Technical Report

Published: 17th February 2016 | Issue 36

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BVAA Technical Service
I was deeply honoured to be asked to take over as Technical Consultant at BVAA, an organisation with which my family have been continually associated since its formation in 1939.

In order to provide a technical service ‘fit for purpose’ I felt it was necessary to first establish what the membership required from the technical function, and then to re-organise our efforts to deliver that, within the budget and resource available.

From the resultant survey it was clear that standards still played an important part in the lives of our technical experts. But as per our multi-faceted industry, a tremendous number and variety of standards were being utilised. In discussions with Rob Bartlett and my colleagues on the BVAA Board, the technical Working Groups, etc., it became clear that a new approach was required.

We have decided therefore to prioritise our time and resource on the standards that affect most members – the generic standards (materials, tests, etc.) - while at the same time facilitating a system whereby those interested in the usually product-specific standards had a route to participating in their development too.

I recently took over the Chair of BSI committee PSE/18, which mirrors all valve and actuator standards activity in ISO/ TC153 and CEN/TC69, which I regularly attend, with ISO/TC185 similarly covered by my colleague Mike Gray (Pentair). BSI operates a very efficient document distribution and voting system so we felt it was not necessary to duplicate this at BVAA, however we did need BVAA fora that facilitated coverage of the generic work and also the specialist product-specific standards when required.

We created a new system whereby I would issue a timelier, easy-to-use monthly report on standards development and progress. Generic standards would continue to be discussed in the Valve Working Group, which I continue to attend and support. A new system of ‘Technical Expert Groups’ was formed however to allow the formation of small, time-limited groups to cover product specific standards and other topics of interest as they arise. Current groups include:-

• Fire Testing
• Butterfly Valves
• Safety Integrity Levels
• Subsea valve and actuators (API focussed)

More of these are envisaged, on Fugitive Emissions and Casting Quality, and no doubt others will follow. The ‘TEGs’ as they’ve come to be called address specific issues with a feedback loop to ensure BVAA members are informed of their progress, outcomes etc., the latter possibly including a position paper, guidelines on the topic, maybe a training course, perhaps even a new standard. These outcomes gel perfectly with my other goal; to ensure that the technical service was an invaluable educational tool for members, as it was for me in my early days in the industry.

Directives
Firstly I’m pleased to welcome Ron Strang (Alco) to our growing band of advisors, Ron being our resident expert on PED and ATEX - an area where new texts are in need of study and interpretation. A warm welcome to Paul Reeve (Silmetric) also, who advises in a similar capacity on SILs.

Secondly, one major European country has decided to take a different position on the Machinery Directive - specifically on the subject of actuated valves - to that of BVAA and indeed the European Valve body, CEIR. I am participating and providing assistance on this complex issue which looks like it will encompass PED issues too.

Member Support
My routine day-to-day support to members on technical issues continues of course, as does my support in a technical capacity at BVAA events like exhibitions, the BVAA Conferences, AGM, etc.

Goals for 2016
With the assistance of the Secretariat I aim to complete the revision of the text for the 7th Edition of Valve and Actuator User Manual, BVAA’s most successful publication.

I also have ongoing work updating the material for the Introduction to Valves course, which I deliver, and in which I hope to incorporate more of the Manual’s excellent content.

I also have an ongoing goal of increasing the number of active participants in standards making, so that BVAA members’ interests are taken into account in new and revised standards.

Finally I am indebted to the BVAA team and especially our BSI Programme Manager, Charlie Duncombe, for their ongoing support.

Telephone:	01295 221270
Email:	enquiry@bvaa.org.uk
Website:	www.bvaa.org.uk
	More information on the British Valve and Actuator Association BVAA Member Directory Page

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