Applications

The use of 180 CPV 0-Seal valves combined with state-of-the-art computer controls, enables the New Praxair gas filling station in Santa Domingo, Mexico to complete 360 separate gas mix orders simultaneously.

Down Mexico Way Gas Filling Accuracy is up!

Working with the Weldcoa Company of North Lake, IL, CPV representative Scott Lindberg of Lindberg Sales, Inc. recently played an important part in the completion and installation of the largest, fully automated, palletized specialty gas filling facility in the North America. The customer was Praxair and this new station in Santo Domingo, Mexico will fill more than 250 standard gas mixes for industrial, medical, welding and other applications.

To assure the international standards for mix accuracies established by NIST, EPA protocols, USP grades and others, Praxair requested Weldcoa use CPV valves and fittings throughout the station. Air actuated FloMaster 0-Seal valves, for example, are used on all 18 automated heads on the platform. In addition, CPV valves are used to achieve instantaneous open/close operation on each of the 18 separate filling locations controlled by these automated heads. Finally, there are two auxiliary heads which control an additional 18 filling locations each. It means CPV valves can fill a total of 360 canisters simultaneously, each with its own unique gas mix formulation.

CPV valves and fittings in a vast number of configurations, material specifications and sizes (1/8" to 1") are in use throughout the station. In addition, Praxair specified custom made CPV valves in naval brass for units designated for oxygen service. One Weldcoa engineer said, "other companies just couldn't handle our need for different valves and fittings without extensive re-tooling and then treating virtually every purchase as a special order."

How the new Gas Filling Station functions

All venting, vacuum, purging and cylinder filling operations on the Praxair Santa Domingo, Mexico station are administered and controlled by 4 onboard Mitsubishi PLCs with proprietary software programming developed and written by Weldcoa. The goal of a filling station with this level of sophistication is to assure high productivity levels without compromise to safety or mix accuracy. At the same time operation is so simple and easy that new employees require little training to become totally proficient in filling gas mix orders. To make it virtually impossible for employees to initiate incorrect filling operations or unsafe mixes the system is programmed with safeguards that workers can never override.

Sequencing of procedures for virtually any gas mix are preprogrammed. However, to accommodate the slight variations in methods and mix formulas used by individual gas filling stations, there are password accessible overrides available to management.

The filling operation is constantly monitored so workers can readily tell exactly how much of a particular fill process is complete. Moreover, to make sure time loss is kept to a minimum, the program also offers audible cues in English or Spanish. These alert workers over a loud speaker when a specific fill sequence is complete.

Being awarded the contract to provide valves and fittings for one of the world's leading gas filling operations is a clear demonstration of the confidence demanding customers have in CPV's technical superiority and reliability.

Moreover, the range of product options and sizes and CPV's capability to design and manufacture custom products for special applications is often the reason CPV wins competitive bid contracts.

For more information or technical literature on O-Seal valves or other CPV Valves & Fittings contact:
Charles J. Horter
Sales and Marketing Manager
CPV Manufacturing, Inc.
851 Preston Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19104–1598
Phone: (215) 386-6508, ext.244
Toll free: (888) 386-2211
Fax: (215) 387-9043