If you would like to learn more about the Surgebuster Check Valve, please contact us on +44 870 830 2001. To read more detailed product information about the Surgebuster, please see our specific product page.
The Problem of Back Flow Throughout History [Infographic]
Posted in Check Valves, Valves, Water Valves
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Sustainability and the Water Industry
Resources and environmental systems used in the water industry are under increasing pressure. To ensure we are able to fulfil the vision for sustainable water now and in the future, it is important to understand the true value of the resources available and to align the overall economic, social and environmental goals.
To achieve the goal of sustainable water systems, Ofwat (the Water Services Regulation Authority) has set out a strategy to work towards this vision. Ofwat is a non-ministerial government department, established in 1989, responsible for the economic regulation of the privatised water and sewerage industry in England and Wales.
One of the key things in achieving a sustainable future in the water industry will be the contribution and involvement of the water companies in helping to save energy and ultimately reduce costs to the end users as well as increasing the efficiency of their processes.
Ofwat have encouraged water companies to take responsibility for wider social, economic and environmental impacts of their activities whilst continuing to meet customer needs and maintaining high quality standards. The regulatory board has also outlined key sustainability principles for companies to work towards. These include:
- Supplying safe and reliable water and sewerage services for consumers that minimise impacts on the environment
- Ensuring that consumers continue to be treated fairly, receiving a level of service that consistently meets their needs
- Maintaining financially robust sectors that are able to meet consumer needs at a fair cost
- Utilising the best information available to support decision making
In working towards a more sustainable future in the water industry, the Val-Matic Surgebuster is suited to almost any water regulating application and has been proven to reduce energy costs up to 50% in water applications. With a shortened disc stroke and angled seating of the valve, the Val-Matic Surgebuster only has to travel 35 degrees to closure, making it the fastest-closing valve in the market. Furthermore, the unique, patented disc accelerator positioned inside the valve away from the flow path, helps to close the valve efficiently and quickly.
The Val-Matic Surgebuster has now been installed in water utility companies across the UK and has been effective in helping these utilities to meet their energy and innovation targets for working towards a sustainable future.
At MGA Controls we have a long-standing partnership, experience and technical expertise in supplying Val-Matics products to the UK water industry. For any enquiries or advice on your water management needs, call our experts on 0870 803 2001.
Forget the Brits… it’s the MGA Awards!
The ‘Economy’ award
The award for ‘Economy’ goes to the Surgebuster Swing Check Valve by Val-Matic. The Surgebuster has been proven to save up to 50% of energy costs in an application. The Surgebuster check valve has an assisted spring disc accelerator and an angled valve seat which means the valve stroke is reduced down to 35 degrees and the closing time is reduced to 0.5 seconds. This makes the Surgebuster the fastest closing valve in the market!
The ‘Problem-Solver’ award
Singer Valve have tackled one of the biggest problems in water applications; Cavitation damage! Singer Valve’s anti-cavitation trim eliminates damage caused by cavitation and reduces the negative effects of cavitation such as noise, excessive wear of parts and failure of components and nearby pipelines. Singer’s range of control valves have two heavy stainless steel sliding cages that allow for maximum flow capacity throughout the valve. Singer’s anti-cavitation trim is designed specifically for the valve and for the system and takes full account of the pressure differentials across valves to ensure they perform optimally at all flow rates.
The ‘Innovation’ award
The innovation award goes to Hobbs’ Triple Offset Butterfly Valve. Leaders in the field of triple offset, Hobbs Valve have patented their triple offset design, engineered to provide optimum performance and maximum resistance in high intensity applications. The ‘cam action’ and ‘right angled conical sealing’ design ensures that the metal sealing components are never in contact until its final degree of closing, resulting in repeatable sealing and a vastly extended valve life. Metal to metal seating ensures bubble tight closure of the valve, resulting in zero-leakage performance!
The ‘Engineers’ award
The Buschjost CLICK-ON range of solenoid valves wins the Engineer’s choice award for being the most user-friendly product on the market. The Buschjost CLICK-ON range is a range of solenoid or pressure-operated valves that have a unique style of fixing the coil in place. Where normal solenoid valves employ a clip or the use of a nut onto the threaded core tube, the “Click-On” style is a thin stainless steel spring clip which extends from the base of the core tube and latches on to the top of the coil, firmly holding it in place. This means no more tools are required when changing solenoid coils, making the engineer’s life much easier.
The ‘Newcomer’ award
The Valve-Tork range of rack & pinion quarter-turn and multi-turn range of pneumatic actuators wins the award for the ‘new kid on the block’. Valve-Tork combines quality, experience, patented technology and expertise to deliver a robust and reliable pneumatic actuator to the marketplace. Available in 18 Models, both Spring Return & Double Acting, Valve-Tork’s actuators are capable of achieving Torque figures up to 10,000Nm. So watch out actuators, Valve-Tork is here to stay!
Posted in Check Valves, Pneumatic Actuators, Solenoid Valves, Valves
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Top 5 Solution Stories
Here at MGA Controls we have gathered the Top 5 application stories featuring our range of valves, controls and instrumentation and the problems they solved last year…
Solution #1
Hobbs Valves installed in harsh chemical application in major Petroleum company in Oman
A major petroleum company in Oman, The Occidental’s Mechanical Vapour Compressor (MVC) facility were experiencing severe wear on the valve seats and discs of the standard buttefly valves they had installed in their plant. This was due to the harsh chemicals the plant was using to treat water. With the help of Hobbs Valve in the UK, MGA Controls, specified Hobbs Valve 8” Triple Offset Butterfly Valves in Super- Duplex 6A stainless steel. The operation of Hobbs valves is such that contact of materials is only made at the last possible point in the valve movement – The two sealing components only come into contact at the final 0.01 degree of valve movement. Hobbs Triple offset butterfly valves and their innovative metal-to-metal design, successfully overcame the problem of excessive valve breakdown at Oman MVC.
