With its VESTA® sterile valve series, GEA Tuchenhagen offers the first practical, cost-effective alternative to diaphragm valves. The full benefits of VESTA® sterile valves, both technical and economic, have yet to be fully realised as new applications become apparent. VESTA® sterile valves fully meet the operational requirements for processes at the highest level, comply with the strictest safety regulations and provide a high quality product.

High demands are placed on process components for the pharmaceutical, biotech, cosmetics and food industries if the highest process reliability and product quality are to be achieved. Directives/regulations such as FDA, cGMP and EHEDG; and terms like qualification and validation are gaining more and more importance.

Cost-effective manufacture of high sensitivity products in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries requires even more complex processes. This places high demands on the engineering, in particular with regard to the process reliability of the complete plant system. In this connection directives (FDA, cGMP), legal frameworks such as EU regulations, and concepts such as qualification and validation are gaining greater significance. In many cases processes using different operating, cleaning and sterilisation media are often applications in sterile process engineering. At the present time such processes are implemented almost exclusively using diaphragm valves in the form of conventional solutions using individual valves or so-called valve blocks. Conventional solutions with individual diaphragm valves in a welded design are known to be very labour-intensive. As well as being time consuming to assemble the valves, fittings and pipe components used also require greater clearances. Dead spaces with systems of this kind are unavoidable and must be taken into account. While valve blocks with diaphragm valves in a block of solid material are compact they are not totally free of dead spaces. Moreover valve blocks of this type are only ’optimised for draiing’ - complete evacuation of the system is not possible. Large wall thicknesses make systems of this kind require long heating-up times during the sterilisation process. Until now there have been few alternatives to systems using membrane valves for such processes. This gap is now filled by the novel VESTA® Multiport from GEA Tuchenhagen. The VESTA® Multiport fitted with VESTA® sterile valves is designed to have zero dead space and be CIP compliant. It provides for total draining, can be located in the smallest of spaces, and at the same time sets new standards in terms of cost effectiveness.

VESTA® tank bottom valves are used to shut off fluid media in tanks. They are designed to be fitted to the lowest point of the bottom to shut off the media flush with the tank bottom without any kind of sump. The pocket free design provides complete draining of the tank and optimal CIP/SIP cleaning. Thanks to the robust design of the body, and/or the body connection flange, the valve can be welded into place without any distortion. The extremely compact design allows VESTA® tank bottom valves to be fitted into the tightest of spaces. In addition VESTA® tank bottom valves are available in various designs to meet the requirements, for example, with an additional valve for CIP/SIP or drainage with a flush front shut-off (pocket-free configuration).

VESTA® block valves are compact sterile valves that can be used universally with two independent actuators of each other. The design concept of a single piece body allowing the merging, separation or branching of various media flows in the smallest of spaces. VESTA® block valves offer an optimal flow path with reduction of dead spaces at the same time. The significantly reduced pipework volume and the improved selfdraining are outstanding features of the design. A variety of configurations provide a high measure of flexibility in the implementation of plant designs with significant cost reduction.

The VESTA® type HCA mixed matched sterile valve is a further development of the VESTA® type C basic variant. The mixed matched type HCA is used wherever different types of connections are required in the through-flow line and the branch line. It is designed to be used as an extraction valve for pipework systems, or for distribution of media. Shut-off takes place in the immediate vicinity of the through-flow line. This makes reliable cleaning possible. VESTA® type HCA mixed matched sterile valves allow the integration of large nominal pipework diameters with the extraction of small quantities in a trouble-free and cost-effective manner. Moreover the improved flow paths, as well as the integration of additional sterilisation connections, reduce the dead pockets. The significantly reduced pipeline volume on the extraction side and the improved selfdraining are further advantages compared with conventional solutions.