Valve Magazine - Fall 2011

to create pie charts showing the plant’s valves by brand, to generate a list of valves due for repair during an upcoming turnaround (and hopefully a calendar to assist in that process) or to identify all of the pressure relief valves for which test certificates must be submitted to the local or state boiler and pressure vessel inspectors the following month.

OUTAGE PLANNING Asset management tools can be a huge help in planning outages, especially in light of the fact that delays can cost thousands or even millions of dollars per day in lost production. Such tools have the potential to save both time and money. Key features that can be included in an asset management tool are:

; The ability to plan spare parts
across an entire loop so that parts
can be ordered in advance of an
outage and surprises that might
occur during that outage can be
prevented.

IMAGE DEVELOPMENT AND
STORAGE
The saying that “a picture is worth a
thousand words” certainly applies to
management of valve assets. Good man-
agement tools allow users to quickly and
easily record and view a wide variety of
images of those valves and their environ-
ment from “before” and “after” parts
photos and other documents related to a
recent repair, to reports from the in-situ
testing of a safety valve and the piping
and instrumentation diagram of the loop
associated with a valve. There is, after
all, no better sign of preparedness than
being able to answer an inspector’s
question immediately by calling up the
required materials on a computer with
just a few clicks of a mouse.

GARY OSTROWSKI is director of product management – aftermarket with GE Energy ( www.ge-energy.com). Reach him at gary.ostrowski@ge.com or 508.941.5407.

The OEM Approach To Repair

The Valve Repair Council (VRC) is the most reliable OEM parts supply and repair network in the industry. From critical upgrades, full life-cycle engineering support and strict documented quality procedures, our members offer unequaled safety and efficiency in OEM rebuild and supply, backed with the full support of the manufacturer.

With VRC, you’re guaranteed trust, reliability and quality with all your repairs.

VRC Members When it comes to your valves and actuators – RELAX – you can TRUST a VRC repair.

Allied Valve AVP Valve, Inc.

Bay Valve Service, Inc.

Cameron CCI Houston (Repair Center)

CFM/VR-TESCO LLC
Chalmers & Kubeck North
Cleveland Valve & Gauge/
Renew Valve & Machine Co.

CRANE Energy Flow Solutions
CWFC Farris Engineering
Dayton Precision Services
DMC Carter Chambers
Do wco Valve Company
Dresser, Inc. - Consolidated
Dresser, Inc. - Direct
Dresser, Inc. - Masoneilan
ECI/ICE Valve and Instrument Services
Emerson Process Management -
Fisher
Flotech, Inc.

Flowserve Corporation Formosa Plastics USA Furmanite Gulf Coast Modification, LP Gulf Coast Valve, Inc.

J&S Machine and Valve, Inc.

Kirksey Machine
Metso Automation
Midwest Valve Services, Inc.
The Wm. Powell Company
Precision Pump & Valve Service
Quality Valve
Southeast Valve Inc.
Southern Valve Service, Inc.
Thorco, Inc.
Tyco Valves and Controls
United Valve
Valve Reconditioning Service Co.
Wal-Tech Inc.