Enhanced Training at the BVAA!

The BVAA Training Suite has just gone through a major upgrade, to further enhance our valve training experience.

March 2106 saw the introduction of a new range of training equipment at the ‘Peter Churm Technical Centre,’ (PCTC) an important part of the BVAA’s facility in Banbury, UK. We asked BVAA’s Director Rob Bartlett to explain what’s been going on.

‘When BVAA moved to our new premises, it sadly coincided with the passing of our much-loved Technical Consultant, Peter Churm. Enhanced Training at the BVAA!

Naming the new Technical Centre after Peter was to honour his memory, but also in part to give us the drive to make sure the centre and its contents were worthy of his name,’ commented Rob.

Recent additions to the centre include four new moveable training rigs, which enable BVAA’s wide range of valve and actuator products to be mounted permanently on display.

‘Each one of the rigs is themed towards one of the BVAA courses,’ enthused Rob. ‘For example there’s one for Safety Valves, another is decked out only with Control Valves, another just Actuators. It also facilitates a more hands-on experience,’ he added. ‘The PCTC now encourages a very tactile experience, and students can get to grips with products in such a way that wasn’t possible before. Many of the units are sectioned and this combination means they can interact and study the assemblies and their component parts, operate the valves and see just how they work and differ from other types. All the products we couldn’t fit onto the units are now conveniently placed in the integral storage, so all the equipment for one topic is now all in each place.’

It doesn’t stop there. ‘We’ve had a swathe of new products from members,’ continued Rob. ‘There are some stunning Auma actuators – one is an electrical unit that has sectioned areas to safely show the inner workings during operation, and a manually-operated unit that has a cutaway, so students can see the way in which the gears work. They really are fantastic and not something readily available in the workplace,’ commented Rob.

There is also a great selection of new Rotork actuators on a specially created frame, complete with “Barber’s Poles” underneath to show how the actuators control the ¼-turn and multi-turn valves that would ordinarily be attached.’

He added ‘Another addition is the Gemü unit. Several sectioned diaphragm valves are on a display case of their own, specially created just for the BVAA. There’s a good range of sizes and materials to show the diversity of applications.’

So is the centre complete now? ‘Far from it,’ says Rob. ‘We’re really only just getting started. We have plans for a fully operational pneumatics bench, complete with compressor and working exhibits. We also still need smaller, light-weight units to hand around the class during the discussions. There’s also plenty of scope for different materials, and some of the demo pieces feature traditional technology – we’d really like some cutting-edge examples. All donations gratefully received!’ added Rob.

So would Peter be proud of the Centre we asked? ‘Well I don’t think the word “pride” was in Peter’s vocabulary,’ mused Rob. ‘He really enjoyed bringing on younger engineers, but I think he would have been a bit abashed at all the fuss. He’d be pleased with the progress though I think, and I’d probably get a “well done lad, keep it up.” ’

Published: 13th May 2016