As the Valve Manufacturers Association gears up to celebrate its 75th anniversary
in 2013, we begin this series of articles on the history of valves, with the final
installment scheduled to appear in mid-2013. At this year’s VMA 74th annual
meeting (Sept. 20-23, 2012 in Half Moon Bay, CA), VMA will unveil plans for the
year leading up to the grand celebration, which will culminate at the association’s
75th annual meeting, Oct. 3-5, 2013 at The Breakers in Palm Beach, FL.
{
From a Humble
Beginning, an
Industry Rises
BY GREG JOHNSON
have been unearthed in many early Roman Empire archaeological sites. These plug
valves were of a bronze alloy that amazingly is nearly identical to the ASTM B67
bronze chemistry still in use today.
Although VMA members might hink the valve industry began
with formation of the Valve Manufacturers Association on Sept. 1, 1938,
in reality, the industry in this nation
was around for 100 years before that
date, its roots firmly attached to the
American industrial landscape. The
first valve patent granted in the United States went to James Robinson in
1840. Although his gate valve, or
“stop cock,” as it was called at the
time, looked like it would be right at
home on Jules Verne’s fictitious Nautilus submarine, it was nonetheless a
humble beginning to a proud industry
with a long history.
What’s more,
while most basic
valve designs were
conceived during
the late 19th and
early 20th centuries,
the first valves as we
know them can be
traced back over
2,000 years. Valve
engineers feel like
they are breaking new
ground when they boot
up AutoCAD and draw
up a new valve design.
But that design often
was unveiled decades or
even centuries before.
Take the plug valve, for
example. During the
early 1900s, numerous
patents came out for
plug valves, most notably
designs by Sven Johan Nordstrom.
MATERIALS
Valve materials in the 19th century were strictly in
the realm of bronze and cast iron. Although viewed
today as only capable of handling pedestrian pres-
sures and temperatures, these materials were state-
of-the-art in 1890. However, the service conditions
of the era were not nearly as demanding. A high-
pressure boiler of the late 1880s, for example, would be
running at an operating pressure of only about 200 psi. Because of this, the bronze
and iron materials worked well, except when the components were exposed to dan-
gerous overpressures.
