Sichuan Lutianhua Runs a Tight Business Thanks to CCI

In December 2002, CCI installed a hot process gas vent valve on a methanol converter at Sichuan Lutianhua Stock Company’s Ammonia Plant 2 facility to replace a Fisher vent valve. Located in Luzhou , Sichuan , People’s Republic of China , the customer had originally purchased two such 8” cage-style valves from Fisher – one in line operation and one in spare – but was experiencing daily losses from leakage and control problems.

The process gas used in the plant’s application contains many different elements, including a catalyst, and this composition, in combination with high velocities, degraded the valve seat to result in wasted process gas as it leaked into the atmosphere. As the customer lost process gas through leakage, it also lost profits. Furthermore, Sichuan Lutianhua Stock Company was performing maintenance on the Fisher cage valve at least two times per year. Not only did such repairs drive costs up, but the downtime during maintenance tests resulted in lower productivity, which was an additional drain on the company.

CCI’s answer to these problems was an eight-stage 100D DRAG® process vent valve designed to meet MSS-SP-61 leakage requirements. The design was customized to include both the DRAG® velocity control features necessary to maximize seat longevity and CCI’s pressurized seat design to ensure reliable and repeatable tight shutoff over the life of the valve. The CCI solution married these two features in an over-the-plug design in which the DRAG® disk stack aided in protecting the valve plug and seat from entrained catalyst. In addition to the design solutions within the valve body, CCI also included a high-speed double-acting pneumatic actuation system on the valve to increase closing force, ensuring tight shutoff and the fast stroke speed (less than two seconds) commonly required during emergency venting.

As a final benefit to Sichuan Lutianhua Stock Company, CCI’s 12” DRAG® vent valve also eliminated the high noise emitted when venting the valve. CCI’s solution reduced the valve’s noise to less than 80 dBA when venting to exceed the customer’s requirements of less than 90 dBA.

Since the installation, Sichuan Lutianhua Stock Company has experienced excellent results with its new valve and enjoyed the benefits afforded by CCI. CCI’s solution to achieve tight shutoff in the facility’s normal operation has certainly paid off – the new valve is not only performing trouble-free but also saving the plant roughly 20,000 RMB (over US$2,400) per day.

Published in Solutions Winter 2003