Case Studies

To comply with the Clean Air Act, a coal-fired power plant needed to heat flue gas to 455°C (850°F). Watlow engineered a customized design that would meet the customer's needs.

Unlike traditional proportional or even PID control that require a varying output to a modulating control device, time-proportional control can achieve a proportional control response to process variation using an on/off device by varying on and off times in a defined control period.

A local power plant was having issue with clogged nozzles. The nozzles that spray the ammonia to neutralize the NOx began to clog forcing the customer to take the units off line. Because of this, they were not able to produce power at peak time to their customers. Valin designed and assembled a turnkey filtration system that consisted of 10 filtration assemblies with filter housings (for pre-filtration and final filtration), a differential pressure gauge, drain valves on the bottom of filter housings, inlet and outlet valves, and a support stand.

An oil production company was having problems with the freshwater flow lines freezing up in the vertical sections that go through the permafrost layer. All of the frozen lines stemmed from the self-regulating heat trace cable they were using which kept burning out. It would short out at the bend required to fit it down inside the 1” thermowell pipe. The secondary problem was the lack of sufficient heat output when self-regulating heat trace is folded back on itself. With each failure came thousands of dollars in lost production, down time, labor and materials to thaw the line.

A large semiconductor chip manufacturer approached our customer with a unique challenge and opportunity in cooling the highly concentrated acids and caustic chemicals used in production. Click on the 'Read more' button below to learn about the solution that not only helped increase the semiconductor chip manufacturer's throughput, but also helped ensure the safety of their staff.

A provider of ultra pure heating solutions was looking to diversify their product portfolio to offer a new solution to the food and beverage industry. Their challenge was to develop a microbiology media preparation system for food manufacturing QA/QC labs to conduct Pathogen testing for E.coli, Listeria, and Salmonella. The system needed to provide +/-2% of dispense volume accuracy (ISO 6887), weight accuracy of <1%, temperature accuracy of <2%, and traceability.

A life science research organization was working on a project to sterilize the mosquito population by introducing a specific type of bacteria into the mosquito’s body. The aim of this project was to eliminate mosquito-borne diseases. Due to the increase in demand, the company needed a way to increase production scalability. Valin’s engineering team designed a system that included shelving systems, robotic enclosures, transfer fixtures, breeding enclosures and transfer carts. In addition, the main shelving system includes a 6M x 2M dual-driven robot to shelve the mosquito breeding samples.

Valin recently had the opportunity to bid on large specialized dampers for flue gas with a leading engineering and equipment firm. While working with engineers on a smelter environmental project, the Valin team assured them that Valin was very capable of supplying non-standard complex damper assemblies and would use the customer specified actuators with Valin specified controls and accessories. The firm agreed, and submitted a bid package for five 54” heavy duty all stainless dampers with actuators and controls.

A leading supplier of semiconductor-based solutions was looking for ways to improve the efficiency of routine maintenance change outs for their clean room tools. The technicians, many times, were left to carry tools into the clean-room by hand. Occasionally they would use simple clean room approved work carts that were more or less a bench with wheels. They were searching for something that would allow the technicians to be more efficient and organized while they were working in the clean room.

A leading manufacturer of semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment was in need of a filter manifold (skid) for their new N2 on-site generation unit.  The manufacturing company develops innovative solutions that help their customers build smaller, faster, more powerful, and more power-efficient electronic devices.  They use these tools to produce tiny, complex chips for cell phones, computing devices, and entertainment gadgets. The manufacturer of those tools requires them to house on-site nitrogen generators and canisters to store the gas produced from these generators.

Valin provided a solution allowing a manufacturer to reliably test new generation valves at 1550°F securing the proper approvals required by their customer. The end-customer was pleased with this solution, yielding 35% more fuel efficiency.

Meal delivery service company found that they were having trouble keeping up with their rapidly growing success. They decided to modify their assembly line for a more efficient packaging system to increase output. They wanted to do this not only for their California location, but their Texas and New York plants as well. Valin’s sales development team worked with the customer to learn more about their processes. They came up with a design for a framing workstation that eliminated their previous labeling station, scanning station, and order entry station and combined them all into one unit.

