In a coal plant, equipment including valves works under demanding conditions. High temperatures and pressure differentials, corrosion, and many chemical and environmental deposits degrade machinery at a high rate, and if coal valves cannot stand up to this tough job, they degrade too, causing expensive malfunctions and outages.
Coal valves may seem like a small part of a power plant’s mechanisms, but, in fact, they play a vital role. A coal plant may use hundreds of valves in any given day, as check valves, isolation valves, non-return valves, extraction check valves, and more. Coal valves work in boiler feed booster pumps, soot blowers, pulverizers, burners, ash handling, and other key areas of the plant. Some are not used every day, but when they are used it is for a very important reason, meaning these coal valves have to be in perfect working order when the time comes.
If any of these coal valves fail, they take down critical infrastructure and processes. That’s why it is so important to invest in industrial-grade coal valves, built to withstand even the harshest conditions.
Why Good Coal Valves Matter
If your coal plant skimped on its coal valves, you may already be familiar with the ensuing issues. If any of these situations sound familiar, you know first-hand what happens when valves don’t work the way they should.
The costs of unplanned downtime add up quickly, as do repair and replacement costs when bad valves cause other equipment to fail or become damaged. On top of paying for new equipment or repairing machinery, plants are losing operating time and thus revenue. At the same time that plants are losing productivity thanks to faulty or low-quality coal valves, personnel costs are rising as staff work overtime to get things fixed and back online.
Lesser quality coal valves come with a shorter life cycle than high-quality valves designed to work in critical conditions. That means that even if it is not an emergency situation, coal plants still need to deal with replacement more often than they should, which also drives up costs while losing profits.
It is not just shutdowns and outages that cause problems. Valve equipment should also work to minimize emissions. If valves leak at all, coal plants are looking at fugitive emissions, both bad for the environment, and potentially putting plants at risk of consequences for failing to meet environmental regulations. Fugitive dust is another problem, creating unpleasant working conditions and potential safety hazards.
Introducing Everlasting Valves
It is clear that sub-par valves cause a lot of problems, whether it is direct issues like leaks and shutdowns, or more indirect issues like driving up personnel costs as productivity wanes. A valve may be a tiny piece of equipment in the grand scheme of an entire power plant, but it turns out these small components really do make a big difference.
When your company invests in valves that are truly built for critical service, the difference is clear. You don’t need to worry about constant failures, replacements, and outages, and you can rest assured that every valve is designed with a long life cycle and airtight function. All of these features, and more, are what Everlasting Valves offer.
Our valves are the perfect fit for coal valves used in power generation, easily replacing knife-gate valves, slide-gate valves, and metal-seated ball valves to handle every challenge a coal plant presents. In fact, valve you need to replace, there is an Everlasting Valve product that fits, including custom-designed valves made specifically for your plant and your needs.
All of our valves share some common qualities. They are built to last, wearing in rather than wearing out. Many of our valves continue to handle harsh conditions for decades with no maintenance! It is the self-lapping, rotating disc mechanism that keeps our valves running well in severe service.
Every time the disc in one of our valves rotates, it works to polish and renew the seating surface, which tightens the seal and improves the efficiency of the valve. That is how they wear in, getting better with every operation, rather than wearing out like most valves where each operation reduces their lifespan. The open body ensures that particulate and other contaminants flow through the valve instead of getting stuck and causing problems, while the even disc rotation ensures any accumulated process material is evenly shared away.
In the highest heats and most frigid temperatures, soaring and wildly changing pressures, erosive or corrosive environments, and dirtiest jobs, Everlasting Valve products will not let you down.
Everlasting Valves coal valves will transform the way your plant operates, so you can say goodbye to lost money and time. Contact us today!