Unicast Launches Two-Way Valve Featuring Inline Maintenance

June 04, 2015

The Unicast Two-Way Valve offers the cement industry a cost-cutting solution with unique wear improvements.

Unicast, Inc announces today the release of a two-way cement valve featuring inline maintenance and easy direct replacement. A large access panel on one side of the valve allows for inline maintenance of internal wear parts such as the gate and seat. Unique (optional) add-on flanges adapt the two-way valve to fit both standard SAE 150# and metric flanges for easy direct replacement and flexible installation. Designed specifically for the alternate feeding of two dry materials into one conveyance, the Unicast Two-Way Valve offers the cement industry a cost-cutting solution with unique wear improvements.

“A cement plant customer in Laramie, Wyoming approached us looking for a solution to replace a European competitor’s two-way valve,” says Steven Kirschner, Unicast Sales Manager. “We saw it as a great opportunity to engineer some improvements into the design of the valve in terms of wear life, part replacement, and usability. Our engineers took the standard inlet of the Unicast valve and built a new outlet section to fit the same bolt pattern as the competitor’s two-way valve. The customer was happy he didn’t have to modify the pipeline.”

Unicast’s latest innovation applies the company’s proven successes to a traditional two-way valve design. A large access panel made popular with the company’s most successful valve, the Convertible Modular Diverter Valve, allows for quick and easy inline maintenance.

Traditional valve repair requires its removal from the pipeline by crane. It also involves shutting down operations which can cost a plant thousands of dollars per hour in downtime. Often these valves have to be sent to designated repair shops offsite for servicing, requiring a plant to stock extra valves on site to keep the plant running.

“Cement plants are really looking at their budgets and trying to reduce costs,” says Kirschner. “Valve removal for simple maintenance is so costly for a cement plant, it has become an unnecessary waste of resources. Our main concern is to deliver a product that delivers maximum performance for the greatest length of time and saves on operations and maintenance costs with a sticker price lower than the competition.”

The Unicast Two-Way Valve features outlets lined with half-inch thick cast sleeves of proprietary formulation ceramic to maximize abrasion resistance.

“Our goal at Unicast is to have a two-way valve installed in the same position for 25 years,” says Kirschner, “and this is why we guarantee the ceramic liner outlets for 25 years.”

Unicast has had great success with its unique ceramic liners and continues to actively monitor its existing diverter valves in operation. The first diverter valve featuring ceramic liners installed eighteen years ago in a cement plant is still in operation and shows no signs of wear. Ceramic liners reduce wear in high abrasion areas such as elbows.

An additional (optional) feature of the Two -Way Valve is the specially-made flange converters. These add-ons easily adapt Unicast’s two-way valve to fit both SAE#150 and metric bolt patterns in existing pipeline systems making direct replacement easy.

“We’ve made this valve accessible to more cement plants by offering a two-way valve that you can bolt in place without any expensive piping changes,” says Kirschner. “The Unicast Two-Way Valve is a direct-replacement option we’d like cement plants to consider. Why remove a valve from the pipeline if you don’t have to?”

With its right or left hand setup, plants can reduce the amount of spare diverter valves that they have to stock. Precision ground high chrome seats and gates eliminate leakage. Unicast two-way diverter valves are available in the following configurations: manual, electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic.

With annual operations costs and budgets coming up for review, inline maintenance is a cost-cutting feature purchasing and plant managers need to consider.

To learn more about the Unicast Two-Way Valve visit http://www.unicast.ca

About Unicast, Inc

Unicast designs and distributes quality cast replacement wear parts for the cement, mining, aggregate, and coal industries worldwide. We supply superior castings from chrome moly, manganese steels, heat and corrosion resistant stainless steels, high chrome white irons and low alloy steels.

Our core wear part solutions include diverter valves, apron feeder pans, grinding mill liners, hammers and blow bars, grizzly panels, and cooler grates. Our cast wear parts have been the reliable, hassle-free choice for maintenance engineers around the world since 1994. >http://www.unicast.ca