Early wear and tear of valves can occur for various reasons. Proper handling and regular valve maintenance are essential for maximum service life.  Plastic valves in water treatment applications can experience early wear due to chemical exposure, high pressure, and abrasion from particulates. Chemical corrosion weakens the material, while pressure fluctuations stress the valve. Particles in the water can abrade surfaces, exacerbating wear.  Valve material selection is essential to mitigate this. Implementing pressure regulation systems and filters can reduce stress and particle ingress. Regular maintenance, such as cleaning and lubrication, helps extend valve lifespan. Additionally, alternative valve designs or coatings may offer increased durability in harsh operating conditions. It is also essential to execute a proper installation. The valve must be installed in the piping system so that the system does not apply any additional stress on the valve, which can hurt the valve operation. Our Planning Fundamentals have a detailed guide for correct dimensioning and valve installations based on operating conditions on page 21 to 24 in our edition "Valves and Actuators". In addition, GF Piping Systems is offering online free-of-charge tools like the “Flange Connection Tool”, “Chemical Resistance Tool” and “Valve Dimensioning Tool” to help with the right choice.

• Velocity-based flow measurement technologies
  All of the flow sensors produced by GF belong to the broad category of velocity-based flow measurement  devices. This vast offering includes paddlewheel, electromagnetic, in-line rotor, and turbine flow sensors. Principles of operation vary considerably for each type, but some very important installation considerations are standard throughout.

• Fully Developed Turbulent Flow
  Velocity-based flow sensors depend on fully developed turbulent flow for accurate and repeatable measurements. Fully developed turbulent flow occurs in Newtonian fluids with a Reynolds Number (Re) greater than 4,500. Low flow rates, viscous liquids, and large pipe sizes make fully developed turbulent flow more difficult to achieve. The opposite is also true. That is, for a given set of conditions, simply reducing the pipe size to increase the local flowvelocity will produce a higher Reynolds Number.

• Electromagnetic flow sensors
  Electromagnetic flow sensors, like types 2551 and 2552, operate on Faraday’s principle of electromagnetic induction, and have no moving parts. As fluid (must be conductive >20 μS) moves through the magnetic field produced at the sensor tip, a voltage occurs that is directly proportional to the fluid velocity. Internal electronics then convert this voltage into a frequency and/or a 4 to 20 mA output. GF electromagnetic flow sensors are insertion-style, suitable for use in a wide range of pipe sizes.

• Paddlewheel flow sensors
  Paddlewheel flow sensors are insertion devices mounted perpendicular to the piping system and rely upon the energy in the flow stream to spin a rotor (paddlewheel) around a stationary shaft. Most paddlewheel flow sensors utilize rotors with magnets embedded in each blade.
  The magnets are typically used either in conjunction with a coil internal to the sensor housing to produce a sinusoidal output (self-generating, non-powered sensors), or to trigger an internal electronic switch to produce a square-wave output (transistor-type, powered sensors). Either way, the resulting frequency is directly proportional to the fluid velocity.
  
  In our Planning Fundamentals, we have a general selection guideline to help the user choose the appropriate sensor type to obtain optimal flow measurement results.
  
  Read more on page 139 to 141 of "Valves and Actuators".

Digital communication in process plants becomes increasingly important due to automation trends around digitalization and Industry 4.0 which can't be supported by traditional 4-20mA analogue technology.
In the past decades, different standard organizations specified several digital communication technologies. End customers in the process industries can freely choose the technology that best fits their needs. Digital communication technologies open up the potential for the highest plant efficiency.
There is no need for expensive I/O cards and extensive device wiring, as only one cable goes from the PLC to the field level. Flexible topology concepts support the individual needs of a process plant.
Smart field instruments share their valuable data to enable continuous process improvement. The field of potential improvements ranges from diagnostic insights to simplified troubleshooting to extensive trend monitoring to optimize processes or avoid unplanned plant shutdowns.
Wireless communications between field devices and mobile applications complete the picture of a highly efficient process plant by providing a simple possibility to connect to a device for live device data or parameterization.

Industrial Ethernet technology with protocols like PROFINET, EtherNet/IP or Modbus TCP is best suited to fully support the trends around digitalization, as Ethernet technology is already the standard communication technology on the upper layers of the automation pyramid. By bringing Ethernet down to the field level, systems have seamless data access to a single sensor or actuator with fewer hardware components and without protocol conversion. Global  market studies show that the share of Industrial Ethernet compared to traditional field level technologies increased a lot and further will increase in future. GF Piping Systems supports the most critical digital communication technologies in the process automation portfolio for both sensors and actuators. 

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