Emerson Exchange 365

Actuators Blog
- 2 posts
- Updated over 6 years ago
Regulators - Blog
- 52 posts
- Updated 3 months ago
Valve Controllers & Positioners Blog
- 40 posts
- Updated 7 months ago
Valves Blog
- 179 posts
- Updated 2 days ago

Blog - Post List

Jim Cahill
- 6 Dec 2019
Valves Blog: Control and Isolation Valve Qualification Testing

Jason Jablonski Just as people require certain qualifications to perform specific tasks, so does instrumentation, final control elements, control systems and other components in an automation architecture. In a very informative Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP) article, Purchase a Qualified Valve for Your Operation , Emerson’s Jason Jablonski highlights numerous qualification standards and criteria for control...
Jim Cahill
- 18 Nov 2019
Valves Blog: Improving Control Valve Reliability through Valve Condition Monitoring

Sumitaka Ichiki An Asian refiner sought to improve reliable operations around their control valves a decade ago. I caught up with Emerson’s Sumitaka Ichiki who shared the story of their journey to more reliable operations. Using the Fisher FlowScanner valve diagnostic software, they analyzed the dynamic response of many of their critical valves. Based on their findings, they decided to see if they could improve performance...
Jim Cahill
- 28 Oct 2019
Valves Blog: Valve Condition Monitoring Connected Services

One path in digital transformation programs is to drive reliability improvements of plant assets by moving from reactive maintenance to condition based maintenance of the equipment. Saurabh Pathak I caught up with Emerson’s Saurabh Pathak who shared a case study with me of a large, Middle Eastern natural gas transportation & distribution company. This company had a continuous improvement program to improve asset...
Jim Cahill
- 23 Oct 2019
Valves Blog: Approaches to Partial Stroke Testing Safety Valves

The safety valve within a safety instrumented function (SIF) must be tested regularly to help assure proper operation in the event of a safety demand. Operators usually perform an offline full stroke test during a scheduled shutdown because of the impact of this test on the process. But when a SIF (a.k.a. safety loop) requires more frequent testing, users can perform a partial stroke test (PST) , per the global IEC 61511...
Jim Cahill
- 4 Oct 2019
Valves Blog: Assuring Control Valve Quality

Brant Pfantz Control valves are the workhorses of most processes. They touch the process fluids and often contend with many challenges—abrasive and corrosive fluids, high pressures and temperatures, and vibrations caused by piping and surrounding process equipment, to name a few. In a Processing magazine article, Valve Sourcing Goes Global , Emerson’s Brant Pfantz highlights the many qualifications and practices...
Jim Cahill
- 26 Sep 2019
Valves Blog: Case Study on Valve Monitoring Connected Services

An Emerson local business partner's Evelyn Rosales presented with a petrochemical producer, Maximize your Turnaround Efficiency using Connected Services at the 2019 Emerson Exchange conference. This petrochemical producer began valve condition monitoring a year ago on over 100 valves. Diagnostic data is automatically connected weekend with a monthly valve health summary report delivered to the plant. The objective...
Jim Cahill
- 24 Sep 2019
Valves Blog: Innovative Slurry Isolation Valve Remote Control

Emerson’s Peter Woodhead presented Remote Control Panels: Innovative & Effective Solution for Isolation Valves at the 2019 Emerson Exchange conference. Peter is from Brisbane, Australia where they design and manufacturer Lunkenheimer slurry valves . The mining customer challenged the Emerson team to remotely control some slurry isolation valves. The isolation valves were applied on a backpressure vessel with the digestion...
Jim Cahill
- 5 Sep 2019
Valves Blog: Wirelessly Monitoring Tank Thief Hatches to Avoid Regulatory Fines

