Page 53: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2015)

BICERA Explosion Relief Valve ometimes it seems cliché to repeat that a case explosion relief valves. In the speci? cation, product or system “protects equipment and they speci? ed an explosion in a 700L tank as the (Photo: RCL) (Photo: RCL)

Ssaves lives,” but in the case of valve manu- largest explosion one valve could be certi? ed to

Bayley Lutoff-Perlo facturer Penn-Troy, which recently unveiled a handle. We knew that valves on the market that new crankcase explosion relief valve that boasts could handle that size explosion were quite large, lower exhaust temperatures, more engine internal and we saw an opportunity for improvement. clearance and a lighter weight design, the claim is With our new valve, there is no compromise be- accurate. To get further insights on the BICERA tween handling the largest explosion, and using

Revolution Explosion Relief Valve, we spoke to the smallest valve.

Mark Powers, president of the company, for his

In general, can you discuss how your company insights on the product and its value.

invests to ensure that its products and manu-

The BICERA Revolution Explosion Relief facturing processes are kept up to date and

Valve is the second-generation model of the orig- ef? cient?

inal crankcase explosion relief valve proposed by (Photo: Crowley Maritime) (Photo: Dave Cross) the British Internal Combustion Engine Research Penn-Troy put in years of R&D for the

Duffy Busch

Association (BICERA) after the Reina del Paci- ? co explosion in 1947. In the spotlight of this original BICERA relief valve, and we knew for this new design we needed to be prepared to do ity. The testing facility contains test beds that accommodate new product is the patent-pending ? ame arrester up to 1.1 million pounds break strength, a cyclic bend over technology. Made of a strong, porous material, the same again. With this in mind, we’ve invest- sheave (CBOS) test bed, drop towers, yarn and creep testers, the external arrestor acts as an aggressive heat ed in our own in-house explosion test facility.

We are able to test prototypes rapidly and capture a chemical laboratory and dedicated splicing benches to sup- sink, dispersing lower exhaust temperatures radi- all sorts of data from back pressure to exhaust port product testing and customer/employee training.

ally, away from engine personnel, in the event of temperatures. To our knowledge, we are the only a crankcase explosion. The external ? ame arrest- crankcase explosion relief valve manufacturer

Optimarin ,Goltens Ink BWT Retro? t Agreement ing process also allows for better internal engine with our own in house test facility. In addition to

Ballast Water Treatment (BWT) specialist Optimarin and clearance. The BICERA Revolution Valve comes

Goltens, a provider of engineering and installation solutions in four models: Bolt-on, Weld-on, Integrated all this, we’ve invested in our shop and became

ISO 9001:2008 certi? ed by the American Bureau for the shipping industry, have signed a nonexclusive world-

Door Unit and Quick Detachable; certi? ed to the of Shipping last year.

wide agreement for retro? tting Optimarin’s Ballast System

IACS UR M66 speci? cation by ABS, BV, DNV (OBS). The deal provides shipowners with a complete BWT and RINA.

In addition to the new 4-in. product we dis- package, offering them BWT technology alongside engineer- cussed, are there any additional product varia- ing and installation services across the globe.

We understand that you recently unveiled a tions in the pipeline? If so, explain their particu- new crankcase explosion relief valve. Why was lar niche and when they will be available.

an investment in a new technology solution re-

USCG Approvals for PYPLOK quired at this time?

W&O announced that the USCG issued an acceptance letter The plan is to continue development of for PYPLOK mechanical ? ttings, a Tube-Mac Piping Tech- a 2-in. and 6-in. valve, which we plan to unveil This valve was developed from custom- nologies Ltd., product line, approving its use in a wide range in 2016. We believe this will cover our niche for er requests to make the smallest crankcase explo- of applications onboard vessels. PYPLOK has passed na- small compact engines where space is a concern.

sion relief valve possible and save space on the tional and international pressure and ? re test standards. The engines. To do this, we used the technology of

Tube-Mac PYPLOK Mechanically Attached Fitting System porous 316 stainless steel. Existing ? ame arrest- is an alternative to threaded, welded, or brazed joints. The ing technologies proved to either be too weak, or

PYPLOK system features an external 360-degree radial too bulky. With porous metal, we knew we could swaging process that compresses the ? tting onto the pipe or keep the compact size of the ? ame trap, and alter tube, which results in a permanent, leak-tight joint. the powder or sintering process to get the results we wanted. The new BICERA Revolution Valve

Kraft Power: Scania USA Distributor is designed with a smaller diameter to allow for

Scania expended its service network in N. America with the closer installations between valve centers and on addition of Kraft Power (www.kraftpower.com) as its new- doors with smaller surface areas. The new valve est marine distributor. Kraft Power is now a Scania marine also features a 115 sq. cm/1 cu. m. relief area to distributor for Florida, Georgia, Bermuda and the Bahamas.

crankcase volume ratio that can provide the same level of explosion protection with fewer number

Partnership on Seawater Lubrication of valves.

Thordon Bearings Inc. signed a letter of intent (LOI) under which it will cooperate with MSR Gry? a of Poland to pro-

Speci? cally, you mentioned new Standards: mote the conversion of ships to an open seawater lubricated

Can you explain how these played a role in the propeller shaft Thordon bearing system from a sealed oil lu- decision to introduce a new product?

bricated propeller shaft bearing system. The LOI will create an action plan in which a ship conversion team, comprised In 2008 the IACS came out with a new of MSR Gry? a and Thordon Bearings representatives, that speci? cation detailing the test criteria for crank- promotes this initiative to the marine community. www.marinelink.com 53

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