Activity

  • Valves for Frequent Cycling, High Pressures and Temperatures

    Jim Cahill
    David Leavitt described an application of high-cycling valves in a dehydration process at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas. I recapped his presentation last week in a post, Triple Offset Valves and Molecular Sieve Adsorption Applications . He compared rising stem ball valves and triple offset valves (TOVs) used in these applications. David describe a concentric butterfly valve design, a dual…

  • Triple Offset Valves and Molecular Sieve Adsorption Applications

    Jim Cahill
    Adsorption , different from absorption, is the process of the: … adhesion of atoms , ions or molecules from a gas, liquid or dissolved solid to a surface . [1] In process manufacturing operations, adsorption is sometimes used in dehydration or purification processes. In the oil & gas industry, this method is used to dehydrate and remove contaminants from natural gas. At next week’s 2018 Offshore Technology…

  • Simplifying Oil and Gas Production Site Installations and Operations

    Jim Cahill
    Consider the flow path of oil & gas production from the well head. The first stop is typically the production separator where the oil, gas, condensation, water, brine and other fluids and sediment get separated. Traditionally, for multi-well sites, there is a test separator so that each well’s production composition can be assessed. In this arrangement the wells are connect to both a test and production manifold, with…

  • Wellsite Valve Manifolds Simplified —By Joseph Zawacki

    mark.nymeyer
    : Connecting multiple production wells or flowlines to a test separator normally requires multiple valves, each of which has to be opened by hand to connect each well in turn. In addition to valves and shutoff devices, such a system requires considerable piping. A multiport flow selector (MPFS)—with automatically actuated control—is safer, less expensive, lighter weight and more compact than conventional systems. The…

  • Analyzing Vibration in and Around Control Valves—By Shawn Anderson and Adin Mann

    mark.nymeyer
    Excessive vibration can cause damage to a control valve, measurement equipment and the piping system. It’s often difficult to find the source of the vibration, which can originate not only with the control valve, but also with upstream and downstream piping and equipment. This article discusses modern techniques to help monitor, predict and solve problems caused by vibration. Solving valve vibration problems is difficult…

  • Solving Control Valve Vibration Challenges

    Jim Cahill
    The production areas of many process manufacturing facilities can sometimes seem deafening. Some of this noise may be attributed to excessive vibration surround equipment such as control valves, piping and instrumentation. Emerson’s Adin Mann and Shawn Anderson have written a great Flow Control article, Analyzing Vibration in and Around Control Valves to look at the causes and remedies for excessive vibration. Many…

  • Isolation Knife Gate Valve for Medium-Slurry Mining and Minerals Applications

    Jim Cahill
    Many manufacturing processes have challenging fluids flowing through their pipes and vessels. Mining and minerals have some of the most challenging with abrasive and corrosive solids in the flowing fluids. In a Valve magazine article, Challenges of Medium Density Slurry Service in Mining and Mineral Processing , Emerson’s Mike Gordon describes innovations in knife gate valve technology to address these slurries. …

  • Isolation Knife Gate Valve for Medium-Slurry Mining and Minerals Applications

    Jim Cahill
    Many manufacturing processes have challenging fluids flowing through their pipes and vessels. Mining and minerals have some of the most challenging with abrasive and corrosive solids in the flowing fluids. In a Valve magazine article, Challenges of Medium Density Slurry Service in Mining and Mineral Processing , Emerson’s Mike Gordon describes innovations in knife gate valve technology to address these slurries. …

  • Valve World Feb 2018, Dangers of Non-OEM Valve Parts, by Karl Lanes

    mark.nymeyer
    Although an inexpensive, replicated part may look the same as an original part and may fit into the valve being repaired, it does not meet the original valve manufacturer’s design specifications. This article describes the problems with non-OEM parts, and explains why parts from the original valve manufacturer are far superior. Non-OEMs supply valve parts to the process industry at prices up to 30 to 40 percent less…

  • Eliminating Troublesome Tubing

    mark.nymeyer
    This article describes how valve actuator instrument tubing can be subject to abuse and damage from vibration and environmental extremes, and shows how Fisher actuators solve these types of problems. Valve actuator instrument tubing is often subject to abuse. It can be damaged by rough handling during shipping or transport. Workers tend to lean ladders against it, stand on it, pick up valves by grabbing onto the tubing…

  • Control Valves and IIoT

    Jim Cahill
    At the 2018 ARC Industry Forum, ARC Advisory Group’s Ralph Rio led a session, How OEMs improve Customer Satisfaction and Revenue with IIoT. The description for the session was: Using IIoT to monitor the equipment allows the OEM to identify an issue at their customer’s site before it affects the end user. Condition monitoring helps prevent unplanned downtime and improve asset performance. Mitigating the problem before…

  • Control Valves and IIoT

    Jim Cahill
    At the 2018 ARC Industry Forum, ARC Advisory Group’s Ralph Rio led a session, How OEMs improve Customer Satisfaction and Revenue with IIoT. The description for the session was: Using IIoT to monitor the equipment allows the OEM to identify an issue at their customer’s site before it affects the end user. Condition monitoring helps prevent unplanned downtime and improve asset performance. Mitigating the problem before…

  • Saving Project Timelines and Costs by Avoiding Control Valve Over-specification

