Author Archives: Klinger Advantage

Innovative solutions for a safe and clean environment

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Intelligent technical solution for a sustainable future.

Environmentally hazardous media are not harmless to humans and the environment. For this reason, strict regulations apply to process plants in the chemical industry and the valve components used must meet high requirements for technical tightness. Gases or liquids must never escape uncontrolled.

The specific requirements of the chemical industry are characterised by the high variety of media, the pressures to be controlled (vacuum to high pressure) and the very different temperature levels (cryogenic to high temperature). These requirements make the chemical industry probably the most demanding user sector for industrial valves.

The worldwide unique stem sealing system of the INTEC system technology, which realizes the permanent springing of the primary and secondary sealing with flexible graphite. The cone ring principle used here ensures optimum force distribution and guarantees a permanent seal. When assembled, the graphite has a density of ρ= 1.8-1.9 g/cm³ and a springback behaviour of 10% proportional to the axial height.

  • No use of O-rings, therefore universally applicable.
  • No use of disc springs, therefore no loss of elasticity or risk of breakage.
  • Constructive structure excludes any contact of the medium with graphite.
  • Sealing system absolutely resistant to aging and temperature resistant up to +225°C.
  • TÜV-certified with 100,000 switching cycles, from 0 bar to 40 bar and -40°C to +225°C.
  • Tightness <1×10-6 mbar*l/sec. with 99.996 pure helium (He) over the entire life cycle.
  • Adjustable even with mounted actuator.

Smart safety and protection for human and environment without compromise!

Time for hard resistance

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Wear attacks and service life of metal-seated ball valves.

Wear parts are the weak points in ball valve technology. In particular, the ball and ball seats must withstand extreme loads. The spectrum of dynamic wear forces is very extensive and results from the loads of high temperatures, high pressures, high switching frequency, aggressive media, abrasive solid particles, abrasion, erosion, vibration, cavitation and flow velocity.

Tailored and application-specific selection of surface coatings of the ball and ball seats based on hard metal (such as chromium carbide, tungsten carbide, chromium oxide, Tribaloy etc.) improve wear resistance, leakage in the port and the service life.

Characteristics such as good wear resistance or high wear resistance, low cold welding tendency, very good sliding properties, high hardness, high thermal load capacity, good load-bearing capacity at high surface pressure, low adhesive resistance and high adhesive tensile strength characterise the quality of the metallic coating of the INTEC system technology.

An efficient surface coating is dependent on the chemical composition, layer porosity, pore size, layer hardness, structure, adhesion to the carrier material, the inner bond and the layer thickness and its uniformity.

  • Metallic sealing system (floating or mounted ball valve version).
  • Paired ball and ball seats, lapped onto each other.
  • Surface hardness of the coating from 60 up to 70 HRC.
  • Leakage rate A – absolutely gas-tight – continuity tightness 1×10-4 mbar helium.
  • Temperature resistance up to 800°C.
  • More than 12 up to 15 different hard material coatings for the optimal solution.

Get the maximum service life out of technical possibilities!

Company acquisition

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KLINGER Group acquires Italian valves producer

We are happy to announce a new addition to our Group. As of July KLINGER has closed a Share and Purchase Agreement with the Italian valves producer Burocco Industrial Valves s.r.l. based in Northern Italy. With immediate effect Burocco is now part of the worldwide KLINGER network and fully operative to serve domestic and global customers.

About Burocco Industrial Valve

Burocco offers a wide product range in the industrial valves sector specialized in control valves, on-off valves, manual valves, but also ball valves. The company’s product portfolio perfectly complements our current array of products and serves as a strategic addition to our Intec and KFC range. Burocco is a well-established supplier to the chemical and general manufacturing industry but also serves as a partner for many other industries. The recently launched cryogenic valves range is especially known in the medical and pharmaceutical industry. Burocco’s net sales have been continuously on the rise for many years and profitability remains at a high level. Burocco currently employs 26 people.

Manifold opportunities

The KLINGER Group Management sees the opportunities of this acquisition twofold: First, it is a major addition to the KLINGER Italy product range giving them the opportunity to better serve the domestic market. Secondly, it gives the Group further cross-sale options in order to strengthen and broaden our customer base. Due to its sound market position Burocco will remain a stand-alone company for the time being and will be managed by Raffaele Pittaluga, MD of KLINGER Italy. He is taking over from the previous owner who will retire after handover. Beneficial to a smooth integration process is the fact that KLINGER has had business relationships with Burocco for more than 5 years. Burocco is a customer currently served by KLINGER Italy who started supplying gaskets back in 2014.

The integration of Burocco into the KLINGER group is a perfect addition to our portfolio and our Group of companies.

