Within industrial product supplier BMG’s expansive range of industrial slurry valves lies a diverse selection of pinch valves meticulously engineered to regulate the movement of liquids, powders, solids, and abrasives across various sectors, says BMG fluid technology division sales manager Willie Lamprecht.

Shedding light on the company’s dynamic approach to fulfilling ever-changing market needs, he notes that BMG’s fluid technology division is committed to staying ahead by introducing innovative products, incorporating “cutting-edge” design technologies, materials and coatings.

As such, the recent addition of pinch valves further “enriches the company’s comprehensive array of industrial slurry valves, complementing our existing range that includes butterfly, gate, diaphragm, ball, and check valves”.

The Fluid Technology team boosts specialist services with dependable technical support to customers in all sectors, to ensure optimum safety, efficiency and extended service life of every system. Failure of a valve and subsequent leaking of corrosive media can have devastating effects on the safety of personnel and equipment, leading to premature system failure and costly downtime.

With broad technical capabilities, Lamprecht avers that the company’s specialists advise on correct valve selection and installation for every application and are able to solve problems, even in corrosive environments, where conventional components have failed after short periods of service.

“Our team has many years of experience in the valves industry, and alongside an engineering division to assist with the design, research and development of new technologies, we ensure that we help the customer solve their challenges,” Lamprecht says.

BMG further provides customer assistance by conducting on site evaluations. The company’s dedicated technical team assesses the issues, collaborates with customers, tests various possibilities, and ensures the proposed solution is optimised for the best results.

BMG’s range of pinch valves – which meets stringent quality and safety specifications – is available with nominal bore sizes from DN50 up to DN500, in either short or long open frames, with safe working pressures up to 25 bar.

These valves can be tailored to suit specification application requirements, with stainless steel frames if required. The valves can also be actuated with a gearbox, hand wheel, pneumatics or hydraulics, if needed.

Standard pinch valves can withstand operating temperatures between –20 ºC and +80 ºC, with BMG able to ensure they withstand higher temperatures on request.

Lamprecht further explains the working element of a pinch valve is an elastomeric tube or sleeve, which can be squeezed at its midsection by a mechanical system until the tube walls are pinched or clamped together, producing full closure of the flow path.

This flexible tube is either exposed (an open frame) or enclosed (a closed frame) in a body.

“In its simplest form, a pinch valve can comprise a length of elastomeric tube, fitted with a pinch bar mechanism, incorporating a closure stop to prevent over-pinching of the tube. More commonly, the moulded rubber tube is housed in a metal body, which also incorporates the pinching mechanism,” he says, adding that this can be a simple screw-operated mechanism, where the pinch is applied only to one side of the tube, or a differential screw controlling two pinching mechanisms working in vertical opposition.

BMG’s open frame pinch valves, which have been developed based on the successful design of BMG KLEP’s patented FPV diaphragm valves, are 100% locally manufactured and are available in many different materials, with various pressure ratings, to meet exact requirements.

This range is available from BMG with different linings. For example, soft rubber, hard rubber, Butyl rubber, Halar and jumbo rubber.

The lining and diaphragm design increases the service life of the valve, owing to high abrasion and chemical resistance properties of individual linings and diaphragms.

BMG’s full range of industrial slurry valves is highly efficient for the control and isolation of abrasive slurries in many industries, including power generation, chemical and petrochemical, cement handling, water treatment, mining, quarrying, pulp and paper.

These industries, Lamprecht says, usually have corrosive media and there is a need for softer polyurethane, or a soft rubber, sleeve. Open frame pinch valves, meanwhile, are used where acidic media is not present in the slurry.

BMG’s extensive range of components for fluid technology systems and general industrial applications comprises valves, hydraulic hoses and fittings, accumulators, cylinders, heat exchangers, pneumatics, hydraulic motors and hydraulic plumbing, as well as pumps and reservoir accessories.

Fluid technology services also cover project engineering and consulting, cylinder design and manufacture, training, repair and testing, as well as onsite container services.