The selection and maintenance of valves for the control of fugitive emissions

The pulp and paper industry has long needed valves that (a) have extremely low stem leakage when they are new and (b) need little or no maintenance to retain that low leakage over their service life. The EPA fugitive emission regulations provide additional impetus for the pulp and paper industry to buy such valves and for the valve and packing industry to produce such valves. Even if particular operations are not covered by the fugitive emissions regulations, it is--and always has been--in a mill's best interest to have valves whose stems don't leak and need little or no maintenance to prevent that leakage. The paper gives some recommendations on how to meet that objective: selection the right packing materials; apply the right amount of stress to the packing; install the packing correctly; and use rotary valves where practical.