Watson Valve Services Inc. has announced that the Barrick Technology Centre R&D titanium ball valve ball and seat with a chrome oxide coating was unaffected by environment test.
The half-inch Titanium/CrO ball valve spent approximately 480 hours in service at temperature and pressure over a period of about two years. There was no catastrophic failure to the half-inch ball valve. A leak in the soft seal was the only issue. The typical autoclave temperature was 225 C (437 F) with total pressure of approximately 455-psig for multiple pilot runs.
The purpose of the R&D half-inch Ti/CrO ball valve was to study the level of corrosion upon failure. The test environments that ran were autoclave pilot programs for Goldstrike ore feed and Pascua Lama concentrate feed – both acidic at discharge where this valve was exposed (with approximately 20-g/L H2SO4 free acid and 60-g/L H2SO4 free acid). This valve acted as the primary discharge isolation ball valve which sees the hot acidic slurry but not duty cycled like the discharge valve.
The Watson Coatings Lab metallurgical evaluation concluded the chrome oxide coating was unaffected by the test environment with no excessive wear to critical parts.
About Watson Valve – Watson Valve Services specializes in the custom design, repair and modification of severe service ball valves. Our line of severe service ball valves is unique because we utilize over 50 years of experience and proven coatings technology of our sister company, Watson Grinding & Manufacturing. Our valves have been proven in Autoclave Operations, Mining and Chemical plants around the world. We are ISO 9001:2008.