With valves accounting for up to 70% of fugitive emissions (FE) from plants and refineries, tackling leakage is among the biggest obstacles to US industry achieving net zero by 2050.
Identified as the loss of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), FE commonly occurs in the plant environment through equipment leaks, flaring, evaporation, and spills. As 1% of the total installed valves may be responsible for most of a plant’s emissions, effective component stem packing designs are vital to addressing this growing concern.
This is the view of Ronald Simon, principal engineer for oil & gas at CCI Valve Technology GmbH in Austria (IMI CCI), who is emphasizing the importance of effective FE valve stem packing designs in reducing potential plant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including methane and CO2. Specifically, he is urging facility stakeholders to review existing on-site packing solutions to ensure they meet the most up-to-date industry standards for FE and control valve qualification.
To resolve this issue, IMI CCI has developed the EEEasy-Seal emission packing solution, which provides up to ISO Class AM FE leakage protection and is third-party certified to ISO 15848-1, the industrial standard for FE control valve testing. In contrast to conventional packing set designs with external springs, the EEEasy-Seal is live loaded via an internal spring utilizing the internal hydraulic pressure to optimally energize the seal, resulting in a closed, low-maintenance design.
