Valve Types

While at a training session recently a valve type was mentioned that I found unfamiliar. Here is some clarification:

Globe valve - this is a valve which is named for the shape it used to be constructed in, round like a globe. I was confused as to what the difference between the Globe and Ball valve was, as I would image the similarity in names. however the globe is named by its OUTSIDE shape, whereas the ball is so named for it inner shape. the flow is controlled by a ball with a hole in it, when the ball turns, so flow is restricted. In a globe valve, there is a chamber, which has a physical partition in the middle with a horizontal plate with a circular hole in it. A cylindrical plug is what causes the reduction in flow, which will be controlled by a screw in manual valves, or an actuator assembly in automatic valves. The plug moves perpendicular to the flow, coming from the wall of the pipe to the centre of the chamber, to sit on the plate when the valve is fully closed.

CAD tips and tricks 1 Publishing

So recently I had to print a whole batch of drawings to pdf at one time. It took a long time, but afterwards I was told this trick. The publish option in AutoCAD, which I have never used, can be used to print multiple documents at once to pdf, DWF and to the plotter that is specified in the page setup of that drawing. This means you don't even need to have the drawing open to plot it, you can insert it into the publishing sheet set, and the publishing option will print it automatically. This has already been a great help to speed up the process when printing multiple documents, especially when they need to be printed to pdf!

Technology is not always our friend

Recently we have been reviewing the way things work in our office, to try to do what every business want, that is to increase productivity without having to work more hours. It was with this in mind that we reviewed a project that was done about 8 years ago. An engineer and his technical assistant sat down, armed with heat load calculations, airflow volumes and unit selections, and drew out the design for a large commercial venture. We now look at these marked up drawings, and clearly marked are the duct routes, the air flow amounts, the duct sizes, as well as structural elements such as columns and penetrations which would affect our services. This was all neatly laid out in a fashion that could be drawn up by any draughtsman. This was a systematic approach, requiring some time, and some effort to produce a drawing which could then be interpolated into a working CAD drawing.

Conversely what we have found in recent years is we have been trying to use our technology, which can be very useful. However, for the most case, we do this bit by bit, never bothering to collate the full calculations, and thus a marked up drawing is impossible. We tend to feel this saves time, and in the short term, that may be the case. Sitting down, making sure we have all of the information, may be time consuming at the start of the project, however this simplifies the process further down the line significantly. When starting a project, we should collate all of the data and compile a drawing that clearly shows the design, such that further down the track, we can clearly see where our design originated from, rather than having multiple sketches and revisions, so no one know where it all started. In this technological age, where we try to minimise our paper useage. we must still remember the effectiveness of having a blueprint for our design in hardcopy.