The Insiders` Guide to Flow Control

Transcription

AMERICAS
Issue 4 - May 2013
ment has stated that the country
will need to increase its installed
capacity by 110GW in the next 15
years to meet the country’s rising
energy demands. The figure is al-
most double the current generation
capacity of 121GW and eight times
the potential of th 14GW Itaipu hydroelectric plant shared by Brazil &
Paraguay. Federal energy planning
company EPE says per capita power
consumption in Brazil has risen 17%
in the past five years to 2.4MW/h
leading to the belief that the figure
will double by 2028.
CHILE:
A subsidiary of Foster
Wheeler AG’s Global Engineering
and Construction Group has been
awarded a contract by Pecket Energy
to perform feasibility, conceptual
and basic engineering studies and
develop an estimated investment
cost for a substitute natural gas
(SNG) production facility to be built
near Punta Arenas, Chile. The project will produce syngas to be used
as a clean feedstock for the production of SNG to be distributed for
domestic consumption or industrial
purposes in the Magallanes region.
www.sharpevalves.com
API supports view that LNG exports positive
Prior to submitting its second round of comments to the United States
Department of Energy, the API upstream and industry operations
group director Erik Milito told press that exporting some U.S. natural
gas in the form of LNG would have a positive effect on the American
economy and workers.
“The bottom line is that the arguments for exports are even stronger than before. An energy revolution is underway in the United
States. New technology and the
use of that technology are showing
we have vastly more energy potential than we thought we had even
a short time ago. The U.S. is awash
in natural gas with huge additional
productive capacity that could be
ramped up in relatively short order
to fully supply domestic and likely
export markets well into the future,” said Milito.
“The increase in supply potential
undercuts the main argument of
proponents of restricting exports,
which is that DOE used outdated
supply data in its analysis that said
allowing exports would be beneficial. The most recent data from
DOE confirms that supplies will be
very robust. This implies there is
more than sufficient natural gas to
meet domestic and export needs
with little adverse impact on prices
– and that the net economic benefits of allowing exports are even
greater than earlier thought. The
critics simply didn’t acknowledge
what an energy juggernaut the
shale gas revolution has become
and that it is still growing.”
Milito went on to express the view
that the case for exports is consistent with the basic principles of
economics and that with trade and
exports doing well allowing producers to export natural gas will
benefit the nation’s economy.
API is the national trade organization representing all segments of
Rotork Valvekits supplies
LNG facility
Member of the Rotork group of
flow control companies, Valvekits,
is due to supply more than 250
valve-mounting kits and spool
pieces for a liquefied natural gas
(LNG) facility under construction in
the United States.
Designed and manufactured at
the Valvekits factory in the United
Kingdom, the mounting kits and
spool pieces will provide adaptation for fluid power actuators on
ball valves ranging in size from 3”
Spotlight On
Special Topic Tech Talk
Products
EPC Interview
to 42”, including a number of cryogenic valves.
The Valvekits products are being
supplied in batches to Rotork’s
group facilities in Bilbao to meet
the production schedule of Spanish
valve maker Poyam Valves, located
in nearby Idiazabal.
The final destination is an LNG production plant being built by Bechtel
for Cheniere Energy on the Sabine
River in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
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4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
BFE S.p.A. Was established in
1957 and is headquartered in
Albano Sant’Alessandro (Bergamo,
Lonbardy) and specializes in the
design, development and manufacture of a range of valves for oil
and gas, petrochemical, chemical
and power industry applications.
The company’s product portfolio
includes forged steel valves, API
6A valves, ball valves, pressure
seal valves and cast steel valves.
BFE has hald an exclusive license
to use the Bonney Forge trade-
Meeting Preview: 12-13
Column14
Course Preview
15
Throughout the Americas 16-18
Prime Products
19
Valve World Americas - May 2013
1
the American oil and natural gas
industry with over 500 members
representing large integrated companies, refining, exploration and
production, pipeline, marketing
and marine businesses and service
and supply firms.
Bonney Forge Corporation
acquires BFE S.p.A.
Leading international manufacturer and marketer of industrial forged steel valves, cast steel
valves, forged steel fittings, unions
and branch connections, Bonney
Forge Corporation, has completed
the acquisition of Bonney Forge
Europe S.p.A. Bonney Forge acquired BFE S.p.A, an Italian manufacturer of industrial valves for
mainly oil and gas industry applications from Pegaso S.p.A., a subsidiary of Acciaierie Valbruna S.p.A.
Content
Did you know… that
hydraulic fracturing is a way
of making non-productive
and wells that would have
run dry, viable sources of oil
& gas. Experts believe that in
the next ten years, 60-80% of
all wells drilled
in the United
States will require fracturing
to remain in
operation.
MEETING PREVIEW Valve
World Americas Expo & Conference 2013 will be held on June
25th-26th in Houston, TX to bring
valve companies,
EPCs & end-users
together to meet
existing and new
customers, and
exchange ideas.
Page 12 & 13
The Insiders’ Guide to Flow Control
USA: Chevron has announced an
oil discovery at the Coronado prospect in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of
Mexico. The Walker Ridge Block 98
Well No. 1 encountered more than
400 feet of net pay. The well is located app r o x i mately
190 miles
off
the
Louisiana
coast in 6,127 feet of water and was
drilled to a depth of 31,866 feet.
Wallace Hancock,
Commodity Manager – Procurement & Materials
Department for
KBR discusses KBR’s rich history
of commitment to that the company continues to nurture into
its second century in business,
through high level of integrity in
all they do.
Page 10 & 11
& gas valve sealing is a dynamic
and challenging environment.
Operators are using
higher pressures and
greater temperatures
to gain extraction
efficiencies. Upgraded conventional extraction
technology is needed to meet
requirements of new application
parameters. Page 4 & 5
Country
News
BRAZIL: The Brazilian govern-
EPC Interview - KBR Inc.
SPECIAL TOPIC:
Hydraulic Fracturing Oil
Spotlight on EMERSON...
Emerson Process Management
Valve Automation’s new stateof-the art
manufacturing facility and
headquarters’
capability &
output exceeds pre-move levels, satisfying
increased customer demand
while continuing to meet ISO
9000 standards. Page 2 & 3
Market Report
Projects Tech Talk
End User Interview
Final Worlds
www.valve-world-americas.net
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28
mark in markets outside of North
America since 1987. Bonney Forge
has been the exclusive sales and
marketing agent for BFE products
in Canada, the United States and
the Caribbean.
“The completion of this acquisition
marks an exciting new chapter for
Bonney Forge. This is an ideal strategic alliance between two experienced management teams with
a long history of successfully partnering. BFE’s highly engineered
products, key position as a premiere supplier in the international
oil and gas industry, and exciting
growth potential make it a compelling fit for our organization. We
are confident our customers will
benefit from the addition of BFE’s
product offering and international manufacturing and distribution
capabilities,” said Bonney Forge
Corporation Chairman and CEO,
John Leone.
Terms of the acquisition were not
disclosed, other than the company
was acquired in a cash transaction.
Spotlight On...
Emerson’s Valve Automation
moves into
Emerson Process Management Valve Automation’s new state-of-theart manufacturing and Americas’ headquarters facility in northwest
Houston is running at full speed. The move from its 30-year old Bettis™
manufacturing and assembly facility in Waller, an area 40 miles outside
of Houston, was completed during this past January and has been
steadily gaining capacity these past few months. May 8, 2013 marked
the facility’s official grand opening specifically scheduled during the
prestigious OTC event; very fitting since Bettis is the considered the
hallmark ESD valve operator in the Global Oil & Gas Industry known
for maintaining the high quality standards for which Emerson is
recognized. Capability and output at the new plant now exceeds premove levels, satisfying increased customer demand while continuing
to meet ISO 9000 standards.
largest concentration of chemical plants
and refineries on the Texas gulf coast–
more than 400 in total.
Training center
Why Houston?
The new facility, in close proximity to the
energy corridor, is located on the northwest
side of Houston’s bourgeoning energy and
industrial growth activity. The decision to
relocate to this area made perfect sense.
Houston, known as the energy capital of
the world, is home to more than 3,700
energy related companies and 16 of
the top 20 liquids pipeline companies.
Moreover, Houston accounts for more than
40 percent of the nation’s petrochemical
capacity and is within reach of the world’s
Houston is also headquarters to a large
majority of companies producing from
and maintaining more than 3,000 offshore
platforms and 25,000 miles of offshore
pipelines. Not only is the new facility
in the heart of this activity, but it is also
in close proximity the Port of Houston,
one of the world’s largest and busiest,
lending a convenient means of receiving
and transporting goods to any part of the
globe.
Being rooted in the new Houston location
allows Emerson to continue fostering
close relationships with area energy and
industrial clients. “We are thrilled to be
expanding our footprint in the Houston
community,” David Plum, Valve Automation
President states. “Our history in Texas
dates back to 1929 and this area remains
critical to our growth plans and service
level commitments.” It provides Emerson
the opportunity to become close partners
with customers, understanding their risks
as well as their service and equipment
World area configuration center
passed on to the customer. Further, this
approach which has been used successfully
in other Emerson international operations,
promotes numerous other costs savings
and efficiencies.
Bringing Innovation to the Industry
Through the transition, project teams have continued to work on new product
development to address the needs of the market, including the robust shale
plays. As part of this effort, the PWP PressureGuard product was developed
and tested for immediate release. The product combines a Bettis™ selfcontained emergency shutdown system (ESD) with an API 6A reverse-acting
gate valve to provide an integrated 6A package for immediate wellhead
shutdowns. It is an effective product for immediate valve closure in cases
of loss of line pressure and is ideal for remote area operations where there
are insufficient, unreliable or prohibitively expensive power sources available.
Its features make it highly suitable for application in shale plays in North
America and abroad. Other products are in development at the final stages
of engineering and nearing market introduction.
Meeting room
needs. The Houston facility, with its many
unique attributes, provides Emerson with
the capabilities to help develop leading
edge technology and product innovations.
Lean Manufacturing
The Houston manufacturing facility
employs the latest in manufacturing
technologies for improving production
output with high quality. One of the new
capabilities is a modern blast and paint
booth area. This dedicated area eliminates
the need to outsource grit blasting and
painting of Bettis™ actuators, making that
a fully-integrated and efficient in-house
function. Additionally, the approximately
150,000 square-foot manufacturing plant
is utilizing lean manufacturing techniques
to provide better quality with substantial
manufacturing efficiencies.
The plant has been specifically designed
with a product flow layout that is conducive
to the ultimate routing of parts and supplies
through receiving, the efficient assembly of
product, complete automation capabilities
for mounting of controls and accessories,
and the organized shipping area. The lean
manufacturing approach dramatically
reduces waste, improving product value
2
With a demand driven supply chain that
lowers critical inventory, the Emerson
facility will reduce production time by
efficient materials handling methods
and product movement throughout the
plant. The lean manufacturing system
will also lower waiting time between
manufacturing steps. Quality will benefit
through defects reduction and increased
inspection scrutiny at all manufacturing
stages.
Innovation Center
The Houston facility was designed to be
customer-centered. The new Innovation
Center within the facility provides a
demonstration area with working models
of all the major products in Emerson’s
broad valve automation offering for yearround use by customers. This perfect
venue allows hands on examination
for customers as well as for Emerson’s
application engineers and distributors, the
life blood of the valve automation product
sales and service.
A leading-edge training center will offer
periodic seminars and sessions for
exposure to new and existing products. The
latest in visual technologies in the center
Learning center
Spotlight On...
new Houston facility
Engineering
to realizing our vision to deliver worldclass products and services to support our
growth throughout the Americas,” says
Tom Stovall, Vice President, The Americas.
Product and applications engineering have
always been an Emerson hallmark. To
emphasize that tradition, the new facility
will centralize the valve automation design,
product development and engineering
laboratories under one roof. As a result,
introduction of new products to solve
customer problems will be expedited.
Testing of springs, functionality, shell
pressure and other non-destructive testing
procedures will be carried on in-house
under the watchful eyes of engineers and
specialized technicians.
A Larger WACC
Innovation center (1)
Innovation center (2)
The new facility acts as a World Area
Configuration Center (WACC) in support
of North and South American customers
and distributors. The facility complements
similar full service facilities in Europe,
Asia Pacific and the Middle East with
manufacturing,
assembly,
integration
of control packages, accessory and
replacement parts stocking, and testing.
Experienced factory trained and certified
service technicians will be available
to utilize their extensive product and
automation knowledge to give customers
life-cycle support for all Emerson Process
Management Valve Automation products.
The facility also complements the local
manufacturing and service of Emerson’s
EIM™ electric actuator brand, located in
southwest Houston.
Emerson’s valve automation brands have
been industry leaders for more than
60 years and continue to be preferred
solutions for reliable automated valve
operation. The opening of the new
Houston facility physically represents
Emerson Process Management Valve
Automation’s commitment to increasing
product quality, customer focus, improved
production efficiencies, and engineering
innovation.
will link other Emerson facilities so that the
company’s worldwide experts can add to
the value of training and conferences.
There are an estimated 240 billion
barrels of technically recoverable
tight oil resources and 200 trillion
cubic meters of shale gas worldwide.
The proliferation of gas and liquids
extraction from shale formations
in recent years has led to rapid
development of the infrastructure
to include processing and transport
the hydrocarbons. Often the wells,
gathering and processing facilities
are located in remote areas where
there is a lack of dependable
external power sources – clean line
gas, compressed air, hydraulic power
units or electricity – hampering
emergency
shutdown
(ESD)
procedures to shut in the wellhead
or flow valves. At every stage of
the process from the wellhead to
the transmission pipeline, valves
and their automated controls play
key roles in providing safety for
operating and civilian personnel,
protecting valuable assets, and
preventing or mitigating any
possible environmental events.
Automatic Shutdown
The PressureGuard and PressureGuard Wellhead Protection (PWP)
are self-contained ESD solutions that
do not require any external power
source. They are set initially by a
manual hydraulic pump coupled to
an ESD actuator. For example these
units may be used on an API 6A valve
at the wellhead (typically either side
of a choke valve) or the API 6D valve
on the flow and process pipelines.
Applications might include: Gas/
Liquid Metering stations, Liquid
Pipelines, OPPS, Gathering stations,
Custody Transfer skids, Metering
stations, Water Treatment Skids and
City Gates to a name a few.
The ESD can be “tripped” in one of
three general ways: 1) A high and/
or low pressure pilot signal, 2) A
remote ESD signal to an integrated
solenoid valve controlled by SCADA,
BPCS or wireless signal 3) A heat
sensitive fusible link. Once the
shutdown has occurred and the
cause investigated, the hydraulic
hand pump can be used to reset
the ESD actuator to its original
operating mode once the device
has also been reset.
