Explosion proof diverter valve

An international textiles technology company approached MID to help with the bespoke design of a diverter valve with 450mm inlet/outlet, that could withstand an explosion pressure of 10 bar. Traditional diverter valve designs would not cope with this sudden increase in pressure – at best the panels used to construct the valve would just buckle and at worst they could become detached from the valve creating a significant safety risk to those close by……….

MID were approached by a large international textiles technology company who were seeking a diverter valve that could handle acetate flake in addition to providing protection against a maximum 10 bar explosion pressure. The valve was operating in the horizontal plane, needed to be pneumatically actuated and was working in conjunction with ‘slam shut’ emergency valves used to protect the system from further damage, With an inlet and outlet dimension of 450mm traditional diverter valve designs could not be used and would certainly not provide the required explosion protection – the valve panels would simply buckle under the pressure. We developed a ‘straight through’ diverter valve that consisted of a central “rotating flap” module which diverted the flow of material from one exit to the other, but unlike traditionally constructed valves included a ‘domed’ structure to the top and bottom panels of the valve to further strengthen them in the event of an explosion. The inner skin included pressure relief valves that in the event of an explosion would ‘relieve’ the pressure in the material flow area, and would then vent this into the domed structure to be safely exhausted to the atmosphere. Due to the design, the valve would still be in perfect working order and once the pressure relief valves have been reset could be returned to normal day to day operation.