USA-manufactured rotary valve will reduce delivery times for bulk solids industry customers

To significantly shorten delivery times for customers of the Americas market, Coperion K-Tron located in Salina, KS USA, is starting the US production of Coperion Germany rotary valves type ZRD in Salina. The Coperion brand rotary valves are being added to the full line of Aerolock™ rotary valves that Coperion K-Tron Salina has manufactured for 60 years and ships to hundreds of customers each year.  

“The joint effort included an extensive study and several meetings between the Salina and Weingarten sites to make sure that the same high quality of standards would be met and maintained”, says Scott Schlesener, Operations Manager of the Salina site and Integration Manager of Coperion’s Equipment & Systems Division. “Raw materials, product designs, manufacturing methods, and quality assurance standards from Germany were copied and adapted to fit Coperion K-Tron Salina’s extensive machining capabilities and quality management system.”

This joint effort ensures the American made valves will perform to the highest technological and performance standards, for which the German manufactured valves are known. Best of all, this effort, along with a considerable investment of stocked inventory, will allow Coperion to deliver and repair valves for the Americas market with significantly shorter delivery times. In fact, standard grey cast iron and stainless steel ZRD rotary valves will be available to customers within 4 to 6 weeks.

The Coperion ZRD rotary valve is specially designed for food, mineral, plastics and chemical applications. The valve is engineered for heavy-duty industrial service with pressure differentials up to 21 psi(g) [1.5 bar(g)] and temperatures up to 212°F [100°C]; higher temperature options are available. The ZRD is often used as a discharging and metering valve for conveying products in powder and granular form.

An extensive range of sizes is available, with large throughputs ranging from 500 to 400,000 + lb per hour (subject to bulk density and application). The valves have a pressure-surge-proof, (pressure shock) rating of 145 psi(g) [10 bar(g)], and are suitable for isolation according to NFPA standards (for select sizes up to 12 inch). The ZRD comes standard with air purged seals completely mounted with plastic or stainless steel tubing, solenoid and filter regulator with gauge. An alternate seal option includes the popular T3 PTFE and quad ring assemblies, which eliminate the need for air purge. The ZRD comes with a sealed-for-life outboard bearing arrangement that can be supplied with and without air purge seals (separated from the product zone) by way of a dedicated relief openings.