
During a power plant operating cycle, valve maintenance and reliability are key focus areas, often taking up the largest portion of an outage budget. Plant personnel responsible for maintaining the equipment must consider multiple variables present in the entire local valve “system” including: equipment such as the valve body, trim set, actuator and sub-assemblies; media parameters such as media type, temperature, pressure, piping design and environmental factors; and valve packing. Yet despite the fact packing can be a significant contributor to poor valve performance and can cause significant leakage, this part of the equipment picture is often an afterthought in the maintenance process.