To most people, water is for drinking, washing, and keeping their lawns green. To others, such as surfers, skiers, and snowboarders, it is a playground. But to a relatively small group of designers, ...

Beyond the wheel, the most important mechanical equipment serving humanity is the centrifugal pump. Centrifugal pumps make modern quality of life possible. Turn on a faucet and a centrifugal turbine ...

Feedwater control valves play a critical role in boiler operation. One important parameter of their design is the pressure drop at the rated condition as well as off-design conditions. However, ...

Learning the basics can ease loop tuning frustration and ensure stability. During plant operations, it seems that tuning control loops is an ongoing task, which can be a continual frustration to ...

It takes a large number of control valves to run a power plant, and while some valves are more critical to plant operations than others, it always follows that when a severe service valve fails, the ...

How much of what you “know” do you actually know, and how much have you learned secondhand? Most of us probably pick up a large portion of our “knowledge” from secondhand sources (much like this ...

Flow reversal in piping systems can degrade equipment performance and cause significant water hammer, potentially resulting in catastrophic failure. Power plant condenser cooling water systems—or ...

Flow is controlled by either throttling or diverting it. Throttling involves reducing orifice size until all of the flow cannot pass through the orifice; bypassing involves routing part of the flow ...

If you've ever wakened your dry camping neighbors or a coach full of people with a midnight bathroom break, then you understand how noisy some water pumps can be when used. And by the same token, you ...