What are the main uses of sanitary butterfly valves?

Sanitary butterfly valves primarily play a role in shut-off and control in food, pharmaceutical, and beverage production lines. Due to their compact structure, flexible operation, and ease of cleaning, they are particularly suitable for applications requiring frequent flow adjustments, low pressure loss, and large pipe diameters.

The following are five core applications of sanitary butterfly valves in production lines:

1. Cutting Off and Connecting Media in Pipelines

This is the most basic and primary application of butterfly valves. By rotating the valve plate 90 degrees, fluid flow can be quickly opened or 

closed.

Typical Scenario: Butterfly valves are installed at the inlet and outlet of storage tanks. They open when material needs to be fed into the tank 

and close when the tank is full or being cleaned.

Advantages: Compared to ball valves, butterfly valves have extremely low flow resistance when open, low operating torque, and rapid switching.

2. Flow Regulation

The valve plate of a sanitary butterfly valve can stop at the middle position, thereby changing the flow area of the fluid and regulating the flow 

rate.

Typical Scenario: A butterfly valve with a positioner is installed at the outlet of a buffer tank before a filling machine. It can automatically adjust 

the valve opening according to the filling speed to maintain a constant filling pressure.

Advantages: With a smart positioner, relatively precise linear regulation can be achieved, meeting the requirements of formula management.

3. Branching and Switching in CIP/SIP Cleaning Pipelines

In sanitary pipelines requiring frequent online cleaning, butterfly valves are often used to control the flow direction of the cleaning fluid. 

Typical Scenario: Install a butterfly valve on a branch pipe of the CIP loop. Open during cleaning to allow the cleaning fluid to flow through the 

equipment; close after cleaning to prevent material from entering the cleaning pipeline.

Advantages: The butterfly valve's seat and plate provide a good seal when closed, effectively isolating the cleaning fluid from the production 

materials.

4. Filling and Quantitative Control

In the food and beverage filling process, butterfly valves are often used as the final actuator.

Typical Scenario: Install a sanitary butterfly valve at the filling head of large-packaged water, milk, or sauce containers. Driven by a cylinder, 

it quickly opens to inject material and closes rapidly after reaching the set volume to prevent leakage.

Advantages: Butterfly valves have fast opening and closing speeds and good throughput for sauces containing particles (such as jam and salad 

dressing), and are less prone to clogging.

5. Suitable for Large-Diameter Main Pipelines

When the pipeline diameter is large (e.g., DN100/4 inches or larger), butterfly valves are an ideal choice for main pipeline control due to their 

small size, light weight, and relatively low cost.

Typical scenarios: Main pipelines in raw milk receiving areas, main inlets of water treatment systems, or connecting pipelines in large tank farms.

Advantages: Using ball valves on large-diameter pipelines is not only costly but also requires high operating torque and bulky actuators. 

Butterfly valves effectively solve these problems.

In summary: When should butterfly valves be the first choice?