Having a ball

Paris, the city that blends history and modernism like no other, is always worth a visit. Its district heating network, which also services famous landmarks such as the cathedral of Notre Dame or the Louvre museum, is the largest in France and the only one in Europe powered by steam. A chamber located near the Eiffel Tower now also houses a sealing technology-related sight: A KLINGER BALLOSTAR ball valve.

The Paris-based district heating grid operator serviced by the French KLINGER partner company KF Fluid is responsible for the 509 km network that heats about one third of all Parisian households as well as most of the city’s schools, museums, hotels and monuments. Its parameters, 235 °C, 20 bars of pressure and a steam velocity of at least 30 m/s, make it a very challenging network to operate. This is why the operator relies on valves from KLINGER Fluid Control to safely maintain the district heating supply. Following the decision to put the Eiffel Tower behind a glass wall, the Parisian district heating provider had to relocate its primary network: A corresponding chamber was erected on the Avenue de la Bourdonnais, which is just one street away from the city’s most recognizable landmark, for this purpose. And this is where the latest
KLINGER Fluid Control ball valve now resides, ready to complete its shutoff functions.

"Due to the high temperatures and steam velocities encountered in the Paris network, valves with double block and bleed isolation are a must to ensure the safety of the maintenance engineers."

Bertrand Ory, Managing Director of KF Fluid

Reliability across multiple decades

Asked about the profile of a shut-off valve typically utilized in these applications, Bertrand answers: “District operators look for a wide range of characteristics when procuring shutoff valves. They have to function bidirectionally with a direct flow and feature a robust, maintenance-free design. Furthermore, they have to be easy to operate and must remain perfectly tight on both sides when in the ‘closed’ position, i.e. across the entire service life of the pipe, which means 30 years or more.” In terms of valve models, KLINGER KVN piston valves as well as BALLOSTAR KHA SL and BALLOSTAR KHSVWI ball valves with up to DN 700 are used to achieve these demanding goals.

Specialization

KF Fluid, the French partner, has positioned itself as a specialist for double shutoff valves used in steam, superheated water and hot water applications. “Our success is based on two major factors: Focus and differentiation. We exclusively sell KLINGER Fluid Control and KLINGER Italy products for heat networks and the steam industry. Staying true to this mission and providing high-quality products manufactured by KLINGER, enables us to stand out among the competition. Thanks to the new BALLOSTAR KHA DBB, a double block and bleed variant of the highly successful KLINGER KHA ball valve, we now also see opportunities for branching out into other industry segments in the near future.”

Pictures: © Frédéric Ruffin