Vesconite aids with plant cooling

of energy production but also reduce emissions.” According to Pandolfi, the transition to hydrogen and renewables, in general, will have an impact on all aspects of the industry, including valves and valve applications. Looking at hydrogen in particular It will be necessary that valves meet specific requirements and comply with stringent safety standards. This is because it requires specialised materials. After all, in a liquid state, it has very low temperatures but is still highly combustible. In the hydrogen environment aspects such as seal, and tightness will be very important and zero leakage will become predominant. Paolo Carrera, a Business Executive at H2 Energies, says the global energy transition is being led by new technologies and valve manufacturers are going to have to stay up to date with new developments. “Governments are incentivizing the transition through incentives and enforcing mechanisms, but the private sector is going to have to be willing to invest to create the change going forward. They are also going to have to take some risk while new common standards and levels will have to be set across industries and regions.” Valentina Depetri, the senior technology process engineer at Wood, the company that pioneered the high-pressure steam methane reformer design, says to produce hydrogen sustainably, it is not just important to optimize the consumption of low feedstock fuel to reduce CO2 emissions, but also to supply solutions that allow a reduction in the time and cost of setting up plants. When it comes to valve manufacturing and hydrogen there will also be changes in the materials used for construction as they will need to withstand extreme temperatures and be able to perform under various conditions. The use of carbon steel, for example, is expected to decrease while technology materials such as duplex will in all probability be preferred. As the transition towards hydrogen takes full effect and the energy transition gains momentum going forward, companies are being advised to gear up for the change now. It is also important to remember that oil and gas operations, while still in the running for some time to come, will ultimately be downscaled significantly. Valve professionals need to prepare for this transition sooner rather than later.

Industrial Valve Summit, info@industrialvalvesummit.com, industrialvalvesummit.com

A global petrochemical company, headquartered in South Korea, has ordered 20 pump bushings made of Vesconite Hilube, a premier-grade bearing material.

The bushings will go into vertical-turbine pumps that supply sea water to a petrochemical plant for cooling purposes. The order for suction, line-shaft and pumpbowl bushings, is made up of bushings of significant size, with outside diameters ranging from 170 to 230 mm, inside diameters from 135 to 180 mm, and lengths from 180 to 240 mm. “Vesconite Bearings has significant experience in providing pump bushings that come into contact with sea water,” describes pump application expert Phillip de Villiers. “Our pump parts are widely used in desalination and sea-water-cooled plants,” he explains. Vesconite Hilube bushings survive well in salt water and, unlike metal bearings, do not corrode. In addition, they do not swell and can be machined for close clearances, which reduces vibration and improves pump efficiencies. Cooling with the use of sea water is popular in coastal areas since it eliminates the use of scarce fresh water.

It is regarded as a sustainable technology, since there is typically no contact between the water and contaminants and the water can be released back into the sea with only a slight change in temperature being observed.

Vesconite Bearings , +27 (0) 11 616 1111 vesconite@vesconite.com, www.vesconite.com