Wednesday, January 21

Mayor says second faulty valve causing more water woes in N.L. community

Residents of this small Newfoundland town who have been without water pressure for three days received word Wednesday that two leaking valves were to be repaired overnight.
Brian Button, the mayor of Channel-Port aux Basques, said work crews had to dig through a metre of frozen earth to reach the valves, both of which were installed in the 1990s.
He said a state of emergency would remain in effect until service was restored.
Two schools and a college campus were closed and a local hospital made arrangements to transfer patients to other hospitals.
About 80 per cent of the residents of the town, located on the province's southwestern tip, were still without water on Tuesday.
The first of the two broken valves was located later that night. The second leak was found Wednesday, forcing the town to send for a replacement in Corner Brook - a two-hour drive away.
By Wednesday afternoon, about 70 per cent of the town had its water pressure restored.
The mayor said he didn't know what cause the valves to rupture.
"We're not certain of what may have busted it up," he said in an interview Wednesday. "What's slowing us down is three feet of frost in the ground."

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Thursday, January 15

the world's smartest valve positioner



Valve positioning plus on-line diagnostics with SIPART PS2


The intelligent positioner SIPART PS2 is your first choice when it comes to precision control of valves in different industries. As a expert diagnostic tool in our process instrumentation portfolio,it ewill support you with security process control, giving you real-time information about valve status. Cost efficiency driven by reduced maintenance. Reliability in emergency situations. One of the many benefits of this positioner is the "Partial Stroke Test(PST)", a very useful method of detecting possible faults or failures of on-off-valves.

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Wednesday, January 14

Making juice while riding your bike--a multi-functional Juicer


A Russian teacher invent a new juice machine that you can make juice while ride a bike.


January 14, 2009, Viktor Tarygin, a vocational school teacher from Russia Borisovitch Vitebsk oblast, invented a multi-functional Juicer. The user can ride at home while squeeze delicious juice .

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Monday, January 12

Brief introduction of valve installation

Analyze the application to determine which valve is best suited for installations, keeping in mind the service for which the valve is recommended. Before installing the correct valve, review the installation instructions to prevent damage to the valve and to assure its maximum efficiency.

1.Cut tube end square. Ream, burr and size.

2.Use sand cloth or steel wire brush to clean both ends to a bright metal finish. Steel wool is notrecommended.

3.Apply flux to outside of tube and inside of solder cup. Surfaces to be joined must be completely covered. Use flux sparingly.

4.Be sure that valve is fully open. Apply heat to tube first. Transfer as much heat as possible through tube into valve. Avoid prolonged heating of valve itself.

5.Silver Brazing Method: Assemble parts to be brazed. If fluxed parts are allowed to stand, the water in the flux will evaporate, and dried flux is liable to flake off, exposing metal surfaces to oxidation. Assemble joint by inserting tube into socket hard against the stop. The assembly should be firmly supported so that it will remain in alignment during the brazing operation.

NOTE: On one-inch and larger valves, it is difficult to bring the whole joint up to temperature at one time. It will frequently be found desirable to use a double-tip torch to maintain the proper temperature over the larger area. A mild pre-heating of the whole socket area is recommended. Apply heat to parts to be joined. The preferred method is by oxy-acetylene flame. Heat tube first, beginning one inch from edge of valve. Sweep flame around tube in short strokes up and down at right angles to run of tube. To avoid burning through tube, the flame should be in continuous motion and not allowed to remain on any one point.
Apply flame to valve at base of socket. Heat uniformly, sweeping flame from valve to tube until flux on valve becomes quiet. Avoid excessive heating of valve.
When flux appears liquid and transparent on both tube and valve, start sweeping flame back and forth along axis of joint to maintain heat on parts to be joined, especially toward base of valve socket.

6.Use just enough solder: with wire solder, use 3/4" for a 3/4" valve, etc. If too much solder is used, it may flow past tube stop and clog sealing area. When joint is filled, a continuous run of solder or brazing alloy will be visible.

7.Silver Brazing Method: Apply brazing wire or rod at point where tube enters valve socket. Keep flame away from rod or wire as it is fed into the joint. Move flame back and forth as alloy is drawn into joint. When the proper temperature is reached alloy will flow readily into space between tube outer wall and valve socket. When joint is filled, a continuous rim of brazing alloy will be visible.

8.Remove excess solder with small brush while plastic, leaving a fillet around end of valve as it cools.

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Thursday, January 8

Heart valves implanted without open-heart surgery

An innovative approach for implanting a new aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery is being offered to patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. Known as the PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic traNscathetER valves) trial, this Phase 3 multicenter study is being led by national co-principal investigators Dr. Martin Leon and Dr. Craig Smith and is focused on the treatment of patients who are at high risk or not suitable for open-heart valve replacement surgery.
The Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve, made of bovine pericardial tissue leaflets hand-sewn onto a metal frame, is implanted via one of two catheter-based methods -- either navigated to the heart from the femoral artery in the patient's leg, or through a small incision between the ribs and into the left ventricle. It is then positioned inside the patient's existing valve, using a balloon to deploy the frame, which holds the artificial valve in place. Both procedures are performed on a beating heart, without the need for cardiopulmonary bypass and its associated risks.
This breakthrough technology could save the lives of thousands of patients with heart valve disease who have no other therapeutic options, says Dr. Leon, the study's national co-principal investigator, associate director of the Cardiovascular Interventional Therapy (CIVT) Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center, and professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Annually, some 200,000 people in the U.S. need a new heart valve, but nearly half of them do not receive a new valve for a variety of reasons.
This study may show that transcatheter valve replacement is a safe and effective alternative to open surgery, which remains the 'gold standard' for most patients, says Dr. Smith, study co-principal investigator, interim surgeon-in-chief and chief of cardiothoracic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and the Calvin F. Barber Professor of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
The transcatheter valve procedures take about 90 minutes, compared with four to six hours for open-heart surgery. In open-heart surgery, the surgeon cuts through the breastbone, stops the heart, removes the valve and replaces it. Open-heart surgery can require a two- to three-month recovery period, compared to only a few days for the transcatheter approach.
The PARTNER trial is a prospective randomized study with two separate treatment arms. In the surgical arm, patients are randomized to receive either the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve or an Edwards surgical valve via open-heart surgery. In the non-surgical, medical management arm, patients considered to be non-operative are randomized to receive either the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve or appropriate medical therapy.

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