50 Years of Value in Every Solent & Pratt Valve

A commitment to understanding our customers’ most critical needs and pioneering highly engineered solutions that deliver profound, transformational value is the standard at Solent & Pratt, a business unit of Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company. Along with its sister companies, Farris Engineering and Sprague Products, Solent & Pratt supplies triple offset and high performance butterfly valves, pressure relief valves, hydraulic pumps, gas boosters, portable testers and additional products for critical service environments. For Solent & Pratt, 2011 is a milestone year as it celebrates 50 years of butterfly valve manufacturing here in the UK.

Solent & Pratt’s customers range from small independent companies to major oil and gas multinationals. All its customers have one need in common: a valve that delivers absolute reliability over its full lifetime. This is particularly true of valves in aggressive chemical environments and harsh operating conditions, such as offshore, or where reliability in service is crucial, such as on the large diameter valve for a UK power station.

This large diameter valve, one of six now successfully operating, exemplifies the commitment of the Solent & Pratt team to meet and exceed its customer’s expectations. Valves of this size, some of the largest ever supplied to the UK power industry, present huge challenges in engineering design, material sourcing, logistics and assembly and testing. The Solent & Pratt team delivered all six valves within the customer’s planned timeframe, avoiding delays which could have resulted in costs of £1M/day to the customer.

Founded in 1961, Solent & Pratt moved from its original location in Southampton to Bridport along the South coast. More recently, the company was relocated to a 43,000 square foot (4000m2) state-of-the-art facility within the same town.

Today Solent & Pratt continues to invest capital in facilities, technology, equipment and people. The company consistently pushes the boundaries of butterfly valve design, focusing on not only providing simple solutions, but also on being able to offer the sizing, specification, assembly and testing of unique control and automation solutions. This includes the supply of single and twin disk double block and bleed butterfly valves, for additional safety in chemical and hydrocarbon production.

Solent & Pratt offers an extensive range of butterfly control and isolation valves, with particular emphasis on the manufacture of larger sizes, up to and including 138" (DN3450), valves with pressure ratings up to ANSI 2500lb, and manufactures valves in a wide array of corrosion resistant materials to suit a range of aggressive applications.

For half a century, Solent & Pratt has been trusted to provide valves of the highest quality and for the most severe service. Owned by Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company since 2001, with its own legacy of innovation and engineering transformation dating back to the Wright brothers’ first flight in 1903, Solent & Pratt is looking forward to celebrating its 50th anniversary as well as the next 50 years and beyond.

Solent & Pratt, Tel: 01308 422256
Website: www.solentpratt.cwfc.com

Published: 31st March 2011