Patented Ballcheck Valve Eliminates Potential Commissioning Error

When using a ballcheck valve and commissioning a gauge assembly on a vessel containing liquid, a common mistake is to open the valve too quickly and engage the ball check. This will result in a false reading on the gauge. The 360 Series valve, from Jerguson, makes it impossible to get a false level reading during commissioning. The short video shows how the patented feature of the 360 simplifies commissioning by avoiding errors.

• Eliminate false level readings during commissioning
• Clean-out port enables internal inspection
• Handle clearly indicates open or closed position of valve
• Certifications for common applications
• Lock-out / tag-out capability is standard

More information on this and related level gauge products is available from product specialists. Share your challenges with application experts and develop an effective solution by leveraging your own knowledge and experience with their product application expertise.

High Performance Butterfly Valves for Challenging Process Fluid Conditions

High performance butterfly valves handle challenging
 media and process conditions.
Image courtesy Flowserve - Valtek Control Products

Industrial process control applications can present stringent and challenging performance requirements for the physical equipment and components that comprise the process chain. The valves employed in fluid based operations need to be resistant to the impact of extreme fluid conditions, requiring careful design and selection consideration to assure proper performance and safety levels are maintained in a predictable way.

Industrial valves intended for extreme applications are generally referred to as severe service or high performance valves. While there are plenty of published and accepted standards for industrial valves, one does not exist to precisely define what constitutes a severe service valve.

So, how do you know when to focus valve selection activities on severe service or high performance valves, as opposed to those rated for general purpose? There are a number of basic criteria that might point you in that direction:

• Extreme media or environmental temperature or pressure
• High pressure drop operation that may cause cavitation
• Rapid or extreme changes to inlet pressure
• Certain types or amounts of solids contained in the fluid
• Corrosive media

Certainly, any of these criteria might be found in an application serviceable by a general purpose valve, but their presence should be an indicator that a closer assessment of the fluid conditions and commensurate valve requirements is in order. The key element for a process stakeholder is to recognize when conditions are contemplated that can exceed the capabilities of a general purpose valve, leading to premature failure in control performance or catastrophic failure that produces an unsafe condition. Once the possibility of an extreme or challenging condition is identified, a careful analysis of the range of operating conditions will reveal the valve performance requirements.

There are numerous manufacturers of severe service or high performance valves, each with specialized product offerings focusing on a particular performance niche. Flowserve, under their Valtek brand, manufactures the Valdisk high performance butterfly valves ranging from NPS 2-52 and ASME class 150, 300, 600, 900, 1500 pressure ranges. The valve design is ideal for manual or automated actuation, installed with a manual hand gear, electric actuator, or a pneumatic actuator. Seats are available as soft or metal on this double offset butterfly valve that provides tight closure for bi-directional flow. Construction materials include carbon steel and stainless steel. A range of options and variants are available to customize the valve build to suit a replacement or new installation.

There is more information available about the Valtek high performance valve offering. Share and discuss your special requirements with a valve specialist. They have application experience and access to technical resources that can leverage your own process knowledge and experience into an effective solution.

Overview of Check-All Valve Manufacturing Check Valves

Check-All Valve manufactures in-line spring-loaded, piston-type check valves with metal to metal or soft seats. It is a single product company, specializing in only check valves for industrial use. The video provides a brief overview of the company, then continues with a more detailed description of the products and their defining capabilities and features.

Share your fluid control requirements with the fluid process experts at CTi Controltech, and leverage your process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

Potential Application Problem Solved With Magnetic Level Indicator Design

Engineers, industrial process operators and stakeholders recognize the value and necessity of accurate and timely information from an operating process. Experience has shown that the environment and activities surrounding process installations and equipment can sometimes have a significant impact on the ability of measurement instrumentation continually gather and deliver accurate process data.

Concerns include:

• Weather - An element whose impact cannot be understated....or easily predicted.
• Physical Contact - Equipment and measurement devices must be protected from damaging impact.
• Security - Vandalism, cyber invasion, and other external threats are possible

Our task is generally to effectively manage the operation of whatever processes are in place. Our responsibility, as operators of machines and handlers of materials that can produce hazardous or life threatening conditions in the case of failure or error, is to foresee every reasonably probable event that could affect the safe and proper operation of our industrial processes and mitigate or prevent their impact.

One manufacturer has developed an innovative solution to a potential problem in the application of magnetic level indicators. The short video below describes the conditions which could potentially result in instrument failure, and the way in which the product design change successfully overcomes any adverse impact on process measurement. Invest less than three minutes of your time to watch the video and build your application knowledge by learning from the experience of others. Do not hesitate to contact a product application specialist for more detail, or to discuss your process measurement needs.

Combustion, Emission, Steam, Valve, Automation and Instrumentation Solutions

Cti Controltech delivers process measurement and control
solutions across many industries.

CTi Controltech brings knowledge, experience and expertise to their customer relationships. We carry a broad range of process control, combustion and steam related products manufactured by globally recognized companies, along with the contracting and engineering resources to deliver complete solutions to customer challenges. CTi Controltech, located in Northern California, is a top flight provider of valves, valve actuation, emissions control and monitoring, industrial burners and boilers, pressure, temperature, level and flow instrumentation, custom SCR sytems, and steam management products. We craft solutions to the challenges our customers face everyday in process control.

