Instruments valves and manifold history 1

[themad1]

Hello everybody!

We are currently writing some “white paper” regarding manifold and instrument valves and we are searching for information about their history, operation, final application etc.

Surfing on internet is very hard to find such information. No one has indication about how to choose an instrument manifold, why there are so many shapes, the meaning of a functional diagram instead of another etc.

Does anyone of you have information about history of the valves attached on pressure measurement instruments and the evolutionary process related on them?
For example the name of company and year they start to produce this solution, or what was the state of the art before manifolds coming.
Is there some literature about instrument valves, manifolds and/or pressure measurement systems?

Thank you in advance for you cooperation

Some link to the products....

http://www.multi-instruments.com/products/manifolds

https://www.swagelok.com/products/valves/manifolds.aspx

http://www.stewarts-group.com/valves-manifolds/needle-valves-and-manifolds/

http://samivalves.com/portfolio-item/needle-valves-and-manifolds/

Dan

 

[danw2]

ISA published Process Instrumentation Manifolds, their Selection & Use, by John E. Hewson in hard cover in the mid 1980's. It sells for less than $20 on used

book sites. A process company probably has a copy in the company library. I don't recall any history.

For an illustrated view of manifolding prior to process manifolds, check out the book Industrial Instruments and Control Piping for steamfitter pipefitter

first published in 1961 by the Nat'l Joint pipefitter apprenticeship committee. It covers pneumatic instrumentation because the 1961 era was pneumatic

instrumentation. Since it was 30 years between the original publication and the early era of the electronic pdf format it is unlikely that there is a pdf format,

uncles someone has scanned a copy and converted it.

Typical exemplar:

 

[themad1]

Very interesting!
Thank you for your kind answer.

D

 

[danw2]

I'm an old guy, but I'm too young to know the origins of process manifolds.

Liptak uses the term 'standard manifold' as shown below (Instrument Engineers Handbook, Vol 2):

I suspect the integral valving of current process manifolds took a big leap forward with the standardization of the 2 1/8" center-to-center process connection dimension for pneumatic DP transmitters (1940's? Liptak, pg 548, Transmitters - Pneumatic)

A patent application (URL below) describes the origin of the 2 1/8" dimension (as it relates to taps for an orifice plate for DP flow measurement) and it lists some prior art patents, which might shed some light on 3 or 5 valve manifolds used for DP flow. Good hunting.

Link