Industrial valves specialist Ragon Industries says the marketing of its high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying system, which forms part of its Ragmax range of valves supplied to the mining industry, will be its main priority this year.

“The HVOF system increases the operating life of products subject to wear, abrasion and erosion, which include slurry valves, pump shafts, impellors and other similar flow and rotating equipment,” says Ragon Industries MD Hendrik Ras.

Ras mentions that the HVOF system is capable of producing dense and well-adhered coatings in the as-sprayed condition. During thermal spraying, particles are partially melted and accelerated to high velocities by a flame or an arc. The particles splatter onto a surface and build a layer whose quality is assessed through its oxide content, poros- ity and bond strength to the substrate.

The HVOF system extends the operating life of the product. Ragon Industries will focus, therefore, on making the HVOF system available to the relevant industries and on enhancing product performance by combating wear and corrosion conditions.

“We use the HVOF on valve discs to increase resistance to abrasive slurries. We have also patented HVOF-coated disc valves. This has increased the dis- tinctiveness of our Ragmax and Ragate valves range, which can withstand extreme wear conditions.

“This was a long-term goal for the company and has meant that we can cut out the middleman in our business, which reduces manufacturing costs. We can share this cost reduction with the end-user, which possibly makes us the first company in the industry to lower prices while improving quality,” says Ras.

Ragon Industries can now improve other products within its product offerings. The company says that its patented range of slurry valves, and the Poliethelene Carbone Urathane (PECU) deflector cone installed on the inlet side of the valves, as well the downstream scraper, also made of PECU, have improved the knife-gate valves, which are as good as the Ragmax 2000.

Earlier, Ragon Industries told Mining Weekly that many processing companies and mines preferred to use knife-gate valves, as they are not in the flow path. For this reason, Ragon Industries introduced its range of knife-gate slurry valves onto the market.

Ragon Industries hardened the knife-gate valve by using the HVOF-applied powder coating and inserting a liner, through which the gate moves to shut off flow.
During tests, the liner was damaged by particles that were caught in eddies on the edges of the valve where the liner comes into contact with the slurry.

To prevent these eddies from wearing away the liner and the housing of the valve, the company inserted a liner that had a slight cone-shaped deflection to direct slurry flow through the centre of the valve, reducing wear, explains Ras.

The company guarantees that the product will save the mines money, especially during the existing economic uncertainties where costs are a challenge for the industry.

Ragon Industries is confident that its range of slurry valves will outlast its competitors’ products, owing to, among other advan- tages, the valves weigh less, which, subsequently, reduces rigging costs. The valves are repairable and easy to maintain, with lower downtime, as a result of fewer valve failures.