Engineers who design safety systems are always mindful of a few basic truths: Anything can fail, so there should always be a backup. And sometimes, backups need backups. Looking at how this concept applies to pneumatically operated emergency shutdown (ESD) valves, and other similar on/off valves, is the main topic of Emerson’s Jeff Welch’s article in the November 2020 issue of Chemical Engineering.
To summarize, mechanical equipment such as shutdown valves, control valves, actuators, and accessories such as positioners are designed keeping in mind a plant’s life of around 25 years. Though you may not find any written or stated document from any supplier or manufacturers since mechanical deterioration depends on many parameters like internal process-related conditions or external environmental conditions, operating media (air, hydraulic fluid, etc.), proper care exercised during application selection & sizing, and more.
New technologies that are truly different often depend on a “killer app” to convince users to take the leap. For the Internet early on, it was email. Suddenly being able to communicate near instantaneously in writing provided visible value people could latch on to, and the rest is history. For industrial users, digital transformation has been similar. How and why it has been adopted in many locations is the topic of Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo’s article in the October issue of Control.
Ruediger Niebel describes the use of two-stage pressure regulators in high-pressure hydraulic applications to avoid damaging cavitation conditions.
In this storage terminal safety podcast, we are joined by Emerson’s Kurtis Jensen to discuss specific technologies that provide the highest level of reliability and safety. These technologies enable technicians, users and operators to detect issues and monitor for correct valve positions with and reduce the number of times they need to send staff into hazardous locations.
Valve actuators drive the movement of valves either in on/off, modulating or control service. These actuators can be powered manually, pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically. For electric actuators, there is a great, educational YouTube series, Introduction to Valve Actuation and Electric Actuators.
A 4-minute YouTube video, Sempell Turbine Bypass Valves explains how these steam conditioning valves control steam with greater efficiency and accuracy. These valves include unique steam atomizing steam desuperheating nozzles, tailor made trims, and pressure balancing features to support a wide range of applications.
In a Flow Control article, Understanding and solving control valve cavitation problems, Emerson’s Thirumalai Karthik (TK) Arasu opens highlighting the potential severity of cavitation.
Michelle Schulze shares how upstream oil and gas production sites must comply with limits on VOC emissions, and this effort is a good time to examine all the related equipment.
In a Flow Control article, The evolution of the butterfly valve, Emerson’s Joanne Lunsford describes some of the advances to for this important technology in manufacturing and production processes.
In a LinkedIn essay, Transform to Valve 4.0: Digital Control + Analytics, Emerson’s Jonas Berge describes how the performance of control valves can be more effectively managed and maintained for better operational performance.
In manufacturing processes with flowing fluids, control valves are among the most important equipment to keep the process operating smoothly and reliably. For those not experienced in their design and operation, AIChE's CEP magazine has a great article, Evaluate...
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The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the authors. Content published here is not read or approved by Emerson before it is posted and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Emerson.