High Performance Butterfly Valves

Valdisk High Performance Double Offset Butterfly Valve
Courtesy Flowserve - Valtek

Industrial process control applications can present stringent and challenging performance requirements for the physical equipment and components that comprise the process chain. The valves employed in fluid based operations need to be resistant to the impact of extreme fluid conditions, requiring careful design and selection consideration to assure proper performance and safety levels are maintained in a predictable way.

Industrial valves intended for extreme applications are generally referred to as severe service or high performance valves. While there are plenty of published and accepted standards for industrial valves, one does not exist to precisely define what constitutes a severe service valve.

So, how do you know when to focus valve selection activities on severe service or high performance valves, as opposed to those rated for general purpose? There are a number of basic criteria that might point you in that direction:

• Extreme media or environmental temperature or pressure
• High pressure drop operation that may cause cavitation
• Rapid or extreme changes to inlet pressure
• Certain types or amounts of solids contained in the fluid
• Corrosive media

Certainly, any of these criteria might be found in an application serviceable by a general purpose valve, but their presence should be an indicator that a closer assessment of the fluid conditions and commensurate valve requirements is in order. The key element for a process stakeholder is to recognize when conditions are contemplated that can exceed the capabilities of a general purpose valve, leading to premature failure in control performance or catastrophic failure that produces an unsafe condition. Once the possibility of an extreme or challenging condition is identified, a careful analysis of the range of operating conditions will reveal the valve performance requirements.

There are numerous manufacturers of severe service or high performance valves, each with specialized product offerings focusing on a particular performance niche. Flowserve, under their Valtek brand, manufactures the Valdisk high performance butterfly valves ranging from NPS 2-52 and ASME class 150, 300, 600, 900, 1500 pressure ranges. The valve design is ideal for manual or automated actuation, installed with a manual hand gear, electric actuator, or a pneumatic actuator. Seats are available as soft or metal on this double offset butterfly valve that provides tight closure for bi-directional flow. Construction materials include carbon steel and stainless steel. A range of options and variants are available to customize the valve build to suit a replacement or new installation.

There is more information available about the Valtek high performance offering. You can always get more information and discuss your special requirements with a valve specialist. They have application experience and access to technical resources that can help with selecting the right valve components to meet your severe service and high performance applications.

Application of Rugged Dump Valve and Liquid Level Control on Separator

Model 1450 Valve
Courtesy SOR

SOR, a globally recognized manufacturer of measurement and control equipment and instruments, recently published an application note about the use of two of their products in combination.

The SOR® 1600 Series level controllers are designed for liquid level and interface control applications calling for either modified percent (throttling) or quick opening (snap) pneumatic service. The device is fully mechanical and provides a pneumatic output signal.

SOR's Model 1450 valve is a close-coupled control valve designed to meet pressure and erosive applications common to the oil and gas industry. The intended applications for the valves include controlling liquid level on 2 or 3 phase gas separators, gas dehydrators, compressors, scrubbers, heat treaters, well test systems, and other oil field equipment. Ease of maintenance, rugged steel construction, hardened trim, application flexibility, and a range of safety features are all designed into the product.

The application note illustrates how these two products provide control of a separator. Whatever your fluid process control application, share your challenges with process control specialists, combining your process knowledge with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

Separator Control with liquid level control and dump valve from Instrument Specialties, Inc.