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Optimizing Additive Manufacturing in the Chemical Industry
14 days ago
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Optimizing Additive Manufacturing in the Chemical Industry
Jim Cahill
In the chemical processing industries, additive manufacturing (AM) technologies have made parts production faster and less expensive, and they can be used to produce parts with more complex designs than possible with traditional manufacturing techniques. This prototype valve body was printed with hollow breakaway supports for development testing. Metal additive manufacturing allows for shorter lead times and quicker…
15 Mar 2024
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Oil Refineries and Beyond
Jim Cahill
Across the globe, many pathways are being pursued to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Oil refineries emit a relatively small proportion of GHG emissions directly, but the fuels they produce create substantial emissions when combusted for power generation and transportation. Our article in the February 2024 edition of Hydrocarbon Engineering , titled “ Refinery Greenhouse Gas Reduction Pathways ,” discusses strategies…
14 Mar 2024
Using Control Valve Diagnostics to Optimize Turnaround Planning, Testing and Execution
Jim Cahill
During the Emerson Exchange EMEA 2024 , Chand Basha Chittoor, staff engineer E&A at the SABIC Centre of Excellence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, informed delegates how the company optimized turnaround planning and execution using control valve diagnostics. Turnarounds at SABIC petrochemical plants are performed approximately every five years, with 15 days typically maintenance window available to undertake the required…
13 Mar 2024
Transforming Production with Fluid Power and Robotics
Jim Cahill
In today competitive landscape, manufacturers are facing lots of pressure to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and keep workers safe. One common solution they rely on, to address these challenges is usually found in Robotics. For example, in the automotive industry alone, more than one million robots are currently utilized. They play a critical role in the transformation of the factory floor, and one element is particularly…
5 Mar 2024
Mitigating Costly Industrial Noisy Environments
Jim Cahill
ECI is one of the independent businesses in the Emerson Impact Partner Network . They are the industrial automation and process control partner for manufacturers and producers in the United States’ western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, western Maryland, and Ohio regions. ECI’s Brian Weaver wrote The Cost of Hazardous Occupational Noise & Benefits of New Noise Reduction Technologies . Brian opens the piece with the challenges…
4 Mar 2024
Hydrogen Blending to Decarbonize the Natural Gas Grid
Jim Cahill
The long-term strategy in Italy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through decarbonization focuses on increasing energy efficiency, electrification of end uses and switching to alternative fuels. Within the residential sector, to meet 2050 emissions targets, around 30% of final consumption will be of alternative, renewable fuels. The use of hydrogen aims to reach 2% by 2030 and 20% by 2050. In Italy, gas transportation…
1 Mar 2024
Butterfly Valve Innovation Solves NAMUR NE 167 Requirements
Jim Cahill
Emerson’s Karin Pharr presented Valve Innovation Solves Requirements of NAMUR NE 167 To Yield Sealing, Safety, Emissions Performance at the 2024 Emerson Exchange Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany. Here is her presentation abstract: Chemical producers rely on valves to ensure a safe work environment for personnel, reduce fugitive emissions and maximize plant productivity. In an effort to harmonize design and function…
28 Feb 2024
Overcoming Fugitive Emissions in Isolation Valves
Jim Cahill
Emerson’s Horst Balau presented Solving the Fugitive Emission Challenge for Isolation Valves at the 2024 Emerson Exchange Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany. Here is his presentation abstract: Fugitive emission reduction has become a business imperative for plant operators as governments sharpen their focus on environmental protection, and sustainability credentials become a barrier to entry. With valves as the largest…
27 Feb 2024
Digital Valve Controller Employs Edge Computing
Jim Cahill
Valve controllers play a vital role in industrial processes, ensuring that control valves are positioned accurately under changing process conditions. Building upon fifty years of valve controller improvements, the new Fisher FIELDVUE DVC7K digital valve controller offers unparalleled performance and data analytics, as discussed in my article in the January 2024 edition of Industrial Automation Asia , titled Next Generation…
12 Feb 2024
New Noise Reduction Technology for Gas Pipelines
Jim Cahill
Natural gas pipelines tend to produce loud noise as gas flows through pressure regulating valves. This is usually not a problem in isolated locations, but when neighborhoods develop or expand nearby, it becomes a pressing issue. Our article in the January 2024 issue of Pipeline & Gas Journal , titled “ New Alternatives for Noise Reduction in Gas Pipelines ,” describes the difficulties of pipeline pressure reduction…
6 Feb 2024
Power Industry Valve Application Video Series
Jim Cahill
Valves are critical in many power industry applications such as boiler feedwater & recirculation, superheat attemperation, turbine bypass, and more. In this YouTube Fisher Valves & Instruments Power Industry Application Series , you can learn about the role that Fisher control valves play in the power industry. These videos detail the purpose, operation, challenges, and solutions for control valves in these applications…
1 Feb 2024
Control Valve Challenges in Carbon Dioxide Transport and Sequestration
Jim Cahill
As climate change progresses, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), is critical. Spurred by government subsidies and mandates, CO 2 sequestration projects are underway across the globe. My December 2023 Automation.com article, titled Control Valve Selection for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Pipelines and Injection Systems , discusses the unique considerations involved in selecting…
25 Jan 2024
Finding the Value in Control Valve Data
Jim Cahill
