Payback three times over within six months

It is reported that Spirax SafeBloc Double Block and Bleed valves have helped SCA Hygiene in Prudhoe, Northumberland, to eliminate unscheduled boiler shutdowns costing up to £20,000 each in lost production.

SCA Hygiene runs a 24/7 process, producing branded tissue. It is the company's practice to only carry out maintenance work on a live steam system behind double block and bleed isolation.

The company frequently suffered minor problems with blocked level gauge glasses on its boilers.However, because only single isolation valves were fitted to the gauge glasses, the boiler had to be shut down and depressurised to enable maintenance engineers to fix the problem safely, halving production output for up to 10 hours.

"We replaced the existing single isolation valves with four SafeBloc valves on each of our boilers, so that any future maintenance work on our gauge levels can be done without having to shut down a boiler, enabling us to maintain production," explains Neil Carroll, area engineering leader at SCA Hygiene, Prudhoe Mill.

"Previously a boiler shutdown could cost us up to £20,000 in production downtime. The last four valves paid for themselves three times over within the first six months." The Spirax SafeBloc incorporates two isolation valves and a bleed port in a compact assembly, making it easy to install in the space left by an existing single isolation valve.