PWP, PressureGuard Wellhead
Protection System Conforms
to API 6A
The PWP incorporates both an
API 6A reverse-acting gate valve
and bonnet coupled to the linear
spring-return actuator. The API 6A
valve and actuator unit is provided
by OMNI, a manufacturer of fieldproven products for oil and gas
applications. There is no need to
worry the challenge of mating a
6A valve and valve bonnet by a
separate manufacturer or integrator.
Emerson offers the complete API
6A wellhead ESD solution with a
variety of options including rate-ofdrop line break systems, switches,
fast acting and lockable field covers.
Headquarters for the
Americas
The northwest Houston facility is the newly
designated area headquarters for Valve
Automation’s Americas leadership group,
providing the direction for Emerson’s
participation in the growth of activity in
North and South America. It includes
more than 60,000 square feet of office
space for sales, engineering, customer
service, laboratory and administrative
personnel. The building is designed
with sufficient room to accommodate
significant
expansion.
“Completing
construction of the Americas Headquarters
is a significant milestone for Emerson
Process Management. We look forward
Reliable Emergency
Shutdown Adds Safety
to Shale Oil and Gas
Production
Reception area
3
Special Topic: Hydraulic Fracturing
Oil and Gas Valve Sealing
significant and fluid streams can be corrosive
with hydrogen sulfide gas being present.
Many types of valves and configurations are
being used but the vast majority of valves
being used are non-rising stem gate valves.
These valves use expanding gate to limit
stem movement as stem movement would
draw contaminates through the packing set.
The packing set typically uses a lantern ring
in conjunction with an injection port located
between an upper and lower ring sets.
The sealing of valves in the oil and gas market is a broad and sophisticated topic. The
oil and gas market can be segmented into exploration and production, mid-stream and
downstream refining. Often, exploration, production and mid-stream segments are
combined and referred to as oil and gas. Using the later definition, the oil and gas valve
segment is considered to be largest segment of industrial valves. It is not only the largest
segment, but it is anticipated that its growth will continue to outpace other industrial
valve segments.
By Scott Boyson, Chesterton
Figure 1
Oil and gas valve sealing has always been
a dynamic and challenging environment.
Today operators are using higher pressures
and greater temperature extremes to gain
extraction efficiencies. Upgraded conventional extraction technology is often needed to meet the requirements of these new
application parameters. Meanwhile, unconventional extraction methods have increased
the variation of
valve
applications in this area.
These changes
combined with
the ever increasing variety of fluids being used
makes this area
one of the most
dynamic
and
difficult
valve
sealing environments. Not only
is this area difficult to seal, but
it also can be
extremely hazardous with both safety and environmental
concerns and be critical to cost (Figure 1).
Off-shore valves involved in exploration are
also seeing changes. New extraction techniques being used require often use new
fluids at higher pressures and greater temperature extremes. These present significant challenges to the sealing environment.
Older generation sealing technology may
no longer be suitable for these new applications. Newer technologies that combine
different design configurations and materials are often required to meet these new
challenges.
On-land exploration can be segmented into
conventional and unconventional extraction
and valve sealing applications. Greater reliability is being sought with conventional extraction. Well head media is extremely abrasive and wears out softer seating elements.
Sealing designs that use high performance
materials to reduce abrasion and also incorporate reliable sealing elements are becoming more popular.
Valves used in oil and gas can be broken
down into valves used in subsea, off-shore
and land exploration, fluid transfer and production. Subsea valves experience not only
pressure from the process fluid but also experience hydraulic pressure from the ocean.
As depths increase, this hydraulic pressure
can become significant. Pressures can be
Unconventional extraction uses a variety
of different fluids. Fracturing technology is
introducing new fluids that are being used
at very high pressures which are difficult to
seal. Many of these fluids are abrasive and
the sealing area needs be able to withstand
the erosion from the particulate. Liquid nitrogen is at very cold temperatures is also
being used which presents significant sealing challenges. Not only do materials perform differently at cold temperatures but
differential rates of thermal expansions between sealing elements and metal need to
be addressed. Hydrogen is another fluid that
is often used which is much more difficult to
seal due to its small molecular size.
The oil sands or tar sands of Canada uses
a steam-assisted gravity (SAG) drainage system consisting of two horizontal oil wells,
with one drilled above the other. Steam is
injected into the top well to heat and separate the oil from the sand, and operators
pump out the heated oil and water mixture
through the lower well. The heated oil and
water mixture is very abrasive and difficult to
seal reliably.
Figure 2
A Christmas tree valve is used to control the
flow out of the well. (Figure 2) The tree often
has other functions such as supplying chemical injection, pressure relief capability, and
numerous monitoring points. Choke valves
are used on Christmas tree assemblies to
control the pressure from the well. A wide
variety of seals are used on choke valves.
O-rings, PTFE v-rings and epoxy plastics are
all used. As greater depths are being realized, higher pressures are pushing the mechanical limits of previous materials and designs. In addition, harsh chemicals can limit
the type of materials from which to choose
from here. Engineered plastics offer excellent mechanical performance.
4
Figure 3
Infrastructure used to process and transport
oil and gas is constantly under increasing
regulation. One area that will likely affect
the valve industry is the use of the upcoming API 624 low emissions valve standard.
This standard will ensure that valves are designed and tested for low emissions using
API 622 valve packing (Figure 3) and will
become increasingly prevalent requirement.
So as operators push the boundaries for
greater efficiencies and safety and environmental concerns increase, valve sealing is
becoming an even more critical component
of the valve system.
Figure 4
To seal the valves
in these difficult
applications high
performance engineered
polymers are being
used in more
Special Topic: Hydraulic Fracturing
oil and gas industry. Users are requiring
conventional technology to push boundaries for greater productivity while searching
for greater reliability to maximize efficiency.
Unconventional technologies are introducing entirely new application parameters with
their new fluids at pressure and temperatures. Meanwhile, environmental and safety concerns continue to escalate creating a
dynamic environment for valve technology
and valve sealing.
frequency. Both new materials and material combinations are being used to meet
these high performance sealing requirements. Standard PTFE v-rings which once
dominated the market are becoming less
popular due to better alternatives. Ideally an
engineered polymer can exhibit high performance characteristics in a number of areas
(Figure 4).
One material that is increasing in popularity
is PEEK. The advantage of PEEK is that it has
high strength and durability. Its high strength
allows it to withstand high pressures while
its wide range of temperature capability is
outstanding to meet challenging applications. One area of concern with PEEK has
been with its brittleness leading to fracture.
Figure 5
Advancements have been made to increase
the flexibility or elongation properties of this
material to maximize its use and minimize
fracture possibilities in sealing applications.
By using various design configurations and
About the author
Mr. Boyson is responsible for Chesterton’s valve sealing
business and has over 15 years experience working with
numerous end-users, OEMs and valve repair shops to assist
them in their sealing efforts.
He has been directing Chesterton’s efforts to meet the
stringent sealing requirements that are facing industry. He
is responsible for the development of new valve packing
products and programs to meet these challenges.
He travels extensively around the globe to work with a variety of industries with a focus on refinery, petrochemical and
power markets. He has published and presented technical
papers. He is an active participant on multiple standards
and a member of the Fluid Sealing Association.
Figure 6
combining materials the advantages of different types of materials can be incorporated into a design. Geometric shapes and
materials can be simultaneously reviewed
for optimized performance (Figure 5). For
instance, anti-extrusion and abrasive performance can be combined with enhanced
sealability by using a variety of materials and
geometric shapes. Rather than rely on the
elastomeric properties of only the material,
spring energized sealing where the metal
component is optimized to the polymer and
application. For instance, cryogenic performance is particularly difficult and requires
special care due to changes in mechanical
properties of materials and differential rates
of thermal expansion between dissimilar
materials. In some cases, cartridge-based
springs are desirable to indicate the engineered design load is on the packing gland
in operation (Figure 6).
Did you know… that shale gas is natural gas
from shale formations. The shale acts as the source and
the reservoir. In the past wells were vertical, but due to
technological advances, recent wells are primarily drilled
horizontally and require artificial stimulation to produce,
such as hydraulic fracturing. The rapid rise in production
from shale formations can be attributed to the advances
in horizontal drilling, well stimulation technologies and
the refinement in the cost-effectiveness of the technologies, of which hydraulic fracturing is the most significant.
One of the largest and fastest growing segments of valves and valve sealing is in the
Valves, Automation & Controls
www.sharpevalves.com
1260 Garnet Drive, Northlake, IL 60164
Tel: 708.562.9221 Fax: 708.562.0890
The Series 80/89
Innovation for real world problems
Integrated fugitive emissions • Compliant with API 608 Class
800 and 300 • API 607 fire safe option• Standard or full
port • Tongue and groove construction • “SharpeGrip” handle •
Diverter • Variety of material alloys • Tamper proof locking device •
Extension bonnets • Steam jackets • Heavy duty stem • Cryogenic bonnet
• Floating ball • ISO 5211 top-works • Cavity filler seats • Double block-andbleed seats • Spring return handle • Superior stem seal configuration • Tank bottom •
Emission bonnet • Wide range of seat and seals • Metal seats • Variety of body materials
• Cast mounting brackets • Sharpe automation and controls • Extended cycle-life
and more
5
•
Tech Talk
Matching valve type to function: A tutorial in valve selection
Part One
When selecting a valve for an instrumentation system, your choices
may seem overwhelming. Just to name a few, there are ball valves,
diaphragm and bellows valves, as well as check valves, excess flow
valves, fine metering, gate, multi-port, needle, plug, relief, rising
plug, and safety valves. Further, each of these valves comes in many
sizes, configurations, materials of construction, and actuation modes.
To make the best choice, it is always good practice to ask the first
question in valve selection: What do I want the valve to do?
By Michael Adkins, Swagelok Company
Most valves fulfill one of five primary functions – on-off, flow control,
directional flow, overpressure protection, and excess-flow protection.
Matching valve type to function is
the first and most important step
in the valve selection process. It is
not unusual in the field to see the
misapplication of valves, such as a
ball valve used for throttling flow.
In some cases, the mismatch can
be catastrophic, say, if a ball valve
were used in a high-pressure oxygen system. With a source of ignition, the sudden burst of oxygen
– enabled by the fast opening of
the valve – could lead to an oxygen
fire.
Below is a tutorial reviewing the
basic types of valves, how they
work, what functions they fulfill,
and what to think about when
choosing one over the other. If you
are ever confused about which
type of valve to use, or simply need
a review, read on.
On-off valves
On-off control is the most basic
valve function. Valves in this category stop and restart system fluid flow. Primary on-off valves are
ball, gate, diaphragm, and bellows
valves.
Perhaps the most common of all
valve with quick shutoff and high
flow capacity, then a ball valve is
a good choice. The position of the
handle provides a quick indication
of whether the valve is open or
closed, and, for safety purposes,
ball valves are easy to lock out and
tag. They are most practical and
economical at sizes between 1/4
inch and 2 inches (6 and 50 mm).
Typically used for process control
rather than instrumentation applications, gate valves are commonly chosen for on-off control, particularly for lines above 2 inches.
They are also frequently used as
the first valve off the process line
for process instrumentation, often
in a double block and bleed con-
valve types, ball valves (see Figure
1) are designed for on-off control.
Quarter turn actuation starts or
stops flow by positioning a metallic
ball in a straight through flow path.
The ball has a large hole through
the center of it. When the hole is
lined up with the flow path, it enables flow. When it is turned 90 degrees from the flow path, it stops
flow. If you are seeking an on-off
Figure 1. Ball valves are ideal for on-off control. Quarter turn actuation
starts or stops flow by positioning a metallic ball in a straight-through
flow path.
6
figuration. Among the oldest types
of on-off valves, they are typically
specified in general industrial applications, such as large process or
transmission lines. Some can even
be larger than 100 inches (2540
mm).
Multiple rotations of the handle
raise and lower a sealing mechanism in and out of a straight flow
path. Shutoff is gradual.
Packing surrounds the stem, preventing system media from escaping to atmosphere where the
stem meets the valve body. Valves
that seal to atmosphere with metal-to-metal seals are referred to as
“packless” because they do not
contain the soft packing material,
e.g., gaskets and O-rings, normally found around the stem in other
valves. The valve stem is the cylindrical part that connects the handle
(or actuation) with the inner mechanism for shut-off, flow control,
and directional control. Usually, the
stem turns and/or moves up and
down.
All stem seals or packing are subject to wear, and wear can lead to
leakage. Valves with packing must
be serviced or replaced at regular
intervals, although some types of
packing create more effective seals
and last longer than others, such as
the two piece chevron design.
Figure 2. Diaphragm valves provide rapid shutoff and precise actuation speeds. Among all valve
types, they provide the highest
cycle life, a product of the valve’s
highly engineered anatomy.
Contrary to packed valves, diaphragm valves (see Figure 2) are
packless, and provide rapid shutoff
and precise actuation speeds. In
some cases, they may also deliver
consistent quantities of process fluid. Typically, diaphragm valves are
employed in high-purity applications in the biopharmaceutical and
semiconductor industries. Among
all valve types, they provide the
highest cycle life, a product of the
valve’s highly engineered anatomy.
Tech Talk
Each valve contains a thin metal or
plastic diaphragm, which fl exes up
and down, creating a leak-tight seal
over the inlet. This robust valve is
usually small, with the largest orifice – or internal pathway – typically less than 2 inches (50 mm).
Like the diaphragm valve, bellows
valves are packless, making them a
good choice when the seal to atmosphere is critical and access for
maintenance is limited.
Frequently, they are specified for
the containment area in nuclear
power plants. A welded seal divides the lower half of the valve,
where the system media resides,
from the upper parts of the valve,
where actuation is initiated. The
stem, which is entirely encased in
a metal bellows, moves up and
down (without rotating), sealing
over the inlet.
Bellows valves and diaphragm
valves are said to have a globelike flow path. In globe valves, fluid
does not flow straight through on a
level plane as it does in a ball valve.
The flow path enters the valve under the seat and exits above the
seat. Globe valves will have lower flow rates than valves with a
straight-through flow path of the
same orifice size.
that flow rate reliably. Some flow
control valves also provide very reliable shut-off, but many turns of
the handle are necessary to move
from the fully open to the fully
closed position. The most common
flow-control valves are needle, fine
metering, quarter-turn plug, and
rising plug.
Needle valves (see Figure 3) provide excellent flow control and,
depending on design, leak-tight
shut-off. They consist of a long
stem with a highly engineered
stem-tip geometry (e.g., vee- or
needle shaped) that fits precisely
into a seat over the inlet. The stem
is finely threaded, enabling precise
flow control.
Stem packing provides the seal to
atmosphere.
Flow-control valves
Flow-control valves enable the operator to increase or decrease flow
by rotating the handle. The operator can adjust the valve to a desired
flow rate, and the valve will hold
Figure 3. Needle valves provide
excellent flow control. The stem is
finely threaded, enabling precise
flow control.
