π " Three Times Better (Engineer) "
The 3 Things You will learn today are as follows.
β’ One Engineering Learning : How a Engineer lost his JOB due to a Engineering Mistake (Or call it Arrogance).
β’ One Engineering Standard : Control Valve Sizing Standards
β’ One Career Tip from Top Professionals : Elon Musk's BIGGEST mistake to under-rate HUMANS.
Before we start.
Quick Announcement.
Control Valve Sizing is COMPLEX.
Multiple things to take care.
And Hence, I am making a Guide for the ACV 2025 Batch.
Called Engineer's Guide to Control Valve Sizing
If you will like to receive the Guide.
Reply : " Control Valve Sizing Guide"
And I will email it to you.
#1 -Engineering Learning
Valve Sizing Mistake cost him his Job.
Let me share a painful story.
It cost a company millions.
And it cost an engineer his job.
The Missing Datasheet valve.
Let's call this engineer "Mark".
He is the sole earner.
He just bought a new house on EMI.
Assuming his new Job will be forever,
Unaware what will happen to him after a year.
He was sizing a critical control valve.
I must credit.
He nailed the Cv calculations.
But the checker flagged a missing value.
β Shut-off Pressure.
Mark brushed it off confidently.
"Shut-off is for On-Off valves," he said.
"Control valves are always in motion."
He relied on a quick Google search.
What happened at site.
Months later,
The plant was commissioned.
The valve sat at the pump discharge.
Everything worked (How Come)
During the dry loop test.
Everything stroked beautifully.
So they assumed the start-up will go as planned.
Unaware that the mistake will come to bite them later.
Plant Start-up Issue.
But then, the pump was started.
And, If you know the pump curve?
At No-Flow condition, head is maximum.
The shut-off pressure was 80 Bar.
Normal operating pressure rage was only around 20 Bar.
Here's what happened.
- The DCS commanded the valve to open.
- But the valve didn't even move.
- It was completely frozen shut.
Engineering Reason (Behind it)
Why did the valve fail?
Mark sized the valve for 20 Bar.
The CV was correct for normal DP conditions.
But he forgot the Actuator Sizing.
The actuator provides the mechanical thrust.
It must overcome the differential pressure.
At startup, the DP was 80 Bar.
The actuator simply lacked the muscle.
It could not overcome the massive seat load.
The $100,000 Per Day Lesson
You cannot just swap actuators easily.
It requires re-engineering and time.
The delay lasted for weeks.
Site contractors sat completely idle.
The cost was $100,000+ per day.
Mark was unfortunately let go.
Mistakes happen to all of us.
What I would like you to take away from our todayβs lesson
Is that taking decision based on Half-baked google search is not a right approach.
Quick Lesson for today.
β’ Always calculate the max shut-off DP (Even for Control Valves).
β’ Size your actuator for the worst case.
Will You Forgive Yourself.
This was an expensive financial lesson.
But imagine the alternative.
Imagine if safety was compromised.
Imagine someone not going home to his/her family because of you or me.
I will never be able to forgive myself.
To play my part.
I am making "Engineers Guide to Control Valve Sizing"
If you would like to receive it.
Then just reply βControl Valve Sizing Guideβ.
And I will email it to you (For Free).
#2- Engineering Standard
π let us Geek Out.
And see the most important standards for control valve sizing.
The ISA (International Society of Automation) Standards
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.01.01: Flow Equations for Sizing.
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.02.01: Capacity Test Procedures.
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.05.01: Control Valve Terminology.
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.07: Laboratory Measurement of Aerodynamic Noise.
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.08: Face-to-Face Dimensions (Flanged, Welded, Threaded).
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.11.01: Inherent Flow Characteristic and Rangeability.
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.17: Aerodynamic Noise Prediction.
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.19.01: Hydrostatic Testing of Control Valves.
β’ ANSI/ISA-75.25.01: Valve Response Measurement.
β’ ISA-RP75.23: Evaluating Control Valve Cavitation.
The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 60534 Series
β’ IEC 60534-1: Terminology and general considerations.
β’ IEC 60534-2-1: Sizing equations for fluid flow.
β’ IEC 60534-2-3: Flow capacity test procedures.
β’ IEC 60534-2-4: Flow characteristics and rangeability.
β’ IEC 60534-3-1: Face-to-face dimensions for standard bodies.
β’ IEC 60534-4: Inspection and routine testing rules.
β’ IEC 60534-5: Valve marking and nameplate requirements.
β’ IEC 60534-7: Standardized control valve data sheets.
β’ IEC 60534-8-3: Aerodynamic noise prediction method.
β’ IEC 60534-8-4: Hydrodynamic flow noise prediction method.
Other Critical Global Standards
β’ ANSI/FCI 70-2: Control Valve Seat Leakage classifications.
β’ API RP 553: Refinery Valves for Control Systems.
β’ ASME B16.34: ValvesβFlanged, Threaded, and Welding End.
Want to be a Control Valve Subject Matter Expert in your company.
Hop on the Waitlist of ACV 2026 here.β
#3 -Career Tip
When Elon Musk Made a Mistake (But Accepted It Later)
Elon Musk loved complete automation.
He wanted a factory of robots.
No humans. Just machines working.
But then reality hit hard.
The Production Nightmare
It was the Tesla production nightmare.
He promised 5,000 cars per week.
It seemed like an impossible target.
So, he hunted for the bottleneck.
He wanted to find and kill it.
The final result shocked everyone.
The problem was not humans.
The problem was the robots.
The Big "X" Mission
Take a simple task like applying glue.
A human could do it way faster.
Robots were overcomplicating simple steps.
So Elon went on a mission.
He walked the factory floor.
He looked at a robot and asked:
"Can a human do this faster?"
If the answer was yes?
He painted a big "X" on it.
The robot was sent to the trash.
Elon Accepts His Mistake.
He sent an email to the company.
He admitted a very hard truth.
"Over-automation was a mistake."
"To be precise, my mistake."
He realized humans are underrated.
The Engineering Lesson
Here is what we learn from this.
It applies directly to engineering software.
It applies to how we use A.I.
We absolutely must use these tools.
But the human element is vital.
Software can calculate the final numbers.
But you must know why it works.
You must understand the raw physics.
Would you want to Jump-In ?
This is the core of ACV.
We learn valve sizing in complete depth.
We use the First Principles technique.
(This is Elon Musk's favorite method).
Over 1,000+ engineers are already excited.
ACV 2026 officially launches on June 1, 2026.
Hop on the Waitlist of ACV 2026 here.β
How was today's learning
Highly Valuable : Reply 1
Somewhat Valuable : Reply 2
Needs Improvement : Reply 3
I see each feedback reply as a gift.
Until next week,
Happy Learning & Keep Smiling.
Asad Shaikh
Your Instrumentation Friend!! π
See you next week!
β