Parker Instrumentation has unveiled a comprehensive range of high-integrity manifolds, designed to meet the growing demand for new levels of safety and performance for instrumentation systems used in oil, gas, chemical and other process plants.

The range integrates product portfolios and intellectual property from Parker and leading manifold designer Ives Valves, acquired by Parker in 2001, and reflects a multi-million euro investment in machine tools and product development.

"The new manifold range offers solutions for every major industrial process instrumentation application. It incorporates unique options, purpose-engineered to help engineers meet the demand for ever-higher integrity instrumentation systems," said Parker Instrum-entation in a statement. It listed the key options as the ability to dramatically reduce the number of potential leak paths and eliminate any need for sealants when making connections.

"We're focused on providing a total supply capability to deliver tangible new performance and reliability benefits to instrumentation designers and users," says Mal Chapman, manifold product manager of Parker Instrumentation.

At the core of the new range are around 50 types of manifold, including a variety of 2-, 3- and 5-valve manifolds for pressure and flow transmitters, double-block-and-bleed assemblies and monoflanges, manifolds for Rosemount's 3051 'coplanar' transmitters, miniaturised manifolds, distribution manifolds - plus discrete valves and accessories. Numerous application-specific manifold designs are also available for major oil and gas companies and instrument OEMs.

The all-important high-integrity options include two unique developments for advancing manifold safety and reliability. The first is an ability to specify manifolds with integral pre-assembled connections for compression tube fittings. Known as PTFree Connect, this innovation eliminates taper thread interconnections, and with it any need for PTFE tape or anaerobic sealant - a major cause of problems in the field.

The second is manifold designs with integral weld-necked flanges. This allows double-block-and-bleed valve arrangements to be fabricated in a single piece, reducing the number of connection interfaces - each one a potential leak path - from as many as 10 in traditional double-block-and-bleed implementations, to just one. The technology additionally reduces the size and weight of the assemblies by 75 per cent or more, providing further important benefits for application areas such as offshore platforms.

The new portfolio is backed by a design centre and fast-response manufacturing operation at Parker Instrumentation's European headquarters in Barnstaple, UK, plus over 100 stocking centres and service facilities worldwide. A key facet of the operation is a computer-controlled ordering system, which gives users enormous flexibility over manifold specifications. From the 50 or so basic manifold selections, users can specify several thousand different parts through processing options such as graphite packing for high temperature performance, Nace, safety protection mechanisms, soft seating for gaseous media and cleaning for oxygen service, to choice of construction material from the standard stainless steel, to materials for aggressive and corrosion applications such as monel, hastelloy, titanium and duplex. The in-house design team will additionally create completely application-specific solutions for projects, on request.

"The instrumentation support industry is consolidating. The emerging winners are elite organisations that can offer turnkey packages, with complementary engineering support that actively helps clients to meet demanding project goals ranging from performance advances to complete lifecycle support", adds Richard Roebuck, European marketing manager of Parker Instrumentation.

Parker Instrumentation provides tube fittings, valves, manifolds and enclosures for process and plant instrumentation in sectors including oil and gas, petrochemical/chemical, alternate fuels, pulp and paper, and analytical/high purity. The company has its European headquarters in Barnstaple (UK), and serves customers throughout Europe, the Middle East and the CIS.