It used to take workers about three hours to load tank cars at a chlorine manufacturing plant in the
"The new valves are just as safe, easier to use, cost significantly less and give us an important productivity improvement,” said a supervisor at the plant. "Before the new installation, under the best of circumstances we could load seven or eight tankers at each of our four loading stations during a 24 hour day. Now we can load up to nine. Eliminating a distribution bottleneck of this magnitude meant the valves paid for themselves on their first day of use.”
The company purchased five of the Jamesbury ball valve packages, one for each loading station and a spare, from FCX Performance. Each package included the full port ball valve (1-inch 9300C 31 2273 XTZ1 with CT200SR633HASRM) and advanced CINTAC spring return automation and communication package. The CINTAC automation system takes the latest on-off valve monitoring or networking technology and combines it with a pneumatic module and state-off-the-art actuator. This compact integrated package requires no external fixtures, tubing or linkage and includes visual status indication. Any of the valves can be repaired on-site quickly using an $80 repair kit supplied by Jamesbury.
Plant personnel said that the small size and weight of the replacement valves are also a big advantage. The substantially smaller valve packages are easier to handle and fit in a much smaller space envelope. Fewer parts make for easier installation and maintenance. Because the valves only weigh about 17 pounds, compared to around 50 pounds for the globe valves, handling them requires less effort and lowers safety risks for workers at the loading stations.
The CINTAC Advanced Automation System marries the actuator with advanced communication and controls system technology within a totally compact, integrated automation package. CINTAC dramatically simplifies and reduces the cost of automation because it eliminates the need to engineer, procure and assemble separate rack and pinion actuators, switches, solenoid valves, linkages, tubes and fittings. In this case it also improves emergency safety operations around the loading station by making it possible to shutdown the emergency valve remotely.
David Wegner of FCX Performance, a distributor of valves, instruments and controls, noted the customer should not be replacing these valves anytime in the near future. Jamesbury has qualified its stem seals to ISO 15848 and 50,000 cycles at 3.5 to 35 PPM He tightness with 200C thermal excursion. Measurement was with a He mass spectrometer under dynamic conditions. These cycle ratings far exceed those of the linear globe valves the full port ball valves have replaced.
About the author:
Metso is a global engineering and technology corporation with 2004 net sales of approximately EUR 4 billion. Its 22,000 employees in more than 50 countries serve customers in the pulp and paper industry, rock and minerals processing, the energy industry and selected other industries.
Metso Automation specializes in automation and information management application networks and systems, field control technology and life cycle performance services. Its main customers are the pulp and paper industry as well as energy production and processing industries. Metso Automation operates worldwide and has sales and customer support units in 34 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and