Colin Bridges

DUBAI, UAE, 07 October 2019: Information is vital to accelerate adoption of innovative technologies, said Colin Bridges, Business Development Manager, Belimo, who pointed out that manufacturers have a responsibility to explain their products to stakeholders and be a catalyst for change within the industry.

Providing an example, Bridges shared that he still recalls the time, around 20-30 years ago, when ball valves were first introduced that there was great reluctance among stakeholders to move away from gate valves. “Even though it was clear that ball valves were superior in the way they isolated and held pressure, it took an enormous amount of time for people to change,” he said. “I believe it is because the education process is required to bring about the change, and we are working on persuading people that there are better ways to control systems other than conventional globe valves, which have been a common method of control for maybe the last hundred years. Belimo has innovated and adapted its ball valve technology, and there is a good reason for that. It is important to explain what that reason is, and to give people a choice. They don’t need to do what they did last time; they can do something better, but in order to do something better they should have the information that gives them the confidence to do that. That’s about changing hearts and minds through an educative process.”

Bridges also highlighted the growing importance of data moving forward, sharing insights from Belimo’s energy valves, which is leveraging data in a proactive manner. “It is not just about gathering data for the sake of it, it’s about having a device that can react to that information in a way that is beneficial to the system.” Belimo, he said, had done so in two distinct ways. One is through measuring, reacting and controlling water. “That autonomous technology can make a comparative analysis on board the valve itself in a smart way,” he said. “So, it controls the flow very accurately. We also have similar initiative inside the device, which enables us to control the Delta T, which is a key performance indicator of the health of the circuit.” Bridges pointed out that having these two elements active 24/7, harvesting data, then, acting upon the data that is received and then storing the data, which can then be reviewed to be later used for analysis and to identify trends, would greatly contribute to the overall efficiency of the system and a reduction of long-term operating cost.