Noticing a difference in control, increased wear, or pressure swings in your processes? These small inefficiencies could be contributing to the big losses you’re experiencing in overall equipment performance.
Routine inspections and maintenance don't always guarantee optimal performance.
A valve that opens, closes, and responds to commands may get the green light during an inspection, while draining efficiency, stability, and money.
But there’s a big difference between operational and optimized.
- Operational means the valve performs its basic function.
- Optimized means it performs that function efficiently, precisely, and consistently under real process conditions.
A valve doesn’t need to fail to create big problems for your operation. Underperforming slightly over time grows into high costs.
Recognizing Valve Failure Early
Valves are the linchpin for entire production systems, controlling the flow of water, oil, gas, and other media throughout the facility.
Demanding industries like oil and gas, manufacturing, food and beverage, ethanol and biofuels, and power generation depend on components working together smoothly. Valves may be small, but their impact is not. They may be a small piece of a larger system; it doesn’t mean they require less attention.
Harsh conditions constantly eat away at valves. Exposure to contaminants, moisture, particulates, and chemicals steadily wear down internal components. Consequences of failure vary and escalate quickly:
- A malfunctioning control valve can destabilize a midstream processing plant, leading to reduced throughput.
- A failed relief valve in a high-pressure system can result in over-pressurization, which could potentially cause equipment explosions.
- A lapse in pressure control in a safety valve could mean steam system failure, toxic releases, or equipment damage.
Obvious valve failure
Some failures are immediate and visible.
A seized valve, for instance. These could be jammed, stuck, or inoperable valves that cause immediate disruption on your line. When a valve seizes, alarms are triggered, operators respond, and maintenance teams are quickly deployed.
Typical consequences include:
- Production downtime
- Emergency maintenance
- Immediate safety risks
While these failures are obvious and dramatic, they are less common and easier to manage. You have protocol in place. Hidden valve failures, on the other hand, are the ones you don’t see.
Hidden valve failure
Far more common and expensive than sudden obvious valve failure are hidden failures. These valves still technically operate; but you might notice a reduction in control or precision or some internal wear in trim, seats, or seals. Work gets done, but it’s slower and less consistent.
Consequences include:
- Efficiency loss
- Process instability
- Strain on control systems
The valve still moves and responds. Alarms aren’t triggered. Operators aren’t notified. Performance just degrades over time. This is the dangerous and expensive kind of failure because it’s hard to detect. Without proactive maintenance, inspections, and inventory planning, even minor valve failure can escalate into major operational risks.
Hidden valve issues can lead to:
- Leakage
- Pressure swings
- Chattering and vibration
- Pipeline ruptures
- Vessel explosions
- Chemical release
- Massive production losses
How ‘Working’ Valves Cost You Money
A working valve that underperforms actively drives up costs across your operation. Here are a few ways how:
Excess Energy Consumption
When valves underperform or operate inefficiently, they require more energy to maintain flow or pressure. Even a small drop in valve efficiency can force pumps and compressors to work harder to maintain system pressure.
Common causes include:
- Poor sealing or worn trim
- Improper valve sizing or selection
- Internal leakage
The result? Your system has to compensate for inefficiency, leading to higher operating costs with no output improvement.
Reduced System Life
Poor valve performance creates damaging conditions inside your system. An inefficient valve can damage an entire system with cavitation and excessive turbulence. Over time, this destroys the valve itself and causes long-term effects like:
- Noise and vibration
- Pipe and pump damage
- Premature equipment failure
Ignoring these signs can have you replacing systems long before their expected service life is over.
Poor Process Stability
Process control depends on precision. When a valve no longer responds accurately, instability follows. This often looks like:
- Fluctuating flow rates
- Pressure swings
- Reduced throughput
- Inconsistent product quality
This is especially critical in industries where tight tolerances are essential (chemical processing, power generation, refining). A “working” valve that can’t hold steady conditions becomes a bottleneck.
Control Loop Overcorrection
When a valve itself is the deviation, the system overcorrects.
Control loop overcorrection is a condition where a controller reacts too aggressively to a deviation in the set point. This creates oscillation and hunting behavior (constantly adjusting) that increases wear on valves, actuators, and other components.
The impact:
- Accelerated wear on valves and actuators
- Shortened equipment life
Reduced control accuracy
Proactive Maintenance Systems for Critical Equipment
Smart maintenance alleviates hidden and obvious valve failures by using sensors and software to analyze real-time vibration, temperature, and pressure data throughout your processes.
ValveSight Diagnostic Software by Flowserve is a proactive maintenance tool designed to get ahead of hidden failures, improve plant asset management, and maximize control valve performance.
Flowserve Logix advanced diagnostic valve positioners measure changes to valve function over time.
Together, they function as an integrated, proactive diagnostic system that monitors the health of control valves, actuators, and positioners in real time.
For instance, our team may use the tools to see if hysteresis has changed, friction has increased, or stroke time has changed. We can take a snapshot of valve performance when we assemble the new valve. Then, at a prescribed time, we take another snapshot to evaluate performance.
By combining ValveSight’s predictive algorithms with the high-performance sensor technology of the Logix digital positioner (such as the Logix 3800), plants can move from reactive to predictive maintenance, reducing downtime and improving process efficiency. We partner with Flowserve and other leading brands because they approach valve design as integrated systems engineered to work together, including valve bodies, trims, sealing components, and actuators.
Choosing the right valves from the start can mitigate hidden and obvious issues before they become major problems. Swanson Flo, an MCE company, is here to help identify underlying issues before applying the right strategy to solve them, whether it’s a Flowserve solution or another of our trusted manufacturers.
Through material evaluation, proper valve and trim selection, retrofit support, and system-level optimization, we can help you reduce erosion, extend your equipment life, and maintain reliable process performance in your demanding flow applications.