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Valveactuator
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Avalveactuatoristhemechanismforopeningand
closingavalve.Manuallyoperatedvalvesrequire
someoneinattendancetoadjustthemusingadirector
gearedmechanismattachedtothevalvestem.Power
operatedactuators,usinggaspressure,hydraulic
pressureorelectricity,allowavalvetobeadjusted
remotely,orallowrapidoperationoflargevalves.
Poweroperatedvalveactuatorsmaybethefinal
elementsofanautomaticcontrolloopwhich
automaticallyregulatessomeflow,levelorother
process.Actuatorsmaybeonlytoopenandclosethe
valve,ormayallowintermediatepositioningsome
valveactuatorsincludeswitchesorotherwaysto
remotelyindicatethepositionofthevalve.
Usedfortheautomationofindustrialvalves,actuators
canbefoundinallkindsofprocessplants.Theyare
usedinwastewatertreatmentplants,powerplants,
refineries,miningandnuclearprocesses,andpipelines.
Valveactuatorsplayamajorpartinautomatingprocess
control.Thevalvestobeautomatedvarybothindesign
anddimension.Thediametersofthevalvesrangefrom
afewinchestoafewfeet.

Electricactuator(bluecylinder)onavalveina
powerplant.Ablackhandwheelisvisibleonthe
actuator,whichallowsmanualpositioningofthe
valve.Thebluevalvebodyisvisibleinlinewith
thepipe.Thevalveactuatoropensorclosesthe
butterflydiscofthevalvebasedonelectricalsignals
senttotheactuator.Anothervalveactuatoris
visibleinthebackground,withwindowstoindicate
thevalveposition.

Contents
1 Types
1.1 Manual
1.2 Pneumatic
1.3 Hydraulic
1.4 Electric
1.5 Spring
2 Actuatormovement
3 Featuresofanelectricactuator
3.1 Motor(1)
3.2 Limitandtorquesensors(2)
3.3 Gearing(3)
3.4 Valveattachment(4)
3.5 Manualoperation(5)
3.6 Actuatorcontrols(6)
3.7 Electricalconnection(7)
3.8 Fieldbusconnection(8)
4 Functions
4.1 Automaticswitchingoffintheendpositions

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4.1 Automaticswitchingoffintheendpositions
4.2 Safetyfunctions
4.3 Processcontrolfunctions
4.4 Diagnosis
Dutytypes
5.1 Opencloseduty
5.2 Positioningduty
5.3 Modulatingduty
Serviceconditions
6.1 Enclosureprotection
6.2 Ambienttemperatures
6.3 Explosionprotection
Additionaluses
References

Types
Therearefourcommontypesofactuators:manual,pneumatic,hydraulic,andelectric.

Manual
Amanualactuatoremployslevers,gears,orwheelstomovethevalvestem.Manualactuatorsarepowered
byhand.Manualactuatorsareinexpensive,typicallyselfcontainedandeasytooperate.However,some
largevalvesareimpossibletooperatemanuallyandsomevalvesmaybelocatedinremote,toxicorhostile
environmentsthatpreventmanualoperations.Asasafetyfeature,certaintypesofsituationsmayrequire
quickeroperationthanmanualactuatorscanprovidetoclosethevalve.

Pneumatic
Air(orothergas)pressureisthepowersourceforpneumaticvalveactuators.Theyareusedonlinearor
quarterturnvalves.Airpressureactsonapistonorbellowsdiaphragmcreatinglinearforceonavalve
stem.Alternatively,aquarterturnvanetypeactuatorproducestorquetoproviderotarymotiontooperatea
quarterturnvalve.Apneumaticactuatormaybearrangedtobespringclosedorspringopened,withair
pressureovercomingthespringtoprovidemovement.A"doubleacting"actuatoruseairappliedto
differentinletstomovethevalveintheopeningorclosingdirection.Acentralcompressedairsystemcan
providetheclean,dry,compressedairneededforpneumaticactuators.Insometypes,forexample,
regulatorsforcompressedgas,thesupplypressureisprovidedfromtheprocessgasstreamandwastegas
eitherventedtoairordumpedintolowerpressureprocesspiping.

