Technical reports relevant to the knife-gate valve industry often have minimal substance and are likely to be the sales pitch of a supplier, says Liam Cusack of Insamcor.
Cusack says that a user will often unwittingly accept this presentation at face value. A further anomaly, he says, is that many of these suppliers are not manufacturers, but are merely middlemen in a highly competitive industry.
The content of many pieces purport to look at the benefits of surface-grinding the blades of knife-gate valves, says Cusack. These pieces often make slanderous, but indirect, reference to opposition manufacturers, accusing them of employing inferior production methods and of hiding faults in quality by overdesign of the product.
Cusack comments that the misinformation on the supplier&rstone crusher manufacturers in south africasquo;s part plays on a traditional area of weakness in all knife-gate valves, which is the leaking of medium through the transverse seal. A blade that is bowed so as not to allow the proper seating of the transverse seal, could cause such leaks, he says. However, in practice it is more likely to be material adhering to the blade that damages the seal when the valve is actuated, he adds.
The resulting bypass of medium is not only unsafe and unsightly, but can damage the valve beyond repair, used zenith wheeled crushing equipmentsays Cusack. He says that the flatness of the blade that is achieved by surface- grinding is subsequently not the panacea that it is purported to be. Further, he says, some manufacturers attempt to overcome this problem by creating the tolerances of the valve with an extremely tight specification, resulting in extremely high torque rates being needed to operate the valve.
Surface-grinding stainless steel blades, says Cusack, serves only to reduce the thickness of the blade, weakening it and leaving behind mcalcination of arsenic processicroscopic tendrils, which encourage the adherence of medium. He says that Insamcor’s solution is to select full thickness stainless steel plate and to measure it for flatness and lack of porosity, after it has been laser cut to the desired shape. These blades are then highly polished by experts, using the best automated technology available. The result is a blade that does not easily attract adherence and at the same time retains the full thickness and strength specification by the company.
Cusack says that the researchstone crusher machine for sale in gabon of seals led the company to the creation of a moulded seal, incorporating the transverse seal that fits accurately into machined recesses in the body of the valve, doing away with the O-ring cord that was, and remains, a huge area of concern in the traditional knife-gate valve. It also resulted in a significant reduction in the torque required to operate the valve.
Experience and a desire to excel drove the company to look further at the robust and often unyielding environment in which its valves are used. A glanused portable bandsaw milld, or stuffing box, was added to the valve at the point of exit of the blade from the body. This produced a valve that could be maintained while in line under full working pressure, Cusack says, adding that it makes dripping valves unnecessary. To ensure that the gland seal is merely a maintenance feature, he says, each individual valve is tested to full pressure, using only the moulded transverse seal.
Cusack comments that the company then went further, incorporating into the design of the top-works safety features and features to ease installation of instrument components. He says that the already robust wafer pattern body was redesigned, culminating in a ring flange that extends the applications of the valve exponentially.
The company has accomplished this and can continue to do more, striving for customer satisfaction in every sphere of its manufacturing process, with quality and accuracy being a constant guide, Cusack concludes.