Pneumatics solutions provider Pneumax Southern Africa, a division of the Set Point Group, has recorded an average year-on-year growth in the sales of its Optyma-S valve banks of 25% since launching the product in August 2012.

The company reports that the Optyma-S valve banks are currently being used in several local industries, including packaging, food and beverage, process automation, water and wastewater management, manufacturing, sugar and the pulp and paper industries.

“These valve banks boast environment-friendly benefits, are 20% to 30% more cost effective than other valve banks on the market and compactly designed,” Pneumax Southern Africa KwaZulu-Natal regional manager Warren Gates tells Engineering News.

He explains that the Optyma-S valve banks are designed to ensure that customers require shorter tubing runs, which results in reducing the risk of leaks.

Additionally, Gates points out that compressor running-time reductions lead to significant electricity savings and that the valve banks can also be used without lubrication, resulting in cleaner installations and reductions in oil residue runoff.

He points out that the Optyma-S valve banks are manufactured in Italy using a high-quality technopolymer, but are assembled and quality tested at Pneumax’s premises in Kempton Park, Johannesburg.

“This product boasts industry-leading valve performance and advancements, including high flow rates, owing to the system’s compact design, low power consumption, light-emitting diode indication lights and clean aesthe- tic designs,” Gates enthuses.

He adds that the system’s reliability and robust design has a proven life rating of more than 50-million cycles.

The Optyma-S valve manifold options include built-in one-touch fittings, prewired electric connections, input and output (I/O) modules, fieldbus and serial interface to help simplify the installation, maintenance and control of pneumatic actuators, as well as air motors.

“Pneumax engineers have taken into account the global industry trend of decentralised control with the use of fieldbus technology. This concept disassembles the traditional centralised valve manifold into separate valve modules, sensor I/O modules and bus interface modules,” Gates explains.

He adds that the Optyma-S range of valve terminals support various types of communication and connection technologies, including several fieldbus protocols, such as CANopen, DeviceNet, Profibus decentralised peripherals and ethercat, for control automation technology.

Further, he points out that each set of modules is part of a node that is connected by the serial interface or the fieldbus cable to a programmable logic controller.

Gates says that advantages of this design include machine designers having the freedom to move control modules closer to actators, cylinders, or air motors, thereby resulting in shorter tube runs, quicker operating times, easier diagnostics and overall savings of up to 40%.

“This design is particularly well suited to assembly lines, conveyors and process control systems that employ valves at intervals,” he states, adding that the system’s design can be adapted to any industry application.

However, Gates laments that one of the greatest challenges the company faces in marketing the Optyma-S valve banks is that many local companies are highly resistant to “changing from their old trusted technologies”.

“More companies are slowly starting to use our new technology offerings. We are proving the space- and cost-saving benefits of this product, its ease of main- tenance and the reduction in downtime to customers, and they are buying into the idea,” he says.

Additionally, Gates highlights that many of Pneumax’s customers are specifying the Optyma-S valve banks for all their new projects and installations.

He adds that the company’s range of valve terminals will be on display at the African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa 2014 conference and exhibition, which will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from May 13 to 14.