TITANIUM BALL VALVE WITHSTANDS ENVIRONMENT TESTING
TITANIUM BALL VALVE WITHSTANDS ENVIRONMENT TESTING
HOUSTON – Watson Valve Services Inc. announces Barrick Technology Centre R&D titanium ball valve ball and seat, chrome oxide coating unaffected by test environment.
The ½”-Ti/CrO ball valve spent approximately 480-hours in service at temperature and pressure over about 2-years. There was no catastrophic failure to the ½”-ball valve; a leak in the soft seal was the only issue. The typical autoclave temperature was 225°C (437°F) with total pressure approximately 455-psig for multiple pilot runs.
The purpose of the R&D ½”-Ti/CrO ball valve was to study the level of corrosion upon failure. The test environments ran were the autoclave pilot programs for Goldstrike ore feed and Pascua Lama concentrate feed – both acidic at discharge where this valve was exposed (with approximately 20-g/L H2SO4 free acid and 60-g/L H2SO4 free acid). This valve acted as the primary discharge isolation ball valve which sees the hot acidic slurry but not duty cycled like the discharge valve.
The Watson Coatings Lab metallurgical evaluation concluded the chrome oxide coating was unaffected by the test environment with no excessive wear to critical parts.
About Watson Valve – Watson Valve Services specializes in the custom design, repair and modification of severe service ball valves. Our line of severe service ball valves is unique because we utilize over 50 years of experience and proven coatings technology of our sister company, Watson Grinding & Manufacturing. We not only make the valve, we coat the ball, seats and other components in-house at our robotic HVOF & Plasma Thermal Spray Coatings facility. Our coatings are tested and approved by our on-site Metallurgical Laboratory. We have extended the life of Autoclave Agitator Blades from 9 months to 50 months runtime. Our valves have been proven in Autoclave Operations, Mining and Chemical plants around the world. We are ISO 9001:2008. Check out our web sites for a comprehensive view of our companies: WatsonValve.com; WatsonGrinding.com. Don’t forget to “Like Us” on Facebook & “Follow Us” on Twitter!
About Barrick Technology Centre: Barrick operates the Barrick Technology Centre in Vancouver as a centre of excellence for metallurgy and process development. The Centre has more than 40 permanent employees working in a recently modernized facility with new equipment. Its testing and analysis capabilities play an important role in innovation efforts and company initiatives worldwide to enhance recovery, decrease operating costs, and generally improve operations. (Source: www.barrick.com)
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