, strainers are manufactured from alloys that are corrosion resistant for processing highly corrosive fluid.
Types of fitting
The different types of fitting can be categorized depending on the function and connection type. Clamps may use a single bolt to fasten or double pin hinges on the opposite side. Also, sanitary clamps may use bolts on each side to fasten with no hinges. Sanitary clams used in high-temperature environments have their bolts with a bolt on the side with the hinge. Some manufacturers provide clamps with a single pin hinge. A two-pin clamp is a more sturdy and has more clamping force.
Function
Fitting types vary depending on the basic function it performs. Basically, sanitary fitting can terminate or extend. Adapter fittings connect two vessels that are not similar by soldering, welding, and threading. To connect similar vessel, coupling fitting is used. Also, sleeve-fitting is used to connect vessels using mechanical fasteners while cap fitting covers the end of a vessel. To close an end of a vessel, plug fitting is used. Lastly, Union fitting comes in handy for coupling, which does not require cutting to disconnect.
There are also fitting which change direction. An elbow sanitary fitting changes the vessel’s direction to different angles. The most common angle includes 45 and 90 degrees. Another sanitary fitting is cross sanitary fitting, which provides 4-way connections. Other fittings are Tee and Wye fitting. As the name suggests these fitting connect three sections in a T shaped and Y shaped intersection, respectively. They both split or combine fluid flow. Wye fitting, however, has less resistance.
Connection types
Flanges
Flanges are ports that are separately attached to the end of vessels. These surfaces are sealed and joined via bolts and clamps with the surface perpendicular to the attached vessel. Ball and sleeve fittings connect inner fitting with other sleeves. Compression fitting connects vessels on a gasket using a compression. Other sanitary fittings include end getting, Luer locks, threaded fitting, crimp fitting, and push-on fittings.
Some sanitary fittings such as olet and reducer change the size of the vessels. While valves and nipple fitting provide a special connection.
Sanitary Fitting Sizing
After choosing a suitable sanitary fitting, the next step is to find a correct sizing. Proper sizing is vital because an undersized or oversized part will connect or seal the parts inadequately. Worse still, it may turn to be completely incompatible. For proper sizing, the measurement system should be appropriate to the assembly or equipment being fitted.
Material
When choosing sanitary fitting, the material is one of the most important considerations. Ideal material should withstand high pressure, temperature, and strong chemicals. A good sanitary fitting should be compatible with attached vessels. Stainless steel sanitary clamps boast of antibacterial and corrosion resistance properties. It can withstand sanitation and cleaning process without degrading or rusting.It also portrays similar properties of steel such as strength.
Common materials include stainless steel, polytetrafluoroethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinylidene fluoride.
Operation Temperature and pressure are the two most important operating specifications. Sanitary fitting should operate with set operating pressure range and operating temperature range. Above or below this range, the sanitary fitting will fail.