Online bidding
The contract was the result of online bidding. In the process of on-line bidding, selected bidders place their bid, through a secure internet connection, like an auction. On the internet the lowest bid is displayed to all bidder. Each time bidders can offer their lower bid. In the end Astava came out with the lowest price.

Close-Coupled
Astava supplies manifolds to NAM for many years to NAM's full satisfaction. The delivery package is now increased with the newly developed 'Close-coupled' technology. We speak already for many years about the 'Close-coupled' manifolds. With the close-coupled technology the mechanical isolation valve and the instrument manifold are combined in one forged block.

Now, it is no longer necessary to use a separate support for the instrument. This technology has been successfully tested at GLT and is the reason of a considerable cost saving (30% - 50%). The mature products of various suppliers were demonstrated on the NAM Control & Automation day on the 17th of January 2002.

Remote Mounted (new generation)
Also the existing manifolds have been changed. In the old situation the 'life test' connection was closed by a 'tubing cap'. Here a dangerous situation could occur, when the 'tubing cap' of the test connection is disconnected during normal process conditions and the full process pressure is released. With the new generation 'remote mounted' manifolds the 'vent/drain' connection is combined with the 'test' connection. The test/vent/drain connection is now isolated from the process by a double 'isolation valve'.

With the above manifold it is also possible now to apply a test pressure to both sides of the differential pressure transmitter, which was not possible in the past.

The NAM standard
NAM has standarised on four pressure classes, in accordance to NAM's Piping Classification - NSS 12-D-7-00, n.l.:
- ASME Class 600
- ASME Class 1500
- ASME Class 2500
- API 10,000

Also a split can be made between:
- Close-coupled manifolds
- Remote mounted manifolds

Depending on accessibility a choice can be made between both technologies above. When the pressure class API 10,000 is applicable, only 'remote mounted' can be selected. In the case of 'remote mounted' manifolds the Mechanical discipline will supply the 'isolation valve' with a 1/2-inch Female NPT connection. Control & Automation will supply the 1/2-inch Male connector to connect to the instrument impulse line. In case of Close-coupled the Control & Automation discipline will supply the whole.

High quality Astava manifolds
The Astava products are tested by NAM extensively, whereby tests are conducted on wear, leakage, materials, checks on forgings and 'fire resistance' tests. Astava has heated a manifold up to 800 oC during a period of several hours. After cooling down of the manifold, a leaktest has been performed and it was proven that the manifold still functions and no leakage was observed. Also no visible damage to the manifold could be detected. This is partly because of the choice of materials and the ceramic ball in the Astava manifolds.

This ceramic ball is 5 x harder than SS316, the manifold material. This ceramic material is shock resistant and functions very well at low and high temperatures, so that it is a perfect material for valve plugs. NAM is confident, by having selected Astava as a supplier, of getting a very good product out of the instrumentation market and it is now up to the user to start using this contract.