Working closely with ball valve manufacturers, Engis UK has developed a lapping gel specifically for use in severe service ball valve lapping applications such as those found in oil and gas production and petrochemical refining.

Severe service ball valves are often installed in remote and difficult to access locations, and must withstand the harshest conditions, including high pressures, high temperatures and caustic materials, while providing tight tolerances and zero-leak characteristics.
Among the main benefits of Engis LD diamond gel is said to be a reduction in overall lapping times by up to 30-40%. In addition, less pressure is required using the LD gel, reducing scratching and operator fatigue in manual operations. This attribute results in less component scrappage, while test stand failures are significantly reduced – to near zero in some instances, reports the company.
The lapping gels contain specially controlled diamond particles that are micronised in Engis laboratories. In contrast, some conventional lapping compounds, particularly those not manufactured to the most exacting standards, incorporate rogue abrasive particles and can suffer from particle agglomeration or excessive ‘dry out’ during processing, resulting in surface scratches which compromise the zero-leak goal.
Engis LD gel is available in 18 or 100 g syringes in particle sizes ranging from 1 to 60 µm.
For further information www.engis.com