Upcoming Webinar: Severe Service Control Valves – Problems & Solutions

Maintaining the performance of your facility’s control valves will ensure continued successful operations for your organization. At DFT®, we know a thing or two about valves, and we’re excited to share our knowledge at our upcoming webinar about control valves on May 15, 2019 at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

During the webinar, we will discuss some of the common problems and solutions that develop in severe service valve equipment, and we’ll also explore a few issues that can lead to critical failure in your service control valves.

Talking Points and Topics

Some of the questions that we’ll answer in our webinar include:

• What is severe service?
• What are the different types of control valves?
• What types of service do they control?
• What is cavitation control?

We’ll also talk about our valves’ design features and how they handle the effects of cavitation and other wear and tear issues. We will provide an overview of the Bernoulli Principle, which states that decreases in pressure and potential energy lead to increases in the speed of a fluid—one of the basic principles by which valves operate today.

Finally, we’ll go in depth on how causes and effects of:

• Flashing and cavitation
• Providing required flow
• Actuation selection
• Achieving tight shutoff
• Slurries and erosion
• High-pressure applications
• High-temperature applications

After we finish our presentation, there will be a chance to discuss the topics covered as well as answer any questions you may have.

Sign-up for the Webinar Today!

What You Need to Know About Severe Service Control Valves –Problems & Solutions

We at DFT® are excited to share our years of comprehensive experience in valve design, performance, and functionality relative to fluid control systems. Be sure to register in advance to be included in the latest information within valve technology.

If you would like to learn more about our products, services, and other resources, don’t hesitate to view our catalog or contact our sales representatives today.

Benefits of the WLC® Wafer Style Silent Check Valve

Typically used to restrict fluid flow to a single direction, check valves play an integral role in all types of liquid networks. At DFT® Inc., we’ve been manufacturing top-quality check valves and control valves since 1943. The DFT® Model WLC® Wafer Style Check Valve, a spring-assisted, lightweight model, offers a number of unique advantages over traditional valves.

The dual/center-guided design improves stability, while the disc and seat arrangement ensure a tight shutoff, eliminating the risk of reverse leakage and, therefore, preventing potentially dangerous water hammer. In fact, these valves are ideal for use in systems with a high risk of water hammer. Offering consistent, reliable operation and ensuring low maintenance costs, the WLC® product line can be used for a wide range of pressure/temperature combinations, making these valves ideal for applications involving liquids, gases, and steam.

Wafer Style Check Valves

As mentioned, DFT®’s wafer style check valves are specifically designed to prevent water hammer and reverse flow. Take this recent project as an example:

One of our clients approached us for assistance with an application involving raw water intake; the valves they were using were causing water hammer, and they needed an alternative solution to ensure optimal operational efficiency and reduce the risk of costly maintenance needs and downtime. We replaced the valves with our WLC® models and later assessed the facility during a routine maintenance operation. The water hammer had been completely eliminated. Simply by switching to these check valves, the client was able to fix an issue they had been dealing with for years, significantly reducing the risk of mechanical failure and ensuring optimal cost efficiency.

The WLC® check valves are available in a variety of ASME classes, and can be utilized in pipes of different line sizes. These valves can also be manufactured with a range of different materials for various types of applications. DFT®’s WLC® models meet stringent industrial standards, such as MSS-SP 61(for seat leakage) and MSS 126 and API 594 (for face-to-face dimensions).

Learn More

Versatile, reliable, and lightweight, the WLC® line of check valves is specifically designed to reduce the risk of water hammer and its various related issues. Allowing for low maintenance requirements and consistent service, these valves available at DFT® serve as ideal solutions for a huge range of industries and applications.

To learn more about these unique valves, download our WLC® cut sheet today.

Water Hammer Webinar Recap

DFT® Inc.’s Vice President and General Manager Arie Bregman recently gave an in-depth, solutions-oriented presentation on water hammer — a common issue that can lead to devastating effects. Arie is an expert in the valve sector, with over 35 years in the valve industry, with companies such as Nibco, Jamesbury and Metso. Arie holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and is active in the Valve Manufacturers Association in the US, serving on the Education and Training and the Technical Committee and is also a member of the VMA Board of Directors.

Below, we’ve provided a brief recap of his comprehensive water hammer webinar, which covered the following topics:

Identifying Water Hammer
The first step to treating water hammer is, of course, properly identifying it. Loud sounds — a series of banging, clanging, or rattling noises — often alert operators to the first signs of an issue. Chances are you’ve probably heard the sound of water hammer in your pipes at home or at your plant without even realizing it.

Defining Water Hammer
The webinar also delved into the precise definition of this phenomenon: Water hammer is a hydraulic shock that occurs in a liquid piping system, often to devastating effect. Water hammer can cause gasketed joint and expansion joint failure, pipe wall crack and joint leaks, deformation of piping support systems, and many other issues, all of which can lead to high costs and increased downtime.

