Tornado hits OKC
Tornado hits OKC
A devastating tornado hit Oklahoma City midafternoon yesterday. The size was reported to be at least 2.2 miles long and move at about 300 mph. The tornado had hit Moore, and by looking at the pictures of what was left, you couldn’t even tell where you were.
killing an untold number of people, leveling at least two elementary schools, and destroying countless homes and buildings in the process. The latest word out of the Oklahoma City suburb puts the official toll at 24, a figure well below Monday's official estimates. Still, things don't look good and the tally may still climb higher. "Numerous neighborhoods were completely leveled," Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department told the New York Times by telephone. "Neighborhoods just wiped clean."
Natural gas in Israel
Natural gas in Israel
Reports of more natural gas in Israel have spread across the nation. How much natural gas is still unknown but geologists report that it could be up to 2 million cubic feet of natural gas.
’A growing number of recent gas discoveries have made energy independence a possibility in the near future for Israel, according to the energy ministry. The discoveries have also pushed up the value of the shekel against the dollar as local companies no longer need as much foreign currency to purchase energy from abroad. “
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/126525/Israel_Appears_to_Have_More_Natural_Gas
Denbury sells $1.3Billion of assets to Exxon Mobil
Denbury sells $1.3Billion of assets to Exxon Mobil
Denbury has sold its Bakken Shale assets to Exxon Mobil for 1.3B along with its properties in Texas and Wyoming.
“Denbury (NYSE: DNR) plans to use the proceeds of the deal to purchase additional oil fields in the Gulf Coast or Rocky Mountains. In September, Irving-based Exxon (NYSE: XOM) announced it would purchase about acquire about 196,000 net acres in Bakken Shale property in North Dakota and Montana.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2012/12/26/exxonmobil-finishes-acquisition-of.html
Forged Steel Valves
Forged Steel Valves
Forged steel valves are used in Oil Refining and other industrial applications where forged steel material is required. Higher pressures and temperatures are usually involved and the line size is generally under the size of "2". In other conditions, forged steel valves might be a good choice for better performance, such as system requirements for socket-weld piping and compatibility of media. Forged check valves, forged gate valves, forged globe valves are a few of the different types and depending what the media is, depends on which one is used.
GATE VALVES are used for on-off operation on hydrocarbon , general process, and utility service for all temperature ranges.
GLOBE VALVES are used for flow regulation or as a block valve where high resistance to flow is not a disadvantage and a positive closing action is required.
CHECK VALVES are required to permit forward flow and prevent reverse flow. this is achieved through linear or rotary ( angular) motion of a closure member which is kept open by flowing fluid.
When the flow is reduced towards zero, or reversed, the closure member is moved against its seat by forces due to gravity, supplementary springs and back pressure.
http://www.controlfluid.com/en_steel_forged.htm
Those Dam Valves
As the nation increasingly seeks sources for renewable energy, dams and the thousands of valves they contain will only become more important.
When we see a majestic dam, with its huge face of concrete holding back acres of water, probably the last thing we think of are the valves it takes to make them operate effectively
“The purpose of the valves in these structures is to adjust the output of the reservoir that forms behind those dams while maintaining the proper reservoir depth, both in times of flood and in drought. Looking at the top of a moderate-size dam, we would see a number of rolling gates or sluices that provide the modulation of flow necessary to balance water supply and demand. In fact, the most common style of gate or valve used is a rolling type, which functions very similar to a sluice gate valve that is open at the top. Although this is technically a valve, these gates are not at all like the valve designs used in other industries.”
Pipe Logistics Contractor Opens New Houston Headquarters
Have you heard of a high dollar, well-known company called Pe Ben USA? Well, I have not, until now! I discovered being how I am located in Houston, TX; Pe Ben USA recently consolidated its headquarters, maintenance, and also storage facility right here at a 20-acre location; located in Northwest Houston. However, they opened an office back in 1996, but decided to make Houston their homebound. Shocking right? Well it gets better… The CEO, Dale Mykyte bought the site in August 2010. They finally moved in with a 9,000 square feet state-of-the-art office space with a 20,000-square-foot maintenance center. This large facility also consumes of, 20 offices, a board room, two conference rooms, and everyone loves an exercise facility, and most of all a safe room for company and client records. Is this cool or what?
But get this, Pe Ben goes way back to 1957, which serviced the oilfields in Western Canada. Mykyte entered the pipeline business in 1981, joined Pe Ben as operations manager, and then bought Park hill Pipe Stringing and J.L. Cox & Sons.
