Activity

  • Fail-Safe Electric Actuators for Quarter-Turn Valves

    Jim Cahill
    Aaron Roepke For many applications, such as emergency shutdowns (ESD), on-off quarter valves with electric actuators are the best fit. In the event of loss of power, some type of fail-safe mechanism may be required to bring the valve into an open or closed position as required by the process. These applications are typically found in the oil & gas, power, chemical, HVAC, and water & wastewater industries. The Bettis…

  • Self-Contained Hydraulic Emergency Shutdown System

    Jim Cahill
    Sergio Vaz Lopes A safety instrumented function (SIF) in a safety instrumented system (SIS) contains a sensor, logic solver and final element. All must function properly in the event of a safety demand to take the process into a safe state in coordination with other SIFs. The final element consists of several parts including the isolation valve, actuator, pressure pilots, test valves and other components as required…

  • Adding Experts in Valve Condition Monitoring

    Jim Cahill
    Fabrice Hoenig Data available in manufacturing and production facilities is growing faster than people can process. In a Process Industry Informer article, How Valve Condition Monitoring Reduces Plant Downtime , Emerson’s Fabrice Hoenig highlights this challenge: The vast amount of data that is generated about equipment condition and performance offers a great opportunity to engineers, but it can be overwhelming to…

  • Digital Valve Services for Improved Operational Performance

    Jim Cahill
    For process manufacturers & producers, the performance of final control elements including valves, actuators and regulators has a major impact on their efficiency, reliability and variability. Knowing how these final control elements are performing and when they need attention can improve overall operational performance. This short 3-minute video, Digital Valve Services , highlights a portfolio of tools that provide…

  • Understanding Functional Safety Concepts and Final Element Suitability

    Jim Cahill
    Riyaz Ali The world of functional safety has its own tribal language and acronyms, e.g. safety instrumented systems (SISs), safety instrumented functions (SIFs), logic solvers, final elements (FEs), safety integrity level (SIL), probability of failure on demand (PFD), etc. In a Hydrocarbon Engineering article, Keep in the Safety Loop , Emerson’s Riyaz Ali does an excellent job of defining and demystifying these phrases…

  • Exercising Solenoid Valves in Safety Applications

    Jim Cahill
    Joe McHugh Valves used in safety applications tend to stay in opened or closed positions for very long, time intervals. As Emerson’s Joe McHugh explained in a Plant Engineering article, Double up on solenoid safety : …all valves experience stiction if they remain inactive for too long. (Note: Stiction is the friction that tends to prevent stationary surfaces from being set in motion.) These valves must be moved…

  • A Strategic Partnership Driving Valve Operational Performance Improvement

    Jim Cahill
    Jaime Miller Manufacturer and producer reliability teams focus much of their efforts around the large plant assets including pumps, compressors, and control systems to maintain efficient and reliable operations. Valves, actuators and regulators often don’t get this same attention. Yet, these final control elements can have a major impact on the performance of the process. I caught up with Emerson’s Jaime Miller about…

  • Control and Isolation Valve Qualification Testing

    Jim Cahill
    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 and…

  • Improving Control Valve Reliability through Valve Condition Monitoring

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Valve Condition Monitoring Connected Services

    Jim Cahill
    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 performance…

  • Approaches to Partial Stroke Testing Safety Valves

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Assuring Control Valve Quality

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Case Study on Valve Monitoring Connected Services

    Jim Cahill
    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 to…

  • Innovative Slurry Isolation Valve Remote Control

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Wirelessly Monitoring Tank Thief Hatches to Avoid Regulatory Fines

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Globe Valve Basics

    Jim Cahill
    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 valve…

  • Continuous Pressure Relief Valve and Rupture Disk Monitoring

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Pressure Drop across Control Valves

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Advancing RFID-Based Productivity in Process Manufacturing

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Sizing and Selecting Control Valves for Desuperheaters

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Avoid Operational Issues with Proper Control Valve Selection

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Augmented Reality-Based Remote Valve Assistance

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Augmented Reality-Based Remote Valve Assistance

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Partial Stroke Test for Final Elements—Diagnostic Coverage Factors

    Jim Cahill
    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…

  • Partial Stroke Test for Final Elements—Diagnostic Coverage Factors

    Jim Cahill
    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…

This is the official online community site of the Emerson Global Users Exchange, a forum for the free exchange of non-proprietary information among the global user community of all Emerson Automation Solution's products and services. Our goal is to improve the efficiency and use of automation systems and solutions employed at members’ facilities by sharing our knowledge, experiences, and application information.

User Groups | World Areas | Community Guidelines | Legal Information | Privacy Policy | Contact Community Manager

Website translation provided by Website Translator

© 2015-2022 Emerson Global Users Exchange. All rights reserved.