Photo By Branden Bourque | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, Jan. 31, 2025: Shipyard Workers of Shop 31...... read more read more
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard developed the capability to restore pressurization and vent valves with a massive cross-collaboration effort, achieving a significant time and cost savings. This concerted effort shows how PNSY is driving innovation with the mission of returning the battle-ready assets back into the fleet mission-ready, on time and on-budget.
“This was a collaborative effort involving many different shops and codes, and it is incredibly rewarding to be part of this successful project because it directly impacts many current and future availabilities both here at PNSY and at other public shipyards,” said Mechanical Engineer Trevor Mutch from Engineering and Planning.
“Historically, these valves were restored by the original equipment manufacturer. This new process is a big win for the enterprise because it significantly reduces the total time and cost of valve restoration when compared to the original equipment manufacturer performing this work,” said Mutch.
According to Mutch, the pressurization and vent valves play an integral role in ballast operations. Having to rely heavily on outside vendors was causing wait times of 18 months or more to restore these valves and millions of dollars in spending. The team got to work on finding a way to devise their own process for restoring these valves. Once the process was proven to restore the system from defunct to excellent condition, the process was presented for approval to execute.
The initiative was started by Innovation Program Facilitator Kostantine Karahalios, who connected various departments to move this process into the production phase. “Contributing to this collaborative effort was Mechanical Engineering; Contracting Division; Maintenance and Tool Control; Inside Machine Shop; Electrical Shop; Calibration Shop; Pipe Shop; Production Engineering; Temporary Services; SUBMEPP, and USS North Dakota (SSN 784) Project Team,” said Karahalios. “Without the collaboration of all these codes and shops, this initiative would not have been successful. PNSY is becoming the depot for all other public shipyards that need this type of work. The long-term goal is for all four public shipyards to learn from PNSY and gain this same capability locally.”
Inside Machine Shop Air Room Machinist Supervisor Scott McCrossin and his team have already completed restoration of pressurization valves offloaded from North Dakota and USS Illinois (SSN 786). For Fiscal Year 2025, PNSY is already lined-up to restore pressurization valves for Naval Supply which will support availabilities here at PNSY and at the other public shipyards.
“My team is responsible for thoroughly disassembling, cleaning, repairing testing, and certifying these assets to ensure they are mission-ready to return to the fleet in optimal condition. We have become the go-to resource for all public shipyards requiring this support," said McCrossin. "To date, we’ve successfully supported three major availabilities, with plans to expand our involvement in additional projects throughout this fiscal year.”
What is most notable is the massive time and cost savings this capability allows. The team can complete work in one to two weeks, a fraction of the time and cost it would take to outsource.
From start to finish, the team can completely restore an asset from “F” unserviceable condition to “A” serviceable condition in approximately two weeks or less.
With its potential for time and cost saving, this initiative is in direct support of NAVSEA's lines of effort related to driving innovation and generating readiness. Bravo Zulu to all who have played a role in this win!
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.07.2025 10:45 |
| Story ID: | 492123 |
| Location: | KITTERY, MAINE, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Vent Valves Adds Depth To Surge Readiness, by Alana Demo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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