Plastic Lined Industrial Valves in Virginia
Virginia's hardest valve services sit on a few well-known sites: oleum and ammonium sulfate liquor at Hopewell, mixed nitrating acid at Radford, the bulk acids and acid waste of a memory chip fab in Manassas, chlorine dioxide at the Covington and Franklin mills. A valve there has to shut tight, turn easily and keep every metal part out of the fluid.
Marspec Technical Products supplies lined valves for that work along with the lined spools we fabricate in Fairhope, Alabama, backed by more than half a century in plastic lined piping. We supply Swissfluid PFA- and PTFE-lined valves and build automated valve packages in house; Swissfluid USA supports its national distribution network from its facility in Stafford, Texas. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with your service conditions.
Virginia services that belong on lined valves
Oleum, sulfuric acid and sulfate liquor at Hopewell
The caprolactam complex at Hopewell makes its own sulfuric acid and ammonia and crystallizes the ammonium sulfate by-product into fertilizer, so its valve schedule runs from oleum and 98 percent acid to a hot sulfate liquor that salts out as it cools. Strong acid and oleum go on PFA lined ball or plug valves, checked against the liner's temperature limit. The liquor is plug valve territory: a cavity-free cylindrical plug gives crystals nowhere to pack and needs no in-line adjustment, with jacketed or traced spools either side to keep the salt dissolved.
Nitrating acid on the New River
The Radford Army Ammunition Plant nitrates cellulose in mixed nitric and sulfuric acid and reconcentrates the spent acid for reuse. Mixed acid is oxidizing and dehydrating at once, which limits the alloys that can take it hot and rules out the common elastomer seats. PFA lined plug valves on supply and spent acid lines, PFA lined diaphragm valves where flow is throttled, and a lined sampling valve for titration draws leave nothing in the stream but fluoropolymer.
Fab acid waste in Manassas, purity duty in Petersburg
The Manassas memory fab runs hydrofluoric, nitric and sulfuric acids, peroxide and ammonium hydroxide; its ultrapure water and electronic-grade chemicals travel in solid natural PVDF or PFA, and lined valves belong on its bulk chemical supply, acid waste and neutralization. The active ingredient plants at Petersburg run solvents and clean-in-place acid and caustic. Both need a lining that resists the chemistry and adds no iron, nickel or chromium. PFA lined diaphragm valves with a drainable weir, PFA lined ball valves on acid waste and solvents, and lined sampling valves are the usual picks, with the PTFE/FPM diaphragm on HF lines, since HF permeates the PTFE face. Many of those solvents can build a static charge that pinholes a plain lining or ignites vapor, so bond and ground the spools and use anti-static PFA-AS valves; tell us if your specification calls for an anti-static liner.
Bleach plants, shipyards and water plants
The mills at Covington and Franklin make chlorine dioxide from sodium chlorate and sulfuric acid and bleach with caustic and peroxide; Hampton Roads shipyards pickle and plate in acid and caustic; the coal station in Halifax County scrubs with limestone slurry; water plants statewide dose sodium hypochlorite and ferric chloride. Lined diaphragm valves throttle chlorine dioxide and hypochlorite without a packing gland, with the PTFE/FPM diaphragm on chlorine dioxide, which permeates the PTFE face, lined butterfly valves cover the big filtrate lines, and a lined ball valve with a vented ball, vent facing upstream, keeps hypochlorite off-gas from pressurizing a closed cavity.
Six lined valve patterns
All six are on our plastic lined valves page: PFA-lined ball, plug and diaphragm valves, a PTFE-lined butterfly, and lined checks and sampling valves. Sizes vary by pattern: ball valves 1/2" through 10", plug valves 1/2" through 6", diaphragm valves 1/2" through 8", butterfly valves 1" through 42", ball check and sampling valves 1/2" through 6", and swing check valves 1-1/2" through 24".
Ball valves
PFA lined body and encapsulated ball, quarter-turn and bubble tight on acid, caustic and solvent transfer, with a vented ball for hypochlorite and peroxide.
Plug valves
PFA-lined cylindrical plug valves, 1/2" through 2" full port and 3" through 6" reduced port, cavity-free, with no in-line adjustment, turn at low torque and leave sulfate crystals and nitrating acid no cavity to collect in.
Diaphragm valves
A PTFE faced diaphragm on the weir of a PFA-lined body keeps the stem out of the process, so there is no packing to leak and the body drains clean for pharmaceutical and fab duty.
Butterfly valves
PTFE-lined wafer and lug bodies with a PFA encapsulated disc, 1" through 42", for bleach plant filtrate, brine and dilute acid at the lowest cost per inch.
Check valves
Lined ball and disc checks protect pumps on hypochlorite, acid and demineralized water with every wetted surface fluoropolymer, so nothing corrodes open or sticks shut.
Sampling valves
Lined sampling valves draw a representative sample with no dead leg and no exposure, on nitrating acid or an API batch alike.
Automated packages assembled in-house
When a lined valve has to answer a control signal we assemble the package ourselves: pneumatic or electric actuator, positioner, limit switches and solenoid mounted on the valve, stroked and tested in our shop before it ships. The options are on our services page.
One system: valves, spools and fittings
A lined valve seals best between flanges made for it, so we quote valves with the lined pipe spools we fabricate and the lined fittings that match: spools and fittings 1/2" through 12", PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene lined, carbon steel or 304/316 stainless housings, flanged to ANSI B16.5 so faces, bolt circles and liner flares line up. Our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545, lined fittings are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX, and every lined pipe spool and fitting gets a minimum 10,000-volt spark test. See our Virginia lined pipe page for the spools, our technical details page for liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables, and our piping accessories for the lined strainers that belong ahead of a throttling valve.
Serving Richmond, Hampton Roads and the Valley
Spools and valves ship from Fairhope, Alabama, to Richmond, Hopewell, Petersburg, Chesterfield, Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Franklin, West Point, Covington, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Radford, Manassas and Ashburn. Tell us the fluid, concentration, temperature, pressure and line size, and whether the valve isolates, throttles, samples or stops backflow. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online.
FAQ: Plastic Lined Industrial Valves in Virginia
Which lined valve handles hot ammonium sulfate liquor at a Hopewell fertilizer unit?
A PFA lined cylindrical plug valve, up to 6". The plug is cavity-free, so crystals cannot collect and seize the valve, it needs no in-line adjustment, and it pairs with jacketed or electrically traced lined spools that hold the liquor above its saturation temperature through the valve.
Can lined valves take mixed nitric-sulfuric acid at Radford or a similar nitration plant?
Yes. PFA and PTFE are among the few materials unaffected by hot mixed acid, and a PFA lined plug or diaphragm valve puts nothing else in the stream. We will want the acid ratio and temperature to confirm the rating, and we recommend a lined sampling valve on the acid line so titration draws do not mean opening a flange.
What do Virginia fabs and pharmaceutical plants specify for lined valves on acid and solvent lines?
PFA lined diaphragm valves where the body must drain and the stem must stay out of the fluid, and PFA lined ball valves on solvents and fab acid waste. In a fab, lined valves serve bulk chemical supply, acid waste and neutralization, while ultrapure water runs in solid natural PVDF or PFA. Neither valve adds metal ions, and the diaphragm pattern has no packing gland to shed particles or leak.
Do lined ball valves need anything special on sodium hypochlorite at a Virginia water plant?
A vented ball, with the vent facing upstream, or a lined diaphragm valve instead. Hypochlorite releases gas as it decomposes, and a standard ball can trap liquid in its cavity and build pressure while closed. The vent relieves it, and a fully lined body keeps out the iron and nickel that speed the decomposition.