Triple offset valves, such as the Vanessa™ Series 30,000 triple-offset valve and finding more and more applications, including the replacement of gate, globe, and ball valves.

In this Emerson Automation Experts podcast, Andrea Sutti joins me to discuss the advantages of triple offset valve technology and why it continues to find homes in an increasing number of applications due to its capital expenditure and operational benefits.

Listen to the podcast and visit the Gate, Ball & Globe Valve Replacement section on Emerson.com to learn more about how it outperforms traditional designs by offering greater durability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

For those who wish to explore the topic in greater depth, we invite them to register for the ‘Enhancing Plant Efficiency and Safety while Reducing Total Cost of Ownership with Vanessa™ Triple Offset Valves‘ webinar.

Jim: Hi, everyone. This is Jim Cahill, and welcome to another “Emerson Automation Experts” podcast. You know, valves bear the brunt of process conditions as they regulate flows for process manufacturers and producers. I’m joined today by Emerson’s Andrea Sutti to discuss gate, ball, and globe valves, and technologies available to replace them over time. Welcome, Andrea.

Andrea: Hi, Jim, and thank you for this opportunity. Hi, everyone, and thank you for attending this podcast.

Jim: Well, it’s great that you’re joining us for our conversation today. Well, Andrea, let’s begin by asking you to introduce yourself and provide some details about your background.

Andrea: Yes, I am Andrea Sutti, the global product manager for Emerson and triple offset valves. A few words about me. I started my career in early 2000 in the automotive industry, and then I joined Vanessa in 2015, where I had the chance to rotate in different roles, gaining a lot of product knowledge by looking at it from different perspectives. And then I was appointed in 2022 as a global product manager in charge of product market positioning and the strategic initiatives aimed to boost product competitiveness.

Jim: Well, I think that’s some great background for our discussion today. Well, what are some of the key challenges faced by industries when delivering projects with budget and resource constraints?

Andrea: First, I will start with safety. The industry needs to respond to increasingly demanding requirements for safe operations. So implementing equipment and components that are capable to meet the highest safety standards is the key to face this type of challenge. And then, additional challenges driving the industry are related to the need to reduce the total cost of ownership of equipment and components while improving plant efficiency and productivity.

So I know all together these challenges are quite relevant, and to face them, customers need to rely on trusted suppliers with a long history of proven-in-use applications and demonstrated capability to provide, on a timely manner, solutions that are designed and configured in order to meet the customer specifications and help them to face these relevant challenges.

Jim: Now, I mentioned those different types of valves in the opening. Can you explain the key differences between gate, ball, and globe valves compared with triple offset valves or TOVs?

Andrea: The valve industry can be segmented within two main categories. On one side, we have the manual isolation function, while on the other side, the actuated process control function. So the textbook manual isolation valve is the gate valve, while the valve that is typically adapted to perform actuated process control functions is the globe valve.

And in this scenario, ball valves and triple offset valves have been developed in order to fulfill both functions, with the triple offset valve more oriented to the process control function than the ball valves. So understanding the industry segmentation and the product positioning is the key to properly address the valve selection according to the customer needs. So if the customer has the need to fulfill a pure isolation function, such as double positive isolation provided by the single valve, the gate valve is the go-to product.

Conversely, if the customer has the need to fulfill the actuated process control function, the valve that is typically selected is the globe valve. And within this scenario, this is where the triple offset valve enters in the picture for applications such as process on-off, high cycling, emergency shutdown, blow-off, and many others, and are capable to outperform the traditional valve design because they recognize the superior characteristics.

Jim: All right. That’s a great explanation of where the different valves are used. So what are the primary advantages that Vanessa Series 30,000 Triple Offset Valves offer over gate, ball, and globe valves for industrial applications?

Andrea: Let me answer this question by mentioning the four key foundational elements of the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve that set this product apart from the traditional valve design. I will start by mentioning the quarter-turn rotation that ensures superior performances in terms of fugitive emission containment compared to the traditional resistance valves that tend to extrude the packing during the operation. The packing is the element that seals the shaft against the fugitive emission.

And then the frictionless design. While the traditional valves experience friction during the operation, Vanessa Triple Offset Valve features no rubbing rotation, and this characteristic enables the third pillar, which is the full metal construction. That makes the Vanessa valve an extremely robust product, highly configurable for a wide variety of industrial applications, including the most demanding with minimum maintenance required.

And finally, the torque seating. Differently from the position-seated valve, the torque-seated Vanessa Triple Offset Valve requires minimum torque and minimum actuator size to operate. And this makes the actuated Vanessa valve an extremely compact, cost-effective, reliable solution compared to the traditional position-seated valves.

Jim: Well, that makes sense. Let’s look at things from a safety perspective. How do Vanessa Series 30,000 TOVs contribute to improving safety in a plant installation?

Andrea: There are several aspects that make the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve, as I say, a preferred solution to respond to customer safety requirements. I will start by mentioning the full metal construction. As I said before, this ensures product robustness, longevity, but also makes the Vanessa product inherently fire-safe, and also ensures electrical continuity across all the components, avoiding the risk to have any electrical charge accumulation inside the valve that can suddenly result in a spark or fire ignition.

And then the cavity-free design that avoids trapping particulate inside the valve, that can provide the risk of jamming. And this is a characteristic that is quite relevant for cryogenic applications because avoids liquid to be trapped anywhere inside the valve, that can suddenly result in a dangerous increase in pressure in case of gasification.

