Sister companies Steinmüller Africa and Bilfinger Intervalve Africa worked together recently on a project to improve output quality in the paper industry.
Steinmüller Africa and Bilfinger Intervalve Africa worked together to improve the efficiency of the steam system of a paper mill.
Valve supplier Bilfinger Intervalve Africa improved the steam system of a paper mill to increase efficiency and productivity and reduce operational costs.
“Top performers in the paper and pulp industry are constantly striving to increase productivity and quality while minimising costs,” says Peter Underhill, Technical Sales Consultant of BIA. The main aspects that typically need to be addressed to achieve operational excellence are reductions in energy costs, chemical use, production downtime, and process variability. “The functions of control valves in the paper and pulp industry are diverse and the correct selection, monitoring, and servicing of control valves can result in financial return for clients,” he says.
The use of smart positioners on control valves, as well as emergency shutdown valves, has additionally enabled clients to gain greater benefits. “The Fisher DVC2000 and DVC6200 series digital valve controllers add the accuracy of the valve position together with valve diagnostic capabilities that determine the health of the valve,” Underhill notes.
Using the information downloaded from the device, either from advanced diagnostics or online performance diagnostics, maintenance programmes can be adjusted to focus on the more problematic valves. This will prevent the need to remove and strip valves that are in good condition, which in turn reduces costs and time spent on repairs. Overlaying downloads obtained from valves over time can assist the client in moving to predictive maintenance and reducing expensive stockholdings of spares.
In the initial stages of a project, Steinmüller Africa undertakes the careful selection of control valves for its clients, ensuring that the valves perform the correct function, and are of the correct style and size. As certain valves have been specifically designed to operate in different applications – valves used in incorrect applications can lead to unwanted process variability. The use of incorrect valves can lead to cavitation or flashing damage, excessive plant noise and poor control in areas such as basis weight, affecting paper quality. Incorrect sizing of the control valve can result in the valve not operating in a suitable control range, leading to the possibility of excessive wear and loss of controllability.
With Steinmüller Africa’s expertise, all three prime components of the control valves – the valve body, actuator and positioning – work in harmony with one another to meet the client’s control requirements. Poor performance of any of these components can lead to poor control of the process, leading to unacceptable process variability that can seriously affect the user’s bottom line, Underhill explains.
“In conjunction with control valves, it is important to be aware that good quality, hand-operated or automated isolation valves should be used in certain applications to protect the control valve,” Underhill says. “Bilfinger Intervalve Africa has a wide range of quality products to serve this role,” he says.
Steinmüller Africa and Bilfinger Intervalve Africa are members of the Bilfinger group of companies. They provide comprehensive solutions for power, mining, petrochemical and pulp and paper industries.
For more information visit: www.steinmuller.bilfinger.com
