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Badak LNG is one of the largest natural gas liquefaction plants in the world, located in Bontang, Indonesia. There are 8 process trains - capable of producing 22.5 Million Metric Tons Per Annum of LNG - and they use steam turbines for driving power generation and refrigeration compressors. On January 27, 2011, a routine inspection detected several cracks on a 24” #600 gate valve located on a steam line.

It is human nature that what does not trouble one, should not worry one. But, it is critical to think about how many times during field operations we evaluate or examine functionality of valves.

As many companies and producers of energy are looking toward establishing a cleaner future, a great amount of consideration is being put into the environmental impact of various fuels. While oil and gas will continue to be used in many industries for the foreseeable future, Hydrogen has earned a reputation as the next new form of reliable energy.

Shortly after the inception of the Yeary Controls SharktoothTM technology, Zwick Valves and Yeary & Associates, Inc. (Y&A), launched a co-operation that has since resulted in the production of hundreds of rotary style Zwick/SharktoothTM control valve packages. By combining the technology with the Triple Eccentric Butterfly Valves (TOV’s), the two companies created what is now a field-proven line of 2” to 54” in 150 thru 900 ANSI Pressure Class automated and manually actuated control valves.

Rangeability and stable control have always been an issue when it comes to controlling varying flow rates and pressures in gas pipelines. This is made even more difficult in FEEDGAS inlet for a Liquefaction facility, especially when gas is supplied from multiple sources held by different owners that have different pressures and flowrates.

With 23-years of maintenance and reliability management experience in the chemical industry, Alex Chen has a unique opinion on reliability. Comparing the reliability of equipment to the lifespan of humans, Alex vividly illustrates the history of equipment reliability engineering, and explores how ‘full-life-cycle reliability’ is key to success in this latest interview.

The market for valves in the power industry will grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2% over the next 30 years. It is predicted that this already massive market will increase further as the innovation needed to reach the net zero CO2 initiative occurs. This in turn will require coal and nuclear plants to allocate more spending to valve technologies.

What is a casting irregularity? What does it look like? Could you identify an irregularity in a valve casting upon first inspection? Surprisingly many cannot and irregularities are often overlooked, even by experienced technicians and engineers. The documentation and imagery found in the MSS SP-55 standard is very important to the manufacturing process. Can you spot the irregularity in this cast valve?

Piping design is an integrated process which combines designers, engineers, and end users. Covering a lot of ground, a piping designer needs to not only be knowledgeable, but creative and approachable. Charles Johnson, Senior Piping Designer for Evergreen Engineering, spoke with Valve World Americas to explain how he became what he calls a piping design artist, and why this is an integral role in the industry.

Business opportunities are emerging for valves suppliers because more customers are committing to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions operations. Clients’ efforts to reduce their emission footprints have added a new layer to the complexity of the valves market, stimulating the development of low-emission, zero-carbon products and technologies.