Some designs contain a metal-to-metal seat seal; consequently,
needle valves are a good choice for
high-temperature applications. As
discussed earlier, flow is limited because of the globe-style flow path.
Needle valves are a good choice
with lighter, less viscous fluids.
For the most precise flow control,
consider fine metering valves, typically found in laboratory settings.
Fine metering valves are a type of
needle valve, with a long, fine stem
that lowers through a long, narrow
channel. This anatomy makes for
a pronounced globe pattern, ideal
for marking fine gradations of flow.
Some fine metering valves are not
designed to shut off.
Quarter-turn plug valves are utility valves, economically priced.
Quarter turn actuation rotates a cylindrical plug in a straight-through
flow path. The plug contains an orifice to permit flow. Plug valves are
commonly used for low pressure
throttling applications, in addition
to shut off.
Another type of plug valve is the rising plug valve. Like a needle valve,
a tapered plug lowers into an orifice to reduce flow.
About the Author
It differs from a needle valve in its
flow path, which is straight-through
rather than globe patterned.
Because of the straight path, the
valve is not as effective at providing fine gradations of flow. The
rising plug is roddable, which is a
good choice if the valve becomes
clogged with system media.
7
As senior manager of product line management,
Mike Adkins is responsible for coordinating all
product plans for Swagelok Company. He also
oversees the product management team. He has
previously held roles as manager of field engineering, regulator and valve products, as well as positions in manufacturing, quality, and new product
development. Mike joined Swagelok in 1994. He
holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering Technology from the University of
Dayton and a Master’s of Business Administration
from John Carroll University.
Products
New internal clamping flange facer
TDFI-Series
The EFCO TDFI-Series are portable flange turning machines with internal clamping for machining flanges of all types, valve housing, heat
exchangers etc. They cover a machining range
from diameter 6” – 87”.
Because of the construction layout, the TDFI
Machines are very suitable for on-site repair.
With the simple designed chucking and adjusting system, mounting is easier and can normally be handled by one person. Afterwards,
the gearbox housing, including drive and facing
head are easy to
fit to the clamping device.
Power can be
provided
by
either an electric motor or
a compressed
air motor. The
TDFI machines
come with multiple automatic radial feeds for
finishing, roughing work and for cutting spiral
grooves. With the standard angle facing head
you can work on plane surfaces, cylindrical,
outer surfaces, chamfering and grooves.
When the EFCO TDFI machine is delivered, it
includes all the tools and measuring materials
that are needed for installation and alignment.
The machine is also equipped with a range of
different turning plate holders and appropriate
cutting plates.
*Other dimensions upon request
Extreme precision from product series
With a reputation for innovation, SIPOS Aktorik
constantly evolves its electric actuator range.
The SIPOS 5 HiMod is a flagship example of the
company’s pioneering approach to actuation.
The extreme precision product offers advanced
flexibility and accuracy: the most challenging
valve
control requirements
are
addressed
for high end
modulating
duty,
precision and
longevity.
Sitting within a portfolio of specialist SIPOS variable speed
and standard actuators, the actuator provides
high end sophisticated technology with long
life components backed by a five year warranty
for motor and gearing.
Key features include high precision position
encoder offering exceptional accuracy and
Modulation Class D (continuous duty) according to DIN EN 15714-2. Additional features offered as standard include either external COMSIPOS interface or wireless via Bluetooth, encoder, easy non-intrusive commissioning and
sophisticated modulation software functions.
Typical installations benefitting from the SIPOS
5 HiMod include the power industry for control / boiler startup valves and turbine regulation which requires high levels of accuracy and
flexibility.
The credentials of SIPOS originate from
Siemens. The established SIPOS 5 electric actuator is the only product to feature an integrated frequency converter which enables speed
change during operation.
New Double Block and Bleed for High
Integrity Process Isolation
Zwick’s new Double Block and Bleed (DBB)
valve has been an instant success with their
customer base. More and more process plants,
offshore platforms, and power plants are demanding DBB valves to isolate their fix equipment. The DBB valves allows them to have
100% verification that the line media is blocked
and is not leaking. This is not only a safety issue it is a cost issue as well. With DBB valves
and 100% verification of isolation there is no
need to have maintenance personal suit up in
protective wear and have other items in place
once they open up
a line for maintenance. Zwick’s industry recognized
features of Zero
Friction and Zero
Leakage are the
hallmarks in this
new product.
Zwick’s DBB valves
are available in the
standard ANSI B16.10 face to face. Available in
sizes 3”-36” 150lb & 300lb.
Pressure Relief Valve
The Rupture Pin™ Model D pressure relief valve
is an inline version of the previously designed
Model C angle valve and can be used nearly
anywhere a rupture disc operates. Standard sizes are 1 to 24 inches with set pressure points
ranging 2 PSI to 6,000 PSI and a set point accuracy of +/-5%. This accuracy is accomplished
by using Euler’s Law, which states the pin diameter, length and modulus of elasticity can be
used to determine the set point. In the closed
position, the Model D holds a bubble tight seal.
Once the desired set point is reached, the valve
has a rapid, full bore relief. As the pin is located
outside the valve, it
can be reset in place
without
breaking
the line by one person in under a minute.
Replacement
pins can be shipped
on the same business day if ordered
before noon. The
8
Model D provides safety for a variety of pressure relief applications including oil and gas,
chemical process plants, separators, refineries
and paper mills.
Rupture Pin Technology has over 25 years experience making standard and custom valves
to solve pressure relief problems. The company
takes pride in tackling “mission impossible” relief or ESD projects.
Orders accepted for new actuator
AUMA has announced that orders can be placed
for its new part-turn electric actuator. Designed
for butterfly and ball valve automation, the SQ
.2 replaces AUMA’s established SG .1 range.
Enhancements set to expand process control
applications for AUMA in the power and water
industries include sophisticated diagnostics and
asset management
functionality.
A new actuator
size in the SQ .2
series more than
doubles the torque
range offered by
AUMA’s predecessor product: this is
a significant expansion now covering 50Nm to
2,400Nm.
Retaining AUMA’s modular design for adaptable
actuation, advanced features include adoption
over a wider torque range without the need for
a gearbox. Sophisticated diagnostics and asset
management enhancements include additional
temperature and vibration sensors.
Commissioning and operation of SQ actuators
are identical to the SA .2 multi-turn range, introduced by AUMA in 2010. Both ranges are available with simple AM or micro-controller operated AC integral controls – as a result, controls
are interchangeable and, where both product
series are installed, on-site device management
is simplified.
Products
Orders for SQ actuators for three-phase applications can be placed with immediate effect.
SQ actuators for single-phase or Ex installations
will be introduced in the second half of the
year.
New Line of Industrial Grade PL Series
Linear Actuators Engineered for Critical
Large Pressure Control Applications
Designed for use on rising stem globe control
valves, PL Series actuators provide up to 4400
lbs. (19,600N ) of force and up to 3.9” (100
mm) travel – much
greater than other
competitive
electric
linear actuators. This
increased
up
and
down force allows use
of a globe valve for increased flow control
in higher pipe diameters with higher close
off pressures versus
use of a corresponding butterfly valve with
less flow control and lower close-off pressures.
Key features of the PL Series include:
- Field Selectable Travel Stops – travel stops can
be set by location within the stroke or by the
rated force at the end of the stroke.
-
On/Off/Floating - Proportional Control –
precision proportional control is achieved
through an improved microcontroller that
has 4-20mA or 2-10VDC input and feedback,
AutoCalibration, and flashing LED diagnostic
indicators.
-
Customizable Mounting System – a PEIdesigned linkage system that is easily configured to various valve bonnets and stem
heights.
- Manual Override – a standard disengagable
manual override that allows fast and simple
manual positioning of the valve.
- Standard Voltages – actuators are compatible
with 24VAC, 24VDC, 120VAC, and 230VAC
power supplies.
ProMation Engineering is developing new
products as well as improving its existing product line to provide industrial grade products for
critical flow control applications where the costs
of process interruption far exceeds the cost of
the control equipment. Sample applications include precise control of cooling water flow in
large globe valves for data centers, control of
quenching water in continuous steel production where rate of water flow determines the
crystalline structure of steel, control of solutes
in pharmaceutical processing, control of cooling water for marine engine operation, large
diameter damper control for scrubber systems
and many more.
‘Valve Assist’ torque multiplier for lever
operated valves
Lockout Tagout, Valve Interlock and Valve
Actuation experts Total Lockout (Safety) Ltd
have launched an innovative valve lever, torque
multiplier device for turning lever operated
valves which have become stiff to operate due
to arduous service or infrequent operation.
Manual lever valves such as Ball Valves,
Butterfly Valves and Plug Valves can become
difficult to operate after long periods of service.
Depending on the nature of the liquids or gases flowing through the valve, infrequent operation can lead to the valve becoming stiff to
operate or even seized.
It is relatively common in these situations for
the operator to improvise a lever extension
to increase the amount of torque to the valve
stem.
This can be troublesome. Excess effort by
workers
can
lead to strain
injuries. There
may be insufficient space
to accommodate the lever
extension and
the increased
load
could
damage the valve as the value of the applied
torque is largely unknown.
The ‘Valve Assist’ unit is retrofitted on to the
valve, often using the ISO-mounting fixings designed for valve add-ons. The increased drive
load is then applied directly and squarely to the
valve stem.
The torque device provides a multiplication ratio of 5:1, reducing the effort required by the
operator by 80%. Furthermore if the torque is
applied using a calibrated torque wrench, the
input torque is easily quantified. The torque
multiplier is fully portable and can be removed
and used on any other valve.
In 2011, Total Lockout launched Valve Assist,
pneumatic and electric actuation tools for
wheel operated valves. These tools can bring
significant production cost savings by reducing
the amount of time and effort required for operating large valves.
Total Lockout (Safety) Ltd was established as
a supplier of safety isolation, lockout tagout
products. Through their experience and knowledge of valve actuation products, especially
valve interlocks, this latest development helps
them to increase their product portfolio for industrial maintenance.
Nickel-coated unit for pneumatic or
electropneumatic applications
This VAC unit, available in a V200P-NIC for
pneumatic applications or a V200E-NIC for
electropneumatic applications. This high phosphor nickel plating is considered
one of the most
corrosion resistant nickel coatings
available.
Nickel coating has
the unique feature of allowing
liquids to drain
easily. The food
and beverage industry realizes this benefit
where hygienic applications requires frequent
wash downs. The combinations of the VAC
nickel coated unit, and many of the stainless
actuators makes a very good “corrosion resistant package”, stretching our products range
of applications. All of the options like special
cams, dome indicators, position feedback, and
more are available.
Introducing New High Performance Lock
Mesh™ Coating
This state-of-the-art coating combines the
strength and corrosion resistance of stainless
steel with the technological advancements of
infused PTFE.
Max-Air Technology’s Lock Mesh™ coating is
applied in several carefully planned stages. The
process begins with a rigorous and proprietary
surface preparation, which is critical to guarantee surface bonding at the molecular level with
the substrate.
The next step is an additional proprietary application of a specially prepared stainless steel
micro- spray through an electrical arc process,
creating the lockable mesh surface into which
the PTFE is infused at a specific temperature
and atmospheric condition (see diagram). This
process is followed by additional infused applications of PFA/PTFE powder coating, along
with a carefully monitored oven curing process.
The Lock Mesh™ coating provides one of the
most durable corrosion-resistant coatings available, easily withstanding corrosive chemicals,
aggressive
atmospheric
conditions, and
various immersion applications.
Because the
coating is an
approved food grade material, it is suitable for
a wide variety of industries including food and
beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical processing, pulp and paper, and many others including
coastal (salt air) installations.
9
EPC Interview
Wallace Hancock – Commodity Manager – Procurement & Materials Department – KBR Inc.
KBR – Proud history. Bright future.
By Sarah Bradley & Christian Borrmann
As a global engineering, construction and services company supporting the hydrocarbon,
energy, civil infrastructure, minerals, power, industrial, commercial and government
services markets, KBR Inc. has established itself as an industry leader with a presence
in over 70 countries worldwide. Through its Hydrocarbons; Infrastructure, Government
and Power; and Services business groups, KBR delivers a wide range of services. In
designing and constructing energy and petrochemical projects that offer the latest and
best process and design technologies, KBR has established its position as a partner to
oil and gas operators in meeting the ever-increasing demand for energy.
Ranked 280 on the 2012 Fortune 500 annual ranking of the largest corporations in
the United States, the Houston, Texas-based company has a strong history in the
industry, having been in operation for over a century. KBR currently employs over
27,000 dedicated and skilled employees who maintain the company’s strong, longterm relationships with its key customers, which include international and national oil
and gas companies and the largest defence and government outsourcers in the world.
Valve World Americas had the opportunity to speak with Wallace Hancock, Commodity
Manager – Procurement & Materials Department for KBR about his more than 30year career with the company, KBR’s rich history and the company’s commitment to
ensuring that quality products are sourced for the wide range of projects KBR supports.
A rich history
Morris W. Kellogg opened a small pipe fabrication business in New York in 1901, at a
time before the Wright Brothers successfully flew the first airplane, when automobiles
were a rarity and the telegraph was the primary means of communication. Kellogg’s
expertise in engineering led to building
the world’s first catalytic cracking facility in
1942 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the
first crude oil-based liquid ethylene cracking
facility in Europe in 1956. Many innovations
originating from the M.W. Kellogg laboratory,
as early as 1927, are now the foundation for
the petroleum refining and petrochemical
processing facilities and remain an integral
part of KBR today.
George and Herman Brown partnered with
their brother-in-law Dan Root, to form Texasbased construction company Brown and
Root. The company started out building
roads before quickly expanding. In 1947 the
company set a global milestone, constructing
the first offshore oil platform, off the coast of
Morgan City, Louisiana and was responsible
for another industry first, when it built the
first offshore oil platform in the North Sea
in 1965. Brown and Root was purchased
by Halliburton in 1962. In the late 1980s,
Dresser Industries acquired M.W. Kellogg
and a decade later when Dresser was purchased by Halliburton, M.W. Kellogg and
Brown and Root were combined to create
the new, larger subsidiary – Kellogg Brown
& Root (KBR), which became a standalone
company, separating from Halliburton in
2007.
KBR today
As KBR prospers into its second century in
business, its rich history of commitment to
quality, health, safety and environment continues to be nurtured through transparency,
accountability and discipline in their business and a high level of integrity in all they
do. Maintaining an open relationship with
their employees based on mutual trust, respect and success is a key factor to KBR’s
success. Wallace considers the skilled employees and the quality people with whom
he collaborates, to be one of the greatest
qualities of his position.
