Awards for ETEC’s Ball Valve and ETEC’s Compact Bend

These are really breaking news: ETEC has participated in the competition “Materialica Design + Technology Award 2008” with two new and innovative products, and was indeed awarded for both products. All members of the jury were totally convinced of both the compact bend and the ceramic/steel ball valve, and this is why both products were selected for this special award. Moreover, the compact bend was also selected for the special award “CO2 efficiency” – by the way, it was the first time that this category was awarded.

There is an increasing number of public discussions about climate change and CO2 emission. Specific materials and light construction technologies can help reducing CO2 emission. Here we find one outstanding advantage of ETEC’s compact bend which, with its interior lining made of high-performance ceramics ALOTEC®, even in extremely narrow radii is capable of following the uniform cross-section of the total system. ETEC’s compact bend allows for uniform cross sections in tube systems, and this is why they can be operated with less air pressure in comparison to impact absorbers generally used. As a consequence, energy demand is considerably reduced, and according to estimations given by users in the foundry industry, reductions of up to 50% can be achieved.

As far as the ball valve is concerned, the combination of high-quality materials with their specific advantages turned out to be decisive for awarding this product. Up to now, valve balls in tube systems protected from wear were made of just one material, mostly steel or ceramics. Whereas the steel version tends to be more susceptible to wear, the full ceramic version has the disadvantage of being brittle, and since it has to absorb the driving power of the valve ball, there is the risk of breakage.

ETEC has developed a valve ball with a special material combination: although the body is made of steel, the clearance hole is protected by a casing made of wear resistant high-performance ceramics ALOTEC®. In this way, the steel component absorbs the driving power, whereas the ceramic lining (which also protects the adjacent passage area of the ball valve and the complete system) ensures efficient wear protection and helps reducing costs to a very great extent.

Compact bends and ball valves made by ETEC are protected as utility models, and applications for patents were filed for both products.
The Awards Ceremony will be held during the MATERIALICA Exhibition, the international trade show for Materials and Applications, Surfaces and Product Engineering taking place in Munich from October 14th to 16th, 2008.

Photo 1: The compact bend allows considerable reduction of energy costs.

Photo 2: Ceramic/steel ball valve operated in a power station.

Photo 3: All components of the new ceramic/steel ball valve in direct contact with the processed material are made of ceramics.

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