Blog - Post List

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Advice for Choosing a Valve Repair Company for Your Next Outage

    Jim Cahill
    Choosing a valve maintenance company that you can trust is difficult. During a shutdown or outage, you want your plant back up and running as quickly and safely as possible , while staying within budget and completing reliable repairs. Here are some tips from an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) on what kind of provider you should choose to protect your assets. Tip 1 – Investigate their “valve service expertise…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Next-Generation Knife Gate Valves for Dewatered Tailings Applications

    Jim Cahill
    Efficient tailings disposal is an important financial and technical concern in many mining operations. As mines strive to recycle more water in their processes, transporting tailings has become much more difficult. My article in the July/August 2023 edition of North American Mining , titled “ Selecting Knife Gate Valves for Severe Tailings Service ,” addresses this issue. It discusses the impact of water recovery operations…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Continuing Innovations in Control Valve Noise Reduction

    Jim Cahill
    Those that work in and around processing plants and production facilities know how loud these processes can be. As fluid flows through piping, changes in flow rates and pressures can create noise. In an Automation.com article, How Additive Manufacturing Leads to Quieter Control Valves , Emerson’s Grady Emswiler and Mike Hoyme explain how this: …sound is created by very high pressure drops across a valve, which generates…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Unique Challenges for SAF Control Valves

    Jim Cahill
    Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a renewable alternative to the fossil fuels that have historically powered most aircraft. Compared to conventional fuel production, SAF production poses particular challenges for control valves. Below is a summary of our article in the August 2023 issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering, titled “ Control Valve Selection for SAF Production ,” which discusses these challenges and offers suggestions…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Specialized Control Valves for Semiconductor Ultrapure Water Applications

    Jim Cahill
    Effective production of minuscule silicon chips requires water with close to zero impurities. This ultrapure water must be produced in a system made up of special components, including control valves with very specific features. The latter issue is the subject of my article in the June 2023 issue of Processing, titled “ Control Valve Selection for Semiconductor Ultrapure Water Applications ,” please find a summary below…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Valve Actuator Automated Connectivity

    Jim Cahill
    Andy Le and Tom Mullins presented Optimizing Automated Valve Connectivity – Go Intelligent Electric Actuators at the 2023 Ovation Users Group Conference. Andy opened by showing the broad portfolio of valve actuators. The electric-powered actuators include electric quarter-turn- and multi-turn, electric spring return, and small electric quarter-turn. There are two main variations of the Bettis RTS design:  a CM or…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Using Sustainable Initiatives to Achieve Decarbonization Goal

    Jim Cahill
    “Emerson is committed to supporting customers during this transition to sustainable energy,” — Scot Bauder, Sales Director Sustainable Industries for Flow Control products at Emerson. As the globe grapples with the critical need to combat climate change, meeting decarbonization targets has become critical. Environmental sustainability programs have gained popularity in response to growing greenhouse gas emissions. …

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: An Alternative to Balanced Bellows in Pressure Relief Valves

    Jim Cahill
    Pressure relief valves (PRVs) protect pipes, manifolds, and vessels by relieving overpressure conditions. For applications that do not vent directly to atmosphere, PRV designs with metal bellows can eliminate the effects of backpressure, but these devices are prone to failures. Below is a summary of my article in the July 2023 issue of Processing, titled “ Addressing bellows failures in relief valve applications ,”…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Control Valve Selection for Turbine Bypass Applications

    Jim Cahill
    Turbine bypass valves are subject to frequent thermal cycles, high pressure drops, and the need for tight shut off. My article in the May 2023 issue of Power , titled “ Turbine Bypass Valve Challenges ,” provides methods of inspection to prevent their failure. Surviving severe service Turbine bypass valves are used to bypass steam turbines during plant startup and shutdown, as well as when a turbine trips off-line…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Designing & Specifying Process Automation Parameters to Drive Performance

    Jim Cahill
    A plant’s performance can be optimized at the intersection of capital equipment, production processes, and people.  Done correctly from the start through the selection of technologies and how they are deployed can lead to higher levels of productivity, reliability, safety, and sustainability. The Industrial Impact of Process Automation Process automation has become more and more important as the bar is getting progressively…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Control Valve Environmental Packing Improves Performance

    Jim Cahill
    Packing selection used to be relatively simple, but more stringent environmental regulations have made it much more challenging. Low-emissions packing solutions provide compliance, along with other benefits, as shown in my article in the June issue of Hydrocarbon Processing , titled Added Benefits of Control-Valve Environmental Packing . Packing basics In all control valve applications, the valve stem must move…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Three Steps to Maximize Your Next Outage with a Data-Driven Valve Maintenance Strategy

    Jim Cahill
    Are you asking yourself why we prioritize the same valve list over and over again for every outage? When you started as a reliability or maintenance engineer, your manager handed you a list of valves to service during each outage. You’ve been using that list repeatedly at this point and you may occasionally discover that certain valves don’t require maintenance during the outage. If you are creating your own valve list…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Improve LNG Operations with Optimized Joule-Thomson Control Valves

    Jim Cahill
    Control valves in liquified natural gas applications must operate reliably under high pressure and cryogenic temperatures to achieve gas separation and liquefaction. This is especially true for the main cryogenic heat exchanger (MCHE), where the closely-coupled Joule-Thomson (J-T) control valves feeding the MCHE help optimize the operation of the most critical area in the entire process. My article in the Apr 2023 issue…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Accelerating Hydrogen Infrastructure: Key Insights in Our Whitepaper

