Anti friction treatment(AFT) in Plug Valve

[quiinces]

AFT Plug Valve

What is the reason behind Anti friction treatment(AFT) of Plug for lubricated plug valve?
does it have any relation with lubrication of plug? Further the Plug is already specified with hardfacing

 

[gerhardl]

Out of curiosity I checked the internet and found at one of the more known suppliers following:

'Super-LoMu Treatment Super LoMu is our proprietary PTFE based anti-friction treatment . All TIPV plugs and stems are Super Lomu treated to ensure our valves have the lowest possible torques over the longest possible lifetime . Super LoMu is a treatment of the metal surface that reduces coefficient of friction while maintaining a true metal-to-metal contact, and we can apply it to every material combination .'

Competing suppliers might have other brand names for AFT- but the reason is as simple as one might think.