High temperature & process control

Higher temperatures in a process application can be a complex factor and may significantly impact the stability and accuracy of the process. For example, process engineers often struggle to keep reactor pressure stable under higher temperatures, the phase of the process media used may be impacted and that is also true for surface tension or other fluid characteristics.

Pressure Control Solutions helps process engineers to tackle such challenges in their process: We have the expertise to understand and analyze your process, and we help you select a product solution that best matches your application requirements.

High temperature back pressure regulators | Resistant up to 550  °C

Equilibar® back pressure regulators are available in many variants, each designed with different process conditions in mind. As a rule, most ‘standard’ back pressure regulators are resistant up to 300 °C. Please note though that each BPR is engineered and built on order and thus customized for each customer separately, so there is hardly anything ‘standard’ about these innovative dome-loaded, multiple orifice back pressure regulators.

HT Series: Models designed to resist higher temperatures

This post focuses on the models in the High Temperature Series (HT Series), which includes the following “standard” units:

• High Temperature units (HT units) up to 450 °C
• Ultra Low Flow High Temperature units (ULHT units) up to 450 °C
• High Temperature High Flow units (HTF units) up to 450 °C
• Ultra High Temperature units (UHT units) up to 550 °C

Compared to conventional products that are commercially available in the market, these HT Series control valves are already quite unique in this high-temperature resistance, while still offering the user a rangeability of 1:1.000. These instruments can withstand the mentioned temperatures not only in the direct environment but also in the process itself e.g. because of the use of high-temperature media.

What is really extraordinary though is that these high-temperature back pressure regulators are also available with c-seal metal o-rings, because of which these pressure valves can even be operated in process applications with temperatures up to 550 °C!

This truly facilitates process control in a manner that maximizes the potential and outcomes of research and other process applications that require stable and accurate process control under such demanding conditions.

Available materials and pressure ranges

This unique product specification is facilitated by the use of c-metal o-rings in combination with full metal diaphragms. Per instrument, the maximum pressure rating varies in relation to the maximum temperature.

• We already mentioned a possible configuration of the HT Series to resist 550 °C at a maximum pressure rating of 70 bar.
• We can also offer product solutions for applications that require even higher pressures: Product solutions are available up to 400 bar with a temperature limit of 550 °C.
• And if your pressure is up to 680 bar, we can offer products with a temperature limit of 550 °C.

Applications with the high temperature back pressure regulator

Since we introduced this high temperature back pressure regulator in a blog in the summer of 2017, it has been a website favourite; especially researchers and process engineers involved in innovative applications that are run under highly demanding process conditions have been keen to explore the possibilities of this special back pressure regulator.

Use of this high temperature control valve has proven to be particularly useful in high temperature catalysis applications, research projects using reactors and in chemical processes that involve corrosive media and aggressive media.

Want to know more about this product?

Contact an engineer today to discuss the possibilities of our high-temperature back pressure regulators for your process. Even if your process requirements are different from those mentioned above, we are confident that we can help you.

Note: This blog was published earlier (June 2017), but updated in 2021 in order to do this product’s popularity justice.