Vacuum Pressure

[PEatCA]

Hi

I have got 100 vacuum drops on floor,

10 in Autoclave
32 in Ovens
rest of them in clean room and in holding area.

and we have 5 vacuum pumps all connected together and work as a one system.

the problem I have is if one bag leaks in Oven during cure or somewhere else,..it effect other parts as well.

recently I done a test in Oven,..when I popped the bag myself and see that vacuum pressure drops on rest of them.

Now my task is to stop that happening,..and I started looking around for a solution.
First I heard about Non Return Valves that they will fix the problem for me,..but after some investigation I have been told by that it wont work for us ,...as once ball is lift from the seat, it will remain as it is due to contiuous vacuum.

than, I have been told that there is different types of 2/2 valves I can use with vacuum switching to control valves, if the bag is burst, it will shut off valve. but it is about £40000 to have that solution.

Just wondering is there any special valves which I can use on my system to isolate the bag incase if its bursted, in order to protect the rest of bags in oven.

any help and suggestion welcome.

Regards

 

[1gibson]

Isolate all the vacuum pumps so there is one per bag, deal with possible inconsistent vacuum between bags.

Or, inline flow switches tied to normally open solenoids, activated after initial vacuum is pulled.

Broken bag -> too much flow -> close solenoid on that line until it is manually reset.

 

[berkshire]

Have you investigated BURST HOSE VALVES, these are designed to shut off flow, if the flow rate on a hose is greater than a specified rate.
The only snag I can see with them, is that they would not activate until there was a pretty healthy flow in the line, which may not happen if you only have a pinhole in a bag
B.E.

 

[PEatCA]

Thanks for suggestions, let me look into inline switches and Burst Hose Valves.
Regards

 

[1gibson]

I would think you need provision to bypass the "burst hose valve" when vacuum is initially pulled, that flow will be significant for a short period of time.