Essential Maintenance Tips for Industrial Valves: A Comprehensive Guide

Industrial valve maintenance is a significant and crucial task for your daily operations. If you ignore it, you may face inefficiencies, malfunctions, and even safety hazards. The article provides practical tips for taking care of different types of industrial valves. These tips range from regular checks and cleaning to proper lubrication and timely replacement of worn components.

Furthermore, this guide instructs you on how to plan routine maintenance and inspections. It also teaches you how to handle common problems like corrosion and wear. Prepare yourself to enhance the efficiency and longevity of your industrial valves. First, let’s dive deeper into comprehending the necessity for industrial valve maintenance.

Understanding the Importance of Regular Industrial Valve Maintenance

Industrial valves, the unsung heroes of your operations, each have a unique role. It's crucial to understand the role of each valve in keeping your industry functioning.

The maintenance needs of each valve type depend on its function and operation. For example, if you are an industry operating round the clock, you might need to maintain your valves more often than suppliers operating for a standard work week. Regular maintenance and inspections greatly enhance the longevity and efficiency of industrial valves.

So what happens when you fail to maintain your industry valves? We discuss these issues
Below.

The Impact of Poor Maintenance on Industrial Valves

A valve failure in your industrial plant can disrupt operations significantly, especially when regular maintenance has been overlooked. Automated control and on/off valves might malfunction without warning, causing disruptions to processes or even total shutdowns. Modern controllers often hide deteriorating performance until the valve breaks completely.

Regular inspections are vital for maintaining safety standards. Without these inspections, unnoticed valve performance issues and surface defects can compromise safety. But is it possible to stop these issues before they turn into serious problems?

Predictive maintenance can result in 30-40% savings compared to reactive maintenance or 8-12% savings compared to preventive maintenance. Data is the vital ingredient that makes predictive maintenance possible. With an increased amount of data and improved analysis, you can make accurate predictions. This accuracy can be crucial for scheduling maintenance and avoiding major issues.

However, even the best maintenance practices cannot prevent all issues. Your industrial plant valves might still face issues that need troubleshooting, even with regular maintenance.

Poor maintenance has numerous consequences:

• Unplanned outages and unscheduled valve repairs can incur significant costs.
• Valves become less reliable, and their lifespan reduces.
• Unexpected shutdowns can affect productivity and put you in a difficult position with clients and customers.

So, how can you ensure your valves are always in the best condition? Keep reading to find out.

Also read: Analyzing Types of Industrial Valves

Key Maintenance Tips for Industrial Valves

Maintaining industrial valves demands a significant effort. It includes regular inspection and cleaning, appropriate lubrication, and timely replacement of exhausted parts. These tasks are crucial in maintaining your industrial valves' efficiency and life span. Let's look at how you can perform these tasks effectively and maintain your valves in the best possible condition.

Routine Inspection and Cleaning

Inspecting and cleaning your industrial valves regularly is crucial for their efficient functioning and durability. Keep a close eye on the valve body, the main pressure boundary that accommodates the internal components. Visual inspections can show if the fluid temperature and pressure have led to cracks on the valve surface. For a more comprehensive inspection, utilise advanced detection tools. Non-destructive testing methods can assist in identifying minor surface irregularities and confirming wall thicknesses. After inspection, it's essential to address any identified issues, such as corrosion.

Debris, scale, or deposits can accumulate on valves over time, impacting their performance. Regular cleaning eliminates this accumulation, guaranteeing proper function. To make the cleaning process effective, create a routine sampling plan first. This strategy will help you track critical cleaning aspects while reducing the effect on the cleaning turnaround time. Compliance with industry-approved standards is vital in maintaining your valves' efficiency.

Follow industry-approved valve inspection standards. Inspections carried out regularly according to these standards will aid in identifying and replacing valves with high leakage rates, thereby enhancing their efficiency.

For long-term storage, consider the following tips:

• Store the valve in a dry, well-ventilated room with both passage ends blocked.
• Check for dirt regularly and apply antirust oil to the processing surface.
• Examine the wear condition of the sealing surface, valve stem threads, and nut.
• Promptly replace any damaged stuffing.
• Conduct a sealing performance test after any repairs and assembly.

