“You’re Going to The Moon” should now be quoted as “You’re Going to Mars.” From the 1990s downturn in the aerospace industry to today’s exponential growth, the demand for precision flow control and flow measurement has continued to follow the same growth trajectory. The focus of Alloy Valves and Control (AVCO) has been on the need to fulfill the requirements of research and development for rocket engine design, test stands, rocket propellant and life support systems for space travel in both unmanned and manned space vehicles.
AVCO valves are designed to meet or exceed industry standards. The standards include but are not limited to American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society for Testing and Material and Fluid Control Institute. Valves are devices that control the flow of liquids or gases. The control of the media is to start/stop the flow or control the flow rate of media. In the environment of space, valves must seal the media externally and internally at high pressure, vacuum pressure, cryogenic temperatures and high temperatures. AVCO accomplishes this task by employing fundamental engineering concepts. These concepts are concentricity, perpendicularity, parallelism, symmetry and tangential contact. Having design concepts in place and the ability to deliver products in a timely manner will work to land mankind on Mars.
Alloy Valves and Control’s flagship valve is the ball valve. In simple terms, a ball valve is a sphere in a cylinder. Ball valves are also known as quarter-turn valves, on/off valves, flow control valves, servo valves and diverter valves, just to name a few. With our tagline "Engineered for Engineers" in mind, our team listens to our clients' requirements and collaborates with our engineering staff to craft customized ball valves that precisely fulfill customer needs. The applications could entail rocket engine fuel valves or life support system valves with various media. Examples include LOX, GOX, LN2, GN2 and H2 from vacuum to 400 bar. Our ability to transverse space to Mars becomes a reality when we provide the best engineered product. AVCO delivers products in a timely manner by employing the concept of utilizing interchangeable parts to build control valves like building a LEGO® set. Our on-time delivery for all AVCO products is over 92%, and we are constantly working to achieve even better results. We accomplish delivery goals by using AVCO-designed valve components across a wide range of our ball valve series. For example, the AVCO on/off valves (1100 Series) share the same components as a LOX valve (1500 Series), a servo valve (1700 Series) or a throttling control valve (1900 Series). Alloy Valves and Control builds valves to meet clients’ flow control requirements.
Take for example some recent application inquiries AVCO received and the solution offered:
Client Objective: design servo diverter valve with Cv over 35, maximum temperature 120 ºF, pressure from 100 psi to 1 Torr, total weight at 5.50 pounds, minimum envelope space, end connection SAE AS-1656, power consumption 24VDC at 1.6 amp.
AVCO Solution: 1-1/2” 1700 series valve, 6051 Aluminum body and ends, 316SS ball and stem, TFM 1600 seats, mounted with closed coupled with motor operator. Product shipped in six weeks.
Client Objective: design flow control fuel valve with Cv range from 1 to 15, media RP-1, LOX.
AVCO Solution: ¾” AVCO 1900 series valve, 316SS body, ends, stem and 316SS 90 degree vee ball, PTFE seats. Product shipped in two weeks.
The commonality between the two sets of valves listed above is that many of the components are commercially off-the-shelf items. These components include valve bodies, ball, stems, valve seats, valve body seals and stem packing. Our ability to have valve parts readily available, whether a full port ball or a vee ported ball, fluoropolymer valve seats to thermoplastic seats, allows AVCO to configure a valve for various applications.
To land and establish living modules on Mars by 2029 and beyond will require suppliers to adapt and overcome the logistic and various environmental conditions to transport and support astronauts in space, on the moon and Mars. AVCO has been, and will continue, to forge a path forward to meet the challenges brought to our company. By adhering to our belief that “Not all ball valves are created equal,” AVCO will meet the flow control needs of the aerospace industry by delivering, in a timely manner, equipment to establishing a living facility on Mars.www.avcovalve.com.
Image: Launcher space test with AVCO valves. Credit: Andre at Launcher Space
Image 2: NASA Morpheus lander using AVCO Valves. Credit: NASA
