Blogs and News

Sizing a Control Valve to IEC 60534 in CONVAL, Start to Finish

TL;DR: Sizing a control valve in CONVAL 12 follows the order of the module's own navigation: define the medium and its state, enter the operating point, let CONVAL fill in the fluid properties, describe the pipeline either side of the valve, then configure the valve and read the result. The software applies IEC 60534 for you and reports what matters in the Overview pane: the flow state, the flow type, the required Kv, the stroke position, the predicted sound pressure level and the reliability index. You size to the duty; CONVAL tells you whether that duty is survivable.

Dissolved Oxygen Measurement in University Research Laboratories

University and research-institute laboratories sit at an awkward point for instrumentation. The science demands precision and traceable data; the budgets, sample sizes and timescales are nothing like a production plant. Dissolved oxygen comes up constantly in research settings, from cell culture and fermentation to environmental water work, and getting it right at bench scale has its own particular challenges that are quite different from anything a process engineer would recognise.

At DP-Flow we work with both research groups and the process teams they eventually supply data to. That dual perspective has shaped how we think about DO measurement in the lab, and it is worth setting out where the real difficulties lie, and what the instrumentation choices look like when you are trying to produce results that will stand up in a paper or a regulatory dossier.

When a Vendor's Own Software Says 'Pass' and CONVAL Says 'Retire

TL;DR: Yes, two valve-sizing tools can produce different verdicts on the same valve in the same duty. Vendor sizing software is typically designed to select and size valves from that manufacturer's own catalogue; it is commercially incentivised to return a "pass" for whatever it has to sell. An independent tool such as CONVAL 12 by F.I.R.S.T. GmbH applies the same calculation methodology regardless of who made the valve: IEC 60534-2-1 for flow capacity, IEC 60534-8-3 and 8-4 for noise, ISA-RP75.23 and the CONVAL Reliability Index for cavitation and choked-flow prediction. When a vendor tool and an independent tool disagree, the burden of investigation sits with the vendor, not with the engineer who ran the independent check.

One Transmitter, Many Measurements: The Protos II 4400 Modular Platform

Most transmitters do one job. They measure one parameter, report it to a DCS or PLC, and that is the end of the conversation. If the process changes, or compliance requirements grow, or you want to add a second parameter to the same location, you buy another transmitter. The loop gets more complex, the cabinet gets busier, and the wiring cost climbs quietly in the background.

The Knick Protos II 4400 is built on a different premise. It is a modular, 4-wire platform that you configure for the measurements and connectivity your process actually needs, then extend with software as requirements grow. At DP-Flow we have specified it at the centre of pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen loops across a range of regulated and industrial environments, and it is worth understanding why the modular concept matters before committing to a transmitter architecture.

Fit-for-purpose control valves: lessons from a petrochemical audit

TL;DR: A control valve that "passes" a vendor's own sizing software may still be wrong for the application. Industry experience from petrochemical projects shows that a meaningful proportion of control valves in any given package are not genuinely fit for purpose, and that the problems only surface during commissioning - when fixing them is most expensive. An independent, multi-criteria sizing tool used systematically at the engineering stage catches these mismatches early. CONVAL 12, developed by F.I.R.S.T. GmbH, applies exactly this kind of structured, vendor-neutral analysis. This post explains why fitness-for-purpose audits matter and how calculation tools that are independent of any valve manufacturer support them.

Running cCare From the Control Room: Remote Control via the Profinet Module

Automating sensor cleaning and calibration at the measuring point removes a significant manual burden. But the next step is equally valuable: operating that automation from where your operators already sit. If your team is managing a process from a control room, asking them to walk to the line to trigger a clean or check a calibration status is a step backwards, even if the cCare system handles the work once they get there.

With the ProfiNET communication module fitted to the Protos II 4400 multiparameter transmitter, remote control of cCare becomes part of your normal control-system workflow. Cleaning and calibration programs are triggered from the DCS or SCADA, execution steps are visible in real time, and every action lands in the audit trail without anyone leaving the control room.

CONVAL 12 Editions Explained: I+C, Plant Engineering, and Full

TL;DR: CONVAL 12 is available in three editions. The I+C Edition suits instrumentation and control engineers who size control valves, orifice plates, thermowells, and associated instruments. The Plant Engineering Edition is aimed at mechanical and process plant engineers working on piping systems, heat exchangers, and pressure relief sizing. The Full Edition combines both, making it the right choice wherever a team crosses both disciplines or individual engineers carry responsibilities across instrumentation and plant design. All three editions include the Thermodynamics Package TDP and the same fluid property and material databases. The editions do not build on one another sequentially; the I+C and Plant Engineering editions address different engineering roles, while the Full Edition is their union.

CONVAL vs Fisher Specification Manager vs SAMSON: When Each Earns Its Keep

TL;DR: Control valve sizing tools fall into two camps. A manufacturer's own tool, such as Emerson's Fisher Specification Manager or SAMSON's c-SAM, sizes and specifies that manufacturer's valves and nothing else. CONVAL 12 from F.I.R.S.T. GmbH is vendor-neutral by design: it sizes any manufacturer's valve, extends across orifice plates, thermowells, relief valves and more in the same licence, and keeps every calculation traceable to a named published standard. If your job is to specify the right valve rather than to configure a valve already chosen from one brand, the vendor-neutral tool is the one that protects the integrity of your work.

What CONVAL Actually Is (and What It Isn't)

TL;DR: If you searched for "CONVAL" and landed on a page about globe valves made in Connecticut, you found the wrong company. CONVAL (written in capitals, with a registered trademark: CONVAL®) is calculation and sizing software for process and instrumentation engineers, developed by F.I.R.S.T. GmbH in Wermelskirchen, Germany. It sizes and verifies control valves, orifice plates, thermowells, pressure relief valves, and a wide range of other plant components against published international standards. It is not a valve brand; it is the software engineers use to specify, size, and evaluate valves and instruments from any manufacturer.

How the cCare System Improves Productivity, Margin and Efficiency

Ask any plant that runs analytical measurement where the hidden costs sit, and calibration is rarely the first answer. It should be closer to the top. Every manual calibration is a person, a walk to the measuring point, a set of buffers, and a window where the loop is effectively offline or running on an ageing calibration. Multiply that across every pH and conductivity point in a plant, across a year, and it adds up to real money and real risk, well before you count the errors that creep in along the way.

Knick's cCare system removes that trip entirely. It cleans, rinses and calibrates the sensor in place, on a schedule you set, with nobody standing at the line. At DP-Flow we have watched this change how a measuring point is run, so it is worth setting out exactly where the gains come from.