Keywords: Corrosion Sealing Valve Lining

W AT E R & W A S T E WAT E R

Lining materials for valves

in water applications
As different industrial applications require diverse valve engineering and construction solutions to minimise
the risk of valve damage and failure, manufacturers have been driven to offer new, innovative solutions to
avoid unnecessary plant shutdown. In order to prevent the significant cost and time implications that present
themselves in this situation, suppliers are stepping up to the challenge of providing reliable, tailored valve
lining solutions - particularly in the water industry, where pipes are host to corrosive and abrasive flowing
liquids which can damage and erode the valve fixtures. Here, Ren van der Gaag, Regional Product Manager
Butterfly Valves - EMEA, at Pentair Valves & Controls, evaluates some of the valve lining options available on
the market and discusses why selecting the appropriate material for a specific water application is critical.

Rene van der Gaag, Pentair Valves & Controls

The right lining material for the

right application
In their efforts to maximise plant uptime
and optimise operational efficiency in
water applications, customers turn to
lining materials to protect valves from
corrosive attack, rather than choosing
alloy valves, which do not offer the most
cost-effective solution. A fully lined valve
prevents the flow media from coming
into contact with the metal base material.
Customers are therefore confronted with
the challenge of selecting a lining material
that not only fully protects the valve
from abrasion and the corrosive liquids
to which it is exposed, but which also
helps extend the life time of a valve and is
cost-efficient. Selecting the most effective
solution is dependent upon application
parameters such as chlorination, additives
required to maintain the water quality,
salt content, and particles in the media, as
well as customer requirements regarding
life time and cycle expectation, cost of
ownership and ease of maintenance.
Over recent years, traditional valve
construction materials such as iron,
stainless steels and metal alloys have
increased in price, leading water industry
operators to seek out competitive
solutions with extended life cycles. As
a result, manufacturers have introduced
innovative, highly engineered protective
coatings and new base materials to
respond to this demand. Options are

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Pentair GR series with nylon coated disc

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selected according to the properties
and benefits each material offers to the
specific application in need of protection,
in order to ensure optimised uptime, safe
operation, minimised cost and exceptional
wear resistance.

A common, competitive coating

option
Nylon is a common, competitive solution
for protecting the base material of a valve
disc in a wide range of water applications,
including sea water, chlorinated water
and waste water. Todays coating
process enables secure application of
the nylon film to the valve disc to form
a continuous, high quality layer on the
surface. The nylon powder is sintered
onto the disc surface to form a smooth,
homogenous and pore-free protective
layer. Nylons compatibility with a wide
range of chemicals, along with its strength
and corrosion resistance make it well
suited to the water market.
As large particles of sedimentation in
the media have the ability to scratch and
cut through the nylon layer, allowing the
corrosive water to harm the base material,
nylon is most suited to and used in water
applications where large particles of
sedimentation are not present. In these
environments, nylon offers outstanding
abrasion and impact resistance, as well
as thermal resistance with a low friction
coefficient - particularly compared with
alternative, more conventional coating
systems such as other polyamides.
Due to the fact that no solvent is used in
the coating, nylon is an environmentally
friendly solution and, as such, is particularly
ideal for municipal drinking water
installations. Pentairs new nylon coated
GR series heavy duty industrial resilient
seated butterfly valves, for example, have
successfully received numerous water
certifications, including NSF (US), WRAS
(UK), KIWA (The Netherlands), AS4020
(Australia) and ACS (France). While nylon
coating is an ideal solution for numerous
water applications, there need to be
alternative options for customers looking
to satisfy the demands of other application
types.

subsequent damage, Ebonite lining is a

step up in terms of abrasion protection in
challenging applications and may further
prevent the base material from being
harmed. The 4mm thick, hard rubber
lining is vulcanised to the valve, which
ensures maximum bonding between the
Ebonite layer and the base material of
the valve body and disc. The strength
of the bond between the Ebonite layer
and the base material is in fact stronger
than the lining itself. As a result, when the
Ebonite is scratched by abrasive particles,

the media does not permeate the lining

surface. The corrosion area remains
localised and the base material of the
valve is unaffected, demonstrated in the
Cathotic Disbondment (CD) bonding
strength test, which complies with ASTM
G95-07 standard.
The thickness, strength and exceptional
bonding capabilities of Ebonite make it
ideal for heavy duty protection of valves
in desalination plants, as well as seawater
intake, chlorinated water and brine
applications. Ebonites strong abrasion

The strength and sophistication

of Ebonite
With a much higher resistance than nylon
against large media particles and their

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Pentair CompoSeal bareshaft

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W AT E R & W A S T E WAT E R
and chemical resistance, combined with
the fact that sea life doesnt grow on the
material, ensures a longer and corrosionfree life time, compared with a nylon
alternative. In addition, the corrosive
particles and chemical properties found in
chlorine and brine are unable to permeate
the Ebonite lining through to the base
material on the valve body.
Despite offering superior strength
to nylon coating along with various
additional advantages, Ebonite poses
several challenges to valve manufacturers
and customers alike. The application
of the lining to the base material is a
sophisticated process, which requires
technical capability and knowhow.
Furthermore, there are cost implications
when using this sort of lining material.
Although durable, Ebonite is a costly
material and, when compared with
alternative materials such as composites,
it requires additional labour in the manual
process of applying the lining to the
body and disc surface. However, when
used in a larger size range of more than
DN350, the lining material becomes a
particularly cost-effective option. Plus,
customers benefit from Ebonites valuable
functionality and heavy duty properties,
as well as the fact that any damages that
occur can be repaired on the spot using
a two component repair compound kit.
Neither skilled labour nor special tooling is
required to tend to damage on Ebonite unlike nylon, harm to which cannot be
repaired in the field.