MGA Introduces the Valve-Tork range of Pneumatic Actuators to its product range
MGA now has its own range of Pneumatic actuators to complement our existing product range of high quality valves, controls and instrumentation.
Posted in Pneumatic Actuators
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How Integrating Power and Process Could Save Millions
The way in which process and power systems are managed has long been costly and complex but by integrating both systems the economic benefits could reach millions of pounds.
Current systems that serve process automation and power automation within the same plant are usually separated by architectural standards, a lack of common communication and differences between company departments. Recent developments in this field mean that by integrating process automation and power automation into the same plant control system millions of pounds could be saved either through increased production or reduced operating costs.
Taking an integrated approach to automation systems allows a single overall strategy in the areas of operations, engineering and maintenance. This system, known as IEC 61850, is considered the global communication standard in substation automation and represents a massive development in simplifying the integration of protection and control IEDs.
Traditionally intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) are coupled by hard-wiring or serial interfaces and due to the extensive cabling needed and number of available protocols the cost-efficiency and bandwidth of this approach is limited. When using these complex setups it can often result in solutions being implemented on a specific project or device basis. This multiple system setup also requires a number of databases, additional engineering tools, operator systems and further system administration and maintenance.
Integration of process and power systems combines cutting-edge manufacturing technologies with IT-led solutions to provide significant benefits and setting new global standards in substation automation.
MGA Controls Ltd has expertise in designing and implementing such systems. We have over 20 years’ experience in engineering, consultancy and solution design and have successfully designed and engineered customised solutions for many end-user and OEM applications. Using state of the art technology from manufacturers such as Endress & Hauser and Emerson, our integrated systems are bespoke, fit for purpose and 100% compatible with your existing controls and instrumentation.
For more information visit our services page or get in touch!
Current advancements in preventing water leakages and damage to pipelines in water and wastewater applications.
Poor joining practises in pipelines
Asset integrity specialist Control Point is proving that poor joining practices are the real reason behind pipe leakages, not polyethylene pipes.
Severn Trend Water (STW) has now established its role in improving PE pipe joining by making it compulsory for all contractors undertaking its capital programme to use a RedBox telemetry system, developed by Control Point.
The RedBox technology offers significant improvements in the installation quality of electrofusion joints. Since the introduction of this technology into Severn Trent Water the company have noticed marked improvements in the quality of their pipes.
RedBox monitors the quality of pipe joints before fusion takes place, which increases the quality of work and can help to provide a better indication of the location of any failed pipes. This system provides clear evidence that it is poor instillation that leads to pipe failure as opposed to the polyethylene product as originally thought. The telemetric technology used is made up of GSM, GPS and camera modules that are retrofitted to electrofusion boxes and butt fusion machines. To ensure that each joint is installed correctly these are then approved or sent for investigation, which ultimately leads to cost and time savings in the long term.
Reducing the damaging effect of surge in pipelines
Other ways to protect pipes, reduce wear and tear and increase longevity, is by reducing the amount of stress the pipes are under. The common problem of water surge, water slam or water hammer occurs when a valve in a water or wastewater application closes suddenly, pushing water back down the pipelines. This causes a shockwave and can cause serious damage to valves and pipelines downstream.
There are several ways of doing this, but ValMatic’s innovative design of swing check valve has proven to be the most beneficial in many applications.
ValMatic swing check valves have an unrestricted 100% flow area, smooth streamlined body contouring and the simplicity of one moving part allowing passage of large solids, minimising the potential for clogging. Non-slam is achieved by utilising a “Short Disc Stroke” (35 degree stroke) in conjunction with the unique “Memory Flex action” of the valve’s disc. This reduces potentially destructive water hammer. The Surgebuster swing check valve is even more innovative. The Surgebuster deploys a unique patented technology to provide fast closure – an adjustable disc accelerator. The disc accelerator is a precision formed stainless steel mechanism that closes the valve disc rapidly and thereby avoids slamming caused by flow reversal whilst at the same time allowing the disc to be stabilised under flow conditions.
If you are having problems with damage to your pipelines or valves in water or waste water applications, please contact us on +44 870 803 2001 or at www.mgacontrols.co.uk – we would be happy to share our expertise in this area.
Air valves in wastewater applications explained…what type of Air Valve should you be using?
Air Valves are an essential element of any potable or wastewater system. Without Air Valves, air pockets will form, restricting the pipeline and therefore reducing flow and increasing energy costs. Furthermore, air pockets have been found to be a significant causal factor in the build-up of corrosive substances, such as hydrogen sulphide, which essentially will lead to high maintenance costs or pipeline collapse.
Posted in Air Valves, Valves, Water Valves
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Buschjost brass and stainless steel solenoid valves in stock
At MGA Controls Ltd we have increased our stock holding of Buschjost solenoid valves due to popular demand from UK and Export markets.
Successful product lines tend to be the 82540 series, which is a general-purpose solenoid valve with forced lifting. The material is brass making it a very cost-effective valve and it used in application without differential pressure, and with neutral gases and liquid fluids.
Posted in Solenoid Valves
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Swing Check Valves, water slam and reverse flow
Only one real cause exists for slamming check valves – reverse flow! The impact of the reverse flow is direct and proportional, the faster the reverse flow, the more violent the slam. If reverse flow through the check valve is allowed to develop, the reverse flow will slam the disc into the seat and create a loud water hammer or surge.
Now there is a uniquely patented solution to resolve this problem in the form of the Val-matic SURGEBUSTER!
Posted in Valves, Water Valves
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