TPi March 2014

business & market news

Actuators for South African solar power plant

molten salt that can reach temperatures of 350°C (662°F) as a result of solar heat, the use of the MX actuator – previously in concentrated solar power (CSP) applications – ensures it can exceed this 100MW solar plant’s most challenging conditions.” In 2013 Flowserve won the contract for all of the project’s critical pump services, including the boiler feeds, condensates, main and auxiliary heat transfer fluids, and molten salt. The contract also includes equipping the pumps with Flowserve mechanical seals.

not require battery backup, and includes a built-in self-test (BIST) design for self- diagnosis. The Safety Integrity Level 3 capable certified MX is equipped with LimiGard circuitry, which safeguards the actuator from spurious electro-magnetic interference. The MX torque-sensing feature can support torque output up to 2,304Nm (1,700ft-lb), and is available in a wide variety of configurations. “The MX actuator continues the rich Limitorque legacy of innovative and reliable electric actuation solutions for the most severe and critical applications,” said Lynn White, general manager, Flowserve Limitorque. “Since most concentrated solar plants use

Flowserve Corporation, a provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, has received an order for 307 Limitorque MX10 actuators to support the Kaxu project, which is building a major solar power plant in Pofadder, Northern Cape, South Africa. The Kaxu project will deliver the first parabolic trough solar plant in South Africa. Once operational, the plant will use a heat transfer fluid and molten salt energy storage design that can produce power for up to three hours after sunset.

Flowserve corp – USA www.flowserve.com

The Limitorque MX actuator features a redundant absolute encoder that does

Vertical bandsaw for valve manufacturer BEL Valves, based in Newcastle, UK, is a designer and manufacturer of critical oil and gas valves for both surface and subsea applications, serving evolving markets that demand the highest quality and reliability. The company has around 50,000 valves installed worldwide, some of which operate in the most inhospitable environments on the planet, often in ultra-deep waters of up to 10,000ft, under high pressures and extremes of temperature. operation during the production of 24" diameter split gate 4A topside through- conduit valves, it turned to Prosaw to provide the solution. Although the existing process utilised a vertical bandsaw, it was very wasteful of material, typically deviating from its true path by up to ½" on either side of the blade, requiring a considerable amount of post-cutting additional machining in order to form a true surface. to cost savings in the region of £1,500 for each valve. Further cost savings have been achieved by the use of a new type of carbide saw blade that has a life of more than 50 times that of the previous machine.

Shop manager Adam Leggett commented, “We have been very impressed by this new Danobat machine. It is far more accurate and much faster compared to our previous system, and has created huge cost savings. It has also been responsible for relieving bottlenecks in production, causing work to flow more smoothly through the workshop. Danobat and Prosaw have been with us every step of the way with this project, giving us excellent service and full sales and technical support which has assisted us greatly in bringing this product along.”

With valve sizes ranging up to 48" in diameter and tolerances typically less than one micron, precision machining is of the utmost importance. When BEL Valves needed to upgrade the cutting

Prosaw specified a Danobat VL vertical bandsaw, which has reduced the cutting time for the product from 18 hours to just six hours. The more accurate cutting path has reduced waste material, and the company reports that this amounts

A Danobat bandsaw with the workpiece in place

danobat – Spain www.danobatgroup.com

Prosaw – UK sales@prosaw.co.uk www.prosaw.co.uk bel Valves – UK enquiry@belvalves.com www.belvalves.co.uk

The cutting edge

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Tube ProducTs InTernaTIonal March 2014

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