Mercer Valve Company was in attendance at the 2010 Pennsylvania Gas Expo. The expo was held July 14th, 2010 at the Mack Park Fairgrounds & Exposition Hall in Indiana, PA and hosted by eight radio stations. The expo has received excellent television and web coverage as well. It was a unanimous consensus that everyone there was in support of Marcellus shale drilling and all the technical help the project demands.  

 

  Performing Under Pressure

by Mary Savage

Published; Business in Calgary (June 2010) 

In 1985, Wes Taylor founded the Mercer Valve Company and 25 years later, they are leaders of industry when it comes to high performance relief valves. Their patented Auto Seat Technology® design has revolutionized pressure valve performance. As an engineer, Wes spent many years working with pneumatic controls and valves and he recognized the need for a more reliable and leak tight option. The market offered its share of soft-seat design valves, but nothing that compared to the durability and seal offered by Wes’s design. Although the soft-seat valve design has been around since the 1960s, Wes’s Auto Seat Technology® has repeatedly outperformed its closest competitor. His design allows the valve to ‘pop’ hundred to thousands of times while still being leak-proof and maintaining the set pressure.

During the design phase of the first product lines and true to any invention, it was a work in progress that was always close at hand with Wes whether he was on vacation or sitting at the drawing board. Ultimately, Wes named the company “Mercer” after the Wisconsin town where he spent many vacations.

The 8100 Series was the first line the company launched and Wes ran the business from his garage where he and his son, Dick, would work at night to refine the Auto Seat Technology® design. Once the design was ready for market, Wes aligned Mercer Valve with two sales reps: one from Houston and one from Oklahoma and they sold the valves with great success. Wes and the sales reps worked as a team and grew the business – one order at a time. The 8100 Series was very successful and they moved into an industrial park where they had a small bay and seven offices. The 8100 Series operation took over one bay, the machine shop was in another and as orders increased, they reinvested the profits and continued to grow the business.

In 1991, Mercer Valve launched a new line: the 9100 Industrial Series and it was designed to handle industrial gases and liquids, while incorporating the Auto Seat Technology®. This series introduced more options and included different soft seat and seal materials, threaded flanged connections and sizes that range from a ½ x 1 inch up to 4 x 6 inches. In 1995, the company expanded the 9100 Series line to include the ‘Model 20’ to offer customers a valve used for high-pressure service.

Later that same year, Mercer entered the pilot operated relief valve market with the 9500 Series. This series includes API orifice sizes that range from D – T as well as full bore orifices up to eight inches. The 9500 Series also includes both a snap action and modulating pilot. The modulating pilot is unlike any in the industry as it offers full modulations throughout the pressure range.

What makes Mercer’s valve unique is found in the design of the patent, “Some of these designs are 100 years old and the soft seat designs were introduced in the 1960s. Our valves are designed to function while retaining a bubble tight seal. The soft seat allows for a bubble tight seal, so they won’t leak. Our design is entirely different because of a vulcanizing process,” says Kirk Taylor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, US Operation.

During the late 1980s, while Wes was attending a trade show, he met a man named Keith Levoir and this proved to be a significant introduction as Keith went on to established Mercer Valve Canada, under the umbrella of the parent company. “Mercer Valve services the oil and natural gas industry and key regions such as Texas, Oklahoma, the Rockies and Alberta were recognized as areas of growth for the company. Keith and his team have been instrumental in introducing the Mercer Valve product lines into the Alberta and Canadian marketplace,” adds Kirk.

The Alberta operation is the exclusive distributor for Mercer Valve in Canada and in 2006, first international authorized Blue Tag Center was established. This designation allowed Mercer Valve Canada to assemble and service the valves, creating shorter lead times and making the operation more efficient overall. “We can assemble almost any configuration the client needs and this helps to keep us more adaptable in the market. It also helps to keep our inventory in-line while reducing lead times required,” remarks George Roach, Product Specialist, Mercer Valve Canada. “We’ve built our market share by customer service, adaptability and being able to provide a product that meets and exceeds customer requirements.”

Likewise, innovation is a key aspect at Mercer Valve and it’s this type of thinking that has helped to build loyalty among their clients. “We service a niche market and because we are smaller company, we can provide more personalized service. If a client has a special request, we’ll send it to the engineering department to see what solution they come up with,” asserts George. The company’s patented Auto Seat Technology® design illustrates their innovation and has placed them at the forefront in the relief valve industry. “We are an engineer driven company, but also a customer driven company. We have maintained our customer base with consistent, competitive pricing and lead times that are second to none,” remarks Kirk.

Mercer Valves are 100 percent American made and assembled, and their casting are all made domestically in North America – a dream that both Wes and Dick shared. Dick was very dedicated to his father and his vision, so when Wes passed away in 2005, Dick remained true to the “Made in America” vision. “When Wes passed away, we were still buying some castings from China. Those castings were a bit cheaper and today it’s harder to compete because domestic casting cost a little more, but we’ve been 100 percent American-made for the last four years,” adds Kirk.

Like any successful organization, you will find a group of individuals that are committed to producing the best possible product and the people behind the Mercer Valve name are no different. “We are a family-oriented company and many of the employees have been with Mercer for a long time – attributing to much of the companies success. We have a unique team of individuals who work together from engineering and manufacturing to sales and service,” adds Kirk. “When we find the right people, we tend to keep them for a long time!”

Mercer Valve looks to the future with optimism, particularly in the natural gas industry. In the past five years, multiple shale formations have been located within North America and people are recognizing that natural gas is a clean burning fuel that is a viable domestic alternative to foreign oil.

Richard Taylor, president of Oklahoma City-based Mercer Valve Co. Inc., was honored last month as American Solutions' 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year from Oklahoma. American Solutions is a citizen action network with more than 1.5 million members. Its general chairman is former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Taylor was recognized at a Sept. 23 awards dinner in Washington, D.C. His company engineers and manufacturers pressure relief valves used in the oil and gas industry.