November
2016
57
HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
T
he oil and gas industry continues to confront
some of the most difficult valve application
challenges. Companies are required to address
environmental concerns regarding emissions,
human resource concerns around safety, as well as
increasingly demanding regulatory requirements, to name a
few. Out of these challenges comes greater demand for
high performance products, services and technical
expertise that ensures these concerns are first understood
and then addressed in the most reliable and cost effective
manner.
The following case studies highlight how innovative
valve solutions, technical expertise and experience, and a
total focus on the needs of the customer can help to
improve operations, address regulatory concerns and
ensure the safety of the plant and personnel in various
downstream and chemical processing industry
applications.
Case study: challenging refinery
processes
The delayed coker process is crucial to a refinery’s
profitability. Coking is one of the most hostile
environments in the refinery, with process temperatures
of 1000˚F/538˚C, that yields a very abrasive and erosive
coke byproduct. In this application, valves are cycled
more frequently than those in other parts of the refinery
and failure can cause complete unit shutdown. A refinery
in Canada realised these costs first hand when the
facility's plug valves were locking up on a routine basis. A
Julie Bodine,
ValvTechnologies, Inc.,
USA,
explains how
effective and innovative
valve design and proper
implementation can
increase process safety,
reliability and efficiency.
A study in
solutions