“The main thing I like about the work I do,
is the people. They are very professional,
dedicated and passionate about what they
do. The teamwork and camaraderie here
is very important to us. Our expertise, our
technical knowledge and our commercial
knowledge is very important to our clients.
The quality, experienced professionals who
we have working here are what make KBR
the company it is. Our international reach,
our reputation, it all goes back to the people – that is our biggest asset, in my opinion,” said Wallace. “We get a sense of pride
Valve World Americas - May 2013 10 www.valve-world-americas.net
and accomplishment from doing what we
do and doing it well. At the end of the day,
we thrive on the client’s satisfaction, when
they say, ‘you did a good job.’ Knowing the
client is happy and appreciates our work is
very big to us.”
Wallace believes that sense of pride is what
leads to the company’s ongoing success and
is a driving force behind the motivations of
the day-to-day tasks. As commodity manager, Wallace is responsible for purchasing
commodity items for KBR in the Houston
Operations Center, which involves sourcing
and procurement. Though he does not have
a “typical” day to describe, the unpredictable
challenges are part of what he enjoys most
about his work.
“I have some regularly scheduled meetings,
but other than that there is nothing typical
about it. We are in the global market and
things are changing so often – and that’s
what is so fun about this job too. It isn’t typical. It’s not routine. It’s meeting challenges
everyday, adapting to what is going on in
the world. The challenges change with every
project,” said Wallace. “The biggest challenge
in my position is keeping up, in the valve
world especially, with the mergers, acquisitions, name changes, new manufacturers.”
Wallace acknowledges that the constant
evolution in the valve industry can present
many challenges in the procurement field,
as well as the demands for specialty requirements on the equipment themselves.
“It seems nowadays that we are seeing more
demand for specialty alloys, high pressure,
larger sized valves and you don’t see companies stocking those anymore. That is an
issue that we are always addressing. In projects when we have standard mill or man-
EPC Interview
ufacturing time, it’s fine. But when
we get into projects with shortened
timelines, you can’t tolerate a factory delivery. Finding the quantities
and trying to source those items at
a competitive cost is always a challenge,” explained Wallace. “We have
increasing supply documentation
requirements now, and we ask for
more information, more dimensions than we have in the past. I can
remember a time when we would
buy valves and make it fit. It doesn’t
work that way anymore. Computers
have made it very complex. We
have to consider face-to-face interference, how big it is, where is the
handwheel located, is it in the right
place, does it have a gear on it? It
has grown tremendously.”
Quality is key
KBR continues to strive to be the
world’s premier contractor and employer of choice, delivering projects
and services to a global marketplace. Ensuring the integrity of their
work through the use of high quality
products is extremely important to
the success of their projects.
“Manufacturers seem to be outsourcing a lot more now, and we
need to be concerned about quality of the castings and forgings.
There are new companies coming
up every day, and we can’t tolerate
poor quality. Our quality assurance
system is very important to us. We
join with engineering to maintain
our standards,” said Wallace. “We
have a manufacturer survey that is
quite extensive. We look into the
manufacturers’ technical capabilities in manufacturing, how long
they have been in business, how
financially stable they are, where
they do their banking, if they are a
publicly- or privately-owned company and where they source their
materials.”
Wallace explains that the process to approve manufacturers
for admission to KBR’s Approved
Manufacturer/Vendor List (AML)
is extensive and at times a lengthy
process, in order to ensure their expected standards of quality are met
and upheld.
“We don’t rush the process. It is a
quality issue for us and we want
to make sure these companies can
perform. We are a major corporation, and we buy large quantities
of all types of valves. If it’s made,
we probably buy it. So we need to
make sure the companies that we
approve and list on AML are able to
meet our standards,” said Wallace.
With the high level of standards that
KBR’s customers expect, it is only
reasonable that the company expects the highest caliber of products
and services from the manufacturers with whom they work. Wallace
believes in the importance of working alongside manufacturers toward
achieving their common goal.
“Technical support from manufacturers has become very important,
documentation, publication and
maintaining the information on
their websites to be current,” said
Wallace. “We are looking at valves
getting bigger, pressure requirements are going up. We need manufacturers to increase their capacity
in order to meet those requirements
without over-extending themselves
and remaining financially sound,
while still maintaining inventories
when we need something on short-notice. It’s still the same
old thing – supply
and demand when it
comes down to the
manufacturers
and
distributors.”
Supporting
the client
The company’s wide
global presence and
the great scale of
their worldwide operations include locations in the Americas,
Australia, Africa, Asia,
the U.K. and the
Middle East. With clients in a wide array
of industries, KBR is
experienced in a vast
spread of different
project applications,
but Wallace notes that
all projects share the
same time constraint
challenges.
“One of the issues we
are always faced with
is that clients keep
shortening the engineering, procurement
and construction cycle. I can remember
when it would take
four years or more for
a project to be completed. Now it’s down
to 36 months, down to
18 months,” Wallace
said. “But that is why
they come to KBR, because we can do it.”
Meeting Preview
Valve World Americas
Expo & Conference 2013
The second Valve World Americas Expo & Conference will be held on
June 25th-26th, 2013 in Houston, Texas. Due to the immense success of the
inaugural event in 2011, the conference and expo have been relocated
this year to the George R. Brown Convention Center to accommodate
the expected growth for this year’s meeting. The new location is a larger
venue in the heart of downtown Houston, making the event easily
reachable by car, light rail or on foot from major downtown hotels.
Providing networking events and important
opportunities to connect with others in the
industry, the Valve World Americas Expo &
Conference is the ideal meeting point for the
flow control industry. Whether you are an
end user, an engineering contractor or consultant, a distributor, manufacturer or supplier, there will be something for you here. To
make the event a complete experience, we
will also host a number of social events.
Golf Tournament
We are pleased to announce that we are
holding the first Valve World Americas Expo
& Conference End User Golf Tournament and
networking event. The event will be held at
the Wildcat Golf Club in Houston on June
27th, following the Valve World Americas
Expo & Conference 2013. Tickets are only
available to End Users and EPCs registered
for the Valve World Americas Conference and
will be available on a first come, first served
basis. Space is limited, so get your tickets
now by contacting Josh Gillen at [email protected] or call 416-361-7030.
Speakers Corner
Located within the Valve World Americas
Expo 2013 Hall, the Speakers Corner will feature presentations on important topics to the
valve industry. Separate from the Conference
presentations, the Speakers Corner events
will be open to all Expo attendees and will
extend an opportunity to listen and learn
while visiting exhibitor booths. Presentations
this year will include a presentation from
Bob McIlvaine of the McIlvaine Company on
“Exploring the future for the industrial valve
industry” and a presentation from consultant
and valve instructor Ingolf Fra Holmslet on
“Why I dislike NPT threads in a hydrocarbon
system”. More topics to be announced.
Conference Plenary
Sessions
Along with the Conference Workshops, we
are pleased to have a number of interesting
and informative Plenary lectures between
Workshop Sessions. The sessions include
a Chairman’s Welcome from Ron Merrick
and Claire Dwyer from Fluor, Dr. William
Beazley of SPED discussing “The Skills
Crisis in Piping Design”, ExxonMobil’s David
Khemakhem giving an “Outlook on Energy”,
Roger Turley of Crane speaking on “Coal to
Natural Gas repowering” and Marie Murphy
of Exelon will speak on “Performance Testing
Requirements for Air Operated Valves in the
Nuclear Industry”.
The Valve World Americas
Expo 2013
Valve World Americas Expo 2013 will bring
the world’s leading valve companies and the
end-users from the process industry together. More than 100 companies will be presenting their newest products and latest services. The main focus of the exhibition will be
on the large and important valve markets of
North and South America. The exhibition will
be held in conjunction with the Valve World
Americas Conference 2013. This combination
will bring the best of the most important areas (valve companies, EPCs and end-users)
together to strengthen relationships, meet
existing and new customers, and exchange
ideas and opinions face-to-face.
For more detailed information
about the Expo, please visit the
Valve World Americas Expo 2013
website at
www.valveworldamericas.com
Meeting Preview
Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
07:30 AM Conference Breakfast 08:30 AM Plenary 1
09:00 AM Plenary 2
09:30 AM Plenary 3
Chairman’s welcome – Ron Merrick and Clair Dwyer, Fluor
The Skills Crisis in Piping Design – Dr. William Beazley, SPED
TBD*
10:00 AM Expo & Coffee break
10:30 AM Workshop Introduction to HIPPS
Workshop
Fugitive Emissions
Workshop Valve Wetted
Part Material Selection
Workshop Effective Engineering Valve Tools
Moderators: Amaro Bustamante Aramco Services & Pieter Kok - Pentair
Moderator: Steve Butler
- Shell
Moderators: John Gill - Bayer & Nitin
Parekh - Chevron
Panel: Joe Pittman - Chevron, Ian
Ramsay Connell - Yokogawa, Patrick
Flanders - Aramco, Kevin Jackson
-Mogas, Rens Wolters - Mokveld
Panel: Rich Davis - Flexitallic
LP, Bill Patrick - Dow
Chemical, Matt Wasielewski
- Yarmouth Research &
Technology LLC,
Panel: Ron Manson - Cameron, Crane
Panel: Colin Roderick – GE Energy, Andreas Vogt - FIRST
GmbH, David Gibson - Aveva, Kevin Jackson - Mogas
Description:
Valve performance is dependent on both
the mechanical design of the valve and
the materials of construction. Much design attention is often focused on the
primary pressure containing parts of
the valve, but frequently the valve’s internally wetted parts are not given the
attention they require. This workshop
will provide insight into the material selection for valve trim, including components such as stems, springs and pins.
The goal of this session is to provide the
end-user with an understanding of the
material options and design considerations for service applications.
Description:
Control valves are key contributors to the instrumentation unreliability in our process plants and a cause of
substantial cost. Root cause analysis revealed that high
performance valves are higher contributors to unreliability than “standard” valves and the dominant reason for
this unreliability stems from a Less Than Adequate (LTA)
sizing & selection process. This workshop is intended to
discuss and identify effective engineering valve tools that
identify the “high performance” valves during the FEED
stage, interface bi-directionally in batch mode to IDDS
(instrumentation design & documentation system) tools,
calculate the thermodynamic properties necessary to
address valve flow phenomena like incipient and severecavitation, flashing, choked flow, etc. and yield reliability
indicators over the full valve working range.
Description:
Worldwide we see a growing interest in the use of Safety Instrumented
Systems. In the upstream and midstream section of the oil & gas industry more often High Integrity Pressure
Protection Systems are installed to protect the installations. What are the effects on the total installation and what
is the impact HIPPS has on the total
safety and the environment. Knowing
and understanding the consequences
of using a HIPPS should HIPPS become
more used as overpressure protection
in lieu or in addition to conventional
safety relief valves.
Description:
Discussions covering API622,
API-624,
Fugitive
Emissions Testing of Packing
/ Gaskets and assembled
valves along with the current and future approach
of
the
Environmental
Protection Agency’s expectations of 5 year minimum
performance and allowable
emissions.
Moderator: Henk Hinssen - iHandl Engineering
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM Lunch and Expo visit (incl. drinks and snacks after 4:00 PM)
Wednesday, June 26th, 2013
07:30 AM Conference Breakfast 08:30 AM Plenary 4 Outlook on Energy – David Khemakhem, ExxonMobil
09:00 AM Plenary 5
Coal to Natural Gas repowering: major implications in terms of valve replacement and infrastructure overhaul for repowering of power plants – Roger Turley,
Crane
09:30 AM Plenary 6 Performance Testing Requirements for Air Operated Valves in the Nuclear Industry – Marie Murphy, Exelon
10:00 AM Expo & Coffee break
10:30 AM
Workshop Fit for Purpose (FfP) Valves
Workshop Casting Fitness for Service
Workshop Updates in Low
Temperature & Cryo Technology
Moderator: Henk Hinssen - iHandl Engineering
Moderator: Rich Davis – Flexitallic LP
Moderator: Mirek Hubacek - Velan
Panel: Andreas Vogt - FIRST GmbH, Richard Harvey - Norgren,
Duke Tran - Mogas, Eric Fillion - Metso, Mike Dennis - Bifold,
Ryohei Furuta - Kitz
Panel: Greg Johnston - United Valve
(API-20A), Larry Skoda - Chevron, Terry
Blackard - ExxonMobil, Jim Pease Newmans Valve
Panel: Richard Hodgson - Bechtel, Ray Bojarczuk - ExxonMobil,
Greg Johnson - United Valve, David Bayreuther - Metso
Description:
Automated valves and control valves are key contributors to instrumentation unreliability and a cause of substantial money loss.
This workshop is intended to bring the criteria together to discuss, debate and identify better ways to realize a proper “Fit for
Purpose Valves” sizing and selection process. The workshop will
discuss ways to identify the “high performance” valves during the
FEED stage and the fact that not only control valves but also solenoid and automated block valves need to be considered. The
workshop will focus on understanding valve flow behavior such
as cavitation, flashing and choked flow as an essential criterion
to size and select FfP and how having effective engineering tools
that tell you, even during the FEED stage, that reliability is at stake,
is a great asset.
Description:
This workshop will review API-20A Steel,
Stainless Steel, and Nickel Base Alloy
Castings for Use in the Petroleum and
Natural Gas Industry and how it compares to MSS SP-Quality Standard for
Steel Castings Used in Standard Class
Steel Valves - Sampling Method for
Evaluating Casting Quality, with regard
to casting quality, applicability and how
those standards impact the manufacturer
and the end user.
Description:
The workshop will discuss users’ perspective and the importance of cryogenic valves and other equipment for the North
American market, based in particular on the latest trends in
the USA development of natural gas reserves. The potential
exporting of liquefied natural gas around the world will be
tremendous in the near future. Review of valve standards
for cryogenic valves; the new ISO 29821-1, as well as exiting
standards such as ISO 2011 and MSS SP 134. There will be
a presentation of production testing of cryogenic valves and
a review of some specific valve design requirements for cryogenic valves. Modifications of standard valves for cryogenic
purposes and the related difficulties will be covered and Cold
Shock testing of cryogenic valves will be discussed.
12:30 PM Lunch and Expo visit
02:00 PM Workshop Double Block and Bleed Demystified
Workshop Shale Gas/
Update on Unconventional Energy Sources
Moderator: Nitin Parekh - Chevron
Moderator: David Leavitt - Pentair
Panel: Richard Hodgson - Bechtel, Ray Bojarczuk
- ExxonMobil, Greg Johnson - United Valve,
David Bayreuther - Metso
Panel: Jason Pitcher - Cameron
Description:
The workshop will review the various definitions
and intent in Federal Regulations for Double Block &
Bleed and how these definitions compare with the
definitions in the relevant piping and valve codes.
