https://www.miningweekly.com

Company offers valve solutions for abrasive, slurry applications

ARVALV KNIFE-GATE VALVES Unlike traditional push-through knife-gate valves, the partially-energised seats remain in their natural state when the gate is retracted

SPECIALIZED FOR SLURRIES The ARVALV and DeZURIK ranges are able to handle abrasive fluids making them ideal for mining applications

10th November 2017

     

Font size: - +

ARVALV through-port knife-gate valves have long been the product of choice for challenging abrasive and scaling applications at plants and facilities where extended service life is a must, states valve and instrumentation supplier AR Controls.

The ARVALV range is manufactured, stocked, and serviced by AR Controls, which boasts the largest product inventory of any similar company in Africa.

“The fact that we are a leader in the African valves industry means that we can back up our ARVALV range with dependable service, in addition to offering competitive pricing and good lead times,” AR Controls director Julien van Niekerk comments.

A particular design feature of the ARVALV range is that, unlike traditional push-through knife-gate valves, the partially-energised seats remain in their natural state when the gate is retracted. This is due to the unique through-port gate, which makes permanent contact with the seats, even when fully open.

“Slurry knife-gate valves [that use] fully energised sleeves, [which] need to expand sufficiently to form a seal with the gate retracted, are prone to premature wear, [owing] to entrapped solids, which damage the seat the next time the gate is closed,” AR Controls mechanical engineer Sune Huyser explains.

This problem is eliminated by featuring a through-port gate, which not only results in an extended service life, but increases plant availability as well.

Van Niekerk states that the ARVALV range has been tried, tested, and proven to deliver superior performance in the following: dewatering slurries (such as ferrosilicon), cyclone suction/feed applications, dense-media separation (DMS), concentrate transfer, booster and tailings storage facility tailings, pump isolation applications, wet and dry hopper applications, pulp and paper feedstock, and pulp and paper liquor applications.

Importance of Valve Selection
The trend to pump slurries over longer distances at higher solids concentrations has necessitated the use of application-specific valves, as Van Niekerk explains that these severe applications have high pressures and are very abrasive.

Another factor to be taken into consideration is that the media conveyed is often corrosive. “In general, engineers designing for process efficiency find that material and equipment capabilities pose the most serious limitations on allowable process conditions,” Van Niekerk notes.

The most abrasive media found in the mining industry are slurries resulting from hard ore types and ferrosilicon. The media and process properties vary in different parts of the extraction process. In metal-extraction mines and plants, for example, abrasive slurries are found in the milling, cyclone, and DMS circuits, again in concentration feed and tailings, and to a lesser degree in flotation and thickener areas.

Particle size, shape, hardness, and density all play an important role, as well as the angle of impact on the wear surface. Pumping the media at a high solids concentration, pressure or velocity also leads to elevated levels of abrasion. These wear effects are exacerbated when throttling abrasive media.

“If the media transported is abrasive, it is best not to install valves on the bend of a pipe, or on a Y-joint,” Van Niekerk cautions. It is also important to consider whether the application is bidirectional or unidirectional, and to ensure that valves are installed in accordance with the installation instructions provided.

Rubber-lined gaskets may be convenient to use, but can pose problems for certain gasket-free or integrated-gasket valve designs, he adds. “It is best to investigate the gasket valve requirements in the early project phase to ensure that rubber lining is not applied on the mating pipe flange faces,” Van Niekerk states.

When carrying out a valve selection, it is important to not only look at the process conditions, but also to consider the general installation environment. For example, the media might not be corrosive, but the environment may very well be.

“It is always best to use full port valves in slurry applications. Valves with a torturous flow path or with an element directly in the flow path, such as butterfly, globe and weir-type diaphragm valves, will wear prematurely in slurry applications. This refers back again to the importance of valve selection,” Van Niekerk elaborates.

AR Controls offers unique products for when there is a requirement for the throttling of abrasive media. In addition to the aforementioned ARVALV range, the DeZURIK RCV rotary control valves have been engineered specifically for high-precision throttling control in severe-service applications where high-pressure media contains entrained water vapour or suspended abrasive particles.

These valves combine the control accuracy of globe valves with the strength of severe-service ball valves. The valves are available with a tungsten carbide or heat-treated nickel overlay plug. Various other valves are available for abrasion isolation applications. “We also offer customers the option of using remote-mount electro-pneumatic positioners, rather than having the positioner mounted directly on the valve,” Van Niekerk highlights.

The positioner and its complementing air-preparation equipment are supplied in a plug-and-play stainless steel pneumatic enclosure that can be custom-made according to individual requirements. Mounting the positioners remotely in enclosures helps protect the positioner from environmental damage, and is ideal when valves are in hazardous or hard-to-reach installations. This also prevents tampering and unauthorised entry to the equipment.

“Materials technology has a direct impact on the valves industry,” Van Niekerk comments. Advanced materials and coatings are being developed continuously. However, even though innovation can be rapid, market readiness is important, as resistance to change can be a large obstacle to advancement.

Valves specialists can identify suitability issues early on, and, hence, it is best for them to become involved from the outset. “They will be able to offer the best solution for the most challenging applications. Working closely with a specialist valves supplier will certainly help to reduce cost of ownership and downtime,” Van Niekerk elaborates.

It is also important to inspect valves regularly in order to detect signs of wear and failure early enough, so that valves can be maintained or repaired before they become irreparable.

Edited by Zandile Mavuso
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

Comments

Projects

Showroom

Stewarts & Lloyds
Stewarts & Lloyds

Stewarts & Lloyds today supplies steel and tube, pipe and fittings, valves, pumps, irrigation, fencing, profiling and roofing products. The cash...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Multotec
Multotec

Multotec, recognised industry leaders in metallurgy and process engineering help mining houses across the world process minerals more efficiently,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.132 0.168s - 91pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now