Engineers at Rudolf von Scheven GmbH, together with a German mechanical engineering company, developed customized bottom drain ball valves. The primary goal of the collaboration was to permanently safeguard the producer’s adhesive mixing process with a reliable ball valve. The development team, made up of experts from both companies, took a wide range of influencing factors into account during the planning phase.

One of the bigger challenges was enabling the continuous flow of liquid adhesive at an operating temperature of +200°C. The engineers developed a custom-made heating jacket that prevents the temperature from dropping. The jacket completely encloses the bottom drain ball valve and protects the valve in vertical installation from the outside temperature. This prevents the medium from cooling down and, as a result, hardening. A minimized dead space between the ball valve and the mixing vessel also ensures a complete mixing process.

The bottom drain ball valves were manufactured in nominal sizes 150 and 200. The body and flanges are made of stainless steel. Specially manufactured hydraulic actuators also operate the valves. These feature spring return and likewise withstand the high temperatures. Thermal bridges made of hard fabric laminate additionally ensure low thermal conductivity between the actuator and the ball valve.

Von Scheven manufactures this heat-resistant bottom drain ball valve in small batch sizes – placing it in the realm of a manufactory. It is precisely this flexibility, together with a high level of innovative spirit, that is the strength of the medium-sized family business from Sprockhövel.