A worldwide developer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical products wanted to add workstations, storage racks, and material handling carts to their facility to assist them in the manufacture and repair of medical device products. Valin’s ergonomic designs provided efficiency and comfort to the manufacturing processes. All equipment is in safe reach zones at comfortable heights due to height adjustable work surfaces. It increased employee efficiency, reduced the risk of injuries, improved productivity, and increased revenues. The newly redesigned facility has a modern appearance and the customer is satisfied with the finished product.

A worldwide leader in outdoor television manufacturing was facing a rapidly increasing demand for their products. The company needed to redesign their 100% manual manufacturing process to include automation. Valin’s new process design helped the outdoor television manufacturing company achieve their goals of streamlining their production while keeping a manufacturing workforce in California.

A local refinery was injecting a catalyst into their process stream to strip out the propane-impregnated HF gas (mixed gas is a by-product of the FCC process), but the catalyst would only work at temperatures above 385° F. The presence of elevated HF gas downstream of the reactor was causing reduced life in the valves and instrumentation and they were having to replace these elements often. Valin’s process team analyzed the situation and recommended inserting an electric in-line heater upstream of the catalyst injection along with a control panel.  The customer agreed and Valin’s team began working on the solution.

A large energy company needed to lower costs, reduce maintenance and provide more reliable hydrogen-cooled generators for their customers worldwide. In order to monitor seal oil pressure remotely, provide switch control and be able to instantly view pressure readings, three discrete instruments were needed – a pressure transmitter, a pressure switch and a local gauge. Click on the "Read More" button below to find out how they were able to accomplish all of that with one product.

A global leader in advanced composites technology was looking for a way to automation one of their processes. Part of their process includes coating the fiber they create with a resin that has an extremely precise chemical makeup. The company was starting to wonder if there was a way they could automate such a process when Valin called and asked if we could hold an MTV event at their location. On the truck, we introduced our capabilities with chemical injections and automation controls. They told us of their challenge and asked if we could help them automate their resin mixing.

A semiconductor company was given a large government contract to manufacture a special chip for a night vision application. Learn how they were able to increase wafer production by using a custom heating blanket.

A medical device manufacturer wanted to upgrade a legacy water circulation system for an MRI machine that they build and sell. The water in this system is heated and cooled in order to keep the patient comfortable during a MRI procedure. After reviewing the system, Valin’s automation engineers discovered they could eliminate the use of over 10 relays and 2 of the 4 power supplies. They recommended using a microcontroller with an Ethernet HMI touchscreen display, and a single power supply. Valin’s quote was under the manufacturer’s budget and accepted.

A Valin refinery customer planned a maintenance outage and had an urgent need for two critical valve replacements. Valin's technical specialists worked with their top valve supplier to provide a solution to meet the high-pressure requirements and critical delivery needs.

A company in the spaceflight industry purchased a filament winding machine and was trying to manufacture composite pressure vessels that had a compound curvature. The solution they found was to create an additional axis that could be rotated in such a way that the material would no longer fold over, but the in-house solution was not automated and required manual adjustment of a rotary axis. To add to the complexity of the problem, the OEM was unable to provide a solution and the customer did not want to tamper with the controller on their brand new machines. Valin’s solution was to add a motor-controlled axis.

A manufacturer of natural gas fired steam generators contacted Valin regarding a problem they were having with contamination.  The company used a competitor's product but the local filtration expertise and product availability was becoming a problem between the company and their customers. Valin delivered a new filtration solution that provided a higher confidence in the purity of their gas, and reduced the number of filter cartridge kits that they will need to keep stocked in inventory.

Valin's solution to this high temperature application allowed our customer to do the proper testing on the valves used on major aircraft engines. This overall technology will allow improvements of 40% in fuel efficiencies of the next generation aircraft engines.

