Owing to the company’s ability to source products from local manufacturers, neither its operations nor its customers have been impacted on by the pandemic, says Valve Solutions Africa sales director Niven Persad.

He notes that the manufacture of new products and repairs have continued to take place throughout the lockdown, primarily because all valves and valve-related products can be sourced locally and are repairable by original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Johannesburg or at designated service hubs.

One such OEM is ball and check valves manufacturer RGR Technologies, which produces 100% of its products locally, and has been manufacturing valves for 30 years.

Valve Solutions Africa is the sales agent and distributor for RGR Technologies.

RGR Technologies director Ross Hunter says that, with the success of RGR Technologies’ Reliaball ball and Nozzle check valves, RGR Technologies aims to increase its product offering for the heavy-duty services and applications sector going forward. He adds that about 30% of its revenue is derived from the mining sector.

“Currently, we manufacture a range of metal seated ball valves for slurry applications using a special ball and seat design,” Hunter notes, adding that the features and designs of the products benefit the industry greatly in comparison to other products on the market.

“Our ball valve, known as the Reliaball, has a great reputation because it works optimally in harsh, high-pressure isolation applications. It has a unique trim design which sets it apart from any other spherical ball design. This trim design has ultimately been the determining factor for its success in the mining and utilities industries,” notes Hunter.

Moreover, the Reliaball can be adapted to ball valves with standard face-to-face dimensions, as well as gate valves that require reduced face-to-face dimensions.

Persad notes that the nonspherical ball eliminates the problems that are encountered with conventional ball valves such as the seals being in constant contact with the polished sphere, which tends to cause leaking in cases where there are scouring and erosion.

Talking about preventive measures that have been put in place to prevent wear and corrosion, he notes that the Reliaball is radically different to conventional ball valves and it was specifically designed and developed to operate under harsh conditions in abrasive fluids and high differential isolation to prevent wear and corrosion.

“The nonspherical design of the ball valve allows for its application being extend to pump isolation, shaft column isolation, fire hydrant services and stope reticulation services all within the mining industry,” Hunter concludes.