    Jim Cahill
    Control valves are a critical part of process manufacturing processes and require great care in selection and specification. But what if the specifications are too stringent impacting both cost and lead times? The costs and delays can have an impact on the overall performance of a capital project. In a Processing magazine article, How To Avoid Over-Specifying Control Valves , Emerson’s Janelle Prusha shares valuable…

  • Planning and Tools for Successful Shutdowns, Turnarounds and Outages

    Jim Cahill
    No matter what you call them—shutdowns, turnarounds & outages (STO)—they are a time that manufacturers and producers must race the clock to repair and restore their production equipment to minimize financial losses from lost production. Valves are some of the critical assets that need to be checked and serviced. They touch the process directly and face the wear and tear caused by the fluids flowing through them over…

  • IIoT in Steps for Monitoring Valve Health

    Jim Cahill
    Manufacturers and producers can improve safety, reliability and efficiency by applying additional sensors, analytics and experts. Difficulties in installation have held back these improvements, but the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies have significantly reduced these barriers. One example of IIoT in action is featured in a Valve magazine article, Monitoring Valve Health via the Internet . Emerson…

  • Are your Control Valves Gold Plated? How to Avoid Over-Specifying Control Valves

    mark.nymeyer
    This article describes issues often seen when reviewing end user technical specifications, and shows how process engineers can specify just what they need – and no more – when ordering valves, actuators, positioners and related accessories.

  • Tank Blanketing Pressure Regulation Calculations

    Jim Cahill
    In an earlier post, Sizing Tank Blanketing Regulators , we described changes in the API Standard 2000 – Venting Atmosphere and Low-Pressure Storage Tanks with the release of the 7 th edition. Emerson’s Steve Attri highlighted the changes from the prior versions of the standard and how these changes affected the sizing requirements of tank blanketing pressure regulators. I received an email with some questions about…

  • Low-Bleed or Standard Relays for Control Valves?

    Jim Cahill
    Happy New Year everyone! I hope your holidays helped to recharge your batteries and get you off to a great start for 2018. I saw this exchange in my email over the holidays about the effects of using low-bleed relays with Fisher DVC6200 digital valve controllers for control applications as compared to standard relays. This question was in response to a blog post from many years ago, Positioner Pneumatic Pressure Bleed…

  • Control Valve Noise-Induced Vibration Solution

    Jim Cahill
    A presentation from this past October’s Emerson Exchange conference on control valve vibration problems was recently published by ControlGlobal.com. The article, Ethanol plant learns why pipe cracks , describes the problem-solving path to address this situation. Emerson’s Shawn Anderson and Adin Mann joined in an ethanol energy producer’s presentation to share the story of how the teamed with the plant staff to determine…

  • Reliable Control Valve Performance in Ethylene Production

    Jim Cahill
    Olefins, also known as alkenes, are unsaturated hydrocarbons, use to make many petrochemical products such as plastics. Olefin production, including ethylene, propylene and butadiene products, requires tight control for higher throughput, more energy efficient, and more reliable operations. In an article from The Chemical Engineer, Increasing Ethylene Conversion and Plant Reliability , Emerson’s Blake Coleman describes…

  • Fugitive Emissions Compliant Ball Valves

    Jim Cahill
    In 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published Leak Detection and Repair, A Best Practices Guide . Here is how the EPA describes this guide . Leaking equipment, such as valves, pumps, and connectors, are a large source of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and volatile hazardous air pollutants (VHAPs) The Leak Detection and Repair: A Best Practices Guide – is intended for use by regulated…

  • Improving Valve Total Cost of Ownership

    Jim Cahill
    An important metric for driving continuous improvement in the process industries is total cost of ownership (TCO). One of the methods to lower these costs is to standardize and limit variations on the plant equipment across sites and geographic locations. In a Flow Control magazine article, Improve Total Cost of Ownership with Valves , Emerson’s Christof Lindner shares ways that standardizing equipment, suppliers,…

  • Reliable Switching Valves for Ethylene Production Molecular Sieve Applications

    Jim Cahill
    For a valve, zero leakage is defined as no visible leakage when tested at high pressure with water and low pressure with air according to existing international standards. Some of these seat leakage standards for control and isolation valves include ANSI/FCI 70-2/IEC 60534-4, API 598, MSS SP-61 and ISO 5208. ANSI/FCI 70-2 and IEC 60534-4. Emerson’s Vanessa triple offset valves (TOVs) were the first to provide bidirectional…

  • Bulk Liquids Storage Pressure Control and Overfill Prevention

    Jim Cahill
    You only have to watch accident investigation videos such as the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s Filling Blind video to understand the importance of pressure control and overfill prevention strategies for storage tanks in oil & gas liquids production, refining and distribution of petroleum products. This is precisely the subject of the next webinar in the Bulk Liquids Storage Terminals webinar series which will take place…

  • Selection Criteria in Compressor Anti-Surge Valves

    Jim Cahill
    Some of the most consistently popular posts here on the blog involve compressor anti-surge control. It’s a condition in centrifugal and axial compressors where a flow reversal condition can occur. Wikipedia defines centrifugal compressor surge as: …the point at which the compressor cannot add enough energy to overcome the system resistance or backpressure. [26] This causes a rapid flow reversal (i.e., surge). As…

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.