Valve Magazine - Summer 2009

GARLOCK GARNERS EPA AWARD

Garlock Sealing Technologies has received the U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 Clean Air Excellence Award for using a more environmentally friendly solvent in the production of its industrial gasketing.

Established in 2000 at the recommendation of the EPA Clean Air Advisory Committee, the award annually recognizes outstanding efforts toward achieving cleaner air. Winners must directly or indirectly reduce pollutant emissions, demonstrate innovation, offer sustainable outcomes and provide a model for others to follow.

NEW CONTRACTS

MAXTORQUE
RECEIVES ORDER
FROM U.S. NAVY

Max Torque, a Cameron business, has received the first ship set order for operators the company developed specifically for the United States Navy’s

new aircraft carrier platform. The manual operators will be used throughout the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) on over

1,200 high-performance butterfly valves as well as a number of ball and control valves. The CVN-78 is the first of three of the new Ford-class ships currently authorized.

FLOWSERVE SUPPLYING
CHINESE PLANTS

Flowserve Corp. confirmed it had earlier received two significant orders from Westinghouse Electric Company for AP1000 nuclear power projects in China. In May 2008, Flowserve announced that it received an order to supply main steam isolation valves for two Westinghouse nuclear power plant projects in China. Since that time, Westinghouse has placed additional safety-related valve orders to include main feedwater isolation valves and motor-operated gate and globe valves for two AP1000 Westinghouse nuclear projects in China.

EMERSON RECEIVES
EUROPEAN CONTRACTS

Emerson Process Management has been awarded a contract by energy company EDF to automate six new Combined Cycle Gas Turbine units with Plant Web digital plant architecture. The new installations, which are located in West Burton, UK and the towns of Blénod-lès-Pont-à-Mousson and Martigues in France, will enable EDF to satisfy future energy supply requirements and meet its climate commitment.

MARKET FOCUS: INDUSTRIAL VALVES Decline is forecast, but turnaround expected in 2010

As in many industries, the U.S. and Canadian industrial valve industry has seen a steady climb in sales and profits in recent years. But valve and actuator shipments rise and fall with the fate of the industries in which they are used, from power generation and chemical processing, to oil & gas and water/wastewater. Now, with many of those industries on a downward track, the Valve Manufacturers Association (VMA) estimates a 5% decrease in industrial valve shipments in 2009 — the first such decrease in a decade.

The valve industry typically doesn’t have highs and lows as dramatic as other industries because different end-user markets don’t cycle up and down at the same time. VMA Chairman Sam Bennardo of AUMA Actuators explains that “we’ve had years where a couple of key end-user markets are going gangbusters, while others are in decline. And while this economic downturn is the worst most of us have ever seen, VMA has more than 70 years of history — and statistics — that show the valve industry will ultimately thrive because it supplies products for industries that are absolutely essential to a growing domestic and world population.”

VMA does not expect the drop in valve shipments to continue for more than a year. With a huge number of infrastructure projects in the works, and some economists predicting a bottoming out of the recession in late 2009, the Valve Manufacturers Association forecast calls for a possible turnaround in the second quarter of 2010.

Distribution Forecast of End Users
in the 2009 Valve Market

Of the 15 markets tracked by VMA, in 2009 Water & Wastewater will account
for 18% of valves sold, followed by Chemical (16%), Petroleum Production
(12%), Petroleum Refining (12%) and Power Generation (11%)