Asia Pacific China – June, 2012. Emerson Process Management’s control valves have effectively proven their superior performance in a China chemical plant. The Fisher® Control-Disk™ valves, mounted with the FIELDVUE DVC6000 with Performance Diagnostics successfully reduced process variability by allowing valve control to be closer to the set point.
Cabot Bluestar Chemical (Jiangxi) Co. Ltd., is the world’s largest producer of fumed silica, a high grade component in electronics, automotive and industrial use. Located in Tianjin, China, the company is a joint venture between Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) and a Chinese partner, the China National Bluestar Group. The fumed silica facility with a current production capacity of approximately 15,000 metric tons per year is an important investment of Cabot to expand and be close to its customers’ base in China and other growing markets in the Asia-Pacific.
Poor valve performance could lead to problems such as material wastage, off-specification production and loss of revenue. A high process variability would significantly impact the product quality and consistency. High end quality products like fumed silica is dependent on a stable process flow with low variability. However, the valves and devices used in the Cabot’s facility fell short of the desired performance despite several attempts to salvage the situation. Cabot eventually accepted Emerson’s proposal to replace existing valves with the Fisher Control-Disk valve and DVC6020PD to resolve the recurring condition.
The inherent equal percent characteristic and low dead band of the Control-Disk valve offers excellent throttling performance and allows flow control to be closer to the set point. After installation, the results were immediately evident and the product quality of the fumed silica improved. The powerful combination of the Fisher Control-Disk with DVC6020PD also makes it easy for plant maintenance.