Festo PGVA pressure and vacuum generator is an all-in-one solution

The PGVA, with an 8x8x3-inch housing, is installed on or inside an instrument to supply compressed air and vacuum for liquid handling. It won a Silver award in the LEAP program and a Gold IDEA! award.

The latest innovation from the automation experts at Festo is the PGVA pressure and vacuum generator. This compact device (eight by eight by three inches, slightly larger than a typical paperback book) allows automated laboratory devices to control fluids precisely for research and development, for life-saving drugs and high-speed sample screening.

The PGVA has recently won significant innovation and design awards from such publications as MachineDesign, Hydraulics & Pneumatics, and Design World.

For generating regulated, filtered air

This pressure and vacuum generator serves users as an all-in-one solution for generating regulated, filtered air for flow control of liquids in laboratory devices. A low-noise pump, operating at only 50 decibels, supplies pressure that gets stored in internal cells at a pressure and vacuum of 450 millibars. Then the air is filtered to a purity of negative 1/1,000 of a micrometre. The flow is servo-controlled by a fast, silent, and energy-efficient piezoelectric regulator. Communication with the device occurs via TCP/IP or RS 232.

In the IDEA! innovation awards competition, sponsored by both MachineDesign and Hydraulics & Pneumatics, this Festo solution received the Gold award in the category of motion (flow) control – as voted by readers of both magazines. In addition, a Design World panel of outside judges elected to recognize the PGVA with a Silver award in the pneumatics category, in its LEAP design-engineering awards program.

This device is one of many products in Festo’s LifeTech automation family, which comprises solutions for dispensing fluids, controlling gases, handling or gripping vials, and more. Examples include valves, regulators, sensors, drives, electronic controllers, grippers, and devices for air preparation or connection technology.

Festo remains the leading supplier of automation technology and technical education in the world, and it is deploying its solutions and services to meet the demands of smart production and digitization. Since its founding nearly a century ago, the company has supported a broad spectrum of needs for innovative products in factory and process automation.

With global headquarters in Esslingen, Germany, Festo has been supporting Canadian industry for more than four decades with optimized motion-control products.

For more information, contact Festo.

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