A public utility company needed a compact liquid metering solution with a minimal footprint. The company required a LACT unit that could not only accurately measure the produced liquid product, but one that could control the automated requirements and have an interface with truck drivers to load their trucks. Valin’s engineers collaborated over multiple meetings with the public utility company’s engineers to design a system that would satisfy accuracy, performance, and safety issues, as well as consider environmental concerns. Valin listened to the customer and created a system that would outperform older systems and still meet the many requirements.

Valin was approached by a company that purchases natural gas direct from the pipeline, processes it and transports it to CNG filling stations throughout California. They wanted a portable metering system which would allow them to confirm the mass quantities and chemical composition of the natural gas they were purchasing from the pipeline. Valin’s technical specialists designed a portable metering skid that would fulfill the customer’s needs and provided diagrams, drawings, and control schematics.

By adapting serial-based controllers to Ethernet-based networks, customers can lay the hardware groundwork required to take advantage of the Industrial-Internet-of-Things (IIoT) software concepts, allowing quicker response times and proactive maintenance strategies with predictive maintenance

Occasionally customers want to collect information outside of their SCADA systems due to complexity, processing power, or in this case, limited memory being available.  By using simple tools, many tasks can be performed outside of an existing network or supervisory system.

By changing inefficient pneumatic and hydraulic systems to electric ones, companies can be more productive, flexible, and efficient in their production.

Omron’s new NJ501-1340 CPU unit integrates both machine control and communication functionality, meaning the NJ controller can be directly connected with the existing host to establish SECS/GEM communications, eliminating the need of a separate computer or special communications unit. Unlike previous CPU units, the NJ series uses variables for programming and is free from complicated address setting and management.

An Industry 4.0 Workstation is a semi-automated workstation that provides a link between the real world and the virtual world. It is a versatile solution that enables a highly efficient use of resources, great planning, reliability and short throughput times. With unique RFID tags embedded and semi-automated tasks, different operators can effectively produce a large number of different products with consistent quality.

By putting sensors on a network, their information can be transmitted to any location the information is needed.  With this connection in place, software functionality can then be implemented at the supervisory level to decide what to do with that information, whether it is to notify maintenance personnel of a problem or operators of changed conditions.

Valin assisted a customer in upgrading their winding machine to replace a manually controlled axis with a motorized one, allowing them better controlled motion synchronized to one of the existing axes.

Motorizing the feed process increased production, and significantly lowered electricity and labor costs.

By using higher performing electric actuators from the motion control industry to control valves in the process industries, customers can achieve higher performance and better control for their processes.

Applying a liquid solution to a copper twisting machine – CT-Effects Application Example

An aerospace manufacturer contacted Valin regarding a filtration issue they were having in the production of their aircraft brakes. Due to the hazardous material the filter is capturing, the filter is required to be disposed of by an approved hazardous waste facility. The expense of this process was considerable; rebuild costs from the factory, freight costs to and from the factory, and labor costs to dismantle and clean the spent filter cartridge. We presented a unique custom Valin solution: A two-part system requires the initial purchase of a reusable 304SS Filter Support Cartridge and then repeat business for the Slip on Removable Media Pleat Pack.

A hydrogen production plant was having to replace gauges every 30 days and needed a better solution. Valin’s technical specialists recommended an all-welded system gauge and installed it shortly thereafter. The special gauge can be used in many applications where vibration and temperature are a challenge and the customer has experienced on-going gauge failures. The gauge is well-suited for applications in refineries, chemical, power generation and all other critical process applications.

A customer that designs cost effective chemical dispense systems contacted Valin for automation assistance. The customer was finding it challenging to integrate control components from different suppliers, especially when it came to the automated systems. Valin's application engineering and sales team showed the engineers at the company how we could save them money and speed up their delivery time by offering components that we could provide extensive support and training on.

A major refinery was looking for a way to control the distribution and handling of instrumentation products during a dual turnaround. Valin was able to provide a locking cabinet and tubing rack for each side of the turnaround with on-site restocking capabilities. Valin’s material handling solution took the burden off the refinery’s planners and freed up their time to work on more important tasks. The planners no longer have to control or place restocking PO's.