Combustion, Emission and Steam Solutions

• Low and ultra low NOx burners and burner retrofits 
• BMS and CMS system design and hardware 
• Custom design SCR Systems 
• Burner air fuel mix recalibration 
• Pre-emission test and boiler tune-ups 
• Heat rate, efficiency studies and plant improvement 
• Vapor recovery 
• Particulate and CO2 control 

Valve and Automation Solutions

• Severe service valve sizing and selection 
• Valve and actuation packages, pneumatic, hydraulic and electric 
• Noise and cavitation control 
• Total valve management programs 
• Turbine by-pass 
• Desuperheating and attemperation 
• Damper drives 
• Check valves 
• Vent to atmosphere and silencers 
• Best fit for purpose replacement recommendations 
• Ease of operation and life cycle cost considerations 

Pressure Relief

• Rupture disc 
• Pressure/Vacuum Relief Valves 
• Pressure Relief Valves 
• Vacuum Relief Valves 
• Pilot Operated Valves 
• Flame and Detonation Arresters 
• Emergency Relief Valves 
• Waste Gas Burners 
• Pressure Regulators 

Instrumentation Solutions

• Flow, level, pressure, density and temperature 

Services

• Factory trained service personnel 
• Commissioning and startup technical support 
• Technical seminars and training 
• Valve and actuator calibration and startup 
• Instrument calibration and startup 
• Complete turnkey project capabilities 
• U.L. 508 custom design 
• Project CAD drawings 
• PLC Programming 
• CFD and modeling 

Poppet Type Check Valves With Field Replaceable Insert

This check valve, from Check-All Valve, has a single cartridge
interior that can be replaced easily in the field.
Image courtesy Check-All Valve

Check valves are employed throughout all types of fluid systems to prevent reverse flow. There are a number of styles or designs, each with attributes which determine its suitability for a particular application.

Check-All Valve is a USA manufacturer producing a broad selection of check valves for industrial use. Their EPIC™ series of poppet style valves deliver a number of solid features.

• In-line spring loaded poppet type valve
• Function in any flow orientation
• Smooth contoured surfaces in flow path
• Minimum change in flow direction through the valve
• Minimized pressure drop
• Complete drop-in replaceable insert for easy service
• Quiet operation
• Quick and smooth operation

The check valves are available in male and female pipe connections, as well as double ferrule and flared tube. The valves are suitable for liquid, gas or steam application with sizes ranging from 1/8" to 1-1/4".

Share your fluid system piping and control requirements with specialists. Leverage your own knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop the best solutions.

Industrial Check Valves, EPIC Series from CTi Controltech

Pressure and Vacuum Relief Valves

A pressure/vacuum relief valve is part of a complete tank
control system.
Image courtesy Groth Corporation

Storage or processing tanks are a part of almost any industrial liquid processing operation. There are many considerations for the inclusion of a tank in a liquid handling system. One facet, the subject of today's post, is how to accommodate the normal exchange of balance between liquid filled space and non-liquid filled space in a tank as it is filled or drained. Vacuum and pressure relief valves are, in many cases, the best solution for tank venting.

Keeping in mind that some tank involved operations process liquids that must remain isolated or contained from the atmosphere for any of a number of reasons. The tank may be blanketed with nitrogen or another gas. The contained liquid may produce vapor which cannot be freely vented to the atmosphere for regulatory reasons. Whatever the reason, one thing is common among all these applications. The tank must remain a closed system whenever its level is not changing.

When the liquid level in a closed tank changes, the pressure of the air or vapor in the tank will also change. Filling of the tank will increase the pressure, draining will decrease it. It is necessary to offset the change in pressure to avoid tank structural damage or processing difficulties from excessive positive or negative pressure produced by the changing liquid level. Groth Corporation manufactures pressure and vacuum relief valves for processing and storage tanks. Quoting from their installation manual for pressure/vacuum relief valves...

Pressure and/or vacuum relief valves are used on liquid storage tanks and other process vessels or systems to prevent structural damage due to excess internal pressure or vacuum. Storage tanks are pressurized when liquid is pumped in, compressing the existing vapor or when rising temperatures cause increased evaporation or expansion of existing vapor. Conversely, a vacuum condition may be created when pumping out or due to falling temperature. To prevent tank damage, vapor must be allowed into or out of the tank at specified pressure/vacuum conditions. The volume rate of venting depends upon the tank size, volatility of the tank contents, the pumping rates and the temperature.

These valves have specific requirements for installation and maintenance, but their operation is simple. A weighted pallet will move by gravity to a closed position when the liquid level is static. As liquid level changes and the pressure applied to the pallet changes, it will eventually move. It is important to note that each valve is weighted for the customer's specific application, and weight factory applied to the pallet should not be modified or otherwise changed without consulting the valve manufacturer to confirm the new operating parameters.

A pressure/vacuum relief valve is not intended to be a safety valve. It's function is related to the normal operation of the tank. A safety relief valve is an additional component with differing operational requirements. Here is now Groth describes the basic operation of the pressure and vacuum relief valves, with a little editing.

Pressure Relief: As the pressure in the storage tank increases, the vacuum pallet is held shut. When the set pressure is reached, the pressure pallet lifts and relieves tank pressure to the atmosphere (or to a header if it is a pipe away valve). 

Vacuum Relief: As a vacuum is drawn in the storage tank (for example, when fluid is being pumped out), the pressure pallet is held shut. When the vacuum setting is reached, the vacuum pallet lifts and air is drawn into the tank from the atmosphere.

Selecting and specifying a properly sized pressure/vacuum relief valve requires consideration of all aspects of tank operation. Share your project requirements with a product application specialist and leverage your own process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop the best solution.