At the Valve World 2024 Conference, Emerson’s Knut Riegel presented Selecting Valves for Chemical Process Applications. His presentation addressed the chemical industry’s role in Germany, key principles to meet the needs of this industry, and the engineered valve solutions to address these needs.
Valves are essential in chemical manufacturing and play a central role in the drive for greater sustainability. Sixty percent of fugitive emissions are attributable to valves. Poor seals can increase risk to personnel, cause process inefficiencies, and lead to unplanned maintenance and downtime.
The NAMUR NE 167 recommendations describe the common technical specifications to be observed for industrial valves, adapted to the latest state-of-the-art best practices for design and function. The goal of these recommendations is to harmonize requirements for pressure-bearing and wetted parts of valves to meet the requirements of user organizations in the chemical and petrochemical industry.
NE 167 specifies design criteria, including:
- Safety coefficients of shell materials
- Electrical continuity requirements for wafer-type valves
- Emissions limitations for tightness of the valve to the atmosphere in TA-Luft applications (as certified by EN ISO 15848-1), leakage sealing
- Valve position indication requirements
- Shaft strength and safety (anti blowout)
- Face-to-face dimensional requirements (DIN EN 558 Series 20/25)
Effective valve technology includes PTFE-seated zero-leakage bi-directionally in vacuum and fully rated pressure applications to address fugitive emissions. Utilizes the existing K-LOK family polymer seat technology, designed with a true interface fit but does not rely on line pressure. This seat technology provides reliable valve operation during thermal cycles & high-cycle applications and longer cycle life. This is due to reduced wear between the disc and the seat with enhanced disc alignment.
The proven K-LOK seat design delivers zero leakage shut-off to EN 12266, independent of line pressure and particulates. It is designed for chemical industry applications with full-rated, bidirectional end-of-line (EOL) service with an uninterrupted flange sealing surface to meet EN 12569, NAMUR NE 167, and more.
The K-LOK technology is certified to the most stringent fugitive emissions testing criteria for shut-off valves with ISO 15848-1 Tightness Class BH and Endurance Class C03. The total cost of ownership is reduced with low wear over a high cycle life, no routine packing maintenance, lower actuation torque, and simple seat replacement.
The Keystone K-LOK Series 38 High-Performance Butterfly Valve won the “coveted Valves Award” at the conference. In this brief, under-five-minute podcast, Hydrocarbon Engineering’s Jim Watkins interviews Knut about the importance of this valve technology.
Live from Valve World: Next-generation valve technology-A conversation with Knut Riegel of Emerson
Visit the Chemical Butterfly Valves section on Emerson.com for more information on how these valves can improve the performance of your chemical manufacturing operations.