Be vigilant for signs of corrosion on the valve's surface. This could result from a chemical attack from the service fluid or a gradual loss of its protective coating.

Another important aspect in maintaining their efficient operation is the proper lubrication of these valves.

Proper Lubrication of Industrial Valves

Regular lubrication ranks high in the maintenance tips for industrial valves. This simple preventive maintenance step can significantly reduce wear and tear on moving parts, with notable benefits for mechanical joints connecting stems, bushings, and gears. Lubrication with oil or grease facilitates smoother movement of components, preventing seizing and potential damage. Despite its cost-efficiency as a maintenance service for valves, many often overlook lubrication. Following your manufacturer's recommendations for lubrication can prevent unnecessary damage and wear to your industrial valves.

Moving on to the grease injection operation, the operator selects the industrial valve and grease injection connection mode and then carries out the grease injection operation. Both insufficient and excessive grease injection can lead to issues.

• Insufficient grease injection accelerates the wear of the sealing surface due to a lubricant shortage.
• Excessive grease injection results in waste.

Therefore, it's crucial to accurately calculate the sealing capacity of different valves based on the valve type and category to determine a reasonable amount of grease for injection.

By implementing these correct lubrication procedures, you can significantly enhance the lifespan and efficiency of your industrial valves, ensuring smoother operations and reducing the risk of unforeseen breakdowns.

Regular Replacement of Worn Out Parts

Regular upkeep of industrial valves is crucial, and a significant aspect of this involves addressing worn-out parts. Like all other machines, industrial valves have consumable components or wear parts. These parts undergo constant friction, heat, and stress during operation, gradually wearing them out. Regular inspection, maintenance, and eventual replacement of these worn-out parts are critical to ensure your machinery continues to operate smoothly.

Ignoring worn parts could result in a productivity decline, increased energy consumption, and even safety risks. Therefore, knowing when to replace these parts is crucial to prevent severe failures and maintain continuous efficiency.

When performing repairs, it's advisable to use original spare parts. This ensures that your valves retain their original specifications after maintenance, helping them achieve their maximum lifespan.

A device management service can help you reduce your spare parts inventory, which can be quite useful. This reduces costs and ensures that you have essential spare parts on hand when needed.

Take advantage of scheduled downtime to repair or replace any valve components that need attention. For instance, seals may need replacement. By planning repairs based on predictive maintenance, you can avoid downtime issues and prevent future emergency repairs.

During maintenance, it's crucial to monitor the following aspects:

• Inspect for outdated stuffing or any damage; replace it immediately if found.
• Examine valve seals and gaskets for wear and tear, cracks, or leaks.
• If you identify damaged seals, replace them immediately to maintain proper sealing integrity and prevent leaks.

Now that we understand the importance of regularly replacing worn-out parts, we will next discuss the role of scheduled maintenance and inspections in improving the efficiency of your industrial valves.

Scheduling Routine Maintenance and Inspections

Every component of the valve system needs regular attention and care. When you understand these components, you can identify areas that need special care, ensuring your valves operate smoothly.

If you pay attention to maintenance, you may avoid leaks, decreased performance, and expensive breakdowns. Regular upkeep allows you to spot potential issues before they become major problems, reducing the risk of unexpected downtime and ensuring the longevity of your valve systems.

To keep your valve systems performing their best, carry out the following vital checks:

• Check for signs of leakage around valve joints, connections, or seals.
• Look for rust, pitting, or deterioration.
• Remember that valves can accumulate mineral deposits, especially in regions with hard water.

The frequency of these checks depends on your valves' operating conditions. For example, inspect valves under high pressure or extreme temperatures weekly or monthly. Valves that aren't under much strain check them semi-annually or annually.

Asset management is crucial in determining the frequency of routine checks and maintenance. A well-structured maintenance programme and correct installation can keep your industrial valves in top shape. Comprehensive training programmes for operators and maintenance staff, covering valve operation, maintenance procedures, and troubleshooting techniques, are also beneficial. Moreover, keeping updated documentation, including valve specifications, installation instructions, maintenance schedules, and troubleshooting guidelines, can be a great help. As we continue, we will discuss some common challenges in industrial valve maintenance and how to overcome them.

