HAMAI of high-pressure gas valve manufacturer have so far shipped over 4,000 pieces of its new metal-touch diaphragm valve for corrosive gas cylinders to Korea, Taiwan and China since three years ago.

The cylinder valves of specialty or high-purity gases employ in many cases a diaphragm valve having the structure to seal off a gas by means of blocking the flow in the cylinder with a resin seat like Daifuron. However, a corrosive gas may cause a leakage by swelling of resin due to touching of gas on the resin seat.

Three years ago, therefore, HAMAI developed “SUS-55LMT Series” an improved model of the conventional metal-touch diaphragm valve, using a self-sealing disc holder without any resin seat.

The metal-touch valve has had an issue of its inferior durability comparing with a resin seat, but exercising ingenuity in the material and design of diaphragm (generally made of stainless steel), HAMAI improved the durability of the product changing the tight-sealing part to the original shape by replacing the material of the disc holder with a harder and special one.

According to HAMAI, the open/close tests showed a far better outcome than the conventional products and the customers gave a high evaluation.

At first the sales was carried out for the domestic customers only, but in 2016 Korean corporation HAMAI KOREA also started sales and the business scope has spread to Taiwan and China as well as Korea since then. In June this year the sales of more than 4000 pieces in total were attained.

Yoshitaka Kakinoki manager of HAMAI sales division said, “The demand for corrosive gases are growing in the solar-panel field as well as the semiconductor industry, and we expect to attain the sales of this product to more than 5000
pieces in total within this year.”

HAMAI is planning to develop the sales for Europe and North America. At present the product is manufactured in HAMAI’s Fuchu Plant (Fuchu City, Tokyo), but next year the production in HAMAI Korea will be put in view.