The workshop will further cover the sealing characteristics and idiosyncrasies of the various valve types
used in the industry to achieve those definitions of
Double Block & Bleed, and the new terms of Double
Isolation & Bleed and Double Positive Isolation.
Description:
Unconventional Energy resources such as shale and
tight gas, heavy oil and oil sands are garnering much attention today. Increasing recovery and production rates
while reducing development costs and the environmental footprint have been key changes in the oil and gas
landscape. Technology changes in the upstream have
contributed to this recent increase in activity while new
valve technology and design are helping to advance
process technology. This session will look at some of
these challenges, changes and advances.
Workshop Valve Asset Management
Moderator: Benny McCallum - Pentair & Sid Garrison
- Pentair
Panel: Rajan Hingoraney - Aramco Services, Sandro
Esposito – GE
Description:
There can be far more than the loss of mere dollars associated with valve failures as any experienced plant manager knows. Valves effect all of a plant’s operations and
so utilizing predictive techniques within an effective
asset management program can optimize maintenance
frequency and significantly reduce plant operating costs.
This workshop will discuss best practices and tools for
asset management of valves used in various industries:
Power, Oil and Gas, Chemical, Food and Beverage etc.
04:00 PM
Expo break (incl. drinks and snacks) Sponsored by:
Supported by:
* TBD: to be decided
Column
By Henk Hinssen, iHandl Engineering
Fit For Purpose Bypass Valves
We formed an organizing committee to prepare the Fit for Purpose Valves Workshop.
To get us started I put a seed list together, covering topics like “What does Fit for
Purpose mean?” or “How to make a valve Fit
for Purpose?” or “What is a must to make a
Control Valve Fit for Purpose” and the same
for the Automated Block Valve assembly.
The committee quickly agreed with those
seeds and to focus on those for our debate
and discussion topics. My last seed was
around “Actuator controls Fit for Purpose”.
That required some more discussion. But
when I penciled the picture of a 36” butterfly SIS valve to stroke to its fail-safe position
in less than 3 seconds, that topic got a home
as well…
Let me introduce myself: I am
Henk Hinssen, instrumentation
engineering associate, working
for the process industry almost
40 years, of which 20 years for
a major petrochemical company
with HQ in Texas. I have been
involved with Valve World since
2005 and have been moderating
Valve World workshops since
then in Europe, Asia and
Americas. I will be moderating
two workshops this summer at
the George Brown Convention
Center: one on “Fit For Purpose
Valves” and one on “Effective
Valve Engineering Tools”. I hope
to get you excited to participate
in these workshops and will use
this monthly column to stimulate
your interest.
One obvious seed however I forgot. “How
to make the bypass valve around a control
valve Fit for Purpose?” How could I forget
this one? In 2011 at the first Valve World
Americas conference we organized a workshop on how to effectively size & select reliable control and bypass valves. We, the “manual valves guys” Bill Ross from Chevron with
Tom Waldmann from Kitz and the “control
valves guys” Domagoj Vnucec from Samson
and myself, almost illogically put together
into a single workshop team to discuss valve
sizing and selection. Not sure who brought
us together? Probably Christian Borrmann
from Valve World!? I was scratching my head
on how in hell could we work together on
this. Our worlds are often far apart, and I
do not recall any significant cross fertilization or common guideline being developed
between the mechanical engineering discipline and the instrumentation engineering
discipline in my entire career.
Well, what a positive experience it turned
out to be! The start was challenging. We
were way apart. How to find a common
ground on “valve sizing & selection”? Thanks
to Bill for bringing us an interesting case we
could frame the workshop around: “a way
oversized bypass valve that in real life turned
into a safety challenge!” We found each
others strengths and weaknesses in tackling such cases. We, the control valve guys
have guiding international sizing standards,
we have sizing tools that gave us insight into
reliability challenges, we document process
data for more than one working point into
our control valve datasheets… We realized
that control valves and their bypass buddies
share similar reliability challenges. We addressed the importance of reliability flowcharts, to identify those reliability challenges,
to identify the best available technology addressing those challenges and to put a structured logical approach to valve reliability. We
shared the tools to effectively size & select
reliable control & bypass valves, i.e. generating Key Performance Indicators like Ri to
spot those challenges, to address them over
the full valve working range, to learn from
actual reliability issues. We stressed the importance of accurate and complete process
data, i.e. minimum 2 working points, the importance of vapor pressure, abrasive and /
or corrosive conditions, hydrate formation,
etc. We discussed “who should do what” to
At Velan,
we know what it takes
to design and manufacture
industry-leading valves
that stand the test of time.
After all, we’ve been doing
just that for over sixty years.
We offer a wide range of
valves designed to meet
any industrial application.
So next time you’re in
the market for a metalseated valve that features
positive shut off in
both directions, you
can rely on our severe
service ball valves.
When it comes to valves
that offer low emissions,
easy maintenance, and
long and reliable service,
Velan is the name to trust.
Velan. Quality that lasts.
+1 514 748 7743
www.velan.com
VWA Coker 202x130.indd 1
3/22/12 2:35 PM
establish Fit for Purpose Control and Bypass
Valves.
Two years have gone by. And we lost sight
of each other. Probably this is the right time
to bring this topic back to life. I am grateful
to Andreas bringing this seed back into sight
and we will devote one slot at the workshop
on making bypass valves Fit for Purpose.
I am sure the team will come up with more
opposing debates, so if you are interested to
join this committee or you have an interest
to give us some input email those to henk.
[email protected]
Looking forward to moderating this important debate and discussion workshop! And
I sincerely hope to see you coming to this
event.
For more information on this topic, be
sure to attend Henk Hinssen’s Fit For
Purpose Valves workshop at the Valve
World Americas Conference 2013 on
Wednesday, June 26th, 2013 at 10:30 AM.
REGISTER ONLINE
WWW.VALVEWORLDAMERICAS.COM/
VWAM2013
Course Preview
VALVE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION
PRESENTS
Valves & Actuators 101
Monday, June 24, 2013 - 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
1 day prior to the start of Valve World Americas Expo & Conference 2013
George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX
A 1-day education program designed to jump-start your career or
provide a refresher on valve, actuator and control basics
What topics
are covered?
• Introduction to the Industry:
A brief overview of the valve
industry, end-user applications,
standards, basic piping information, pressure ratings and classes, as well as application issues
critical to effective valve application and usage.
• Multi-turn Valves: The different
types of gate and globe valves,
along with stems, bonnets and
other components.
• Check Valves: The unique qualities of check valves, how they
work and why correct sizing is
critical.
• Pressure-relief Valves: How
these important valves do their
job and why they play a critical
role in plant safety, as well as
important maintenance issues.
• Quarter-turn Valves: Plug, ball
and butterfly valves, the variations on these valve types and
animations that demonstrate
just how these valves control
flow.
• Actuators: Pneumatic, hydraulic and electric actuators, and
the various actions used by actuators, including linear and rotary. Plus, what affects actuator
selection.
• Control Valves: The different
types and what they do, typical control valve components,
and sizing and control valve
diagnostics.
What do
attendees receive?
• A CD with PDFs of all slides, as
well as extensive notes to provide further explanation on the
course’s content.
• A VMA Certificate of Completion,
suitable for framing or for your
personnel files.
• Lunch voucher and afternoon
drinks & snacks
• Invitation to attend the exhibit
hall opening reception of Valve
World Americas Expo 2013.
Who should attend?
• Employees at plants and facilities that use valves, actuators
and controls – especially newcomers to the industry
• Experienced professionals with
knowledge of one specific product type but in need of an overview of the entire spectrum of
valves, actuators and controls
• Personnel from EPC or AEC
firms who are involved with
specifying valves
• Distributors and manufacturers’
reps who sell these products
• New employees at valve, actuator and control companies
• Companies that provide supplies and services to the industry
• And anyone who could use a
refresher course on valves, actuators and controls!
Who are the
presenters?
GREG JOHNSON is President,
United
Valve,
located
in
Houston, TX. He is Chairman
of the Education & Training
Committee and serves on VMA’s
Communications Committee. He
also has been an active member
of the API Piping Subcommittee
for more than 20 years and is a
participant in ISO valve standards
activities.
ARIE BERGMAN, VP and General
Manager for DFT Inc., Exton, PA,
has been active in the valve indus-
try for 34 years. Bergman is active
on the VMA Technical Committee,
as well as the Education and
Training Committee.
LEON BROOKS is Director
of International Sales – Latin
America,
Distributed
Valves,
Cameron Valves & Measurement,
Houston. He has been involved
in oil and gas valve manufacturing industry for nearly 40 years.
Brooks is currently serving as Vice
Chairman for the VMA Education
& Training Committee.
BERT EVANS is Manager, Fisher
Valve and Instrument Training
Manager, Emerson Educational
Services,
Emerson
Process
Management,
Marshalltown,
IA. He is a member of the VMA
Education & Training Committee.
ED HOLTGRAVER has spent the
last 45 years working with quarter-turn valves and actuators. He
founded QTRCO, Inc., located in
Tomball, TX and serves as CEO.
He is a member of the VMA Board
of Directors; the VALVE Magazine
Editorial Review Board and VMA’s
Education & Training Committee.
PAUL SOUZA is Training Manager
for AUMA Actuators, Inc. in
Canonsburg, PA, where he has
been employed in various positions since 1980. He is a member
of the VMA Education & Training
Committee.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• The cost to attend this 1-day session, which runs
from 9 am to 5 pm, is $450 US.
• A registration form is located on the Valve World
Americas website at:
www.valve-world-americas.com/vwam2013
• For questions about course content, please contact
Judy Tibbs, VMA Director of Education at
[email protected].
• For all other questions, please contact Sarah
Bradley at [email protected].
Throughout the Americas
An overview of the events, innovations and people shaping the valve industry throughout the Americas
SIPOS actuators pass stringent
utility tests in São Paulo
SIPOS Aktorik has
announced that
the
company’s
electric
actuators have passed
stringent
field
tests by Brazil’s
largest water and
wastewater service provider. As
a result of passing these tests, the company’s actuation technology is being adopted
by Sabesp for extensive valve control applications across the São Paulo region’s residential, commercial and industrial water and
sewage services.
Sabesp subjected SIPOS’ products to over
six month’s assessment in a region with
high humidity and above average number
of lightning strikes. The conditions led to
phase loss of power supply with accompanying strong frequency variations and voltage
fluctuations.
The state owned utility observed that SIPOS
actuators offered reliable performance in the
extreme weather while maintaining functionality, even in the event of phase loss of
power. Sabesp also noted that minimum
spare parts are required, easing the burden
of engineers’ service missions to remote
regions.
The technical and practical business skills of
SIPOS’ local representative, WS Controles,
were also noted by Sabesp.
Flowserve announces $9million nickel
processing plant valve order
Leading provider of flow control products
and services for the global infrastructure
markets, Flowserve Corporation has received
orders for a range of valves serving a new
nickel ore processing facility in Long Harbour,
Newfoundland, Canada. The orders, booked
in 2012, totalled over $9million.
The products sold include Worcester 44 series ball valves, Durco T4E lined plug valves,
Atomac lined ball valves and McCanna
top-entry ball valves and Flowserve also provided a number of valves with customized
designs and specialized materials.
“We are very excited to be selected as the
product supplier for this opportunity in
Canada,” said Vice President, Flow Control
Operations – Chemical Sector, Paul Williams.
“We are confident in the ability of our products to handle the varied and challenging
services of the Long Harbour processing
facility.”
Flowserve’s ability to provide a comprehensive line of valves to cover a wide variety of
applications at the processing plant and the
company’s knowledge of the mining industry
and experience of their network of distributors, resulted in the orders for this project.
Pentair wins Barakah plant contract
Pentair Valves & Controls has announced
the specification of Sempell pressurizer safety relief valve (PSRV) systems at the new
Barakah nuclear plant in the United Arab
Emirates. The systems will be used in all four
units planned at Barakah and are the first
pilot-operated safety relief valves with the
ASME NV-Stamp.
Though the United Arab Emirates is traditionally associated with oil exports, the country
is exploring nuclear power generation to
meet the growing need for electrical power,
which is expected to increase 5.5 from GWe
in 2011 to over 40 GWe by 2020. The first
nuclear power plant in the UAE, the Barakah
site is the result of a partnership between the
Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC)
and the Korea Electric Power Cooperation
(KEPCO). The site is set to house four APR1400 third generation reactors built according to a modified Korean design, and is expected to be fully operational by 2017. The
units will have a generation capacity of 1.4
GW each, supplying power to a significant
proportion of the UAE.
One of the subcontractors used by KEPCO
to supply turbines and generators to the
project, Doosan Heavy Industries, specified
Sempell PSRV systems in compact design
type VS99 for use in the pressurized water
reactors (PWR) at the Barakah plant. The
PSRV systems are specially designed and engineered for the Korean reactor designs, and
have been subject to four years’ development, manufacturing and testing to ensure
their suitability and performance. Sempell’s
PSRV systems meet ASME III and QME 1 approvals, providing the highest safety assurances. The pilot-operated PSRV systems for
application within the primary circuit protect
it from extensive pressure increases. These
form part of the four compact valve stations
welded directly on the top of the pressurizer
in a horizontal position in each reactor unit
to achieve optimized pipe conduction.
Joint venture forms integrated plant services
WorleyParsons has entered into a joint venture with Day & Zimmermann to provide
turnkey solutions to the U.S. fossil industry.
The newly formed joint venture, Integrated
Plant Solutions (IPS), offers a single source of
bundled, integrated solutions for engineering, construction and maintenance projects
for electric utilities, public power, and independent power producers. IPS combines
the resources and expertise of global engineering giant WorleyParsons with the project management, construction and main-
tenance capabilities of Day & Zimmermann,
the power industry’s top O&M contractor,
within an seamless, integrated organizational structure.
Andy Donaldson has been named Executive
Director of Integrated Plant Solutions and
will lead the day-to-day operations. Andy is
Vice President of Projects for WorleyParsons.
He has 40 years of industry experience. He
is an ASME fellow and past chairman of the
ASME Power Division.
Throughout the Americas
Smalley releases 50th Anniversary Parts
& Engineering Catalog
Smalley Steel Ring Company, the world leader in the manufacturing and development of
Spirolox® Retaining Rings, Constant Section
Rings and Wave Springs has released its new
2013 50th Anniversary Parts and Engineering
Catalog. The new catalog features the existing
Spirolox® Retaining Ring and Wave Spring
series with newly released series. The company has recently released the Metric Hoopster
and Laminar Seal Rings which have been incorporated into the new catalog, offering a
comprehensive look at all of Smalley’s 10,000
standard parts.
The increased popularity in metal seals has
allowed for Smalley’s Laminar Seal Rings to
be incorporated into the catalog for the first
time. The Laminar Seal Rings can withstand
higher temperatures and more corrosive environments than common O-rings or conventional rubber seals and are an alternative
means of sealing components in assemblies
from contamination.
