Press Release - May 2009
Leeds Valve helps boost electricity supply to Jersey islanders
Leeds Valve is assisting the Jersey Electricity Company (JEC) in a major programme of upgrades at its single oil-fired power station to further enhance the reliability of electricity supply across the island of Jersey.
The West Yorkshire-based company, which is a world leader in the manufacture and supply of butterfly valves for niche applications, is supplying JEC with a series of vast isolation valves to be used in the sea water culvert system which supplies cooling water to the turbine and diesel generators and auxiliary equipment at the Power Station.
Butterfly valves are used for this application due to size and space restrictions – they are installed in 15ft-deep pits – and each is of a non-standard size, with an internal diameter of 1.5M (5ft), and weighing in at 2.2 tonnes. The valves, which are thought to be the biggest on the island, are capable of shutting off a full-bore flow rate of 20,000m3/hour.
Looking down into the pit as the valve is being installed
Leeds Valve Technical Director George Burns said: “Our expertise in manufacturing non-standard butterfly valves for use in even the most challenging environments made Leeds Valves the ideal partner for JEC on this project.
“JEC needed valves to fit their existing 60” pipe work and the existing pits, so the valves had to be sized to exactly meet these dimensional constraints. Our great strength lies in our ability to supply competitively priced, custom-made butterfly valves that precisely meet requirements.”
The Jersey Electricity power station, which is the control centre for the Channel Island Electricity Grid, is located next to St Helier Harbour for a constant supply of seawater to cool the condensers and other heat exchangers. The valves are typically operated once a month to shut off the seawater inlet supply during maintenance.
One of the 60” bore butterfly valves before leaving the factory
Each valve has been manufactured to meet the exacting requirements of this application. They have double flanged bodies in ASTM A126 Class B material, protected by a fully vulcanised rubber lining, which is machined to give optimum interference for low torque and extended wear life. The valve internals are in high-grade sea water resistant aluminium bronze.