Preventing Water Hammer
Next, Arie discussed many people’s main concern — how to prevent water hammer and avoid the numerous problems it can cause.

Because water hammer is often only briefly touched upon in engineering schools, it’s critical to have an expert like DFT® available to answer questions and provide advice for your specific application. Working with an experienced, knowledgeable partner will make all the difference when dealing with water hammer, helping you to avoid unnecessary expenditures, downtime, and general stress.

At DFT®, we’ve been producing top-quality in-line check valves for over 70 years, helping businesses across all types of industries avoid water hammer. Our expert team has deep expertise in identifying, solving, and, most importantly, preventing check valve failures.

Learn More
If you missed Arie’s water hammer webinar, or want to refresh your memory on some key tips to keep in mind when preventing and treating this issue, check out the full webinar video today. Or, to learn more about DFT®’s valve manufacturing capabilities, reach out to our team directly.

DFT® Awarded Company of the Year by the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia

The team at DFT^® is proud to announce that we are a recipient of the 2017 Pennsylvania Company of the Year award from the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia. This year marks the organization’s 15th Annual World Trade Centers Day Awards and Celebration, which will recognize the achievements of leading businesses throughout the region and the economic contributions of world trade centers across the globe.

The celebration, which will be held on May 11, 2017, at the National Constitution Center, is set to honor two Companies of the Year recipients as well as the winner of the Global Business Leadership Award. Individuals and companies will be recognized for both business leadership at the local level and global successes, which have, in turn, strengthened the region’s economy.

Recipients of this year’s awards include DFT^® (representing Pennsylvania), Destination Maternity (of New Jersey), and Dan Fitzpatrick, president of Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware and head of national mid-corporate and industry verticals.

Various individuals representing corporate, governmental, diplomatic, and academic sectors will be attending the event to connect with other industry professionals and celebrate the evening’s honorees. This event is open to both members and nonmembers, and anyone interested in joining the celebration is encouraged to register online.

About the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia

A bi-state 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization covering Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia is dedicated to helping businesses develop effective management strategies for international commerce.

Acting as the region’s leader in international trade, the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia provides local businesses with a wide range of growth opportunities such as one-on-one trade counseling, market research, global trade missions, and a diverse network of connections from 322 world trade centers across 89 countries.

To learn more about Greater Philadelphia’s 15th Annual World Trade Centers Day Awards and Celebration, visit the event page here.

Using 3D Prototyping for Custom Parts Manufacturing

Across all industries, companies are constantly seeking ways to reduce project costs and downtime without sacrificing the quality of their products — a challenging balance to achieve and maintain.

Additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, allows businesses to streamline and speed up production without forgoing quality. 3D printing is not yet refined enough to replace any current full-scale production methods, but it is an invaluable method for prototyping.

Prototyping with 3D Printing

Prototyping is an extremely important step in product development. Prototyping custom manufactured parts, in particular, provides the opportunity to evaluate your design, demonstrate its concept, inspect it for flaws, correct any issues, and improve overall design. However, traditional prototyping can be a very time-consuming and expensive process.

Ford Motor Company has embraced 3D printing of manufactured parts for prototyping purposes, and, over the course of only a few years, has saved millions of dollars in prototyping costs and months upon months of development time.

As an example, an intake manifold is one of the most complex parts of a vehicle; with traditional methods, this took as long as four months and as much as $500,000 to prototype.

With 3D printing, Ford has cut that down to four days and $3,000 dollars, freeing both time and money for testing and design optimization.

Besides saving costs and time, additive manufacturing allows the same CAD software to be used to create various geometries, making it an extremely versatile process. And unlike CNC machining, 3D printing produces minimal waste, as the process only prints the material actually needed to create the desired product.

3D Printing for Valve Prototypes

Prototyping is notoriously challenging in the valve industry; valves are incredibly complex multi-component parts that require a full set of custom tooling to prototype. Tooling is a huge driver of time and costs for valve prototyping, especially for check valve prototyping. Luckily, 3D printing is making as big an impact in valve manufacturing as it is in car manufacturing.

DFT® Inc. has acquired a 3D printer that we use for valve prototyping, and its impact has been tremendous. This printer provides us with functioning 3D models to present to clients, which has proven to be a huge boon for collecting quality feedback from customers.

Compatible with all existing CAD software, it allows our designers and engineers to incorporate that feedback almost immediately and carry those ideas forward as the project progresses. Perhaps most importantly, it allows us to prototype valves for customers at drastically lower price points than we were capable of previously.

Utilizing DFT’s CAD Files

Since 1943, DFT® Inc. has been offering industry-leading valve manufacturing services, as well as check valve testing capabilities. Our 3D printing technology has allowed us to improve our prototyping and overall design offerings while decreasing costs and downtime for our customers. If you are an engineer interested in our prototyping services, the DFT® Inc. CAD Library is a great place to start.

Utilize the CAD Library to view our check valve drawings, which showcase models of various types, sizes, and end connections.