On behalf of the entire industry, welcome to our 2010

AOV Users Group (AUG) Conference. We are glad you

could join us for this important annual event and we look

forward to your fresh perspective and new ideas. This

conference provides a unique opportunity for you to meet

and interface with industry peers and vendors. With a

content focused on current issues facing us all, I believe

you will find the presentations, users groups, and discus-

sions informative and well-rounded. If you are new to AOVs, I encourage you

to take advantage of the many networking opportunities to learn from your

peers as well as our vendors. If you have any questions or want to learn more

about training, benchmarking, or assessment possibilities; please let me know.

Thanks and I look forward to meeting you during the conference.

This AUG Chairman’s Last Message

AUG 2010 NEWSLETTER J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 0 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

AIR-

OPERATED

VALVE USERS

GROUP

DEDICATED TO

THE

DEVELOP-

MENT AND

EXCHANGE

OF

TECHNICAL

INFORMATION 2010 CONFERENCE HIGHLITES

This year’s conference features several valve and actuator manufactur-

ers demonstrating overhaul and setup techniques. These sessions

promise to be interactive as well as a good opportunity to address any

nagging questions on their products. In addition Swagelok and Parker-

Hannifin will be providing best practices and innovations for that often

overlooked component on air operators. The maintenance and engi-

neering breakout sessions will also include diagnostic and trace analy-

sis round table discussion as well as a rollout of the new feature on the

AUG webpage for trace analysis. These

sessions are a result of

feedback from the previous conference

so keep those ideas coming, the electronic

conference feedback survey after the con-

ference via survey monkey. Your feedback

and suggestions are the key to the success

of the conference. Karen Miller The AOV and MOV Users Group Coordinator, at the registration desk

Your Participation Makes The Conference

NRC PERSPECTIVE

Regulatory and Oversight News P A G E 2 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

The 2009 AUG included a presentation from Gary Peet (INPO); Review of

AOV Events for 2000 – 2008. The full report is available on the AUG Web-

site. This year’s conference will offer several opportunities to discuss this

report as well as the additional findings INPO has made and their recommen-

dations. Attending from INPO this year are David Berko and Dennis Adams.

Both men are presenting Wednesday afternoon as well as attending the New

Attendees lunch and Orientation. Their presentation this year, Balance-of-

Plant AOVs Impact on Forced Loss Rate, continues to focus on the past two

year’s industry data pertaining to critical and non critical AOV failures impact-

ing MWh lost. They will also be presenting information on an industry wide

survey INPO has developed to gather information that will benefit the indus-

try as we strive to improve AOV performance and reliability.

David Berko

Mgr. Equipment

Reliability/Materials

Dennis Adams

Sr Evaluator Equipment

Reliability/Materials

16

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

AOV MOV Mechanical Hydraulic

(HOV)

Solenoid (SOV) None Manual Other Piston

Total MWh Lost from Valves, All Components (Critical and Non-Critical)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

AOV Hydraulic (HOV) None

PWR Scrams by Valve Type

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

PWR Critical Valve Failures

10

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Critical Component Failures

02468

10121416

Scrams Caused by Critical Component

Failures

01,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,0009,000,000

MWh Lost by Critical Component Failure

Critical Component Failures from 1/1/2007 to 6/30/2009

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

BWR Critical Valve Failures

0

1

2

3

AOV Hydraulic

(HOV)

