Clear cut material choice?

When considering which pressure regulators or filter regulators to fit on your valve actuators and given equal performance products, the material choice often fell into one of two camps: if price is the issue use aluminium or if quality and traceability is key, use stainless steel.

At Red Dragon we can offer the Sitecna® range of products that are manufactured in Italy to stringent quality and traceability standards in 316L stainless steel as well as 3051 copper-free aluminium. This allows us to offer a material choice for practically any application, for example the aluminium 1" NPT R16 regulator pictured here has a standard epoxy coating and shows the factory code relating to its EN10204 3.1 certificate ensuring material traceability.

For high corrosion environments, both the aluminium and stainless steel constructions can be supplied with high build offshore specification coatings and there is also the option for manufacturing regulators in exotic alloys to ensure the ultimate corrosion resistance and long working life.

Corrosion resistance as criteria for selection is often accompanied with a requirement for extended ambient temperature ranges as oil and gas exploration expands into harsher environments. The regulator pictured here is suitable for -40°C to +80°C and in colder climes we can offer an option for -55°C to +90°C.

Arduous environments and exposed installations reinforce the need for quality, robust components especially in safety critical systems. There are no thin wall castings or plastic constructions in the Sitecna® range allowing the aluminium regulators to have a maximum inlet pressure of 25Bar and 30Bar for the stainless construction. At the ¾" or 1" size as shown here, all the component parts are machined from solid which removes the risk of casting flaws causing premature failure and makes them very resistant to physical damage.

This strength and quality of manufacture is matched by the performance driven design which is optimised to provide excellent flow characteristics and accurate pressure control. This has been proven both by 3rd party testing and reliable operation in process conditions around the world.

This regulator is ATEX certified II2GD c IIC T6 X for hazardous area applications and GOST certified for use in the Russian Federation. This is not an option to charge more for and extend deliveries, all Sitecna® products have these approvals as standard whether of aluminium or stainless steel construction.

For quality, traceability, certification and corrosion resistance, the Sitecna® range offers a wide variety of product options with constructions in 316L stainless steel and copper-free aluminium. Which material will you choose next time?

Red Dragon Valves
Tel: 01443 772500
www.reddragonvalves.co.uk

Published: 6th March 2014