Vortex has improved its sanitary slide gate valve, the Vortex Quick Clean Gate. Improvements include improved sealing performance, greater durability, easier maintenance and fewer replacement parts. The Vortex Quick Clean Gate is designed to handle dry bulk ingredients in gravity flow for the food, dairy, pharmaceutical, chemical, pigment and other industries which require frequent or daily equipment sanitation.

Revisions: 

• The Quick Clean Gate has been redesigned to have no dead pockets or other hidden areas that could potentially create material cross-contamination and/or spoilage.
• The Quick Clean Gate's latching assembly has been upgraded for improved adjustability and enhanced sealing capabilities. The clamp nut has been redesigned for easier, quicker rotation when loosening or clamping the nut. The press-lock latches are fully adjustable for quick gate disassembly and reassembly without using tools.
• The Quick Clean Gate's design has been improved with fewer parts, for easier maintenance and improved sanitation. The gate now has 13 parts, compared to the original 24 parts. This design improvement makes the gate easier to clean.
• Flange-to-flange height has been reduced, to take up less stack-up room in a client's system.

Other key benefits of the Vortex Quick Clean Gate include: 

• The Vortex Quick Clean Gate is constructed from FDA-compliant materials, is USDA Dairy Standard-accepted, and is also compliant with EU Directives and Standards.
• The Quick Clean Gate's blade and seal designs allow the gate to "self-clean" on the opening stroke. Even when closing through a flowing column of material, the Quick Clean Gate prevents material packing between the seal plates.
• The Quick Clean Gate features hard polymer seals that compensate for wear over time. These seals are critical to maintaining cleanliness and preventing material leakage past the blade or dusting to atmosphere.
• The Quick Clean Gate features a full-bore orifice, with the seals recessed out of the material flow stream. This enhances seal durability and service life.
• Tube stub inlet/outlet allow for compression coupling connection. This also allows the gate to be quickly removed from the process line, as the Vortex Quick Clean Gate is not considered a "Clean-in-Place" valve.
• Variable positioning assemblies are available, to allow metering control.
• Surface finish options are available, for improved sanitary design.
• Modifications are available to address handled material temperatures, corrosiveness, moisture exposure, or explosive/otherwise hazardous environments.