As industrial suppliers grow more Internet savvy, a range of online tools and apps are coming to market that provide convenience and real value to end-users. A quick search on most fluid handling technology terms will churn up a handful of results for everything from informative white papers and video tutorials to custom sizing and selection tools. So as we started to poke around for online solutions to support users of sealing systems, it didn’t take us long to find some compelling tools to share. The following highlights six online resources to assist end-users in the effective application of valve technologies.
READ ALSO: 6 Online Resources for Sealing Systems You Need to Know About
1. Open-Source Valve Textbook
The University of Michigan’s Department of Engineering published the Chemical Engineering Process Dynamics and Controls Open Textbook, a student-contributed, open-source text covering the materials used in the department’s senior-level controls course. The resource provides extensive consideration of industrial valve types and valve selection best practices. Topics covered include Valve Types, Safety Valves, Flow Characteristics, Valve Sizing, Materials of Construction, and Actuators. A companion video lecture is also included with the online text.
>> Check out this online tool for valve users here.
2. Control Valve Handbook, 4th Edition
Several valve manufacturers offer free "handbooks" for valve users. One of the more robust offerings of this sort is Emerson Process Management’s Control Valve Handbook, which was originally published in 1965 and was recently re-issued as a fourth edition. Topics covered in the latest iteration of this text include an Intro to Terminology, Control Valve Performance, Valve & Actuator Types, Digital Valve Controllers, Analog Positioners, Boosters and Control Valve Accessories, Selection Strategies, Steam Conditioning Valves, Control Valve Installation and Maintenance, Valve Standards, Engineering Reference Data, Piping Reference Data, and Common Conversions.
>> Check out this online tool for valve users here.
3. Valve Standards & Specification
ValvesandSealing.com is an online portal featuring extensive coverage of valve-related applications and technologies. Among the many resources featured on this site is a list of pertinent valve standards, including a breakout of standards bodies, specific references to valve standards and sections, and a contact link for users to submit listing updates and suggest additions for the list. Standards covered include AD-Merkblätter, ANSI, API, ASME, ASTM, BS (UK), DIN, EN, FCI, IEC, ISA, ISO, MSS, NACE, NAMUR, TRD, VDE/VDI.
>> Check out this online tool for valve users here.
4. Valve Industry Buyer’s Guide
The Valve Manufacturer’s Association of America offers an online Valve Industry Buyer’s Guide that allows end-users to search for suppliers by location, company, or technology category. The Buyer’s Guide includes the following categories: Actuation & Control; Castings, Forgings & Raw Material; Cleaning & Maintenance; Coatings & Paints; Components, Parts & Accessories; Instrumentation; OEM Support Services; Packings/Seals/Gaskets; Professional Services & Consultants; Pumps; Resources; Safety; Software; Valve Insulation; Valve Operating Systems; and Valve Service, Repair & Testing.
>> Check out this online tool for valve users here.
5. EmpoweringValves.com
Empowering Valves is an “information and connection hub” for engineers, technicians, sales and marketing executives and others working in the global valve industry. Offering a digital community through websites, e-newsletters, and social media channels, Empowering Valves is about giving professionals in all the industries that comprise valve-related systems a place to exchange ideas, news stories, product information, case studies, videos, event information, etc.
>> Check out this online tool for valve users here.
6. Valve Glossary App
Cameron International’s Valve Glossary app contains more than 400 valve and valve automation terms for quick reference anywhere, anytime. In addition to valve terminology, the app offers conversion tables and equivalents, steel pipe flange dimensions, specific gravity of gases and liquids, and other standard constants and equations. The free app is available on Google Play and Apple iTunes.
>> Check out this online tool for valve users on Google Play and iTunes.