Common Challenges in Industrial Valve Maintenance and How to Overcome Them

Industrial valve maintenance may seem daunting, particularly when confronted with prevalent problems such as corrosion, wear, and high-pressure atmospheres. However, with the correct knowledge, you can directly face these challenges. Let's consider some maintenance tips to keep your industrial valves working at their best.

Dealing with Corrosion and Wear

Corrosion and wear are two common issues that you might encounter in maintaining industrial valves, emphasising the need for early detection. Here are some maintenance tips to help you effectively handle these issues:

• Valve leakage is a common problem, often resulting from worn seals, damaged sealing surfaces, or incorrect installation. Regular inspections of the valve seals, gaskets, and sealing surfaces can reveal signs of wear or damage. If necessary, tighten the bolts or fasteners. If the leakage continues, you may need to replace the seals or address the root cause.
• Sticking or binding valves can interrupt your operations. Debris, corrosion, or a lack of lubrication typically cause this issue. To fix this, clean the inside of the valve, lubricate it, and ensure that the valve components move without any hitches.
• Excessive noise or vibration during valve operation could suggest a misaligned or improperly installed valve. Regular inspections, lubrication, ensuring sealing integrity, and maintaining the actuator are vital for the reliability of your plant's valves.
• Internal inspections can reveal issues like cavitation and other internal damages that are not visible from the outside. Address these issues quickly to maintain the valves' proper functioning.
• Do not ignore the wear condition of the sealing surface and the trapezoidal threads of the valve stem and valve stem nut. This should form a crucial part of your maintenance routine.

While these tips can help handle corrosion and wear, it's crucial to note that high-pressure environments pose their own unique challenges, which we will examine next.

Managing Maintenance in High-Pressure Environments

Managing industrial valves in high-pressure environments presents unique challenges. Actuated valves, crucial for precise flow control and process autonomy in high-pressure fluid service, enhance fluid flow applications by opening or closing at predetermined intervals, which offers remote control capabilities.

The kind of actuator which controls process valves through either rotary or linear motion is also essential. Actuators need an external power source to work. In manually operated valves, a lever handle or handwheel connects to the valve stem or a gearing system, delivering sufficient output torque to change the position of the valve mechanism. Powering valve actuation can be achieved through:

1. Electric actuation
2. Pneumatic actuation
3. Hydraulic actuation

After grasping the role and operation of actuated valves, making the right choice is crucial. Evaluating flow conditions thoroughly and sizing the valve properly are necessary steps when selecting suitable valves for high-pressure fluid applications.

The actuator size required is determined by the maximum pressure of the pipe system and the force needed to operate the valve. It's also typical to specify the highest operating temperature along with the pressure for high-pressure valves.

One maintenance aspect requiring careful focus is the greasing operation. During this process, greasing pressure frequently changes between peaks and valleys. Low pressure might result in the seal leaking or failing. On the other hand, high pressure could clog the grease injection port, solidify the grease in the seal, or cause the sealing ring to jam with the valve ball and valve plate.

Safety should always be your foremost concern when maintaining industrial valves in high-pressure environments.

Valve Maintenance: The Closing Remarks

Maintaining industrial valves goes beyond a mere task. It's a vital responsibility that ensures operational efficiency, durability, and safety. Regular inspections, comprehensive cleaning, and suitable lubrication form the bedrock of this responsibility. Swiftly replacing worn-out components and having a strategic maintenance plan are equally important. Challenges such as corrosion or high-pressure situations may arise. However, with the right knowledge, you can effectively overcome these. Keep these Maintenance Tips for industrial valves handy and ensure your operations run without a hitch.

Remember, professional help is always available. Please feel free to contact our experts at AlterValve, the foremost valve supplier in India. We can guide you with proper maintenance measures, thanks to our industry experience. As the wise saying goes, "Prevention is better than cure." So, don't wait for a malfunction, maintain your valves routinely.