Product Development
Tailor-made solutions
Product development at Adams has always comprised two main areas: the general development of valves and details and the development of products specially designed for individual customers. One of our main strengths is our ability to reliably develop and implement special design solutions for our customers.
In our view, we can only make real progress if research and development are solidly embedded as integrated corporate tasks. This also includes close interaction with other departments of the company. Exchanging views with those of the sales department who pose questions straight from the market is one example. Another one is cooperation with the production department regarding the latest technologies, e.g. finishing processes. These enable the engineers’ ideas to be implemented in the first place.
Constant investment in the future
Over and above the previously described communication factors, the outstanding facilities of the departments directly involved with research and development are also of great importance. The foremost of these is the technical office. Our engineers already began using the first CAD systems in 1982, the current versions of which are state-of-the-art 3D systems. We also use FEM (the finite elements method). This modern method of analysis of structural mechanics is absolutely exact in every detail. Furthermore it enables our experts to precisely calculate our designs. Thus, we are able to optimally design our valves to suit their intended purposes and requirements.
With the help of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), the numerical flow simulation, we can precisely map the flow behaviour of each type of medium in our valves. This technology provides us with key information concerning the flow parameters and enables us to arrive at optimal flow behaviour for each type of medium through the deliberate design of our valves. Our engineers have numerous in-house testing systems at their disposal to enable ideas to be tried out prior to their use in actual practice.
Excellent product development
We received the Siemens Supplier Award for the quality of our technical cooperation in the development and construction of twelve turbine safety valves. The power station builder Siemens commissioned us with the development of special valves for the Finnish Olkiluoto nuclear power station. The valves are responsible for safeguarding the steam turbines, which are currently the most powerful in the world with an output of 1,700 megawatts.
For our company this order meant the complete development of a new double-valve 2.80 metre long in order to meet the customer’s requirements for the nuclear power station. Receiving the customer’s award after three years’ development and fine tuning was an incentive for us to continue expanding customer-oriented development within the company in the future.
Innovative product design
As we strive for innovation, we are always happy to develop new technologies together with our customers. For one of them, we have recently engineered, manufactured and delivered four extraordinary control valves according to his needs – The ADAMS Type MAKO.
Based on our well-proven tight shut-off, throttle and control valve type MAK, the new MAKO offers the same outstanding reliability all ADAMS valves have. The disc design with its special shape and flow channels make it special and each of the discs is a customized design based on customer requirements.
Heart of that construction is the special disc design with teeth to create flow channels. These will regulate the flow optimally, prevent cavitation and loud noises. Sounds easy but you need a lot of experience and know how supported by CFD simulations. Next to the teeth that have been cut into the discs, the back of the disc has also been adjusted. The special form creates a change of the flow chart within the first 20 degree and the last ten degree. This leads to a nearly perfect, even percentage characteristic curve during the whole flow area.