TPI July 2011

Valves Emergency separation couplings on ladle valves

a way that they may not be connected with one another. A confusion of flow and return line is thus prevented. Manufactured from high quality steel, the couplings easily resist temperatures up to 150°C and working pressures up to 200 bar in this harsh environment. The company states that using this system pays off even after one failure. The costs brought about by destroyed hoses or pipes, labour costs for repair and start up, as well as loss of production due to downtimes are considerably higher than the costs for installing a set of Walther emergency separation couplings on the ladle valve of the foundry ladles.

generally removed from and attached to the ladle valve by hand.

Slabs, billets and other steel products are manufactured in steel mills with continuous casting facilities and ladle turrets. In continuous casting, molten steel is continuously poured from the foundry ladle over a tundish into the ingot mould. If a foundry ladle is empty except for the residual slag, the ladle valve shuts off the steel flow into the tundish. The ladle turret moves the next ladle over the tundish, the ladle valve is opened and the steel continues to flow. The ladle valve situated under the foundry ladle is operated by a hydraulic cylinder. After a crane has hooked the full foundry ladle into the ladle turret, and shortly before the empty ladle is to be removed, the hydraulic cylinder is

In the event of an operating error or in an emergency it is often no longer possible to release the hydraulic cylinder under the foundry ladle manually. If, in such a case, the crane removes the foundry ladle from the ladle turret and the cylinder is still attached to the ladle, the hose lines or pipes leading to the cylinder control are destroyed or severely damaged. There is also a risk of fire due to leaking hydraulic oil. To avoid such dangers, coupling manufacturer Walther-Präzision has developed a special emergency separation system. The system consists of two identical couplings with a 45° angled connection. Additionally, the two couplings HP-010-Y26 and 12-010-Y10 are mechanically coded in

Walther-Präzision – Germany info@walther-praezision.de www.walther-praezision.de

Emergency separation couplings HP-010-Y26 and 12-010-Y10

Miniature ball valves Beswick Engineering now offers a series of miniature ball valves in standard shut-off (MBV-1010), 3-way diverting (MBVT-1010) and 3-way mixing diverting (MBVMD-1010) configurations.

O-ring face seals for leak-tight sealing, a variety of materials for corrosion resistance, and ultra-miniature designs for space savings. Applications include hydrogen fuel cells, medical equipment, instruments, laboratory equipment, ink jet print engines, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, homeland defense detectors, and many others.

12 grams in stainless steel. The mixing diverting valve allows either port to be individually selected or both ports to be simultaneously selected with no shut- off. All of these valves utilise 316 SS ball elements and are available with a variety of seals. Inlet and outlet ports are 10-32 UNF standard, with other sizes available on request. Beswick Engineering specialises in high-performance miniature fluid power components featuring captured

Designs offer compact size, light weight and non-restricted flow and are an outstanding choice for applications up to 250 psig. The standard shut-off valve weighs approx. 9 grams in stainless steel and the 3-way diverting and 3-way mixing diverting valves weigh approx.

beswick engineering co – USA mdonati@beswick.com www.beswick.com

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July 2011 Tube ProducTs InTernaTIonal