MOV Mechanical Other

BWR Scrams by Valve Type

Absent the past couple of years at the AUG has been an NRC

presentation on the regulatory outlook for valves and specifi-

cally AOV issues. We are grateful Russ Lake from the NRC

will be presenting Wednesday afternoon with time allotted

for questions and answers.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

Inman Lanier , AUG Vice Chairman at the 2009 New

Attendees Breakfast. Also shown are Bill Bowyer,

Southern Co.; JR Price, South Texas; Andrew

Peterson, San Ofre; and Andy Kuklis, PP&L

This years luncheon will be starting at 11:30 on

Wednesday in Conference Room 11. This luncheon is

hosted by the AUG for the purpose of introducing new

attendees to some of the veterans as well as key indus-

try representatives. This is a perfect start to not only

figuring out what is going on for the week, but to begin

networking with colleagues. Chances are those issues

you are struggling with, someone else has already con-

quered. Even more likely there are people that have the

same issue and are able to share lessons learned. The

AUG attendees include engineers, maintenance techni-

cians, trainers, planners, and vendors supporting all as-

pects of AOVs from both US and foreign plants.

New AUG Attendees Lunch & Orientation

The AOV Users Group hosts a variety of industry groups. They

include the CANUG (Compressed Air Nuclear Users Group),

the FLMUG (Fluid Leak Management Users Group), the Viper

Users Group, the FlowScanner Users Group, the UltraCheck-A

Users Group, the KVAP Users Group, and the Teledyne Users

Group. All of these groups are addressing issues that directly

impact the health and capability of AOVs. These meetings are

the customers’ (YOUR) opportunity to provide feedback and

suggestions on the products as well as information on current

and future efforts. The AOV Users Group meetings are

Wednesday morning, see the AUG agenda for specific locations.

The FLMUG is also at the Marriott Rivercenter hotel and is

January 11-13. Presentations include Ft Calhoun Plant Leak

Reduction Program, Control Valve Packing OE and Improve-

ments & INPO Forced Loss Rate Improvement Plan, and FLM

and Packing Program Assessment Guide Review and Instruc-

tions. This years CANUG, also here at the Rivercenter hotel is

an all week event. Starting Monday are training presentations

that include Fundamentals of Compressed Air, Principles of Air

Compressors, and Preventive Dryer Maintenance. Wednesday

starts the industry presentations and roundtable discussion.

2009 FLMUG Presentations

What Else AOV is Going On This Week

Crane/Viper Users Group

P A G E 4 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

This is the link to past conferences presentations, attendees list, a technical blog,

and other AOV related documents of interest. This site also includes links to

Highlighting this years AUG conference:

• Actuator Overhaul Sessions on four of the most commonly installed manu-

facturer/models • Breakout sessions on Tubing & Fittings Best Practices and innovations • Breakout Sessions on Trace Analysis, Maintenance Techniques, Equipment Reliability, & Obsolescence • Review of Industry OE • Updates from NRC, INPO, & EPRI • Vendor Expo & Networking • KVAP Users Group Session

Look for all the 2010 presentations on the AUG Web Page

COMING SOON - AOV DIAGNOSTIC TRACE WEBSITE The steering committee embarked on building a website for users to share and

search AOV diagnostic traces. Traces and key parameters will be entered into a

database to enable searching and review by others for similarity at their sta-

tions. After difficulty securing a programmer to work within our budget con-

straints, we think we've found a success path and hope to finalize the feasibility

and scope in the near term. By mid-year we hope to send an email to selected re-

cipients to help pilot the website. For more information contact Bill Bowyer or

Inman Lanier.

AUG Participation from Spanish Utility

Dr. Kalsi,

long-time

AUG

Supporter

and

Presenter

Retired PSEG

Valve Engineer

Chris Zeher

enjoys the

consulting life

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3 From the Archives: COMANCHE

PEAK CYCLE

ISOLATION

LOSS

RECOVERY

January 2004 Significant losses were recovered from leaking cycle isolation

valves and steam traps at Comanche Peak. In 2001 Unit 1 output increased by

2.8 MW and Unit 2 output increased by 1.6 MW. This paper discusses how

those leakers were identified, how they were put in priority order for repair, how

common root causes were identified, how repairs were made, and how the re-

covery was measured. (See the 2006 Archives for Best Practices from USA

STARS AOV Assessments)

AOV Working Groups & Self-Assessments, January 2003

Looking for specialized AOV Training opportunities, Assessment or

benchmarking support? Start Here

From the 2005 AUG—Update on MSIV Strain Gage Diagnostic

Testing at Exelon. With the capability of monitoring actuator total

output, main spring force, packing load, backseating force, etc.

you can eliminate an as left LLRT following AO maintenance,

justify continued performance without disassembly, and detect

degradation.

