How to Keep Things Running Smoothly

Four Tips to Keep Valves Running Smoothly and Efficiently

You wouldn’t make a major equipment investment, bring it home or to the plant, and then ignore it. You’d follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions, respect the recommended break-in period, and maintain that equipment following the schedule that the manufacturer advised.

Valves should be treated no differently.

CPV Manufacturing’s valves serve a multitude of functions. Many are put to use as severe service valves. They control essential (and sometimes expensive) equipment, and they protect the equipment and its surroundings.

Our valves are manufactured to meet or exceed the highest performance, dependability, and overall quality standards. Like any high-performance machinery, they must be handled properly from the start to ensure that they will last and operate at their peak. Here are four guidelines that will help keep your operations running smoothly, efficiently, and profitably.

Proper Commissioning and Installation

Before installing new valves or equipment, or before a new plant is constructed or goes online, the pipes and equipment should be cleaned or flushed. Particles of debris can clog or damage the valves. Commissioning equipment before starting operations will significantly reduce the risk of damaging the valves or system. It will also help guarantee the valves’ performance, especially their ability to shut off tightly and open quickly at the appropriate times. It will help to protect your equipment and ensure that once the facility is up and running or operations resume, it will remain in operation.

During installation in pipelines,  CPV O-SEAL® Valve Spacers replace O-SEAL® valves, as the extreme heat from welding and brazing would damage the O-SEAL®. The spacers can be reused later for maintenance operations any time there is a risk of contamination or damage to the O-SEAL®.

Spare Parts

Unforeseen circumstances however minor have a way of becoming problems. Regardless of how much care has been taken, there are times when something unexpected will pop up and a valve will suddenly become in need of immediate repair. Depending on the circumstances, these surprises can bring production to a halt.

Custom manufactured parts, should they be needed, could take days, weeks, or even months to replace. Downtime can be drastically reduced by having valve replacement parts on-hand whenever practical.

The potential financial loss from a full or even partial temporary plant shutdown can far outweigh the price of keeping a few spare parts on hand.

Preventive and Proactive Maintenance

It’s a lot easier and much less expensive to prevent a fire than it is to extinguish one and/or rebuild after one. It’s a lot easier and way more cost effective to prevent valve failure than it is repaired and clean up resulting messes after a failure.

Lack of proper maintenance can lead to inefficient operations, equipment or valve failure, or plant shutdown…followed by a resulting financial expense and loss of income.

A well-trained, dedicated preventive maintenance team will be able to carry out the majority of its work to keep the plant running smoothly while the equipment continues to operate. Maintenance that cannot be done during operation should be done during scheduled downtimes.

In order to simplify some maintenance procedures, CPV offers three types of O-SEAL® flush plugs. Under-Seat and Over-Seat flush plugs have threaded connections in the top of the plug for connection to the flushing pump. Flow-Thru plugs allow the flush to flow through without contaminating the O-SEAL® valve cartridges in valves located in the middle of the section being flushed.

More information about maintaining your CPV valves is available here.

Monitoring and/or Advanced Diagnostics

The ability to plan maintenance and tackle potential problems proactively, before they become a problem, can make a world of difference. This is especially true for severe service valves, where the use of advanced diagnostics is strongly recommended. Along with careful monitoring, advanced diagnostics will go a long way in helping to signal a need for attention before problems arise or become worse.

Properly functioning valves are crucial to safe and efficient operations at any plant. Ensure they operate at peak performance by taking care before and during installation as well as after.