BUCK® MC Containment Valves

BUCK® valves were the first commercially available split valves on the market. Used for the contained transfer of active powders from one vessel to another in pharmaceutical production, BUCK® technology is the result of thousands of successful applications worldwide and more than 30 years of experience.

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BUCK® MC Valve Principles

Split butterfly valves ensure the protection of both people and products when charging and discharging highly potent APIs.
The docking system comprises two half valves that are able to independently seal two different containers. A corresponding actuator ring is used to lock and activate the two half valves, which then allows contained powder transfer.

Undocked and Closed
When undocked and closed, the half valves prevent any product from leaving the container to contaminate the surrounding environment.

Docked and Closed
When docked and closed, the half valves are sealed and connected.

Docked and Open
Both half valves now operate as a single butterfly valve and product can be discharged in a fully contained way.

Features and Benefits

The BUCK® MC Valve builds on the proven design principles of the first generation of split butterfly valves and offers a number of key additional features and benefits:

Unique passive-to-passive valve design with a centralized actuation ring; the passive valves freely orientate, reducing operator docking error
Modular design to allow flexible and customized solutions for every requirement, built from standard components
Modular containment: with a 1–10 μg/m³ (STTWA) containment level offered as standard, the system is also available with an advanced air cleaning actuator to further improve containment levels down to <1 μg/m³ (STTWA).
Simple maintenance: fewer component parts and more identical parts owing to the passive-to-passive design, reducing spare part inventory
WIP, CIP and COP as standard
Rapid, contained changeover of the contaminated valve core with working parts remaining on the station, allowing for extremely fast product changeover – fully complementing other fast change-over concepts in our range, such as the ECM concept of our pharmaceutical tablet presses !
Robust docking: the new central actuation ring design and compensator device overcomes potential misalignment of the container and docking station.

Technical Specifications: Product-contact parts

Metal parts are available in stainless steel 1.4404/316L
or Hastelloy 2.4602/C22 (on request).
Elastomers are available in EPDM white, EPDM black antistatic
and FKM nature (white).
Surface roughness for metal parts (non-coated) is Ra < 0.5 µm.
Surface qualities are available in mechanically polished, electropolished
or PTFE coated.

Technical Specifications: Non-product-contact parts

Metal parts are made of stainless Steel 1.4301/304 (or higher)
or aluminum anodized.
Plastic parts are made of POM, PEEK and PA.
Surface roughness for metal parts is Ra < 1.6 µm.

BUCK® MC Valve = Modular Containment

GEA has a long history of expertise and an unparalleled depth of experience in the field of containment. We offer a wide range of technologies and equipment that improve and enhance the efficiency and performance of solid dosage form plants for the safe transfer of powders.

Actuator Unit

The actuator ring is available in three different versions:

portable, manual, DN100–DN150
fixed, manual, DN100–DN200
(with or without extraction)
fixed, pneumatic, DN100–DN250
(with or without extraction).

A single portable actuator ring can be used to manually dock several vessels in the same room or charge/discharge numerous pieces of equipment.

Fixed actuator rings (manual or pneumatic) can be attached to and used with hoists, forklifts, pallet trucks, etc. All sensors are enclosed within the actuator ring, and all cables are contained in a single, central gland.

All our actuator rings offer quick, tool-free removal of the half valve as standard. And, there's no need to disconnect any utilities for maintenance.

Half Valve

The BUCK® MC half valve forms the basis of the docking system. It is the only product contact part and comprises a housing, main body seal, disc seal and a fixed bearing disk. For an active station (fixed actuator ring), the half valve is integrated into the actuator unit and has a flexible connection. For manual and mobile applications, the half valve is mounted directly on the process unit. The second half valve is connected to a mobile container.

Accessories for Mobile Actuator Ring

Manual lifting device: No need for docking-related lifting equipment
The unit is fixed to the process with a tri-clamp connection
Available in DN100 and DN150.

Accessories for Fix Installed Actuator Ring

Compensator device: To dock with mechanical equipment
Compensator device 360°: As above, but with an adjustable flange connection. The orientation of the actuator ring is freely adjustable for quick and easy set-up
Lifting device: To raise/lower the valve and dock with an IBC
Weighing device: To decouple the equipment for weighing.

Wash Equipment (CIP/WIP/COP)

Wash hood fix: With two fixed spray nozzles, a drain and handles
Wash hood with lance: With one fixed spray nozzle, a manually adjustable lance, drain and handles
Drain hood: with drain connection only.

All wash equipment is affixed to a wash half valve.

Special Solutions

Quick Assembly half valve: There is no fixed connection between the valve housing and the IBC, only a tri-clamp. As such, tool-free valve removal from the IBC (and dismantling) is possible, which is ideal for frequent product changes and/or manual cleaning
Pressure-rated half valve: A PN6-rated version of the MC100 is available. This half valve is suitable when a PN6 reactor has to be pressure tested with an installed valve. Fully compatible with standard BUCK® MC valves, it can withstand pressures up to 6 bar
Vibroflow®: For poorly flowing products, the well-known Vibroflow® can also be used with BUCK® MC valves.

Let There be Lite: BUCK® Lite

The BUCK® Lite DN100/150 from GEA is the first lightweight split butterfly valve for the contained transfer of highly potent solid dosage products.

Containment issues are becoming an increasingly important aspect of solid dosage form production, especially for highly potent and toxic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for hormone and oncology applications.

With a more intense focus on health and safety, avoiding both operator exposure and preventing cross-contamination is critical. For contained solid powder transfer, the solution is BUCK®.

Based on the success of the BUCK® MC (modular containment) valve, GEA is taken a bold step forward and further enhancing the ease of use and convenience of its DN100/150 actuator ring.

The new BUCK® Lite portable actuator ring retains the key advantages of the original MC actuator ring, including free orientation during docking, fast product changeovers, simple operation, maintenance and cleaning, and also comprises identical half valves for both sides of the docking station. In addition, the same unit can be used to dock several different processes. It’s also compatible with existing BUCK® MC half valves.

Offering the same functionality as the previous version, GEA has succeeded in making the actuator ring even more compact and lightweight. It weighs just 3.3 kg, which makes the entire unit easier to handle and implement. GEA has the health and welfare of your operators in mind, not to mention process optimization and productivity.

Key Benefits

containment levels of 1–10 μg/m³ (STTWA)
weight reduction of 64%
customizable hand lever position
reduced number of parts
rapid disassembly for cleaning, if required
simple and robust
cost-effective.

Comprehensive Containment

Offering standard and customized solutions, GEA’s split butterfly valve portfolio includes both manual and automated BUCK® MC valves (DN100–250) with optional assemblies (weighing, raising/lowering and compensator devices), suction for high containment applications (<1 μg/m3 STTWA) and total containment (TC) valve technologies. In addition, the Hicoflex® disposable bag and interface system allows visible product transfer and is designed to handle highly potent solids at volumes of 1–50 L.