TPi September 2014

business & market news

Xylem to sell UK-based oil and gas valves business

For more than 60 years, the valves business has been a supplier to the oil and gas industry through a number of brands, including Midland-ACS, Alcon and Landon Kingsway. Xylem’s water technology enables customers to transport, treat, test and efficiently use water in public utility, residential and commercial building services, industrial and agricultural settings.

manufacturers, primarily in the oil and gas sector.

Xylem Inc, a water technology company dedicated to solving the world’s most challenging water issues, has announced the divestiture of its Wolverhampton, UK-based valves business, Xylem Flow Control Ltd, to Rotork plc, an actuator manufacturer and flow control company, for approximately US$25mn. The business, part of Xylem’s Applied Water Systems (AWS) Growth Center, provides a wide range of pneumatic and hydraulic valves and related products to original equipment

“This sale enables us to focus more sharply on our strategic core businesses and our strengths as a water technology focused company,” said Patrick Decker, president and CEO of Xylem. “At the same time, this business is a strong fit with Rotork’s portfolio and leading brands. I am confident that this business will benefit from its integration into Rotork’s portfolio and alignment with their long-term goals.”

Xylem Inc – USA www.xylem.com

Contract for heat exchanger tubes More than 400 tonnes of Duplex tubes, including both straight and U-bend, are to be supplied and installed at a world- scale propylene oxide (PO) production plant, with the first quantities being delivered inOctober 2014 and continuing into the first quarter of 2015. Sandvik is working closely the engineering team providing the technical support for the project, and has also attended special technical training sessions at the Zhenjiang tube mill. have a particularly detrimental effect on carbon steel equipment. Sandvik SAF 2205 Duplex stainless steel tubes were specified for the project due to the fact they are suitable for use in applications involving highly corrosive conditions. The material offers mechanical strength as well as high levels of resistance to general corrosion and other types such as stress corrosion cracking, and pitting and crevice corrosion.

Key to Sandvik being awarded the contract was a site visit and audit undertaken by the customer’s project team, who were impressed with the quality of operations, facilities and staff at the mill, which was subsequently named as the preferred mill to handle the project. In addition, Sandvik built good relationships with the key fabricators and those responsible for engineering procurement construction (EPC). Daniel Zhao, regional sales manager, Great China, for Sandvik Materials Technology, said, “Winning this contract is the result of many months of hard work and discussion involving our technical and sales teams as well as our global project manager, who all contributed to our success in securing this business. In addition to the high standard of our mill and its facilities, the high resistance to corrosion offered by the Sandvik SAF 2205 was a major factor. We are delighted that all our efforts have been rewarded, and we look forward to working with our customers on this exciting project that will prove essential to the region’s up and down stream production growth.” Sandvik Materials Technology – Sweden www.smt.sandvik.com

Sandvik claims that the properties of Sandvik SAF 2205 ensure longer life of the tubes, with superior properties to

The production of PO results in a corrosive process environment that can

standard stainless steels that have been shown to last for as little as 12 to 18 months in some cases. This in turn means that maintenance time and costs are reduced, with the added benefit of the potential for production downtime being kept to a minimum. Sandvik’s contract win is the result of five months of intensive technical discussions led by the manufacturer’s Zhenjiang team, and was achieved against tough competition from a number of other tube producers and suppliers in the region.

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Tube Products International September 2014

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