Flowserve Corporation, a leading provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, announced its Valtek Valdisk high-performance butterfly valve is licensor-approved for use in pressure swing adsorption (PSA) applications.

The valve has successfully completed a rigorous one million-cycle endurance test. It’s well-suited for applications in chemical plants, oil refineries and other facilities that require control valves that maintain tight shutoff amidst high cycles and bi-directional flows.

The Valtek Valdisk butterfly valve joins the Valtek Mark One globe valve and Logix 3800 digital positioner from Flowserve, which are already licensor-approved for PSA applications. Valtek control valves and Logix automation extend equipment life and maintain purity in PSA skids.

The endurance test simulates the rigorous operating conditions found in high-cycle PSA processes. Conducted in accordance with licensor criteria, it was cycled with upstream pressures of 350 psi and measured seat and stem leakage over 1 MM open/close cycles. The valve followed a defined control ramp to demonstrate sensitivity, repeatability and linearity. By increasing valve shutoff reliability, plant operators can maintain accurate pressure in the PSA vessel and extract purer H₂, oxygen and nitrogen (or other gases). Increased gas purity and capacities lead to greater production and higher profits.

The Valtek Valdisk valve’s proprietary soft seat design provides long-lasting, Class VI shutoff in both flow directions. It also incorporates innovative key features that extend mean time between repairs. The double-offset disc reduces seat and disc wear as well as leakage, extends seat life, and reduces maintenance costs. A high-thrust cylinder actuator coupled with an eccentric-cammed disc enables unmatched, high-performance throttling. In addition, its thin body enables a smaller overall PSA skid footprint with lower weight and costs.

“Flowserve designed the Valtek Valdisk to ensure process variables remain close to the desired setpoints and improve process productivity, plant uptime and employee safety. Its performance and reliability in PSA applications have been field-proven for over 30 years and are now validated by lab testing,” said Cris Sidwell, global product leader at Flowserve. “Successfully completing a million-cycle test demonstrates Flowserve’s commitment to helping customers extend service life and lower total cost of ownership.”