A semiconductor manufacturer of wafer handling machines and wet benches was looking for a way to reduce the engineering hours spent on writing code. Semiconductor companies are commonly required by their customers to be SECS/GEM compliant and this can be a laborious and costly task.

A manufacturer of turnkey chipping systems for the wood products industry needed two large custom designed hydraulic power systems that would be used to power their log management and chipping systems in China. The systems needed to conform to many international regulations and standards (China efficiency, CE, and pressure vessel) and had to be designed to metric standards.

Valin’s technical team was approached by a company that manufactures ammunition for sporting enthusiasts and law enforcement agencies. The customer has an in-house integration group that designs and builds machines for use throughout their facility. The machine design group has always struggled with pneumatic valve manifolds and needed a compact valve manifold with Ethernet/IP communication.

Valin worked with a refinery that was processing approximately 145,000 barrels (5.7 million gallons) of crude oil per day – enough to fill a 17-foot-deep swimming pool the size of a football field. The refinery has a 2 Column Jet Fuel Clay Treater that came online in 1960 with a treat rate of 750 GPM.  This technology is very inefficient and outdated.  The nature of this old design does not optimize the contact time of the Jet Fuel with the Clay and often results in Channeling through the Media.

A leading global automotive components company was having issues with their vertically integrated equipment used to manufacture automotive seating and interior systems.  We assured the auto manufacturer that we had a technical specialist and an application engineer on-site to troubleshoot the issue. We discovered that the issue was with a component in the circuit, not in the PLC. The PLC was performing as expected, turning on its output when it should, but the device on that circuit was not responding. Once the issue was identified, we quickly fixed the problem.

While reviewing accounts, one of Valin’s regional sales managers noticed that a refinery customer had been consistently increasing purchases of filters and housing units for a reactor feed application. In speaking with the engineers, he found out about a major issue they were having with the filters. They showed pictures where the filters were prematurely blinding due to large particulate and when investigating the source of the contaminate, we found they had a pre-filter feeding the main filter housing. 

A leading provider of flat panel display production equipment was looking for assistance with their glass screen production alignment system. During processing the glass must be aligned with a mask. Their alignment target was around 10 microns, so the two parts had to be nearly perfectly aligned. For comparison, human hair is generally considered to measure 15 to 20 microns.

An American car manufacturer was looking to expand their entire production facility, and in order to meet the growing demand for their vehicles, they needed a factory upgrade to increase their manufacturing capacity.

During an observation at a refinery, chemists noticed the sample cylinders currently installed at their facility did not have the latest features specified by the Department of Transportation (DOT) / Cal-OSHA regulations.It was reported to the quality control division where the risk was recognized and resulted in an action item that the Maintenance & Reliability team had to resolve. Valin assessed the issue and recommended replacing the rupture disc with a bushing and relief valve, set at 1800 psi. The recommendation was reviewed with the Instrument Mechanical team leader, a QCD stake holder, the local PED representative for PRVs, the ETC sample gas cylinder subject matter expert, and the PRO maintenance planner/scheduler. Everyone agreed that the change should be implemented and Valin was called in to handle the installation.

A developer and manufacturer of molded-fiber packaging was struggling with controlling the consistency of the pulp feed stock in their manufacturing process. They tried numerous solutions with little to no success. This was due in large part to the fact that they were forced to use numerous vendors for the equipment needed to control their pulp consistency. Their supplies did not offer a full solution to measure, control, and automate their process. The outcome was an inconsistent product that would burn due to a thick pulp stock that dried too fast, or wet stock that took excessive time to dry and wasted time and resources.

There are 27 mines located in a geographically isolated area using fittings and tubing provided by Valin.  Unfortunately, Valin did not have a local office to support the mines with a bin stocking program. To combat this Valin looked at the areas local resources to see if we could partner up with a local vendor that is currently in the mines and can present Valin products to the mines. After an extensive search, a partner was found that had a good reputation and could expand our presence in the mines. 

A major refinery in California turned to Valin to help them solve a problem with their sample cylinders. This customer has many sample cylinders that are used to transport a process sample from a refinery unit to the lab to test for recipe accuracy. They are using cylinders from multiple suppliers to assemble the final units.

