July 26, 2016 Value for Variety

Volume 6 | Issue 2

Through its lines of valves, actuators, instrumentation and software, Masoneilan prides itself on having a solution for all its customers.

From its early days powering the Stanley Steamer to its present incarnation as a leader in the digital control instrumentation and valve markets, Dresser Inc., Masoneilan Operations boasts both a successful and colorful history and a current line of valve products that bears witness to its present industry rank and its bright future.

Headquartered in Avon, Mass., the company offers a range of valve products and services for virtually every application in the energy and process control industries. With more than 1,000 employees, Masoneilan operates 25 manufacturing plants around the world, including its nine major manufacturing plants located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, France, Japan, India, and the United Kingdom. A network of sales offices in every major country supports the plants.

Masoneilan’s broad product portfolio includes control valves, actuators, pressure regulators, pressure relief valves, and field instrumentation. The breadth of products allows the company to serve customers as a single source supplier, said Patrick Leask, director of valve products.

Masoneilan was founded by William Mason in 1882 as the Mason Regulator Company. It made regulation equipment for steam, gas, air and liquid industrial applications. Some of the products Mason patented in its early years are still being produced today with only minor modifications. And one of the early products – the Mason Steam Engine – provided the power for the Stanley Steamer. In 1931, Mason acquired the Neilan Company, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of control valves, to become Masoneilan, Leask said.

Through its many years in business, the company introduced an array of innovative technologies. It was the first to devise top-and-bottom guiding for control valves, eccentric plug-style rotary globe valves, and split-body control valves with quick-change trim. It also pioneered a method to calculate valve noise and introduced a unique axial flow geometry valve for high-pressure liquid let down.

One of the company’s flagship products is its Smart Valve Interface, or SVI, which is a microprocessor-based device that improves process control performance for higher process yields. Other digital products from Masoneilan include a Foundation Fieldbus digital positioner called the Masoneilan FVP. With the Masoneilan ValVue digital communications software package, users can configure, calibrate, auto-tune, and perform-system diagnostics either in the field or from remote locations.

Network of Service
The company provides factory-certified support for all products through its local service centers. This network consists of Masoneilan-authorized repair centers, called MARCs, and field-service technicians. The technicians and the centers offer diagnostic tools, troubleshooting expertise, and a complement of on-site customer support. Masoneilan also offers software tools such as its ValvKeep II to help manage the support of installed equipment. Through the ValvKeep II program, users maintain and track equipment information such as inspection and historical records, including a record of procedures and OSHA inspections.

Other support services include design engineering support, product application assistance, and post-installation analysis, Leask said. Customers can take advantage of Masoneilan ValSpeQ software to help size and select the valves. The software program includes the latest industry standards and calculation methods and offers customers specific recommendations tailored to their needs. The program significantly reduces the time needed to specify and configure control valves.

For up-front design support, Masoneilan implemented its resident engineer program, which provides on-site technical assistance early in the design process to reduce costly design changes later in the design cycle. Technical experts from the company go on site to work alongside the customers’ engineers to help optimize valve and piping system design and define project requirements right from the project’s start.

Range of valves
As the flagship rotary products, Masoneilan 35002 Series Camflex valves have seen one million installations in a variety of process industries and applications, said Leask. The Camflex II remains the standard of excellence for all eccentric-plug rotary control valves, he added. The standard version includes an emission-free packing seal, with emissions rated at fewer than 500 parts per million up to 750,000 cycles. The Masoneilan 30000 Series Varimax control valve provides globe-valve type capabilities within a compact rotary style package. It offers a flow-capacity adjustment feature that can be externally adjusted in the field to compensate for valve oversizing. The feature can be used to minimize instability in the control loop due to oversizing.

The emission-free seal is a standard emission containment feature on all the company’s main line rotary products. The seal design, a dual O-ring, can be easily retrofitted in the field to any existing valve. The design offers a cost-effective way for customers to upgrade their processes under the guidelines of the U.S. Federal Clean Air Act, Leask said.

In its reciprocating product line, Masoneilan’s 21000 Series is a single-ported, heavy top-guided globe valve designed to handle a variety of process control applications. The 21000 series can be customized with optional packages, including bellows seals and angle body designs. The company’s cage-guided 41005 Series control valve is useful in applications such as high-pressure drop steam. Valve designs for this series use balanced trim for reduced noise and vibration and for containing cavitation. Various balanced seal options are available to meet a range of customer’s temperature and shutoff requirements.

In its severe service applications line, Masoneilan’s 78200/18200 Series axial flow LINOLNLOG design utilizes a unique tortuous path to distribute pressure drop along the axis of the plug. Multiple stages allow for accurate control of high-pressure liquids without the detrimental effects of cavitation, erosion and vibration. The axial stages throttle in unison as the plug strokes maintaining staging ratios at all lift points. Velocity and pressure drop is controlled, thus eliminating cavitation and the resulting trim damage. This valve is highly effective in pump recirculation and high-pressure liquid letdown applications, Leask said. The company’s 84000 Series SteamForm steam conditioning valve combines years of successful experience in steam pressure control with the latest technological development in water injection and desuperheating. The SteamForm’s unique design is engineered to provide the most efficient water vaporization and superior temperature control.

Selection of trims
Masoneilan offers a wide selection of single and multiple-stage trims with both balanced and unbalanced globe and angle valve configurations. The designs are based on drilled-hole technology and are recommended for clean service applications. The company’s variable resistance trim consists of a brazed stack of drilled plates, which channel the flow through multiple turns in a torturous path configuration. The trim is typically packaged within standard Masoneilan globe and angle valve bodies. The company’s V-Log trim provides high-pressure control of compressible fluids without erosion, vibration, or high noise levels. The design combines right angle turns with intermediate expansions and contractions for efficient pressure reduction within a compact design.

With its series of control valves, digital instrumentation, and energy management trim, Dresser Inc., Masoneilan can indeed safely say it offers a variety of solutions for virtually every application in energy and process control industries.

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