Ground-breaking piezo proportional flow control valve from Festo
Date
11.05.20
Our reference
FTO030

Press Information
The new VEMD proportional flow control valve from Festo uses the latest piezo technology to deliver highly dynamic control for numerous medical and other industrial control applications. 

The VEMD is a mass flow controller integrating a flow sensor with a proportional valve and controller and is designed to proportionally control the flow of compressed air and inert gases within a small, neat and calibrated package. It compares the required signal value with the actual, sensor-measured value within its closed loop electronic controller and then adjusts the output using the piezo pilot valve. The piezo pilot valve provides a wide variety of advantages including silent operation, the absence of heat generation, a compact and lightweight design and long service life – as well as an unmatched low power consumption of only one Watt.

These characteristics make the VEMD eminently suitable for life sciences and mobile applications, ranging from ventilators and anaesthesia to operating equipment for ophtalmology and dental drills. Its small size, energy efficiency and silent operation make it ideal for patient-side operation for those who are bed bound and need rest uninterrupted by noisy solenoids.  It is also very attractive for patients reliant on portable oxygen delivery systems where it is less socially intrusive than alternative designs. An additional benefit is that it is non-magnetic and so does not interfere with other medical equipment.

Other industries can also benefit for the VEMD’s unique characteristics, including applications in semiconductor / electronics manufacture (control of combustive gases), food and beverage (quality inspection, protective gas delivery) and pharma (bioreactors and fermenters). In special purpose machine building, the VEMD can be specified for a wide variety of tasks, such as mixing of air into test stations, controlling humidity, inert gas welding, 3D printing, mass spectrometry and many more. 

Easy to control, precise dynamics
The VEMD is designed to control flows of up to 20 l/m at a maximum pressure of 2.5 bar. The modular design of the VEMD addresses the needs of OEM customers as well as end users. 

The gas flow at the output of the valve can be adjusted very easily and controlled in linear mode by entering a setpoint between 0 and 10 V. An integrated control circuit with thermal sensor makes the VEMD precise and dynamic. It responds up to 35 times faster than comparable products to a setpoint change, and is ready for operation straight out of the box. 

The VEMD proportional flow control valve is part of Festo’s high performance piezo technology gas handling range, which includes a selection of proportional valves and pressure regulators. Based on this technology platform Festo’s specialist application engineering team has worked closely with clients in medical, semi-conductor and other sectors to provide application specific solutions e.g. for oxygen and other volatile gases. 

For more information about the VEMD proportional flow control valve, visit: www.festo.co.uk/VEMD

Ends

The press text and photo(s) can be downloaded from www.festo.co.uk/press/vemd

For Festo’s latest news go to www.festo.co.uk/gbpress 

Images and captions:

The new VEMD proportional flow control valve from Festo offers extremely high control dynamics combined with minimal space and power consumption requirements. 

Extremely high control dynamics: the VEMD proportional flow control valve is ideal for regulating gas flows in ventilation treatment.

About Festo 
Festo is a leading international supplier of automation technology with a turnover in 2019 of around €3.1 billion. Festo employs over 20,100 people worldwide and is a proven innovator and problem solver in the field of pneumatic and electrical automation where it has established itself as the performance leader. Festo offers around 32,000 pneumatic and electric products in several hundred thousand variants for factory and process automation technology which can be tailored to specific customer needs in a variety of modular programs.

Festo Industrial Automation’s innovative strength is demonstrated through the introduction of around 100 new products being launched every year. The company invests over 8% of its turnover in R&D resulting in over 2,600 patents held worldwide. For more information about the company’s products and UK and Irish services, please visit: www.festo.com/gb and www.festo.com/ie

Festo and Industry 4.0 - Festo has engaged with the Industry 4.0 initiative from its inception: as a user, manufacturer and trainer.  Appointed by the German government as a member of the steering group the company has taken an active role in the definition of the core standards such as the RAMI model and the Administration Shell.  Festo Didactic has also developed the Industry 4.0 Cyber-Physical Factory training hardware installed in many leading universities and training centres, as well as Industry 4.0 training courses covering the strategic overview for change managers and practical workshops for employees. Industry 4.0 technologies such as OPC-UA communications are embedded in the latest generation products. For more information go to www.festo.co.uk/I40
 
Festo Training & Consulting delivers training for industry – by industry. Combining Festo’s industrial heritage with its future-focused manufacturing and engineering expertise to create courses that deliver greater productivity and competitive advantage to businesses. Offering a range of open courses, structured development programmes and tailor-made, customer-specific projects on technology, Industry 4.0 and People & productivity. More information on the training and consulting services can be found at: www.festo-didactic.co.uk

Festo’s Bionic Learning Network encapsulates the innovative nature of Festo, raising awareness and attracting talent to the company. Exploring the links between nature and technology opens new areas of innovation and demonstrates complex ideas in a stimulating and enjoyable way. Festo works with an alliance of internal R&D, external educational establishments and specialist companies, to advance the development of bionic solutions for automation applications of the future. The objective is to benefit from bionics as a source of inspiration for new technologies and to realise these in industrial automation. For more information about Festo’s Bionic Learning Network, please visit: www.festo.com/bionics

For more information please visit www.festo.com

Telephone number for publication: - 01252 775000

Journalist contact:
Alison Jones, Publitek
Tel: 01582 390980 
Email: alison.jones@publitek.com