When assessing the filtration needs at a major refinery, one of Valin’s technical specialists discovered that there was no standardization in regard to the filters used in the safety showers and eyewash stations.

A large mining operation in Nevada had 33 emergency shower stations that were in need of freeze protection.

Valin recently worked with a highly experienced aerospace automation company with a high concentration of engineers.

Valin provides assistance to plastic resin and synthetic fiber manufacturer with integrated valve solution.

A major refinery in the Northwest (with a production capacity of 225,000+ barrels per day) “Fast Tracked” a project to capitalize on receiving Crude Oil supplies via Rail Car from the Oil Boom region in the Dakotas.

Crisis Averted at a Large Copper & Nickel Mining Company in Tucson, AZ.

A local electrical contractor needed to provide a complete integrated solution for gutter and downspout de-icing for a large data center in the cold wintery conditions of Quincy, Washington.

Valin® Solves Multiple Problems for Major Communications Testing Equipment Manufacturer.

Valin had an opportunity to work on an application to heat-trace various process lines for temperature maintenance and freeze protection at an oil processing plant in Stockton, California.

A Major Refinery in Washington Realizes a 20% Savings on their Maintenance Labor Thanks to Valin.

A medical equipment manufacturer in Concord, CA was developing a 3D X-ray microscope and used liquid nitrogen to preserve their samples for solid imaging.

Valin® Becomes the “Go-To” Source for Major Chemical Processing Company in Utah.

A large electronic test & measurement instruments manufacturing company was using a legacy production tool for “Mesh Cutting” gold for electrical circuit connections that was developed over 20 years ago.

Over the last few years a leading manufacturer of waste (linen/trash) disposal systems have relied on a well-known brand PLC and their HMI software as the backbone of their controls systems.

Because coal is dusty, it is common for mining and power plants to minimize the dust by spraying down the coal with a water-based chemical solution. In the colder months of the year, however, this solution causes the coal to freeze together in clumps and stick to the cold walls of the coal chute.

To meet growing demand for distillates and to also meet environmental and regulatory compliance, a large refinery in the Northwest began construction of a new Ultra low Sulphur Diesel Unit.

A large steel company had an existing Cisco industrial wireless mesh-network they were using to connect information from their cranes back to their offices, but had constant communication failures.

A customer called the Utah office to obtain pricing for 3,700 ft. of self-regulating cable. They asked for a rush delivery, and said some of the heat traced lines had to be operational within 2 weeks.

The demand for molybdenum is increasing among the petroleum refining, electronics and aerospace industries and a large mining operation recently enlisted Valin Corporation to help them take advantage of this opportunity.

As emission standards began to increase, a large mining operation found that they were incurring added expenses from field servicing trucks for unclean fuel filters clogging often and shutting down the trucks to protect the engine.

An industry leader in developing load transfer solutions for the transportation/construction markets sought out Valin® to assist them with a problem.

A major supplier of engineered dowel baskets for transferring vehicle loads across concrete roadway joints recently enjoyed a substantial growth period due to government based infrastructure rebuilding programs.

A state department of transportation needed a hydraulic system furnished and installed for a ferry terminal transfer span. The project included rehabilitation of the mechanical, electrical and hydraulic system for the transfer span used to load and unload passenger vehicles. Valin® was subcontracted to design and provided the hydraulic power unit, apron cylinders, field service installation of stainless hydraulic tubing, flushing, testing and commissioning.

Project Frog in San Francisco, CA is a clean technology company that incorporates a sophisticated approach—including parametric design, precision fabrication, energy modeling, lean manufacturing and continuous monitoring.

One of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial gas turbines had a problem that needed solving and Valin® acted as the general contractor for this job providing project management, supervision and all of the cable and components.

For over three decades, Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Circuit Automation, Inc., has been a leading provider of liquid photoimageable solutions.

Valin® was asked to provide a compact, failsafe electric actuation solution for high torque metal seated ball valves in a severe process application.

Standardized systems and organization can cut costs and improve production and efficiency. Learn how we helped a refinery go from 4 filtration systems to 1.