George Nisbet, Smalley’s Vice President of
Operations says, “The 50th Anniversary catalog celebrates 50 years of Smalley Steel
Ring Company’s commitment to excellence
in quality, service and products that offer extreme value. For over 50 years Smalley Steel
Ring Company has been the industry leader,
setting the standard for on time delivery and
product innovation.”
Request or download a free catalog at: http://
www.smalley.com/getcatalog
Microfinish acquires Durco-Microfinish
Floating ball valve line
Microfinish Valves, Pvt. Ltd. (MVPL) of Hubli,
India and wholly owned U.S. subsidiary,
Microfinish Valves, Inc. (MVI) of Houston,
Texas
purchased
Flowserve’s
DurcoMicrofinish Floating ball valve product line.
The transition period was successful concluded at the end of February. MVI, a unit
within the Microfinish Group of Companies,
will provide global sales, technical and product support for this product line. The remaining Durco-Microfinish valve and spare
parts inventory in the United States was
purchased by MVI and has been relocated
to its Houston sales and distribution center.
Inventory assembled from finished components in India is in transit to MVI’s facility.
Microfinish’s limited right to use the “Durco”
name as part of the Durco-Microfinish brand
is a key provision of the acquisition and extends only through the end of 2013. After
this time, the product can no longer be referred to as “Durco”-Microfinish and will
become a “Microfinish” branded product.
Until this time, the company is advising customers to prepare for the impending name
change and ensure specifications refer to
the “Microfinish” brand name in the future.
The Durco-Microfinish and Microfinish
Floating ball valves are interchangeable
from a fit, form and function perspective as
the Microfinish ball valve manufactured by
MVPL was the platform design utilized for
the Durco-Microfinish ball valve.
Velan signs USD$9.75 million
valve deal in China
ValveWorldAd1.13.indd 1
Velan Inc.’s wholly-owned subsidiary located in Lyon, France, Velan S.A.S. has been
awarded an important contract for the supply of nuclear class control globe valves to
China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation
(CNEIC) for the two new VVER (The Russian
design pressurized water reactor) type nuclear power plants of Tianwan Units 3 and
4. The scope of supply consists mainly of
electric-operated, bellows seal globe control valves for service inside and outside nuclear containment. These two new units of
Tianwan nuclear power plant will be operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Co. in Jiangsu
province, China. The valves are scheduled for
delivery from 2014 until 2015.
Velan S.A.S. also signed significant spare parts
contracts with Nuclear Power Operations
Management Co., the new organization of
the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation
dedicated to global management of spare
parts and services for nuclear power plants
in operation, for the supply of spare parts for
Qinshan II units 1-2-3-4.
2/6/13 11:32 AM
The contracts combined represent a sales
value of about USD$9.75 million over the
two years.
“After supplying nuclear control valves for
third-generation reactors such as Taishan
units 1-2 and High Temperature Reactors,
we are honored to further contribute to the
development of nuclear projects managed
by CNNC, and to consolidate our technical
expertise for VVER designed reactors,” said
Michel Monier, Director of Nuclear-China at
Velan S.A.S.
Tom Velan, President and CEO of Velan Inc.,
stated: “The Velan group has a long experience with VVER reactors, as we first started to supply nuclear valves in 1972 for the
Russian designed VVER plants to Russia.
We also supplied to VVER plants in Eastern
Europe and India. The Velan group is actively
and continuously working with Chinese and
Russian EPC’s to provide advanced valve
design and improvements that are helping
to increase the safety level of future nuclear
power plants.”
Throughout
Technip selected Emerson to supply
control valves for refinery upgrade
Technip has selected Emerson Process
Management as the
main supplier of
control valves for
the Algiers Refinery
rehabilitation
and
adaptation project.
The refinery is located 10km south
of Algiers in Algeria
and is being revamped to increase
its capacity for processing crude oil
and to ensure that
it can produce gasoline at specifications
similar to those used throughout the rest of
Europe.
Emerson will be supplying about 600 of its
Fisher® control valves and regulators, including rotary, globe and butterfly type devices. The valves will be installed throughout
the refinery, including within the naphtha
processing units, the residual fluid catalytic
cracking unit and new LPG storage unit.
The instrumentation and control valve modernisation will help the refinery optimise the
various process units which will help sustain
the production of clean fuels for the local
and export markets and reduce maintenance and plant shutdown costs.
The valves will be supplied with a range of
trims and silencers and are suitable for severe-service applications, designed to provide long-lasting, fast and safe operation,
while reducing fugitive emissions.
Emerson’s new FIELDVUE™ DVC6200 digital
valve controller, incorporating performance
diagnostics and the latest HART® (version 7)
communications, will enable control valves
to be easily integrated into the existing control system. ValveLink™ software will work
with the existing control system to provide
online diagnostics that can help users identify potential problems so that they can be
addressed before operations are affected.
The Algiers refinery was constructed in 1964
and is owned by Sonatrach, the largest oil
and gas company in Algeria and Africa. The
refinery produces motor fuels and LPG for
the local market and naphtha and fuel oil
for export. Technip is the EPC contractor for
the Rehabilitation and Adaptation project
which is part of a broader refinery upgrade
programme that was initiated by Sonatrach
for the production of clean fuels in Algeria.
“Emerson was selected as the main control valve supplier because its Fisher valves
are proven to provide high levels of accuracy and reliability in demanding refinery
applications,” said Pascal Marette, Senior
Procurement Manager, Technip. “The level of
support offered was also critical. Emerson’s
local team includes experts with extensive
experience of providing solutions to refinery
applications.”
Prime Products
The growing need for
Three-Way Ball Valves
By Robert M. Donnelly, Vice President – Marketing Flo-Tite Valves & Controls
In 2012, domestic crude oil production has risen to over 6 million
barrels per day. As much as 75%
of this production has resulted on
nonfederal lands due largely to the
oil shale fi eld phenomena. Many
of these new oil producing areas
are in remote areas and require
constant transportation from the
well sites to distribution centers.
This is accomplished primarily by
what is called Lease Automated
Custody Transfer (LACT) units that
meter, prove, sample, and deliver
the crude oil ownership between
Figure 1
Figure 2
to the correct position (see design
ion figure 1).
Flo-Tite’s unique design features
in their 3-Way one piece stem/
ball trunnion type valve provides
for precision operation and positioning of the ball. This precise
ball positioning is often not possible in more common multipiece
stem ball designs. This also allows
all sides to be used as an inlet or
block port without leakage.
the buyer and seller. LACT units
utilize 3-Way ball valves in their design and process.
Each LACT unit must monitor the
percentage of basic sediment and
water and when it reaches a set
rate, usually 1%, the diverter valve
has to stop the fl ow to the transport vessel (see design in fi gure
1). Under normal operating conditions the valve conducts the fl ow
straight through the piping and
onto the next stage or process (see
design in figure 2).
The 3-Way valve can be automated
by either an electric or pneumatic
actuator. The actuator must have
either a spring-return or fail-safe
device to allow the valve to divert
See Flo-Tite’s 3 and 4 Way MultiPort series extremely versatile
valves for diversion or mixing pictured below.
These extremely versatile valves
are available in ANSI class 150 and
300 with multiple end connections
in sizes ¾ thru 12 inch.
About the author
As the CEO of El-O-Matic North
America, Robert Donnelly became a
pioneer in quarter-turn valve automation. Donnelly played a key role
in establishing the brand as a market
leader for valve automation packages, positioning the brand for sale to
Emerson Flow Control. He has gone
on to act as CEO for several other
valve companies before becoming
VP of Marketing with Flo-Tite, creating
brand awareness.
Market Report
Valves in the Production of Shale Gas
By Ann James, McIlvaine Company
Industry Overview
As any review of industry headlines will confirm, shale gas has moved firmly to center
stage in the world of oil & gas exploration
and production. Initially, there were questions regarding the staying power of this previously under-developed resource, but the
passage of several years has seen not only
the verification of substantial recoverable reserves, but also the profitable development
of those assets. Today, shale gas is recognized as a genuine energy “game changer”.
Geographic concentrations of shale gas are
shown in the world shale map published by
EIA(Figure 1). The United States and Canada
are currently at the center of activity for shale
development because of several positive factors including: accessible formations; large
proven reserves; existing robust drilling, piping, and refining infrastructure; nearby markets; and ample water resources and leading
technology for hydraulic fracturing (fracking)
of shale.
Development of shale gas generally reflects
the following differences relative to conventional fossil energy sources:
• More activity in deep shale formations
• Deeper wells (10,000 feet and more)
• Horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing
(pictured at left)
• Higher well pressures
• Increased chemical and water requirements
Each of these differences supports increased
demands for specialized, highly engineered
valves discussed in this article.
Because of the greater density in the
Marcellus Shale play, drilling companies have
gone to multiple horizontal wells from a single pad. The average size of a multiwell pad
is 3.5 acres. Estimates on future well spacing
in U.S. shale plays indicate that spacing will
be significantly less dense due to the introduction of multiple horizontal wells. This is
important, especially in densely populated
areas such as Europe. Additionally, the number of trips by heavy vehicles will be reduced
and drilling rigs will not need to be moved
as many times.
Valves in Shale
Plays Vary Greatly
Many different valve types are used in the
various shale plays. One gas-field developer
estimated its 2012 projected spending would
be $25 million for quarter turn ball valves,
$2.5 million for control valves, $2.5 million
for pipeline and through conduit gate valves
and $2 million for plug and other valves.
The shale plays have different requirements
for valves. In the Eagle Ford play in Texas,
the valves are primarily full-port ANSI 300
and 600 ball valves. Where H2S is present,
NACE-trim valves are used. Also the occasional full stainless steel valves are used
around amine treaters. In the Haynesville
play primarily full-port ball valves of ANSI
600 class are used. Because of high reservoir
pressures, gathering compression is generally not necessary.
Figure 1. Map of shale gas formations.
Figure 1. Map of shale gas formations.
A unique development in the shale plays
is that the flow rates and pressures change
over time so that valves need to be engineered to operate in a wide range.
Where H2S is present, NACE-trim valves are
used. Also the occasional full stainless steel
valves are used around amine treater. In the
Marcellus play, ball valves are primarily fullport ANSI 600 and ANSI 300.
Valve Overview for
Development of
Shale Gas Plays
Valves Used
at the Wellhead
Various types of valves are used in the development of shale gas plays. The development
process starts with well-drilling operations
and concludes with well-completion and gas
production. Field conditions will often reflect
one or more combinations of high-pressure,
high-temperature, high-flow, high delta-P,
high-viscosity, or corrosive fluids which qualify as “severe service” and require technologically sophisticated valve solutions. Water
and proppants such as sand, ceramics, resin-coated sand and other materials, create
hard, abrasive materials causing wear on the
valves. Into some wells, 300,000 pounds of
sand per stage of fracking is pumped in. Also
H2S and CO2 content in the gas cause erosion or chemical attack to the valves. Valves
for severe service are designed now using
exotic materials wherever feasible—stainless
steel or super duplex. These valves must be
designed to last.
As a result of the shale play development,
valve manufacturers have a number of opportunities to sell valves into other integral
industries such as oilfield specialty chemicals, plants treating water for production,
and pipelines sending the gas to the end
user.
Each wellhead generally includes an assemblage of pipes and valves commonly referred
to as the “christmas tree”. Valve functions
include: directing oil and gas from the well to
further processing; shutting down or “killing”
the well; capping off the well; and injection
of various chemicals for well stimulation and
enhanced oil recovery (EOR). There is also
deliberate redundancy. If a valve fails and
needs to be replaced, the job is simplified if
there is another valve below it that can close
off the flow while repairs are being made.
Important industry standards and specifications include API 6A. A typical Christmas tree
is about six feet tall.
Due to the sheer
number of wells
drilled per year,
the
Upstream
market generates
substantial valve
revenues.
The
total market value for wellhead
valves is estimated at just under
$1 billion per
year, worldwide.
The most prevalent valve types are the gate
valve and choke valves, with applications
for check valves as well.
Market Report
Note: This Upstream analysis does not include Blow-Out-Preventer (BOP) valves that
are considered a special case, and that represent approximately $2 billion in annual
sales. Valves for Well Drilling Operations
and Hydraulic Fracturing
As mentioned earlier, unique aspects of
shale gas drilling relative to conventional
oil & gas drilling include deeper wells from
5,000 to 20,000 feet, horizontal drilling with
lateral runs extending a mile or more, higher well pressures, and high-pressure “fracking” to fracture gas-bearing shale.
The high-pressure fracking requires purpose-built triplex or quintuplex piston
pumps that develop pressures of 10,000 to
20,000 psi. These high-pressure systems require high pressure safety relief valves with
set pressures above 10,000, as demanded
by the application.
Choke valves are a type of control valve and
are used to control the flow of well fluids
being produced. If the shale gas is abrasive,
the choke valve needs a rotating disk design
to provide an alternative for longer service
life and tight shut-off, despite pressure variations and drop-offs common in shale operations. The valve should be hard-coated to
protect it from erosion of the sand. Typically,
gas-producing wells have two choke valves
in series, one non-regulating choke valve
and one regulating choke valve downstream
to the non-regulating choke valve.
Butterfly valves are used in truck and tank
applications during drilling and completion.
They are used to control flow and for isolation. Tight shut-off is obtained by com-
pressing the elastomer liner with the disc.
One-piece disc designs isolate and control
the large amounts of abrasive material used
typically in fracking operations.
Gas lift valves control the flow and pressure
of gas from the injection system into the
produced fluids. The valves control injection pressure or produced-fluid pressure,
depending on the application.
Backpressure valves are used many places
in the drilling and completion phases. They
can be either spring actuated or nitrogen
actuated. A nitrogen actuated valve is larger
and has more capacity than the 3” spring
actuated version. It is primarily intended
for well service applications, although it is
excellent for any emergency relief requirements, including the drilling industry. This
valve will pass substantially more fluid than
the 3” spring actuated version. Because it is
nitrogen actuated, it creates a very flat back
pressure curve with increased flow. This is
important when little pressure rise can be
tolerated over the set pressure. Typical accuracy for this device is 2%. This relief valve
should be chosen if the user requires greater accuracy than the 10% offered by the
spring versions.
Plug valves are reliable flow isolation tools
used in high pressure flow line applications.
Plug valves range from 1” to 4” in various
pressure ratings and actuator styles. Plug
valves are used for applications such as
cementing, fracturing and acidizing, coiled
tubing, and sand control. These valves are
available in pressure ratings up to 20,000
psi.