    Jim Cahill
    Hydrogen-fueled vehicles are becoming increasingly common, highlighting the need for reliable and efficient hydrogen fueling stations . However, building on such a large scale poses unique challenges that demand innovative solutions. Our new white paper How to Effectively Control Flow of Hydrogen Fuel to Improve Safety, Reliability, and Fueling Rates at Dispensing Stations explores the challenges and solutions to scaling…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: The Top 4 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Improve Your Next Outage

    Jim Cahill
    You just completed your outage. You are ordering pizza for the team and starting to get back to a normal shift schedule. As you’re getting back to business-as-usual, you are finishing up open items and making sure there are no issues with any of the units that were brought down for maintenance. Now, it’s been a few weeks, a month after the units are all up and running and it’s time for the post-outage review. Capturing…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Pressure Relief Valve Continuous Monitoring for Affirmative Defense

    Jim Cahill
    Emerson’s Marcio Donnangelo and Marcelo Dultra presented Reducing Data Complexity on Affirmative Defense Claims with PRV Monitoring System at the 2023 4C Health, Safety & Environmental Conference. Here is their presentation abstract: Despite the efforts to stay compliance, operation isn’t totally free from unauthorized events to happen. If that happens, Affirmative Defense should be considered. However, not knowing…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Cutting Control Valve Noise

    Jim Cahill
    3D printing is driving innovative low noise designs. Control valve noise is created by very high pressure drops across a valve, which generate high vapor velocities as a process fluid moves through the narrowed valve body passages. Low noise trim designs have been used to address this issue, but these are costly and reduce flow capacity significantly. A new solution uses parts made with 3D alloy printing, as we explain…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Meeting Regulatory Requirements with PRV Monitoring

    Jim Cahill
    At the 4C Health, Safety & Environmental Conference , Emerson’s Ricardo Garcia and Mo Fazl presented New Regulation Compliance Through PRV Monitoring Technologies. Ricardo described how pressure relief valves are the last line of defense for over- and under-pressure conditions. They are self-operated mechanical devices that are typically off-grid/not connected, are pervasive across most plants that, can cause emissions…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Reduce Fluid Flow Noise Without Pressure Drop

    Jim Cahill
    In an earlier post, Reduce Process Noise Without Pressure Drop , I shared a brief video about how the Fisher WhisperTube Modal Attenuator offers full-bore aerodynamic noise reduction for all sources upstream, with no impact on process flow. In this 9:51 video, Fisher WhisperTube Product Demo , Emerson’s Shelby Daniels explains in detail how this technology is a passive reactive silencer that reduces system noise across…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: How Electric Actuators Aid Sustainable Mining Operations

    Jim Cahill
    Gianfranco Conti, Emerson’s regional sales manager for Latin America, and Lyndon Dean, Emerson’s business development manager for Australia/New Zealand, recently published an article in the April 2023 issue of Global Mining Review on pages 27-30. It is titled “An Electric Alternative” and it describes how advances in functionality and performance are making electric actuators the preferred alternative in many mining applications…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Reduce Process Noise Without Pressure Drop

    Jim Cahill
    Oftentimes, compressible fluid flowing through piping creates high aerodynamic noise levels. These noise levels can induce safety concerns for plant staff, leading to equipment damage through vibration and process control issues. It’s critical to address this challenge to operate safely and reliably. One way to address this challenge is with the Fisher WhisperTube Modal Attenuator . This technology offers full-bore aerodynamic…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Isolation Valve Emission Reduction

    Jim Cahill
    Isolation valves are widely used throughout industrial plants and facilities worldwide. Though most perform well for their primary purpose of isolating one area of a process from another, many older models emit excess emissions. Regulations regarding these types of emissions are becoming much more stringent, as is pressure to improve upon corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. In my March 2023…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Duke Energy Addresses Attemperator Issues

    Jim Cahill
    Duke Energy’s Heat Recovery Steam Generator Engineer Eugene Eagle and Emerson’s Director of Steam Conditioning Group Justin Goodwin recently published an article in the February 2022 edition of Power Engineering. The article is titled How Duke Energy Addresses Attemperator Issues,  and it describes the deployment of a new steam atomization attemperator design that allowed Duke to reliably and safely run their combined…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Managing and Protecting Storage Tanks

    Jim Cahill
    At the 4C Health, Safety & Environmental Conference , Emerson’s Dean Barnes and Mo Fazl presented How to Control and Reduce Tank Vent Fugitive Emissions and Maintenance Costs and Quantify Releases Through Proper Product Selection and Remote Monitoring. Here is his session abstract: Tank venting equipment such as blanketing regulators, thief hatches, pressure/vacuum relief valves and emergency vents are needed to safely…

  • Valves, Actuators & Regulators Blog: Pressure Relief Valve University at the 4C Conference

    Jim Cahill
    This week, the 4C Health, Safety, Environmental Conference returns to Austin, Texas. Here are notes from a detailed class on pressure relief valves (PRVs) conducted by Emerson’s Dean Barnes, Warren Booth , Ricardo Garcia , Marcio Donnangelo , Marcelo Dultra , and Mo Fazl . Here is the abstract for this class: Pressure Relief Valves are generally not well understood by environmental professionals. There is an assumption…

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