I shared a great case study from the oil patch yesterday with time savings with wireless pressure monitoring at the well head. Today, let’s continue with another great case study from the oil patch with a Control magazine article, Use wireless to monitor thief hatches . The article’s author opens describing what a thief hatch is. These devices are: …installed on the top of low-pressure and atmospheric tanks in the...
Jim Cahill
- 5 Sep 2019
Regulators - Blog: Wirelessly Monitoring Tank Thief Hatches to Avoid Regulatory Fines

I shared a great case study from the oil patch yesterday with time savings with wireless pressure monitoring at the well head. Today, let’s continue with another great case study from the oil patch with a Control magazine article, Use wireless to monitor thief hatches . The article’s author opens describing what a thief hatch is. These devices are: …installed on the top of low-pressure and atmospheric tanks in the...
Jim Cahill
- 18 Jul 2019
Valves Blog: Globe Valve Basics

If you’re new to the process industries and have responsibilities including a safe, reliable and efficient production process, then you likely need to understand how control valves work. And, one of the best sources for learning is the Control Valve Handbook . For instance, if you need to learn about globe valves, section 3.1.1 of the handbook includes information on single-port valve bodies, post- and port-guided...
Jim Cahill
- 9 Jul 2019
Valves Blog: Continuous Pressure Relief Valve and Rupture Disk Monitoring

Wireless sensors , as a part of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) set of technologies, are finding new applications due to their ease of installation and commissioning. Many of these applications fall outside of the traditional monitoring and control applications managed by the industrial control systems in the manufacturing or production facility. These applications can provide new ways to improve safety, reliability...
Jim Cahill
- 3 Jul 2019
Valves Blog: Pressure Drop across Control Valves

Let’s end this short week for the United States of America’s 4 th of July Independence Day holiday with an educational video from Emerson’s Fisher Valves & Instruments YouTube channel . The video, Control Valve Sizing Basics: What is Pressure Drop? , describes what this is, how to calculate it, and its importance in the selection of the right control valve for your application. Pressure drop, or pressure loss...
Jim Cahill
- 12 Jun 2019
Valves Blog: Advancing RFID-Based Productivity in Process Manufacturing

New technologies usually become more broadly adopted as multiple suppliers adopt the technology and provide interoperability. Standards efforts help to define common requirements into a specification for suppliers to follow in their technology development programs. Shannon Jelken Today, industries such as warehouses, airlines and others employ radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology for increased productivity...
Jim Cahill
- 20 May 2019
Valves Blog: Sizing and Selecting Control Valves for Desuperheaters

According to Wikipedia, superheated steam is steam: …at a temperature higher than its vaporization (boiling) point at the absolute pressure where the temperature is measured. It has: …tremendous internal energy that can be used for kinetic reaction through mechanical expansion against turbine blades and reciprocating pistons, that produces rotary motion of a shaft. The value of superheated steam in these applications...
Jim Cahill
- 10 Apr 2019
Valves Blog: Avoid Operational Issues with Proper Control Valve Selection

Because they directly touch the process flow, control valves play a significant role in the stability, robustness and variability in the process. One bad-acting control valve can create large problems for safe and reliable operations. James Beall At last week’s AIChE Spring Meeting , Emerson’s James Beall presented Specifying Control Valve Performance to Achieve Desired Process Performance. In his comprehensive presentation...
Jim Cahill
- 10 Apr 2019
Valve Controllers & Positioners Blog: Avoid Operational Issues with Proper Control Valve Selection

Because they directly touch the process flow, control valves play a significant role in the stability, robustness and variability in the process. One bad-acting control valve can create large problems for safe and reliable operations. James Beall At last week’s AIChE Spring Meeting , Emerson’s James Beall presented Specifying Control Valve Performance to Achieve Desired Process Performance. In his comprehensive presentation...
Jim Cahill
- 29 Jan 2019
Valves Blog: Augmented Reality-Based Remote Valve Assistance

