Tag: valves

The Houston Port region’s make up is so unique that there is no blueprint out there showing how to improve its economic development activities/assets, transportation infrastructure, workforce development entities, and investment protections. For this reason, Economic Alliance has established itself as the convening entity in identifying, prioritizing, and promoting issues of Houston Port region significance.

Hydrogen is expected to play a significant part in the low-carbon future that lays ahead. When interacting with the production and handling of any fluid, valves are not only necessary but critical to successful operations. A valve design in a hydrogen application requires two types of materials; metallic materials when dealing with high pressure and cryogenic temperatures, and non-metallic materials for overall static and dynamic sealing and seating. Hydrogen however, poses a unique challenge for the materials selection for valves. Due to its small size, hydrogen can diffuse into metallic and non-metallic components and, once there, can interact in deleterious, and not-yet-understood, ways with the material’s internal structure. Read on to learn more about hydrogen and its related damage mechanisms in common valve materials.

Having worked for several years with Saudi Aramco, and currently assigned as a project engineer covering capital programs, Mohanned W. Tarabzouni is a real expert when it comes to valves for oil and gas applications. During a recent conversation, Mr. Tarabzouni was kind enough to discuss his experiences in specifying and procuring valves for pipeline projects.

Pipelines are vital in production, distribution, and refining processes, as they deliver energy to various operations where it is turned into useful fuels and products for supply to local communities. There are many products commonly delivered by pipelines, including: crude oil, refined products (such as gasoline and diesel), and natural gas liquids (such as ethane and propane).

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. As oil and gas will continue to be used in many industries for the foreseeable future, liquid natural gas (LNG), has become used more frequently, especially in various aerospace applications

When assembling bolted flange joints, reliability engineers, industry experts, gasket manufacturers, and almost anyone with ‘skin in the game’ agree that utilizing best practices is paramount to overall joint integrity, reliability, and most importantly, safety. A great deal of time and resources have been devoted to identifying those best practices and to training plant maintenance personnel and contractors on proper flange bolt-up.

Norgren’s extensive portfolio of VR Series valve manifold solutions has expanded with a comprehensive array of connectivity options for industrial users. With new communication protocols, Norgren’s valve offering paves the way for a complete connected pneumatic solution as well as a one-stop-shop for valve manifolds.

The Nuclear Power industry is extending the operating lifespan of its reactors. Originally, reactor lifespan was planned for 40 to 60 years and is now extended to 60 to 80 years. This life extension requires regulatory approval and verification that safety-related components can meet their new service (qualified) life objectives.

The danger of overextending budget or completion times (or both) is constant, hence tight management of the project is constantly required. It is therefore interesting to look at how large engineering projects are developed and how valves are incorporated into them.

This article discusses a technology approach of design & development of Knife Gate Valves consistent to the AWWA C-520 industry standard. It also describes AWWA C-520 testing requirements and an approach to qualification that goes well beyond.