Extending valve life and productivity during shutdown refurbishment projects

Published: 9th December 2013 | Issue 27

KKI’s Aftermarket team is based in a dedicated 18,000sq ft aftermarket facility in Brighouse, Yorkshire

Over 100 valves will be received by the team over a 3-week period

The Aftermarket team at KKI is in full flow at the moment, once again supporting the annual shutdown at one of the UK’s largest refineries.

The shutdown project follows many months of careful planning, with QA audits, customer visits and shutdown requirement reviews taking place in the lead up to the shutdown being implemented. This preparation period allowed requisite spares to be identified, manufactured or procured in readiness for the shutdown, therefore ensuring the quickest possible turnaround for the customer. Historical OEM documentation such as BOMs, CVTSs and modification records have played a vital role in the preparation work – as they do in all shutdowns that we support.

This particular shutdown will see over 100 valves being received by the team for assessment and refurbishment over a 3-week period. The sheer scale of the project will see the team working with a huge variety of spares, which have already included:

Soft parts such as body joints packing sets, actuator seal kits.

Trim parts such as plug assemblies, stems guides and seats.

Fasteners such as studs and nuts for body/bonnet,gland arrangements and actuators.

Major components such as bodies and bonnets.

In this shutdown alone, over 5500 components have already been produced and additional items including a 10" double-seated trim have been identified as requiring manufacture during the outage.

KKI prides itself on the quality of the spares it manufactures; all are supplied with a certificate of conformance and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) guarantee. Valve trim components are etched with a part number and heat number for ease of traceability, with material certification available if required.

When first produced, a KKI control valve is, of course, tailored to meet a customers’ anticipated process conditions. However, for a variety of reasons, over the course of the valve’s lifetime, the working process conditions can change, with potential detrimental effects to the effectiveness of the valve and process. The KKI Applications department has the knowledge and experience to evaluate and recommend the best economical solution to ensure control valves provide increased performance and the continued reliability associated with KKI equipment.

In a shutdown such as the one currently underway, the team will assess the state of the valve and internals and, where deemed necessary, will instigate an application review which will include the valve’s process conditions. On completion of the review, if appropriate, they will then recommend an upgrade solution.

As a result of this approach, the team has been involved in numerous successful upgrades which include:

Base material changes, special overlays, use of tungsten carbides.

Trim design changes with additional stages of pressure letdown.

Instrumental changes for increased response times.

Special parking arrangements for low emission requirements.

Combinations of the above for severe service applications.

KKI’s Aftermarket team is based in a dedicated 18,000sq ft aftermarket facility in Brighouse, Yorkshire, which was designed and configured by its own workforce. It therefore provides a working environment that supports optimum efficiency and future growth as well as housing the specialist facilities required for subsea work, such as separate areas for testing and secure storage.

Although the Aftermarket team operates independently, being situated adjacent to the company’s main manufacturing sites allows the retention of close working relationship with the rest of KKI, specifically in design and manufacturing disciplines. This ensures that customers benefit from access to KKI’s ‘total quality’ expertise; particularly invaluable in projects such as the current shutdown.

Koso Kent Introl
Tel: 01484 710311
Email: info@kentintrol.com
www.kentintrol.com

KOSO Kent Introl

Telephone:	01484 710311
Email:	info@kentintrol.com
Website:	www.kentintrol.com
	More information on the KOSO Kent Introl BVAA Member Directory Page