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, hydrofluoric acid and uranyl nitrate at Lynchburg, the full acid set of a memory chip fab in Manassas. 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 PTFE lined ball or plug valves, checked against the liner's temperature limit. The liquor is plug valve territory: no cavity for crystals to pack, in-line adjustment as the plug wears, and 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 every elastomer seat. PTFE lined plug valves on supply and spent acid lines, PTFE lined diaphragm valves where flow is throttled, and a lined sampling valve for titration draws leave nothing in the stream but fluoropolymer.
Purity duty in Manassas, Lynchburg and Petersburg
The Manassas memory fab distributes hydrofluoric, nitric and sulfuric acids, peroxide, ammonium hydroxide and ultrapure water; the Lynchburg nuclear fuel plants handle uranyl nitrate and nitric and hydrofluoric acid; the active ingredient plants at Petersburg run solvents and clean-in-place acid and caustic. Each needs 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 ultrapure water and solvents, and lined sampling valves are the usual picks, with lining thickness and venting checked for HF, which permeates fluoropolymers.
Bleach plants, shipyards and water plants
The mills at Covington, West Point 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, lined butterfly valves cover the big filtrate lines, and a vented lined ball valve keeps hypochlorite off-gas from pressurizing a closed cavity.
Six lined valve patterns
All six are on our plastic lined valves page, 1/2" through 12" in PFA or PTFE.
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
A lined tapered plug seals fluoropolymer on fluoropolymer at low torque, has no cavity to trap sulfate crystals or nitrating acid, and readjusts in place.
Diaphragm valves
A PTFE faced diaphragm on a lined weir 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
Lined wafer and lug bodies with a PFA encapsulated disc, 2" through 12", 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 torques and ratings, 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 PTFE lined plug valve. The tapered plug has no body cavity where crystals can collect and seize the valve, it adjusts in line as it wears, and it pairs with jacketed or electrically traced lined spools that hold the liquor above its saturation temperature through the valve.
Can PTFE lined valves take mixed nitric-sulfuric acid at Radford or a similar nitration plant?
Yes. PTFE is one of the few materials unaffected by hot mixed acid, and a 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 valves on acid, solvent and ultrapure water 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 ultrapure water and solvents. 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. 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.