Case Study: Leading Semiconductor, Chemical Food and Pharmaceutical Company achieves ultraclean mirror-finish valve internals and higher throughput with Proto3000

Ultrahigh-purity Valve Inner Channel Polishing For Semiconductor, Chemical, Food And Pharmaceutical Industries

Leading Semiconductor, Chemical Food and Pharmaceutical Company, a manufacturer of ultrahigh‑purity gas valves, faced rising surface‑quality requirements for internal channels that traditional finishing methods couldn’t meet. Abrasive flow machining and liquid electropolishing were costly, inconsistent, produced scrap, and posed environmental and worker‑safety hazards while failing to reach the target roughness (from 0.3 μm Ra toward <0.15 μm Ra). Proto3000 was engaged to provide a high‑throughput, repeatable finishing solution (using DLyte PRO500 / DryLyte Technology).

Proto3000 implemented a DryLyte suspension electropolishing process on a DLyte PRO500, processing 64 valves per batch (25–29 minutes) and treating internal and external surfaces simultaneously. Trials reduced roughness from 0.3 μm Ra to below 0.1 μm Ra, removed 0.3 g per piece, and enabled a media lifecycle of ~13,000 parts; projected two‑shift output is 2,048 valves/day (512,000/year). The solution eliminated multiple prior steps, improved corrosion resistance and homogeneity, cut production cost by over 60% (OPEX €1.40/part, CAPEX ~€0.20/part at scale), and simplified waste handling and worker exposure — all delivered by Proto3000.