And then I continue by mentioning the asymmetric design that allows the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve to leverage inline pressure that helps the valve’s behavior in case of an emergency application. So, for instance, for emergency shutdown application, when I install the Vanessa valve shaft side, the pressure helps the disc to close in case of an emergency event. And then I can continue by mention the capability of the Vanessa Triple Offset to open against a full delta pressure without any need for pressure equalization. And for all these reasons and more, the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve is increasingly selected by the industry to fulfill customer requirements because they recognize the capability and superior performances compared to the traditional valve design.

Jim: Well, that sure sounds like it’s built for those safety applications, emergency shutdown, because of some of those characteristics, and especially important in LNG, as you mentioned, in that design. So can you explain how Vanessa Series 30,000 Triple Offset Valves combine isolation and control capabilities in a single product?

Andrea: In some ways, the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve can be considered as a quarter-turn globe valve with a cone-to-cone sealing that happens instead of through the linear motion of the shaft through the 90-degrees rotation of the disc. And this allows the Vanessa product to combine in a single valve the capability to provide basic control functions while ensuring tight shutoff because the reduced cone angles compared to the globe valve. Cone angles that are in between the very narrow angles typical of a gate valve that is subject to the risk of jamming in case of temperature fluctuation or in general process condition variations, and the wider cone angle typical of a globe valve that is struggling to provide a tight shutoff.

So the unique combination of the design features for a Vanessa Triple Offset Valve enables this product to release basic control functions while ensuring bidirectional tight shutoff. And this results in relevant benefits for the customers that can combine, in a single product, two very important functions, resulting in a plant layout, operation, and maintenance simplification.

Jim: Okay. So we’ve talked about it from a safety perspective, and some of the big advantages there and flexibility that it can be an on-off and control applications. But looking at it from an economic perspective, how can upgrading to Vanessa Series 30,000 TOVs assist companies with budget constraints and limited resources in optimizing installation costs and plant layout?

Andrea: When the triple offset valve is applicable and when the installation cost comes into the picture, this is where the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve can make a difference over the traditional gate, ball, and globe valves because the significant reduction in terms of weight and footprint provided by this product. Additionally, the reduced actuator size needed by Vanessa valve makes this product extremely cost-effective, providing tremendous advantages to the customer in terms of purchasing cost. Advantages that extend all the way to the installation because the lower cost of transportation, handling, lifting the valve, installing in line, and also insulation in case it is applicable.

And I would say that these advantages continue to spread well beyond the product itself because the reduced need for a piping system support due to the lower weight of the Vanessa valve compared to the traditional gate, globe, and ball valves. And furthermore, due to the design characteristics of the Vanessa valve that is basically unaffected by the induced stresses from the pipeline, this helps the customer to further simplify and streamline the design and the architecture of the piping system.

And I could continue for longer, mentioning the floating applications, the offshore applications, where the weight and the footprint containment is crucial. But I would conclude by mentioning again that when triple offset valve is applicable, whenever the weight and the size of the valves are playing a crucial role for the customer, this is where the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve makes a difference over the traditional valve design, providing significant benefits to the customer, thanks to the compactness of this product.

Jim: Yeah, that seems like very important on the capital project side of things. I guess the other part of economics is on the maintenance side. So in terms of maintenance requirements and reliability, how does the Vanessa Series 30,000 Triple Offset Valve outperform ball and gate valves in the long run?

Andrea: Ball and gate valves experience friction throughout the valve operation, and this results in more need for maintenance, planned downtime, and also expected shorter valve life cycle. The Vanessa Triple Offset Valves, thanks to its characteristics, the quarter-turn rotation, frictionless design, full metal construction, and torque seating, represent a very robust product, durable, highly configurable for a wide variety of industrial applications, including the most demanding, with minimum or no planned maintenance required.

For severe services, there may be the need for some level of maintenance required over time, and thanks to the streamlined design of the Vanessa valve, the replacement of the disc, spiral wound gasket, the seat ring, the packing rings are relatively easy operation that can be conducted without the need of any special tool. So in short, the answer to this question is the best value proposition of the Vanessa Triple Offset Valve, a valve that is extremely robust, highly configurable, with minimum or no planned maintenance required.

Jim: So Andrea, to begin wrapping up, can you mention some success stories of Vanessa valves replacing ball, gate, and globe valves?

Andrea: I could mention several success stories of Vanessa Triple Offset Valve replacing gate, globe, and ball valves. If I have to select one, I would pick up the famous replacement of large gate valves installed in a piping system serving the New York Aqueduct with the Vanessa Triple Offset Valves. A success story that was even reported by “The New York Times,” and the article is still available online.

And then moving from a spot case to an entire industrial sector, the LNG industry that is progressively moving away from the traditional valve design in favor of the triple offset valve, and the Vanessa Triple Offset is leading this transition and can claim the presence in every major LNG plant facility around the world.

Jim: Wow, those are some great stories there. And I guess just to wrap it all up, where can our listeners go to learn more about Vanessa 30,000 Series Triple Offset Valves?

Andrea: Our listeners can refer to the emerson.com website, which includes a lot of information about the Vanessa product, and then can refer to the local Emerson sales representative to access more information, such as product data sheet, instruction manual, drawings, and any other relevant documents they may need.

Jim: Well, that’s great. And I’ll add some links in the transcript to those sites, make it easy for people to get to it. Well, Andrea, I want to thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your triple offset valve expertise. Thank you.

Andrea: Thank you, Jim, for this opportunity. And thank you to the isolation valves and the Marcom team for the great support.

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