In a world awash with digital data, many tend to assume that more data equals more value, but the reality is that data only becomes valuable when it is analyzed and acted upon. In my article titled “ Transforming Valve Data into Dollars ,” published to Automation.com in November 2023, I discuss a new software application that converts raw control valve data into actionable information. The evolution of analytics …
10 Jan 2024
Gain Asset Health Insights with Emerson’s Digital Valve Controller
Jim Cahill
In many applications, control and on-off valves are subjected to regular position changes and constant contact with process media, causing wear and tear that must be monitored to prevent operational issues. Control valves are typically operated with a 4-20mA signal sent from a remote automation system, but without valve position feedback, drift from the intended setpoint can occur. On-off valves are simpler to control…
3 Jan 2024
Mitigating Shutdown, Turnaround, and Outage Issues
Jim Cahill
Plant shutdowns, turnarounds, and outages (STOs) have never been simple, but in recent years they have become even more challenging due to labor shortages and difficulties procuring parts. My article in Processing , titled “ Rethinking shutdown, turnaround, and outage planning ,” discusses the impacts of these challenges on STO planning and execution, and it offers strategies to minimize their effects. Increasingly…
19 Dec 2023
Mitigating Shutdown, Turnaround, and Outage Issues
Jim Cahill
Plant shutdowns, turnarounds, and outages (STOs) have never been simple, but in recent years they have become even more challenging due to labor shortages and difficulties procuring parts. My article in Processing , titled “ Rethinking shutdown, turnaround, and outage planning ,” discusses the impacts of these challenges on STO planning and execution, and it offers strategies to minimize their effects. Increasingly…
19 Dec 2023
Detecting Bellows Damage in Pressure Relief Valves
Jim Cahill
Pressure relief valves (PRVs) provide critical overpressure protection in many industries by venting excess process media when necessary. PRVs often include bellows in applications with relief valve headers subject to backpressure, but bellows may be damaged by cycling or corrosive chemical applications, causing significant performance impacts and environmental leakage that may go unnoticed for years. My article in…
11 Dec 2023
Pneumatic Controllers Revived by Flexible, Configurable, Digital Process Controller
Jim Cahill
It’s said that nothing succeeds like success, but after years and decades pile up, initially successful innovations can result in huge installed bases that can be challenging to service and maintain. In this article on Emerson’s New Digital Process Controller Brings Simplicity and Flexibility to Single Loops | Emerson US, learn how digital process controllers reliably upgrade performance, safety and compliance by making…
6 Dec 2023
Advanced Diagnostics for Electric Actuators
Jim Cahill
Due to stringent greenhouse gas emissions regulations, as well as ongoing technical advances, electric valve actuators are proliferating across process industries, but until recently, these actuators have lacked comprehensive diagnostic and monitoring features. This situation is changing for the better, as we explain in Hydrocarbon Processing November 2023 article, titled “ Maximizing the Advantages of Electric Actuator…
28 Nov 2023
Easy and Effective Oil Separator Retrofit Improves Operation
Jim Cahill
Due to more stringent methane emission regulations, natural gas-powered level control systems in oilfield separators are no longer practical. Thankfully, many of these separators can be retrofitted easily with new electric level control technologies, as discussed in my article, titled “ Improved oil separator control strategies ,” in the October 2023 edition of Process Instrumentation . Please find a summary of the article…
21 Nov 2023
Advice at the Device™︎ for Your Valves
Jim Cahill
I wanted to ensure you saw the news: Emerson’s New Digital Valve Controller First to Offer Embedded Edge Computing to Streamline Workflows, Optimize Performance . With the ongoing exodus of expertise due to retirements across the globe, having Advice at the Device can help. The Fisher FIELDVUE DVC7K is the industry’s highest performing, most reliable valve controller and the first to include embedded prognostics …
16 Nov 2023
How Reliability Improves Sustainability
Jim Cahill
While high reliability clearly entails high availability, what is less obvious is that reliability also enhances sustainability. My column from the October 2023 issue of InTech , titled “ Executive Corner: Reliability Through the Lens of Sustainability ,” explains why. When devices such as relief or isolation valves do not operate reliably, undesirable emissions can escape to atmosphere, wasting materials and potentially…
16 Nov 2023
Advantages of Digitized On-Off Valves
Jim Cahill
Automated on-off valves play important roles in many systems, including starting and stopping batch processes, routing process fluids, filling and emptying tanks, backwashing filters, performing safety shutdown functions, and more. These valves are often required to operate reliably for years of continuous service. In both new and existing plants, smart valves featuring microprocessors and digital communication capabilities…
13 Nov 2023
Improving Performance with Digital On-Off Valves
Jim Cahill
I’ve often written about how digital valve controllers improve control valve performance and ongoing maintenance. But how about on-off valves? In this Valve World Americas featured story, How Digitized On-Off Valves Improve Operations , Emerson’s Riyaz Ali explains how the: …data provided by smart on-off valves can be used to increase uptime, reduce maintenance costs, and improve safety. Riyaz opens the article…
25 Oct 2023
Reducing Valve Fugitive Emissions
Jim Cahill
Driving more sustainable operations requires a look at many areas to find ways to optimize and reduce emissions. One place to focus is the valves and the actuators that drive their movement. In a CHEManager International article, Innovative and Disruptive Automated Valve Package offers Decarbonization Solution , Emerson’s Knut Riegel shares how advancements in valve actuation technology fitted on isolation and shutoff…
12 Oct 2023
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