Nuclear Power Plant Control Valve Experts Meet at Emerson Innovation Center
New Emerson Innovation Center serves as training venue for nuclear plant personnel
MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA - The USA-STARS nuclear air-operated-valve (AOV) group held its 2010 summer training session at the recently opened Emerson Innovation Center in Marshalltown, Iowa. Serving as co-hosts for the two-day event were Emerson's vice president for Fisher nuclear valve products, Bill Fitzgerald, and Tim Scoggins, USA-STARS valve team program manager.
In his opening remarks, Fitzgerald encouraged the attendees to have open, honest discussions of control valve issues, concerns, wants and needs. He emphasized that the Emerson Innovation Center with its focus on Fisher technology would give them an unmatched opportunity to learn about and then watch the latest Fisher control valve developments in action.
Terry Buzbee, president of the Emerson Fisher valve division addressed the 46 attendees, further stating that the Emerson Innovation Center is home to the world's largest "flow lab" that for the first time, enables large valves to be tested in real-world plant conditions to ensure production reliability, efficiency, environmental compliance, and safety before being installed at a customer site.
Meeting attendees then proceeded to investigate and discuss new valve innovations through a series of technical presentations given by Fisher valve research and design engineers. Highlighting the presentations were tours of the flow lab of the new $30-million Emerson Innovation Center, with featured demonstrations of cavitation control, mass reaction effects, jet stream interaction and advances in antisurge valve control.
Emerson, whose Fisher valves are installed in more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear facilities, was recently awarded contracts to provide its Fisher control valves for Westinghouse Electric Company's newest generation of nuclear power plants, the AP1000(TM). The AOV members were able to view the actual test setup used to prove out critical operating characteristics, under actual passive heat-removal system service conditions, for the unique large Fisher control valves designed to meet AP1000 requirements.
Joel Dill, AOV program manager for the Kewaunee nuclear station near Green Bay, Wisconsin, summarized the opinion expressed by many attendees that it was good to see Emerson's commitment to the nuclear industry as shown by the Emerson Innovation Center.
About USA-STARS
Utilities Service Alliance (USA), Inc., is a "fleet" of numerous nuclear power sites, owned by different corporations that have joined together primarily to reduce operating and maintenance costs, but also to improve site performance and to influence nuclear industry activities where appropriate. Within the alliance is the Strategic Teaming and Resource Sharing subgroup known as STARS.
To ensure that the many air-operated valves (AOV) utilized within the nuclear power industry operate as designed, are tested and then maintained appropriately, the AOV team focuses on joint procurement of test equipment and engineering services, development of consistent testing procedures and shared expertise to increase the reliability and improve the operational performance of air-operating control valves and instruments.
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, water and wastewater treatment, mining and metals, food and beverage, life sciences and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Its brands include PlantWeb(TM), Syncade(TM), DeltaV(TM), Fisher®, Micro Motion®, Rosemount®, Daniel®, Ovation(TM), and AMS Suite.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE:EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2009 were $20.9 billion. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