Want to contact Burocco? Find their details in our plant list.
To find out more about Burocco visit: http://www.burocco.it

Next-door Neighbor

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CTP-DUMAG benefits from proximity to KLINGER Gebetsroither

CTP-DUMAG can trace its origins back to the 1930s. As a combustion technology expert, it focuses on the manufacturing of industrial burners and lances. Its unique and globally competitive Austrian engineering know-how is also applied to construct entire burner systems. And it has a company address our customers might well be familiar with: Am Kanal 8 - 10 in Gumpolds­kirchen, which is also the address of the KLINGER business park in Lower Austria. Robert Schröger, CTP-DUMAG’s executive manager, tells us how this came about and what it is like to be the next-door neighbor of your supplier.

When we catch up with Robert Schröger, he is in the final preparations of a business trip to Asia. “We are a globally active company with a strong presence in Europe. 70 percent of our sales, however, are generated in China, Thailand and Malaysia,“ explains the executive manager, adding: “We are currently in the process of establishing a second business location in Asia.” The products that form the basis for the upcoming expansion of CTP-DUMAG are industrial burners and lances for a wide range of industries, including the chemical and the petrochemical industry, waste incinerators and energy providers. “Our mission is three-fold,” explains Schröger, “we destroy waste, we reduce CO2 and our technology provides process energy.” Asked about the company’s connection to KLINGER, he states: “I joined the predecessor company DUMAG after the completion of my studies in machine engineering in 1992. Even back then, KLINGER Gebetsroither was already on the vendor list.”

Moving in together

The company, as it exists today, was formed after a merger between CTP and DUMAG in 2011, which also led to new offices being required. Hearing about this, a business partner mentioned that office space was available right next to KLINGER in Gumpoldskirchen. “In the more than 30 years of our collaboration, we never had a single problem with the valves and gaskets supplied by KLINGER Gebetsroither,” explains Schröger, and adds: “The advantages of being very close to such a supplier made the decision a simple one.” CTP-DUMAG uses KLINGER valves and gaskets for the control and combustion systems in its burners and in the meantime has its company seat in the KLINGER business park, where it calls 300 square meters of office space its own. And one of its main suppliers is only around 500 meters away. According to CTP-DUMAG’s executive manager, this leads to numerous synergies: “In our business it is imperative that the equipment manufacturer and his suppliers act in concert. This also includes a lot of flexibility when it comes to the selection of components as well as meeting the required specifications. KLINGER Gebetsroither fulfills all the criteria.”

“Today the Dow Chemical Company is one of our major customers. But the tracks for this positive development were set back then in KLINGER’s test facilities.”


Robert Schröger,
Executive Manager of CTP-DUMAG

Dropping by

Asked about the most memorable event in the cooperation between CTP-DUMAG and KLINGER, Robert Schröger remembers: “Somewhere between 2012 and 2013 we were awarded a project by the Dow Chemical Company, a major player in the chemical industry. And one of the many advantages of having KLINGER as your next-door neighbor, is that you can hold your acceptance tests for entire plant components there. And this is what we did.” According to Robert Schröger, the outcome was even better than expected. All the tests went flawlessly, and the customer was highly impressed with the level of professionalism and by the precision with which the test were carried out. “Today the Dow Chemical Company is one of our major customers. But the tracks for this positive development were set back then in KLINGER’s test facilities,” explains Schröger. And the success story of the two companies is still ongoing: Acceptance tests are still held on the KLINGER premises on a regular basis and the colleagues from KLINGER Gebetsroither often visit to update Robert Schröger and his team on the latest in sealing technology, valve automation and new standards. Which once again proves that customer proximity pays off – even if it is actually the customer who moves closer to the supplier.

Pictures © Ondrej Getzel, Photography

Pioneers

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KLINGER Dichtungstechnik honored for long-term commitment to environmental protection

EMAS – the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme of the EU is a voluntary management instrument. It helps organizations to assess, manage and continuously improve their environmental performance. KLINGER Dichtungstechnik was recently recognized by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management for its long-term participation in the EMAS program. We asked Stephan Piringer, amongst others also responsible for environmental
and safety matters at KLINGER Dichtungstechnik, to tell us more.

KN: Mr. Piringer, Federal Minister Elisabeth Köstinger recently named KLINGER Dichtungstechnik one of the country’s EMAS pioneers. Can you tell us why you have been awarded this title?
SP: EMAS was opened for participation in 1995. KLINGER Dichtungstechnik obtained its registration as an EMAS company in 1998. Looking at the register, there are only 20 companies left today that can point to an earlier registration date. We were among the first Austrian companies to embrace its environmental protection principles. And according to the Federal Minister, that makes us pioneers.