The phrase digital transformation can conjure up an image of massive changes over a short timeframe. But the reality is that we’ve been undergoing a digital transformation in our personal lives for decades. Things like remote control devices, wireless communications, access to information, etc. have all grown in scope and ease of access. Little changes and improvements spread out over time have brought we are to where...
Jim Cahill
- 29 Jan 2019
Valves Blog: Augmented Reality-Based Remote Valve Assistance

The phrase digital transformation can conjure up an image of massive changes over a short timeframe. But the reality is that we’ve been undergoing a digital transformation in our personal lives for decades. Things like remote control devices, wireless communications, access to information, etc. have all grown in scope and ease of access. Little changes and improvements spread out over time have brought we are to where...
Jim Cahill
- 19 Dec 2018
Valve Controllers & Positioners Blog: Simplifying Safety Valve Proof Testing

A safety instrumented function (SIF) within a safety instrumented system (SIS) consists of a sensor, logic solver, and final element. As part of the IEC 61511 global safety standard, these elements within the SIF must be tested during the operational phase of the safety lifecycle. Of the 3 elements, the final control element, typically a safety valve, has mechanical movement which must be tested. In a Processing magazine...
Jim Cahill
- 19 Dec 2018
Valve Controllers & Positioners Blog: Simplifying Safety Valve Proof Testing

A safety instrumented function (SIF) within a safety instrumented system (SIS) consists of a sensor, logic solver, and final element. As part of the IEC 61511 global safety standard, these elements within the SIF must be tested during the operational phase of the safety lifecycle. Of the 3 elements, the final control element, typically a safety valve, has mechanical movement which must be tested. In a Processing magazine...
Jim Cahill
- 13 Dec 2018
Valve Controllers & Positioners Blog: Partial Stroke Test for Final Elements—Diagnostic Coverage Factors

Author: Riyaz Ali Partial stroke test is one of the viable means to check mechanical integrity of Final Element of Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) loop. Generally, end users struggle on question of credit of PST for improvement in SIL (Safety Integrity Level). IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 define diagnostic coverage factors (DCF), but do not provide a prescriptive way to estimate the number applied in real process...
Jim Cahill
- 13 Dec 2018
Valves Blog: Partial Stroke Test for Final Elements—Diagnostic Coverage Factors

Author: Riyaz Ali Partial stroke test is one of the viable means to check mechanical integrity of Final Element of Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) loop. Generally, end users struggle on question of credit of PST for improvement in SIL (Safety Integrity Level). IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 define diagnostic coverage factors (DCF), but do not provide a prescriptive way to estimate the number applied in real process...
Jim Cahill
- 13 Dec 2018
Valves Blog: Partial Stroke Test for Final Elements—Diagnostic Coverage Factors

Author: Riyaz Ali Partial stroke test is one of the viable means to check mechanical integrity of Final Element of Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) loop. Generally, end users struggle on question of credit of PST for improvement in SIL (Safety Integrity Level). IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 define diagnostic coverage factors (DCF), but do not provide a prescriptive way to estimate the number applied in real process...
Jim Cahill
- 13 Dec 2018
Valve Controllers & Positioners Blog: Partial Stroke Test for Final Elements—Diagnostic Coverage Factors

Author: Riyaz Ali Partial stroke test is one of the viable means to check mechanical integrity of Final Element of Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) loop. Generally, end users struggle on question of credit of PST for improvement in SIL (Safety Integrity Level). IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 define diagnostic coverage factors (DCF), but do not provide a prescriptive way to estimate the number applied in real process...
Jim Cahill
- 28 Nov 2018
Valves Blog: What to Look for in Control Valve Technology to Positively Impact Your Bottom Line

Author: Vincenzo Sipala How Plant Downtime Effects Your Bottom Line Due to improper control valve selection, the valve trim pictured above was damaged by solids from the fluid, which was originally specified as clean. Keeping an intricate process plant at maximum productivity for multiple decades is no easy feat. Operations downtime caused by unscheduled maintenance issues continues to be a major cause of concern...