Innovative solution for optimum

protection
With decades of proven reliability, it could
be easy for customers to immediately
turn to nylon and ebonite materials for
the lining of valves. However, more
recent innovations are also proving their
worth in water applications, enabling
manufacturers to differentiate themselves
from the rest of the market. Composite
materials have a proven track record
of protecting valves in a variety of
corrosive water applications, such as sea
water, chlorinated water, desalination
systems and hot brine applications all
of which are well recognised as highly
demanding applications. Used as a
chemically resistant base material rather
than a lining, composite is considered an
innovative alternative solution to high alloy

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metals for abrasion and

chemical damage. Their
high corrosion resistance
means that composite
materials are ideally suited
to harmful applications
including hot brine and
dont incur as much
expense as exotic metals
- the only alternative that
can handle the level of
corrosion present in
hot brine.
Composite materials
ability to be moulded into
complex shapes affords
high design flexibility and
functionality benefits to
valves, enabling customers
to meet the requirements
Pentair nylon coated disc
of their particular
application. The mould
resulting product is strong yet light, wear
also allows for elimination of excess
resistant and efficient, the raw materials
material in order to optimise design,
used to produce composites blends can be
enhance stability and offer a competitive
costly due to their high quality. This being
positioning. The amalgamation of physical
said, composite materials can offer a highly
and chemical properties in composites
competitive price positioning when used in
offers a ground-breaking alternative to
sizes up to 300mm, thanks to the injection
customers working in the water industry.
moulding process which enables a high
Implementing these improved materials
quality yet cost-effective solution. Above
in valve engineering allows for cutting350mm, Ebonite tends to be the material
edge experimentation that delivers
of choice since it requires less expensive
better performance, reduced weight and
manufacturing tools than composite
improved corrosion resistance.
materials, and can offer an enhanced cost
Composite materials superior corrosion
vs. quality ratio in larger sizes.
resistance, low weight material and
thermal conductivity, combined with their
Precision engineering for
outstanding bonding strength, durability
precision applications
and chemical stability, make them a highThe most effective material solutions for
performance option for aggressive water
protecting valves in water applications
applications. Compared with traditional
are developed according to system
materials, composites exhibit excellent
parameters and customer requirements,
fatigue performance and offer tailorability
providing an extensive range of features
to suit specific applications, making
to optimise valve life time against the
them a coveted solution for extreme
most economical cost, while delivering
environments, such as those found in
superior performance. Many valve lining
the water industry. Their resistance to
manufacturers offer a variety of standard
corrosive and abrasive fluids and particles
metal solutions for valve protection, such
ensures an extended life time and
as stainless steel and nickel aluminium
consequently, lower life cycle costs as
bronze, yet they have been forced to
well as improved reliability and safety.
respond to the water industrys demand
Despite being considered an exceptional
for competitive solutions with longer life
solution offering many benefits to
cycles. Pentair Valves & Controls offers an
the water industry, composites can
outstanding portfolio of technical materials
be expensive materials to work with,
that are optimised and tailored for specific
something which must be taken into
applications in the water industry. The
account when selecting the right material
companys composite butterfly valves
for a specific application. Although the

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were the first to market in 2009, an
accomplishment that cements Pentair as
a leading supplier of valves and protective
lining materials.
Pentairs CompoSeal range of fully
composite butterfly valves has been
designed to provide exceptional
flexibility and optimise efficiency.
While the composite material is highly
engineered for excellent internal and
external chemical resistance, the injection
moulding process enables production of
an efficiently designed valve which allows
for the elimination of material that offers
no added value to the valve. CompoSeal
valves optimised design means they are
able to offer superior performance with
minimal amounts of expensive material for
a more cost-effective solution.
This innovative offering from Pentair which complies with appropriate industrial
design standards and regulations such as
ISO, EN, API, PED and EnEV, as well as
common water approvals - has enjoyed
proven success and shown itself to be
the ideal solution for smaller valves in
sea water, chlorinated water and brine
applications.

November 2014

Summary
No single material can be considered
the best solution for protecting valves
in water applications. There is a broad
range of options available on the
market, each with their own features
that bring specific benefits to particular
operating environments. However,
maximising the life time of the valve
is the key focus, achieved by selecting
a material lining that offers integrity
and application tailorability. Different

material options will be appropriate for

specific installations depending on the
environment, taking into account both
the media and sedimentation. In order
to avoid detrimental impact to the
quality and life cycle of valves, as well as
significant implications to plant uptime
and operational efficiency, engineers in
the water industry must partner with a
reliable valve supplier that can tailor its
lining solutions to specific applications for
optimum results.

About the authors

Rene van der Gaag is regional product manager - butterfly
valves EMEA at Pentair Valves & Controls, a position
he has held for six years. Van der Gaag has twenty four
years experience at Pentair across a number of roles,
spanning from customer service to European business
development and product management, earning him skills
in a wide range of areas. He graduated in Mechanical
Engineering at the technical college in Eindhoven and has
since developed expertise across multiple disciplines. He
has developed specialised knowledge in Pentairs scientific
and technical product lines, including the Teflon product
range and polymer products.

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