OUTAGE

PERFORMANCE

BASED INCEN-

TIVE PROGRAM

Breakout Session Product from AUG Summer Conference

2005—Examples and suggestions for developing a mutually

agreeable incentive/penalty program

Available Pressure Margin Verification Method, January

2007, Software solution to keep DBR revisions up to date with

test data. This also allows the margin verification to be separated

for the AOV Setup. Detailed actuator capability calculation not

required, this allows the method to be easily be applied to Cat 2

Outage Lessons

Learned

The Importance of Proper Planning and the Integrated Valve

Team, January 2007 An excellent source for outage best prac-

tices including suggested staffing requirements, Roles, Responsi-

bilities, and Expectations, Preoutage activities, Package Prepara-

tion, and Turnovers, Prejob Briefs, and Hand Offs.

Task Proficiency Evaluation

AUG MUGJanuary 6 – 8, 2009

Don CullersTask Proficiency Evaluation Program Manager

dcullers@contractor.epri.com

712.730.0353

FROM

THE

2009

ARCHIVES

AOV PM Templates

Comparison

Future Direction

AOV User’s Group Meeting

Orlando, Florida

January 7-9, 2009

Kenneth Hart

PPL Susquehanna

McGuire Feed Reg Valve Digital Positioner

Experiences (Update)

2009 AOV User Group MeetingLake Buena Vista, Florida

January 7, 2009

Fred Setzer - Duke Energy

Jeff Klatt-R.E. - Mason Company

P A G E 6 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

The support we have received over the years from all of our

vendors has been nothing short of excellent. The new

products available for demonstration, product information,

and their active solicitation for our comments and sugges-

tions have grown each year. This year we have the largest

contingency of AOV vendors in the AUG history. Don't be

shy; be sure to let them know what is working for you at

your plant and what you would like to see in the future.

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

Included in this weeks agenda is the ASME OM Code AOV Subgroup up-

date. Currently, the subgroup is working on a proposed revision to the OM Code

to move from our current stroke time testing requirements to incorporating diag-

nostic testing elements into the code in a future code revision. Presentation

Wednesday for more information.

This one

week of

networking

builds

contacts

for life

Update From the ASME OM Code AOV Subgroup

The success of the AUG truly does rely on you. Your candid

response on the post outage surveys sets the focus for the next

years meeting. Year after year our best presenters are our in-

dustry peers who are willing to share lessons learned and

their own successes. Please contact Karen Miller or any of

the steering committee members is you have a best practice or

station OE you would share at the 2011 conference.

P A G E 8 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

The AUG Steering Committee Would Like to Thank All

of Our Exhibitors for Their Continued Support

A.W. Chesterton AP Services AREVA ASCO Valve CCI Valves

Conval, Inc Crane Nuclear Critical Path

Resources Curtiss Wright

Dupill Group, Inc.

DZ Atlantic EFCO USA EGC Enterprises Emerson Enertech

Flexitallic Flowserve Henry Pratt Kalsi

Engineering Kinectrics

Leak Detection Services

Nippon Pillar Nuclear Logistics

Inc. Parker Hannifin

R.A. Hiller

Company

Rorex

Automation Score Group

SPX -Copes

Vulcan Swagelok

Systems

Technology Inc

Team Industrial Services Inc

Teledyne

Instruments Valcor Nuclear Valve World

Valvtechnolo-gies, Inc

Velan Valves Ventil Test Equipment

W. L. Gore & Associates,

Inc Weir Valves

Wright

Technical Wyle Labs