High temperatures, scaling, the use of caustic chemicals, and abrasive solids take their toll on valves. In steam and recovery areas, this can be especially problematic, leading to valve failure and potential safety hazards.
Some issues that can occur near steam and recovery areas of a pulp and paper mill include:
- Grooves and voids in valves, such as wedge gate valves, which allow for the buildup of solids and potential valve failure
- Ball or plug valves used with white, black, or green liquor applications
- Scaling, making valves difficult to operate
- Choked flow due to scale or reduced port
Valve failure isn’t just a nuisance. A failure in a pulp and paper environment could expose workers to extreme heat, steam, caustics, and chemicals, in addition to lost production, product and productivity. DSS valves was able to design a valve to help prevent this, by rethinking how a valve is built, and how it can function better in extreme environments.
Knife Gate Valves
Knife gate valves aren’t a new invention. They first appeared in 1927, to address many issues that pulp and paper mills face: solids, sticky solutions, caustic liquids. The design of a knife gate valve means it can cut through solids and does not allow for scale or liquor buildup in grooves or voids.
DSS Severe Service Knife Gate Valves: Heavy Duty Valves for Tough Operations
At Jasper Engineering, our team includes people who have worked at pulp and paper mills. They know firsthand the value of having the right valves installed throughout the plant but especially in steam and recovery operations. If a valve isn’t closed completely, for example, pressure can force hot or caustic liquid out in a spray.
And ensuring that the average valve is closed using a lockout/tagout system isn’t as easy as it sounds. That’s because many valve types “feel” closed when in fact they’ve just hit an obstruction.
Not so with DSS Severe Service Knife Gate Valves. Jasper Engineering’s team recommends these valves for heavy duty applications and pulp and paper mills because they are robust and rugged enough to handle the heat, chemicals, and pressure used to manufacture pulp and paper.
DSS Severe Service Knife Gate Valves offer many advantages:
- No grooves or voids, which prevents media buildup on the valve
- Built-in flush ports to wash media downstream
- Improved cost effectiveness compared to larger diameter (4” and larger) ball and plug valves
- No cavities for liquors to build up
- Valves can handle higher torques
- Guided Shear Knife Gate Valve can actually cut through solids and scaling – media washes away from the seats through built-in flush ports
- Full-round port that matches pipe diameter allowing higher flow rates
- Optional Xylan and/or SevereGuardTM coating reduces ability for scaling to adhere
Whether you’re replacing one valve or all the valves in your plant, contact Jasper Engineering to learn more about the DSS Severe Service Valve. We think you’ll be like one of the many happy DSS Valve customers who said, “If I could, I’d have all these valves in my plant!”