Articles & Engineering Guides
Long-form technical writing on control valves: how they work, how to size them, why they fail, and how the surrounding loop behaves. Every article states its assumptions, defines its symbols with units, and traces its formulas to IEC 60534, ISA-75, FCI 70-2 or API 623 — no vendor marketing, no hand-waving.
Published articles
- How a Control Valve Works — The Complete Principle — throttling vs on-off duty, the control loop, inherent vs installed flow characteristics, and fail-safe action.
- Equal Percentage vs Linear vs Quick-Opening: Flow Characteristics Compared — the three inherent characteristics, loop gain, installed-curve distortion, and a practical selection method.
In progress
- Cavitation vs Flashing — Telling Them Apart and Stopping Them — vapour-pressure margins per IEC 60534-2-1, damage signatures, trim solutions.
- Control Valve Sizing Step by Step (Liquid Service) — Cv to Kv, piping geometry factors, choked-flow checks.
- Seat Leakage Classes Explained (FCI 70-2 / IEC 60534-4) — Class I–VI in plain language, and which class your service really needs.
Looking for a specific topic? Project write-ups live under Solutions, field diagnosis under Troubleshooting, and component explainers under Accessories.
Contribute. Practising engineers are welcome to submit articles or case notes. If you have field experience worth publishing — a sizing war story, a failure analysis, a test result — get in touch.
Editorial note. Articles are reviewed against the referenced standards before publication and re-checked periodically. Engineering content is educational; always verify calculations against the applicable standard and manufacturer data before use in actual installations.