Lime is used by a large majority of the chemical process industries in either a powder or liquid form.
Lime slurry is extremely difficult to handle in piping systems, instrumentation, and valves because its particles are very jagged and will not dissolve, but merely suspend in a solution. Any cracks or crevices will cause the lime particles to fall out of suspension and fill these voids. Lime further aggravates this situation when it hardens in collection points. Thus, engineering and maintenance personnel often face a lot of problems before finding the best on-off or control valve to handle lime slurry.
An oversized actuator may improve performance while decreasing downtime as a result of sticking valves, but it will not solve all related maintenance problems. Because lime is very abrasive, it severely affects most ball and plug valves. A hard material cover such as advanced ceramic ball valves will help protect the valve against the abrasive nature of lime.
The seats are also a major concern. Again, high hardness ceramic seats are most likely the best alternative in lime applications. Ceramic seated sealing will perform better in scaling substances because they have the ability to scrape built-up material off the ball surfaces.
FOYO Valve is offering ceramic ball valveswhich are designed for handling abrasive lime slurry. These valves are preferred by customers who have earlier used soft seated ball valves or butterfly valves.
