Control valves in severe service applications face extreme operating conditions, including high pressures, extreme temperatures, corrosive substances, and abrasive media. Traditional control valves often fall short, leading to frequent maintenance, performance issues, and costly downtime. Specifying the right control valves ensures long-term reliability and their ability to withstand the harshest conditions.
Severe service conditions subject control valves to challenges like cavitation, flashing, and noise, which are often the result of high fluid velocities and major pressure drops.
Another severe service phenomenon is choked flow, where fluid flow reaches a limit despite higher pressure. This condition increases cavitation and flashing risks, making it critical to specify valves that can handle extreme environments.
When specifying control valves for severe service, several design elements become essential for performance and durability.
Choosing the right materials is vital in harsh, high-temperature environments. Hardening processes like CVD-5B, a boron diffusion treatment, resist erosion and corrosion, tolerate temperatures up to 1200°F, and extend valve life. Trimteck’s valves also use alloys like Hastelloy, Monel, and titanium for resistance to chemicals and extreme temperatures.
In severe service, managing fluid flow within the valve reduces cavitation and noise. Multi-stage trims like Trimteck’s ST-2 and ST-3 handle high pressure by gradually reducing it across restrictive paths. This process prevents bubble formation, reducing erosion risks. The ST-3 trim also cuts noise by up to 30 dBA, minimizing pressure and turbulence.
For lower cavitation risk, Trimteck offers single-stage trims like the ST-1, which directs bubbles toward the cage center to protect valve surfaces.
Valve seats must deliver a tight shutoff while withstanding erosion from high-velocity, abrasive flows. Trimteck’s ST-5 Venturi seat manages flashing by directing erosive force away from key components to replaceable sections. Similarly, our ST-4 stacked disc trim uses grooved discs to gradually lower pressure, providing erosion resistance for abrasive flows.
Trimteck’s AccuValve™ software simplifies severe service valve specification by analyzing fluid properties, operating pressures, and flow rates to recommend optimal configurations. AccuValve’s™ features include:
With over 30 years of experience, Trimteck has become a leader in severe service control valves, helping industries like oil and gas, power generation, and petrochemical. Our team collaborates with clients to meet the unique requirements of severe service, equipping each valve with the best materials, trims, and designs.
To learn more about Trimteck’s severe service solutions or to explore how AccuValve can help you specify the ideal control valve, reach out to a Trimteck representative or try out our AccuValve software.