Oil and Gas Valve Revenues $ Millions
Subject
20132014
Total
9,537.35 10,022.57
Ball
2,934.14 3,083.41
Butterfly
628.74 660.73
Check
419.17 440.49
Gate
1,732.54 1,820.69
Globe
1,168.07 1,227.49
Industrial Plug
1,956.09 2,055.61
Other
363.27 381.75
Safety Relief
335.33 352.39
Shale Gas Provides
Growing Opportunities
for Valve Manufacturers
Not only in the United States and Canada is
shale gas found but many places throughout the world. These other countries are eager to develop their shale gas and through
this development valve manufacturers are
finding new markets. Technological breakthroughs are also occurring in valve design
and production. Gas prices lately have been
low and costs of drilling are high, but the
technological breakthroughs have made
shale gas retrieval practically and economically feasible.
Shale gas and shale oil are contributing to
the growth of the valve industry. Valve revenues in the oil and gas segment will rise
to over $ 10 billion in 2014, according the
Industrial Valves: World Markets published
by the McIlvaine Company.
About the author
Ann James is an Editor for Mcilvaine Company,
specializing in pumps and valves. She can be
reached at [email protected]
Projects
Wood Group awarded
turbine generator upgrade
Wood Group
GTS
was
awarded
a
USD$11.2 million contract
to re-rate one
of Los Angeles
Department
of Water and
Power’s (LADWP’s) Hitachi hydro turbine generators at the Castaic Power Plant, a pumped storage facility 50 miles north of Los Angeles. The
work scope includes replacement of discharge
and wear rings, extensive stay vane modification, turbine shut-off valve refurbishment and
replacement of the generator stator.
This contract will complete the upgrade of the
sixth and final turbine generator, undertaken as
part of the Castaic Power Plant modernization
program. Over the last four years Wood Group
has helped modify three similar turbines, increasing generating output by 21MW per unit
and boosting total plant capacity to approximately 1,260MW. The modernization project
also delivered increased unit efficiencies of approximately 2.7 per cent in pump mode and 1.2
per cent in generate mode. Work on the final turbine package began in late 2012 and is due for
completion by the end of August 2013.
“Over the last several years we have established
a strong working relationship with LADWP. Our
team works alongside Castaic Power Plant’s
maintenance personnel to ensure safe, effective
and efficient utilization of resources,” said president, Wood Group Field Services, Rob Duby. “We
understand how important this modernization
program is for LADWP, ensuring a reliable and
sustainable source of energy for its customers.”
Aker Solutions signs Framework
Agreement with Petrobras
Aker Solutions has signed a
framework agreement to provide Petrobras with subsea
equipment for its deepwater
pre-salt field developments in
Brazil. The contract is valued at
approzimately USD$800million.
The scope of work includes 60
well-sets with vertical subsea
trees, subsea control systems,
tools and spares within the period of 2014-2018.
The well-sets will be deployed
by Petrobras in the pre-salt
developments located in the
Santos Basin, 300km off the
coast of São Paulo. Due to
the lucrative agreement with
Petrobras, Aker Solutions has
plans to further develop and
invest in expansion in Brazil to
meet the growing market forecasts for the Brazilian oil and
gas industry.
A new subsea manufacturing facility will be established
800km south of Rio de Janeiro,
in Curitiba in the state of Parana.
The current plant will be replaced by the new technology
center by 2015 and will employ
an estimated 1100 people. The
first few well-sets will be manufactured at the current facility
and the remaining well-sets will
be assembled and tested at the
new plant.
The company is also investing
in other parts of the Brazilian
offshore industry, announcing
last year that it will build a new
multi-purpose service site in
Macaé, 180km northeast of Rio
de Janeiro, for its drilling equipment business. The new site
will significantly expand Aker
Solutions capacity to serve the
country’s fast-growing drilling
market. This new site will be
the company’s fourth facility in
Brazil, in addition to their sites
in Curitiba, Rio das Costars and
Rio de Janeiro.
Aker Solutions was first established locally in 1978 and has
built up a significant presence
in Brazil, employing 1400 employees in the country.
“We are continuing our efforts
to establish large scale manufacturing capabilities based on
the technologies developed
for Petrobras during our first
pre-salt projects. Our proven
pre-salt technology gives Aker
Solutions a strong position in
this market, and this will be
used to further enhance local
content, such as subsea control systems. Aker Solutions
has continuously invested in
developing the know-how and
expertise of its employees in
Brazil,” said Luis Araulo, president and country manager of
Aker Solutions in Brazil.
Did you know…
that LNG is created when
natural gas becomes liquid
by having its volume reduced 615 times, which can
be done by cooling the gas
to a temperature of -260F.
In the LNG form it is easier
to transport and store.
Projects
Bechtel & Siemens receive contract
for Panda Temple II power project
struction sites. The quality of their
work, together with Siemens, has
confirmed to date that we made
the right decision in choosing this
consortium to construct our stateof-the-art plants.”
Once completed by the end of
2015, it will be able to supply the
power needs of approximately
750,000 homes in the Central Texas
area. The order volume including a
long-term service agreement is approximately USD$300million.
Siemens will deliver the engineered
power island, including two gas
turbines, one steam turbine, three
generators, the instrumentation and
control system and two heat recovery steam generators.
Photo courtesy of Panda Power Funds
Bechtel has been awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the Panda
Temple II Generating Station, a
758-megawatt natural gas-fueled,
combined-cycle power plant in
Temple, Texas, south of Dallas. This
is the third power facility to be built
by Bechtel and consortium partner
Siemens for Panda Power Funds.
The consortium is also designing
and building the Panda Temple I
Generating Station, which is adjacent to Panda Temple II, and the
Panda Sherman Power Project in
Sherman, TX. All three projects are
identical in size, and when completed, will be among the most efficient
natural gas-fueled power plants in
the U.S.
“We have been impressed with
Bechtel’s planning, execution and
professionalism,” said president
and senior partner of Panda Power
Funds, Todd Carter. “For the past 12
months we have seen continued
progress and on-time performance
at our Temple I and Sherman con-
The power station will be a Siemens
Flex-Plant™ 30. Power generation
can commence within ten minutes
of startup, and full base-load power
production in less than one hour.
Siemens´ technology will reduce
emissions and enable added investment in intermittent renewable
and zero-carbon resources. The gas
turbines, steam turbine and generators will be manufactured in the
Siemens factory in Charlotte, North
Carolina.
Did you know…
that the first submerged
oil wells were drilled
from platforms in Ohio
in 1891 and in 1896
the first submerged oil
wells in salt water were
drilled in California. The
oldest subsea well recorded is the Bibi Eibat
well in the Caspian Sea
in 1923.
Compression Packing Technical Manual where there is a
recommendation to “tighten the gland bolts to the torque value
suggested by the manufacturer”. However, there was no
published procedure to determine the required installation
torque.
The procedure described below was introduced in
2008 ASME Pressure Vessel and Piping Conference and with
minor adjustments have been effective in the determination of
installation torque for different packing and valves under a
variety of applications since it was developed.
Tech Talk
Valve packings seating stress
By Jose C. Veiga & Carlos D. Girão, TEADIT
MINIMUM SEATING STRESS TEST PROCEDURE
internal test proceTraditionally
braided
packings
dure”. Based on this
used in valves are installed witha similar
out controlling the seating stress.
EN13555 defines the minimum seatingconcept,
stress for
and proStandard organizations, like the
pressure on
gaskets, Qmin(L), as: “minimum gasket surface definition
cedure
for
packings
American
Petroleum
Institute
assembly required at ambient temperature in order to seat the
was
developed.
(API), do not detail packing ingasket into the flange facing roughness and close the internal
packing ministallation procedures as part of
leakage channels so that the tightness class is to The
the required
mum seating stress
their valve standards or as a seplevel (L) for the internal test procedure”. Based on this
is the pressure, aparate document. Manufacturers
concept, a similar definition and procedure for packings
was
plied by the valve
and trade organizations like
developed.
gland, required to
the Fluid Sealing Association
The packing minimum seating stress is the
seatpressure,
the packing so it
(FSA) and The European Sealing
applied by the valve gland, required to seat the packing
so voids
it befills all the
Association (ESA) have published
fills all the voids between the stem and the stuffing
box.
tween
theFor
stem and
the Compression Packing Technical
stuffing
Manual where there is a recomits determination, a test gas was introduced at the the
bottom
of box.
a For
determination,
a
mendation to “tighten the gland
test rig that simulates a valve stem, stuffing boxits and
gland
test
gas
was
introbolts to the torque value suggestfollower and the leak rate for different installations stresses
duced at the bottom
ed by the manufacturer”. However,
measured.
a test rig that simthere was no published procedure
The leakage criterion was defined basedofon
a value
ulates a valve stem,
to determine the required installalower that DIN EN 13555 lower tightness class and using
stuffing box and
tion torque.
Helium as the test media. The following procedure
was
gland follower and
The procedure described bedeveloped
to
establish
the
mechanical
packing
minimum
the leak rate for diflow was introduced in 2008
seating stress, Smin:
ferent installations
ASME Pressure Vessel and Piping
• Cut five packing rings from a spool with 45º ends
stresses measured.
Conference and with minor adTheapart
leakage
criterion
was defined
justments have been effective •in Install
the five
withhe
themass
ends 90º
in the
Test Rig
Hydraulic
testrings
rig and
based
on
a
value
lower
that DIN
the determination of installation
spectometer
• Apply an initial seating stress of 5MPa (725psi)
EN 13555 lower tightness class
torque for different packing and
• Pressurize the Test Rig with 7bar (101psi) Helium pressure
valves under a variety of applica- seating stress for gaskets, Qmin(L), as: and using Helium as the test meand start to monitor the leak rate.
tions since it was developed.
“minimum gasket surface pressure dia. The following procedure was
• The
stress
is raised
in 5MPa developed
(725psi) increments
to establishand
the meonseating
assembly
required
at ambient
leak rates
recorded.
chanical
packing
minimum
seating
temperature
in
order
to
seat
the
Minimum seating
• If gasket
the leak
rateflange
is equal
or less stress,
than Smin
0.001mbar.l/sec into the
facing rough:
stress test
ness and close the
internal
leakage
• Cstress ut five packing
rings from
(0.01mbar.l/s.m) record the seating and finish the a spool
procedure
with 45º ends
test. channels so that the tightness class
EN13555 defines the minimum is to the required level (L) for the • Install the five rings with the ends
90º apart in the Test Rig
• Apply an initial seating stress of
5MPa (725psi)
• Pressurize the Test Rig with 7bar
(101psi) Helium pressure and
start to monitor the leak rate.
• The seating stress is raised in
5MPa (725psi) increments and
leak rates recorded.
• If the leak rate is equal or less than
0.001mbar.l/sec (0.01mbar.l/s.m)
record
the seatingTEST
stressRIG
and AND
finHYDRAULIC
ish the test.
Laboratory testing
The effectiveness of these values
was validated through laboratory tests in control and gate valves
following traditional standards API
622, VDI 2440 and ISO 15848-1
as well as other testing procedures
developed to simulate specific field
conditions. The packing installation seating stress (Ss) used was de
sum
of the minimum
seating stress
He MASS
SPECTOMETER
established using the proposed
procedure with the test media
pressure (P).
Minimum
seating
MINIMUM SEATING
STRESSField test were also performed to
stress
verify if the laboratory results could
Style Graphite
A - Flexible
Graphite
Yarn reinforced
with conan
be replicated
in actual plant
Style A - Flexible
Yarn reinInconel
wire
mesh.
ditions. High pressure steam lines
forced with an Inconel wire mesh.
Style A
1,E +00
1,E -‐01
1,E -‐02
1,E -‐03
1,E -‐04
1,E -‐05
1,E -‐06
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
G la n d S tre s s ( M P a )
STYLE A: LEAK RATE X PACKING STRESS
Style a: leak rate x packing stress
LABORATORY TESTING
The effectiveness of these values was validated
through laboratory tests in control and gate valves following
traditional standards API 622, VDI 2440 and ISO 15848-1 as
Page - 1
injected seals were removed
Carbon bushings were install
boxes whenever necessary to
rings.
A total of 46 steam v
to 16” were packed with Style
Installation Procedure with
according to the formula:
Tech Talk
well as other testing procedures developed to simulate specific
field conditions. The packing installation seating stress (Ss)
used was de sum of the minimum seating stress established
using the proposed procedure with the test media pressure (P).
field conditions. The packing installation seating stress (Ss)
using the proposed procedure with the test media pressure (P).
The steam application for the pilot test was the
Copesul Steam Generation plant. This plant was chosen due to
its constant
history ofVALVE
high leaks.
CONTROL
TEST BENCH
Once a high steam pressure leak is initiated it is not
possible to retighten or repack the valves without shuttingdown the whole line. This plant presented high costs due to
steam leakage as well as the several interventions to injectAbout the authors
Ss = Smin +
sealant. Up to 2000 tons of steam was wasted every year.
Jose C. Veiga
r o ht u A e ht t u o b A
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steam
where valves are submitted to pressuresThe
of 140bar
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conferences
around
the
world.
as high as 550ºC (1022ºF), it became
With
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plant,
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Once
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using the proposed procedure with the test media pressureinjected
(P).
under
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otohP
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to 16” were packed with steam
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Installation
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R&D Manager
ing toProcedure
the formula:
was completely
eliminated.
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LEAK-FREE VALVES
Teadit
With the severe working condiwere selected for the field tests.
injected seals were removed with high pressure water jet.for
Ss = Smin + P = 69MPa
Page Industria
-2
e
tion of the plant, where valves are Where
SCarbon
The steam application for the pi= Smin +bushings
P = 69MPawere installed at the bottom of the stuffing
s
Smin = 55Mpa (7975psi)
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submitted to pressures of 140bar
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= 14MPa (2030psi)necessary to keep a maximum of six packing
Ltda, Rio de
(2030psi) under temperatures as
Generation plant. This plant was
rings.
The packing behavior was monitored for over 36 Janeiro, Brazil.
high as 550ºC (1022ºF), it became months. PIn =this chosen due to its constant history
140bar
=interventions 14MPa (2030psi)
period, no were necessary, A the total
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no re-‐torques were applied, and old need CONTROL VALVEextremely
TEST BENCH
With a MSc
necessary the use of a sealant was completely eliminated. of high leaks.
to 16” were packed with Style A following the Pump & Valvein Mechanical Engineering, he
proper installation procedure of
Once a high steam pressure leak
Installation Procedure with the gland stress calculatedhas experience in research and
packing.
is initiated it is not possible to
development of new products,
retighten or repack the valves withBefore the installation, the old
GATE VALVEand/or
TEST BENCHinjected
braided packing manufacturing
out shutting-down the whole line.
packings
seals
test were
also performed
verify pressure
if the
and fugitive emission testing.
