James Webb Launch Caps Exciting Year for Equilibar
Equilibar (whose parent company is Richards Industrials) products are used in a broad range of industries, including catalysis, fuel cells, aerospace, biopharma and green energy.
#VMAnews
Edited by Margo Ellis
Share
On December 25, the long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope successfully launched from French Guiana, giving scientists and engineers around the world an exciting Christmas present. The telescope is an international collaboration involving NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. It will continue and expand on the ground-breaking discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, which launched in 1990.
According to NASA, “Thousands of engineers and hundreds of scientists worked to make Webb a reality, along with over 300 universities, organizations and companies from 29 U.S. states and 14 countries.”
In 2017, David Reed, Equilibar’s vice president of operations, designed a pressure control system to deliver nitrogen gas to NASA’s acoustic testing chamber at the Goddard Space Center in Maryland. Because the James Webb has to withstand enormous acoustic vibrations from the sound of the blast off, the system designers needed a test to simulate the extreme sound intensity. The system’s complex parameters meant that few experts in the pressure control industry were up to the challenge.
“We are honored that NASA asked David to use his expertise for this important project” said Equilibar president Jeff Jennings. “We are excited to finally watch the launch over the holidays. It ends 2021 on a hopeful note.”
Equilibar was acquired by Richards Industrials (a VMA member) in May 2021. Click here for more information.
RELATED CONTENT
-
ValvTechnologies and Severn Form Strategic Partnership
ValvTechnologies and Severn Glocon have reached a partnership agreement that will see collaboration between two of the world’s leading engineering and manufacturing companies specializing in innovative, high-end, severe-service valves.
-
New Requirements for Actuator Sizing
After decades of confusion, the American Water Works Association has created new standards for actuator sizing that clear up some of the confusion and also provide guidance on where safety factors need to be applied.
-
Solenoid Valves: Direct Acting vs. Pilot-Operated
While presenting in a recent VMA Valve Basics 101 Course in Houston, I found myself in a familiar role: explaining solenoid valves (SOVs) to attendees. (I work with solenoids so much that one VMA member at that conference joked that I needed to be wearing an I Heart Solenoids t-shirt). During the hands-on “petting zoo” portion of the program, which involves smaller groups of attendees, one of the most frequently asked questions I get from people came up: What’s the difference between direct-acting and pilot-operated SOVs, and how do we make a choice?
 Unloading large gate valve.jpg;maxWidth=214)