KN: What exactly is EMAS?
SP: EMAS is a regulation, created by the European Union. Meeting the requirements of EMAS, which can be summarized as successfully taking an active stance for the environment, i.e. conserving resources and reducing waste, leads to the company being entered into the register of the Federal Environmental Agency. Last but not least, the ISO 14001 certification, which specifies the standards for an environmental management system, is itself an integral part of EMAS.

KN: What are the most important pillars of EMAS?
SP: An EMAS company must have an environmental policy, an environmental management system, and an environmental program. The environmental statement of a company – and EMAS stipulates it must be accessible by the public – is a key item: It ensures that everybody can check what the corresponding EMAS company is doing to protect the environment.

KN: So how does one go about becoming an EMAS-registered company?
SP: The environmental statement is at the core of the process. It requires the listing of mandatory figures, for example the amount of waste generated, or the amount of electricity or water consumed. This information has to be determined, assessed and ultimately published. An independent auditor is called upon to validate the results. He examines how the company has compiled its data by analyzing the processes, for example by inspecting the electricity meters and so forth. If everything checks out, he confirms the submitted key figures and the applying company is added to the register.

KN: Why are environmental certificates and regulations such as EMAS important for KLINGER Dichtungstechnik and other KLINGER companies?
SP: We have committed ourselves to preserving the environment for future generations with our company value
“Sustainability”. Some KLINGER companies, first and foremost KLINGER Fluid Control, KLINGER Schöneberg and Kempchen Dichtungstechnik, have already joined us. We hope that our role as EMAS pioneers will encourage others to follow suit. Last but not least, next to being the right thing to do, EMAS also offers advantages with regard to Austrian Environmental Management Law.

KN: Such as?
SP: Plant approval processes, for example, require significantly less administrative effort. The reasoning behind this is that a wide range of relevant factors, such as for example noise levels, toxins or other emissions, are already annually checked by a trusted auditor in the course of the EMAS registration. As a consequence, a lot less documentation has to be submitted, which greatly simplifies matters. The other main benefit has to do with the so-called consolidated decision. KLINGER Dichtungstechnik has been the recipient of uncountable decisions over its 130 years of existence: “The company is hereby authorized to do this… The company is hereby authorized to erect that facility et cetera.” EMAS companies are allowed to combine individual decisions into consolidated decisions, which results in legal certainty for all our activities.

KN: How do your customers profit?
SP: Our high-quality gaskets significantly contribute to keeping the environment clean. That said, our resource conservation and environmental protection efforts, which have been validated by an independent third party, are documented in the environmental statement we have to make public. This level of transparency regarding the effects of a business is rarely found outside the framework of EMAS and creates trust. Eco-aware customers can therefore review our environmental performance published online and decide whether we are a suitable candidate for their orders.

KN: How well does EMAS work with your other certificates?
SP: We operate an integrated management system that comprises all our ISO certificates as well as EMAS. This allows us to apply a single view, in which all our subsystems are interlinked. In our gasket manufacturing process, for example, quality assurance has a direct effect on our environmental management system: If the quality of a gasket meets our high standards, then the performance in the field will be as expected and the emissions will also be reduced to a minimum.

KN: Do you have any closing words you would like to share with us?
SP: 20 years of EMAS is a long time and involves a lot of effort. I would like to thank Ingo Denniger for his major contributions. And Walter Kubista: More than two decades ago, he convinced the management to embrace EMAS. I think we can be proud of how far we have come since then. And we are fully committed to remaining a part of EMAS.

Pictures: © Zelislav Rudolf Slamaj

Now in 3D

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Introducing ATMECO’s leak visualization services

Drones as the proverbial “eye in the sky” and revolutionary imaging technologies, for example Google Street View, have led to astounding new ways of interacting with the world we live in. Refining and enhancing these techniques for its own industry-related purposes, the Australian KLINGER company ATMECO offers its customers both bird’s eye and detailed 3D views of their facilities. Join us as we take a closer look.

Formed in 2002, ATMECO’s mission is to ensure the component integrity of its clients’ facilities. “Our work in the energy and resource sector has shown that between five and twelve percent of the utilized components are mechanically
compromised,” explains Silvio Stojic, Managing Director of ATMECO, and adds: “Even new plants can have component emission rates as high as five percent.” For a plant operator, these findings do not bode well: They result in product and energy losses, increased plant operation costs and may also pose a threat to assets, personnel and the environment. The good news is that the only component integrity specialist in the Asia Pacific region has built up an impressive array of detection technologies and services to pinpoint the source of even the most fleeting losses.

