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Date Published:
27 March 2015

Volume 3, Issue 2


Check valves: the basics

Feature
The primary function of a check valve is to prevent the backward flow of liquid or gas. They are often likened to a simple door opening and closing but in reality there are an enormous amount of considerations to take into account depending on the application type, environment and media. With numerous applications in process, industrial, domestic and drinking water systems all requiring some form... [read more]

Dealing with slurry

Feature
There are hundreds of types of valves and thousands of variations within those types. Some are phenomenal when used in clean services or chemicals but will not perform well in light or heavy solids. A good example would be a virgin Teflon seated ball valve, one of the go-to products for clean liquids and chemicals. Every engineer or maintenance manager faces valve challenges when dealing with... [read more]

Staying in control in nuclear facilities

Feature
Valves used in the nuclear sector typically perform one of four functions: isolation, non-return (flow check), over-pressure relief, and modulating/throttling. The most demanding type are the modulating control valves, which must be highly engineered to regulate fluid variables such as flow rate, liquid level, temperature and pressure within precise ranges to maintain safe and efficient reactor... [read more]

Bending the rules

Feature
The valve automation market is continually shifting. Since the recession, manufacturers and suppliers of valve automation equipment have had to begin to adapt to accommodate factors that have altered their role in the supply chain. ‘Valve automation suppliers are expected to have a more active role in project development now,’ says Paolo Baroni, global marketing director for Pentair... [read more]

A crucial choice

Feature
Lube oil manufacturing plants are being built or expanded around the world to cope with increasing demand – most of which originates in Asia. Perhaps not surprisingly, China is projected to win the top spot from the USA in lubricant consumption within six or seven years. And in India, the third-largest market in the world, annual demand has recently topped 2 billion litres. In both... [read more]

Handling hazardous fluids with hermetically sealed pumps

Feature
Europe’s largest fully integrated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production plant is located in the north of the German Ruhr region. The plant produces the plastic material polyvinyl chloride (PVC) using ethylene and salt as raw materials with intermediate products ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride. In 2002, ABEL supplied its first electromechanical diaphragm pump for pumping polyvinyl... [read more]

A difficult liquid

Feature
There are certain liquids which, due to their composition, characteristics, or how they react to process conditions (and in some situations, a combination of all three) will present challenges to achieving efficient, trouble-free pumping. Emulsions are an example of a ‘difficult’ liquid and users should be aware of the potential problems that can occur if the ‘wrong’ type... [read more]

A historical project

Feature
The UNESCO World Heritage site of Mont St Michel, Normandy is the second most important tourist attraction in France, attracting more than 2.5 million visitors each year. Built on a rocky outcrop one kilometre offshore between the mouth of the Couesnon River and the English Channel, the 1,000-year-old abbey overlooks one of the largest bays in the world – where the tidal rise of up to 15m... [read more]

Multiple factors propel vortex flowmeters into the spotlight

Feature
Eastech was the first company to introduce vortex flowmeters to the market in 1969. These meters were then popularised by Yokogawa in the early 1970s. Since that time, other major suppliers such as Emerson Process Management and Endress+Hauser have entered the market. Other companies with a significant market presence in vortex include ABB, Krohne, Schneider- Foxboro, and Vortek Instruments. How... [read more]

Taking the stress out of fiscal measurement

Feature
Fiscal measurement encompasses allocation and custody transfer flow measurement, where allocation is the assignment of product quantities to owners, leases or individual source streams, while custody transfer involves change of ownership of the material transferred. In both cases the results may determine royalties to be paid, purchase amounts, and how much tax must be paid, so the measurement... [read more]

Coupling safety with flexibility

Feature
On 6 August 2013, EMCO Chemical Distributors opened a new 300,000ft2 corporate headquarters and manufacturing/distribution facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, US. EMCO is one of the 10 largest privately owned distributors, blenders and custom packagers of industrial chemicals, specialty chemicals and fine ingredients in the US, and the 44th largest in the world, with more than $300 million... [read more]

Something in the water

Feature
As global conditions place more stress on water resources, a great deal of attention is being paid to water reuse technologies, particularly those that facilitate the reuse of the next level of difficult-to-treat or highly variable raw water sources. New hollow fibre ultrafiltration membrane technology is proving to be key to successful water reuse strategies for available water sources,... [read more]

Conducting a clean process

Feature
In the drinks industry, plants are almost exclusively cleaned using a Clean-in- Place (CIP) process. The measurement of conductivity is particularly important during CIP cleaning, as conductivity can be used to monitor and control many of the automatic processes. Modular multichannel measuring devices ensure a high level of process reliability and also offer the user the additional benefit of... [read more]

Designing safety into hazardous liquid processes

Feature
A £1.6 million (€2.27 million) investment by Landsdowne Chemicals at its Carterton production facility in Oxfordshire, UK, has produced a state-of-art automated facility where safety factors have been designed in at every stage of the potentially hazardous hydrazine hydrate site. Founded in 1977 by George Watkinson- Yull, Lansdowne Chemicals has established itself at the forefront of... [read more]