Refinery in WA Realizes a 20% Savings on Maintenance Labor

Michelle Fischer

 A major refinery in Ferndale, Washington was experiencing premature valve failure on units with KTM Valves. There was no predictability to the failures, some valves would last 4 to 6 months, and some would fail within 3 weeks.   A technical specialist from Valin investigated further into the process conditions. The valve data sheet specd a valve that must meet 650F and have a metal seat. Valins specialist asked operations for a report on actual process temperatures and the max reading was 425F. We met with the engineer for this unit and discussed the process conditions and merits of using the Jamesbury Xtreme Seat Ball Valve in this application. We stressed that Jamesbury was a better fit for this service because it was a Soft Seat Solution rated to 550F.

The process is extremely dry due to the Nitrogen and Hydrogen service. We suspected that the KTMs were failing because there was virtually zero lubrication for a metal seat valve. Our specialist asked for an old failed valve that we could send to the Metso Repair Center for evaluation. Metso confirmed our theory and documented the disassembled KTM Valve (see picture). The customer granted an MOC (Management of Change) for this application and agreed to test our Jamesbury solution. The Jamesbury Valve was installed in the most challenging location where they experienced multiple failures with the KTM Valve.

It has been seven months since the installation of the new Jamesbury valve and it is performing flawlessly and has outlasted any KTM ever installed.  The refinery has made this valve the standard for all future installations on this application.  Valin calculated that this customer would realize a savings of 20% on their maintenance labor.