Full disclosure

“Our survey and detection technologies are tailored to meet the industry requirements of our customers,” states Silvio, “ATMECO’s scope includes integrity surveys for the detection of gas, vapor and liquid leaks as well as emission surveys, which are used for process, bioreactors, landfill and sewage treatment plants.” For its latest service offering, the Australian leak detection and maintenance specialist took to the skies: Under the abbreviation RPAS – Remote Piloted Aerial Systems – ATMECO now uses drones for the short and long-range monitoring of pipeline infrastructure and for pipe crack detection. Capturing the images, however, is only the first step. “To provide our customers with a state of the art representation, we carry out monoscopic or stereoscopic surveys and subsequently create 3D models of the facilities we have inspected.” This is typically achieved by means of a 360° camera mounted on the drone in the case of aerial surveys, or via a camera stand in the event of ground-based assignments. The individual images, around 50 for small sections and up to 1,000 for large areas of a facility, are then stitched together to create three-dimensional, interactive visualizations. The customer can access the 3D models through ATMECO’s proprietary Component Integrity Management System, also known as CIMS. As the images are digitalized,  they can also be tagged with additional information. “We not only highlight detected leaks, but can also report on the condition of the assets themselves,” states Silvio, “in other words, the customer can review the actual state of his facilities and verify our findings by virtually walking through them.”

“To provide our customers with a state of the art representation, we carry out monoscopic or stereoscopic surveys and subsequently create 3D models of the facilities we have inspected.”

Silvio Stojic,
Managing Director of ATMECO

No limits

Working with drones provides a number of benefits. First and foremost among them is the relative ease with which challenging areas can be reached: Using an aerial drone to inspect water towers, flare stacks, and even the corresponding ducts might still involve some ace-flying on the side of the company’s certified drone operators, but it is significantly less time-consuming and decidedly more cost-effective than a manual, rope-access inspection. Furthermore, entire pipe systems and confined spaces are now also well within reach – by means of drones that crawl along the corresponding interior sections. “Our RPAS offering was initially developed to provide our customers with immediate critical asset integrity survey outcomes,” summarizes Silvio, “as a result of our outstanding success we have now branched out into other industries as well: Next to traditional oil & gas production facilities, water technology and the process industry, RPAS services are now also available for utility distribution networks as well as for the pulp & paper, the power generation, and the dairy industry.”

For your eyes only

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14th Swiss District Heating Conference attendees enjoy exclusive insights

The Swiss District Heating Conference, co-organized by the FRANZ GYSI AG and KLINGER, is the most visible highlight of a cooperation between the two companies that has already spanned multiple generations. Held every summer since 2004, this year’s visit to Vienna’s district heating operator Fernwärme Wien promised to be especially interesting: With a tour of the cogeneration plant in Vienna-Simmering and the large-scale heat pump installed there.

The Swiss District Heating Conference comprises experts from Swiss district heating and planning companies, who are very much interested in what the Austrian capital has to offer. And while Franz Gysi, CEO of the FRANZ GYSI AG, makes certain that there is enough opportunity for cultural appreciation as well, he knows what his attendees have primarily come to see: “With its 1,100 kilometer long transport network and three major waste incineration plants, the district heating company provides heating for more than 340,000 households and 6,500 industry customers in Vienna,” he explains, adding: “These facts, coupled with the state of the art technology utilized here, are what really attract our Swiss partners and customers.”

Up close

The success of the annual Swiss District Heating Conference has many reasons. Both organizers, Franz Gysi and KLINGER Fluid Control, agree, however, that the hands-on experience it offers its participants is at the top of the list. “Fernwärme Wien allows us to tour all their major facilities and provides experts to answer any questions we may have,” states Franz Gysi, “due to the background of our delegates, we are also allowed into areas usually not shown to the public.”

Never seen before

The latter became very obvious in the course of the 14th Swiss District Heating Conference. As reported in the last issue of the KLINGER News, Wien Energie, the energy utility to which Fernwärme Wien belongs, is currently erecting Central Europe’s largest heat pump at the Simmering cogeneration plant. “We were the first delegation given the opportunity to tour this facility,” Franz Gysi is proud to report, and adds: “With regard to the project, they have entered the cold commissioning phase. This means that the pipes have already been welded together and the valves installed.” What it also signifies, however, is that the individual components have not been covered up yet. “For somebody working in the field of district heating, being able to see a facility in this state is mostly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You can’t really get any closer to the interior workings of the system than this, unless you are of course part of the project yourself,” summarizes Franz Gysi, explaining why this year’s Swiss District Heating Conference was yet another success and why it will always be fondly remembered by its participants.