From the Editor

Welcome to the Spring 2025 issue of Valve. It’s certainly been a busy season so far, with the VMA Hydrogen + Energy Valve Summit and Valve Forum in early April where I met several new people and discussed some exciting editorial opportunities for future issues. From natrium salt reactors to PFAS and plastic seal and packing recycling, there were a few technologies new to me that piqued my interest.

In addition to engaging technical conversations, tariffs were a big topic of discussion as some were announced while we were gathered in Orlando. The uncertainty is the biggest obstacle as manufacturers are looking more closely at their supply chains and trying to adjust and adapt accordingly with strategic inventory management and renegotiating terms with suppliers. 

End users are more interested than ever in trying to get as much life out of products as possible through repair or rebuilding valves and actuators to save them time and money and contribute to sustainability efforts. Predictive maintenance is another tool to prevent unplanned outages or downtime by scheduling repairs and maintenance before a catastrophe strikes. I’m looking forward to the VMA’s Valve Repair Seminar in early June to learn more about how manufacturers and end users repair products in the field and in their shops and touring a couple of facilities. Learn more about this event at VMAEvents.org.

Many are waiting with bated breath amid uncertainty for more concrete information to determine if, where and how to adapt their businesses. In the meantime, the grid still needs to be powered, water needs to be processed, minerals and oil still need to be mined and processed and chips need to be built to power our electronics. So much of what you all do is to maintain the lives and creature comforts for all of us in this country and around the world. You keep showing up and using your expertise to make sure our lives can go on without giving second thought to what goes into all these utilities and products and processes we take for granted. Thank you for all you do to keep powering our utilities and our world! 

This issue has a lot of metal to it, pun intended! Dr. Fadila Khelfaoui from Velan talks about metallurgy considerations in valves dependent on the applications and conditions. To complement that is an article discussing the same topic for forged parts. Our cover story delves into the specific requirements for actuators in mineral processing. And we talked with VMA Chairman Kirk Wilson about his career, his plans for the year for the board and get some advice for those just entering the business or who have been around for a while.

As always, check out our website and subscribe to our biweekly newsletter for the most up-to-date news and products and send us your releases to be featured online and in current issues. 

Cheers!