Pe Ben has worked on projects for major oil and gas companies though its principal clients are major pipe mills. They have executed projects for all major U.S. and European mills. Pe Ben has operations in Alberta, and British Columbia, Canada, as well as Texas and North Dakota A new heavy-haul division in Houston has been established, directed by Tony Beffer. Pe Ben USA completed 16 simultaneous stringing projects by the end of 2011, “to be invisible and anticipate the client’s needs, being proactive rather than reactive.”
It’s amazing how one day, someone can make something small into something huge. Word of mouth – Take what life has to offer – but don’t just take it as if it’s something that will turn into nothing, because it will soon be something large and not something that was nothing large!
Source:
http://pipeline-news.com/
Swing Check Vs. Piston Check
One of my customers had a RFQ for a Check valve, and wasn't sure if her customer was wanting a Piston or Swing. I tried to explain to her the difference in a piston check valve and a swing check valve and here is what I came up with.
My expert engineer explained that the clapper in the swing check valve, is attached to a hinge pin, and swings freely, so when pressure is being applied, it takes very, very, very minimal pressure to make the clapper move.
In a Piston Check – it takes more pressure because the movement is up and down. (Movement is vertical) – And is harder for the air to go through.
VENOCO TO BUILD PIPELINE IN CALIFORNIA: APPROVAL!
Venoco Inc. said Monday that a subsidiary has received final approval to build a pipeline in California.
The Denver energy company said the pipeline will reduce transportation costs from the South Ellwood field and reach more refineries. That will allow the company to realize $5 to $7 more per barrel of oil it produces.
Venoco also said capital spending will range between $200 million and $250 million this year. That amount includes the construction of the pipeline and retaining rigs for various drilling projects.
Venoco’s stock fell 11 cents to $10.59 in morning trading.
Bottling with compressed air
Hybrid industries have to be able to rely on automation at the points when continuous production changes to discrete production. And the pneumatic systems will not let them down: Controlled DFM drives, DNC standard cylinders or ADVU compact cylinders perform their service indefatigably when it comes to gripping bottles or crates, lifting them or transporting them onwards. They can be reliably controlled by compact CPV valve terminals. The pneumatic solutions are to be found in crate sorting systems, palette-loading robots, in bottle washing machines and, it goes without saying, in the bottling systems themselves. In the Innoclean bottle washing machine from KHS, Copac drives of type DLP from Festo are responsible for opening and closing gate valves for supplying the cleaning fluid.
From process to factory automation: Pneumatic valve terminals and drives are in their element not only in the brewing process, but also in bottling and packaging.
Electric Valve Actuators
Image via Wikipedia
Valves are used to regulate and control the flow of a liquid in a system. While some valves are manually controlled, such as the one that turns your kitchen tap on and off, other larger industrial valves are controlled by an actuator. An Actuator is a machine that is used to automate the control of industrial valves, and they are used in such industrial settings as wastewater treatment plants, power plants, and refineries.
Actuators can be used to automatically control valves, such as the different programmed cycles on your washing machine, or can be set to remote control the operations of a centralized control room. Often, the valve is so large that manual control becomes impossible, and an automatic valve actuator is needed.
There are three different types of valve actuators: pneumatic, hydraulic and electric valve actuators.
Pneumatic Valve Actuators
A pneumatic actuator works by converting energy in the form of compressed air into motion which controls the valve. One of the advantages of this type of actuator is that they are usually a simple design and therefore relatively cost effective. However, a supply of compressed air is required for their use.
Hydraulic Valve Actuators
This type is similar to Pneumatic actuators, yet water or another fluid such as oil is used instead of air. Hydraulics is a very old source of power, and it has been used since the 6th millennium BC. However, Hydraulic actuators need a supply of liquid lines to function.
Electric Valve Actuators
Electric valve actuators are powered by an electric motor, and are able to handle larger valves than the other two because their power has no limits. Many large scale gate valves with high torque requirements are exclusively operated by electric valve actuators.
Of course, electric valve actuators have the disadvantage that they cease to function in a power failure. However, most electric valve actuators will have a hand wheel built in so that they can be operated manually in such a situation.
Electric valve actuators also have the advantage of being able to be programmed with computer technology to perform automated functions and processes. Electric valve actuators are able to monitor outside factors and adjust their behaviour according to controller parameters.
Electric actuators are able to be used in any climate condition around the world, and they are particularly important in situations where potentially explosive materials are being handled such as oil and gas. Their flameproof enclosure prevents ignition sparks from leaving the device.
Industrial sized or incredibly tiny, electric valve actuators are the most versatile and practical type of valve actuator available today.
About the Author:
Jjautomation.com is a quality assured UK based company specialising in the supply and manufacture of electric valve actuators , electric butterfly and ball valve actuators. Based in Worcestershire, UK with extensive knowledge and experience of this specialist areas such as electric valve actuators help provide customers with competitive solutions of the highest quality.