This plant presented high costs Field
were
removed
withto high
laboratory results could be replicated in actual plant
His latest researches focused on
due to steam leakage as wellconditions.
as
water
jet. steam
Carbon
bushings
were
Where
High pressure
lines were
selected for
the infield tests.
developing extreme low emisthe several interventions to inject
stalled at the bottom of the stuffing
sion packings.
sealant. Up to 2000 tons of steam
boxes whenever necessary to keep
LEAK-FREE VALVES AFTER S WAS APPLIED
P = 140bar = 14MPa (2030psi)
LEAKING
LeakingVALVE
valve
Leak-free valves after ss was applied
was wasted every year.
a maximum of six packing rings.Page - 2
ynam sdloh eH .snoitulos noitacilppa dna sessecorp gnirutcafunam ,tnempoleved
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The With
packing behavior was monitored 36 the severe
working
condition offor theover plant,
months. this are
period, no interventions whereIn valves
submitted
to pressures of were 140barnecessary, (2030psi)
under temperatures
as high as
550ºC
became
no re-‐torques were applied, and the (1022ºF),
old need it to inject extremely
necessary the
use of a proper
sealant was completely eliminated. installation procedure
of packing.
Before the installation, the old packings and/or
injected seals were removed with high pressure water jet.
Carbon bushings were installed at the bottom of the stuffing
boxes whenever necessary to keep a maximum of six packing
rings.
A total of 46 steam valves ranging in size from 1/2”
to 16” were packed with Style A following the Pump & Valve
Installation Procedure with the gland stress calculated
CONTROL
VALVE
TEST BENCH
GATE VALVE
TEST
BENCH
Field test were also performed to verify if the
conditions. High pressure steam lines were selected for the
field tests.
Where
Page - 2
P = 140bar = 14MPa (2030psi)
LEAK-FREE VALVES AFTER SS WAS APPLIED
The packing behavior was monitored for over 36 months. In this period, no interventions were necessary, no re-‐torques were applied, and the old need to inject sealant was completely eliminated. GATE VALVE TEST BENCH
September 11th-12th, 2013 - Suzhou, PR China
Field test were also performed to verify if the
conditions. High pressure steam lines were selected for the
field tests.
LEAK-FREE VALVES AFTER SS WAS APPLIED
Page - 2
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05-03-13 10:03
End User Interview
Detective work pays off for a materials engineer
Curtis Huddle, from Eastman Chemical Company, in Kingsport, Tennessee took some
time out of his busy schedule to talk to Valve World about his work as a Materials and
Corrosion Engineer; what his role involves and the projects he is involved in.
By John Butterfield & Gillian Kersley
got to know more. Information kept coming
and I kept liking it so I carried on. When I
came to Eastman in 2008 I enjoyed meeting new people and delving into what they
do which I found a tremendous help when I
came to work here.”
“Books don’t give you the whole story.
Seeing first hand the challenges you will
face and learning to interact was invaluable.
Nothing beats learning on the job, however
good college courses are a very good foundation for getting the job. I graduated at the
end of 2009 and started with Eastman at the
beginning of 2010,” said Curtis.
Day to day
Curtis’ role as Materials and Corrosion
Engineer sees him dealing with problems
or failures. “A large part of my work involves
failure analysis. I have to figure out the root
cause of the failure and, once that’s established, work out a solution regarding how to
mitigate it in future.”
He also works on both new and maintenance projects, necessitating his researching what new materials work best in certain
applications.
Curtis Huddle at Eastman chemical plant in Kingsport
Having lived his whole life around Kingsport
in Tennessee, Curtis Huddle was aware of
Eastman Chemical Company growing up,
but never knew what the company was
all about until he was fortunate enough to
spend time there in 2008 in his later years
at college.
Curtis began studying chemical engineering
but quickly realized that materials engineering was what he really wanted to do. “I was
interested in all the different things they
worked with,” he said. “I had a little background in metals, metalworking and welding as my father was a mechanic. At college I
“We have worked with our internal integrity group on some inspections and analyses of pipelines and the like,” stated Curtis.
“Plotting out possible risks, the likelihood
of potential corrosion, when inspections
should take place and so on. Lately we have
been doing a lot of comparisons between
ASME or ASTM standards and international
standards, matching materials across the
different standards. I am also starting some
work with our employees in China.”
The materials team at Eastman comprises
3 full time materials engineers, including
Curtis, working closely with reliability engineers in the field to make sure any problems
are routed to the person in the team best
equipped to handle them. Not all his time is
spent behind a desk.
“In a typical week, I’m probably out in the
field around 15% of the time, maybe a little
more, depending on how the week goes,”
explained Curtis. “I like to get out and see
what we need first hand, to get a feel for the
situation and to see the problem for myself.
Often you cannot get the full story without
doing this and talking to the people there.”
“On a typical day, if you can call it that, I’ll
check my emails, then get to grips with
what’s in the planning to meet deadlines,
tick it off the list and move on to the next
one.”
Has the current economic situation affected
the number of new projects versus maintenance projects? Curtis replied: “Probably the
majority of work at the moment is maintenance based – this is always ongoing, of
course, but there has never been a time
when I’m not also working on some new
project or other. They are still out there, they
kind of ebb and flow with the economy, and
the project itself will ebb and flow according
End User Interview
no doubt this will get better as technology
improves, but for now at least, it’s another
hurdle to overcome to ensure safety and
efficiency.
The future
We asked Curtis how he sees the future, for
materials and his career. He told us: “There’s
always room for improvement in materials,
I’m sure, but along with this, manufacturers
need to consider the cost to consumers.
Anything can be done at a price, but will anyone buy it at that price? There is a good
selection out there now, as long as you’re
prepared to pay for it. If there was a way to
make a product better and cheaper, no one
would be happier than me, but I appreciate
it’s not the easiest thing to do.”
to needs at any time.” He goes on to say that
his role involves a great deal of multitasking,
not confined to one project at a time, which
means prioritizing and time management.
“You work on what you can on one, know
what you are waiting for, put it on the back
burner and turn to something else. It’s a juggling act but seems to have worked smoothly so far.”
Working on valves
is detective work
“I really enjoy the failure analysis side of
things,” Curtis confided. “It’s detective work
and I feel like Sherlock Holmes solving a
mystery. Collecting evidence, getting deep
into a problem and even deeper into possible solutions is very satisfying. There’s that
moment when everything clicks into place.”
In his early days at Eastman, he tells us, a
relief valve failed due to a broken metal
spring. The valve had supposedly never been
used before so it was unclear why this had
occurred. “It was a precipitation hardened
stainless steel,” he explained. “The piece
was fairly clean. We did SEM and metallographic analyses and the fracture looked like
stress corrosion or embrittlement of some
kind, possibly hydrogen embrittlement. The
material may have been incorrectly heat
treated at some point which made it susceptible. It was a fairly steep learning curve for
me and demonstrates the value of ‘on the
job’ experience.”
According to Curtis, probably the most challenging thing from a corrosion standpoint is
that they use so many different metals and
so many different chemicals. “For a new
guy, referring to books is fine – they show
you corrosion on a certain metal at a certain temperature or concentration, but mix
another chemical in to the equation and
it’s a completely different story. Juggling the
different corrosion grades, including rarely
used ones, finding the bad actors within the
process stream and trying to commit them
all to memory is quite a feat.”
Materials
A range of materials are used at the Eastman
plant, stainless steel extensively, especially 316 and 304. Curtis tells us that duplex
alloys are also used including 2205, and
higher resistance alloys such as Carpenter
20, Hastelloys and other nickel alloys, regular carbon steels, high alloy steels and high
temperature grades. Titanium can be found
in some parts of the plant, and stellite. In
another area you will come across thermally
sprayed applications with tungsten carbides,
chrome carbides, Triballoy and the like and,
occasionally, some tantalum or zirconium.
“You can go down the list of alloys and
they’re almost all out here somewhere. It
keeps you on your toes,” smiled Curtis.
Duplex is not so common in the United
States so what does he think of this material? “We have duplex in the plant although
we have seen some problems lately. Maybe
because we haven’t used it so much in the
past so we’re not so familiar with it. But it is
in our ‘box of tricks’ and if we come across
a stress corrosion cracking problem we will
look at duplex to see if it’s an option. We
keep a close eye on the welding, however,
to check on the procedures, heat used and
so on, to ensure this is carried out correctly.”
“For myself, I’m looking forward to expanding my working experience. I look at colleagues who have been here a long time
and I’m amazed at the amount of knowledge they have in their heads such that they
can answer some questions immediately.
That comes from experience and learning
on the job. I hope that, in time, I will be able
to refer to previous problems I have encountered when I can and, in turn, pass my experience on to others.”
About Curtis Huddle
Curtis Huddle was born in Kingsport, TN
and grew to love the area through living on his family’s land. After graduating
high school he attended the University
of Tennessee in Knoxville, entering as a
Chemical Engineer, changing to Materials
Engineering in his first semester. He
took advantage of the Co-op program
at Eastman Chemical Company during
college and, after graduating received a
full time job offer, at around the same
time as he and his wife were married. He
has been working at Eastman for almost
three years and says he is learning more
every day and is excited to see what the
future holds in both his working and personal life.
And finally..
We asked Curtis what he does to relax away
from work. “This is a wonderful area to live
in,” he told us, “we have mountains, parks,
trails and nature areas to explore and my
wife and I love to go hiking.”
He also takes part in various sporting activities as well as getting the chance to play
Current projects
“We have a number of ongoing projects, including one in China that I’m working on. I
am looking into cold worked materials and
punched materials which present mechanical issues. Not a lot of specific data exists
relating the effect punching has on reducing
the fatigue properties for materials so I’m
looking at overcoming fatigue problems in
conjunction with corrosion and contaminant
issues.”
In between this and sorting out some casting
problems, he is conducting research into an
inhibitor used at the plant with a number of
different metals. Corrosion testing is taking
place, combined with different temperatures
and chemical concentrations to determine if
the inhibitor can and should be changed in
all or part of the plant.
As far as his Chinese project goes, Curtis’
concern has been whether or not Chinese
materials can be used, involving much in the
way of testing and comparing standards to
ensure specifications are met 100% before
going ahead.
Lifecycle costs also feature highly on the
list of demands, although a balance has to
be found between getting the right, quality
product and price. “You want it to last a long
time, also taking into account the process it
will be used in. It’s important to find a happy medium to give you want you need at a
reasonable cost. Lately we have found that,
to get what we need, we have had to spend
a little more,” Curtis said.
New technology brings benefits and problems. For example, the somewhat new inline annealing process for pipes has resulted, in some cases, in poorer annealed welds
so that a product previously well within
standards, could now become borderline.
In some areas, this is not so crucial but in
others it means having to increase the specification to maintain quality. Curtis says that
drums from time to time at his church, and
relaxing at home by the lake with his family. Going to the cinema and entertaining
friends are also high on his list of favorite
pastimes.
27 www.valve-world-americas.net
Curtis Huddle with his wife on a trip to
Seattle
Valve World Americas is the leading
publication on valves, control valves,
actuators and associated products with
distribution in North, Central and South
America.
Final Words
Valve World Americas Expo & Conference 2013
End User Golf Tournament
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Publishing Director
Thijs Elshof, [email protected]
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[email protected]
Erika Rivera (The Netherlands)
[email protected]
2 013
Issue 4, May 2013
Wildcat Golf Club, Houston Texas, June 27, 2013
We are pleased to announce that we are holding our fist Valve World Americas
Expo & Conference End User Golf Tournament and networking event.
This event will take place at the Wildcat Golf Glub in Houston, Texas.
Tickets are only available to End Users and EPCs working in the valve industry.
The event will be taking place the day after the Valve World Americas Expo
& Conference 2013 that is being held at the George R. Brown Convention Center on
June 25-26. Tickets will be available on a first come first serve basis
and space is limited so get your tickets now!
Advertising Team (print & online)
Andre Davanzo, [email protected]
Ryan Taylor, [email protected]
Josh Gillen, [email protected]
David Scharbach, [email protected]
Thijs Elshof, [email protected]
Please contact Josh Gillen at [email protected] or call 416-361-7030 to find out
how to register for this event.
Subscriptions (print & online)
Samantha Stevens, [email protected]
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Valve World Americas is published ten times
per year. A renewal reminder will be sent
towards the end of your subscription period.
ISSN 2211-260X
Sponsored by:
Organized by:
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KCI Publishing Corporation
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The publisher and authors state that this journal has
been compiled meticulously and to the best of their
knowledge, however, the publisher and authors can
in no way guarantee the accuracy or completeness of
the information. The publisher and authors therefore
do not accept any liability for any damage resulting
from actions or decisions based on the information in
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not to use this information solely, but to rely on their
professional knowledge and experience, and to check
the information to be used. KCI Publishing cannot
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The publisher reserves the right to edit and re-use
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
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© 2013 Technical Business Publications II B.V.
Golf advert 1-4page - Kopie.indd 1
Dear readers,
It is with great pleasure
that I am writing to you
about the exciting upcoming issues of Valve World
Americas journal. I hope
you thoroughly enjoy the
issue that we have put together for you this month.
I hope we have presented
a wide range of interesting and informative
articles for you this issue focusing on valves
in hydraulic fracturing and shale oil & gas, Fit
for Purpose Bypass valves, the growing need
for three-way ball valves and valves in the
production of Shale Gas.
Did you know… that in the oil
sands sector of Western Canada there
are hundreds of active capital investment projects. Over $19billion was
invested in 2012, exceeding investments in any of the last four years. In
order to meet the expansion from 1.7
to 3.7million bbl/day by 2021, annual expenditures of twice the spending
of last year will be required.
We are busily preparing for the second biennial Valve World Americas Expo & Conference
in Houston, Texas on June 25th-26th, 2013
which promises to be a great success. Triple
the size of our inaugural event, the upcoming
conference and expo is the meeting point for
the American flow control industry and an incredible networking opportunity for the Valve
World. In this issue we highlight some of the
Plenary lectures being given throughout the
conference and the Speakers Corner presentations being held on the Expo floor, open
to all exhibition attendees to learn while visiting booths. We are also thrilled to announce
that VMA will be presenting their Valves &
Actuators 101, 1-day education program on
Monday, June 24th, the day prior to the Valve
World Americas Expo & Conference 2013. The
course is designed to jump-start your career
or provide a refresher on valve, actuator and
control basics. We are also pleased to announce that we are holding our first Valve
World Americas Expo & Conference End User
Golf Tournament and networking event on
June 27th. The event will be held at Wildcat
Golf Tournament with tickets available on a
first come, first served basis to end users and
EPCs.
And as always, we want your feedback. What
topics would you like to see in an upcoming issue? Do you have a suggestion for future content? Please feel free to send in your
thoughts, comments, technical articles, press
releases and ideas to Sarah Bradley at
[email protected].
20.03.2013 14:15:35

The Insiders` Guide to Flow Control

Transcription

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