From time to time, we are re-posting well-received or particularly valuable articles that have previously run on VALVEMagazine.com so that those who might have missed them will be able to catch up on the best of the best. This article, “An End-User’s Perspective on Valve Selection and Risk” initially ran on April 17, 2016.

I am not a valve expert, although I often play one where I work. What I am is an end user, but I believe that provides me a unique outlook on risk.

Because biopharmaceuticals are produced using living organisms, and the drugs produced are used in humans and animals, the cost of contamination is very high, and sterilization of the process system is critical.

In the last year, one word has dominated U.S. trade policy: tariffs. From the Trump Administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs to tariffs on half of the products imported into the U.S. from China to the retaliatory tariffs from a half-dozen governments, few industries have been spared.

The purpose of a process plant control system is to keep process variables at the desired operating point and within safety limits. However, control systems may not be able to handle all process upsets. Operator intervention, safety instrumented systems and pressure relief devices (PRDs) then become the last lines of defense.