Hydraulic
Hydraulicactuatorsconvertfluidpressureintomotion.Similartopneumaticactuators,theyareusedon
linearorquarterturnvalves.Fluidpressureactingonapistonprovideslinearthrustforgateorglobe
valves.Aquarterturnactuatorproducestorquetoproviderotarymotiontooperateaquarterturnvalve.
Mosttypesofhydraulicactuatorscanbesuppliedwithfailsafefeaturestocloseoropenavalveunder

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emergencycircumstances.Hydraulicpressurecanbesuppliedbyaselfcontainedhydraulicpressurepump.
Insomeapplications,suchaswaterpumpingstations,theprocessfluidcanprovidehydraulicpressure,
althoughtheactuatorsmustusematerialscompatiblewiththefluid.

Electric
Theelectricactuatorusesanelectricmotortoprovidetorquetooperateavalve.Theyarequiet,nontoxic
andenergyefficient.However,electricitymustbeavailable,whichisnotalwaysthecase.

Spring
Springbasedactuatorsholdbackaspring.Onceanyanomalyisdetected,orpowerislost,thespringis
released,operatingthevalve.Theycanonlyoperateonce,withoutresetting,andsoareusedforoneuse
purposessuchasemergencies.Theyhavetheadvantagethattheydonotrequireapowerfulelectricsupply
tomovethevalve,sotheycanoperatefromrestrictedbatterypower,orautomaticallywhenallpowerhas
beenlost.

Actuatormovement
Alinearactuatoropensandclosesvalvesthatcanbeoperatedvia
linearforce,thetypesometimescalleda"risingstem"valve.These
typesofvalvesincludeglobevalves,risingstemballvalves,control
valvesandgatevalves.[1]Thetwomaintypesoflinearactuatorsare
diaphragmandpiston.
Diaphragmactuatorsaremadeoutofaroundpieceofrubberand
squeezedarounditsedgesbetweentwosideofacylinderor
chamberthatallowsairpressuretoentereithersidepushingthe
pieceofrubberonedirectionortheother.Arodisconnectedtothe
centerofthediaphragmsothatitmovesasthepressureisapplied.
Therodisthenconnectedtoavalvestemwhichallowsthevalveto
experiencethelinearmotiontherebyopeningorclosing.A
diaphragmactuatorisusefulifthesupplypressureismoderateand
thevalvetravelandthrustrequiredarelow.

GateValvewithHandwheel(L)and
withLinearPneumaticActuator(R)

Pistonactuatorsuseapistonwhichmovesalongthelengthofacylinder.Thepistonrodconveystheforce
onthepistontothevalvestem.Pistonactuatorsallowhigherpressures,longertravelranges,andhigher
thrustforcesthandiaphragmactuators.
Aspringisusedtoprovidedefinedbehaviorinthecaseoflossofpower.Thisisimportantinsafetyrelated
incidentsandissometimesthedrivingfactorinspecifications.Anexampleoflossofpoweriswhentheair
compressor(themainsourceofcompressedairthatprovidesthefluidfortheactuatortomove)shutsdown.
Ifthereisaspringinsideoftheactuator,itwillforcethevalveopenorclosedandwillkeepitinthat
positionwhilepowerisrestored.Anactuatormaybespecified"failopen"or"failclose"todescribeits
behavior.Inthecaseofanelectricactuator,losingpowerwillkeepthevalvestationaryunlessthereisa
backuppowersupply.
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Atypicalrepresentativeofthevalvestobeautomatedisaplugtypecontrolvalve.Justlikethepluginthe
bathtubispressedintothedrain,theplugispressedintotheplugseatbyastrokemovement.Thepressure
ofthemediumactsupontheplugwhilethethrustunithastoprovidethesameamountofthrusttobeable
toholdandmovetheplugagainstthispressure.

Featuresofanelectricactuator
Motor(1)

Electricmultiturnactuatorwithcontrols [2]

Robustasynchronous
threephaseACmotors
aremostlyusedasthe
drivingforce,forsome
applicationsalsosingle
phaseACorDCmotors
areused.Thesemotors
arespeciallyadaptedfor
valveautomationasthey
providehighertorques
fromstandstillthan
comparable
conventionalmotors,a
necessaryrequirementto
unseatstickyvalves.
Theactuatorsare
expectedtooperate
underextremeambient
conditions,however
theyaregenerallynot
usedforcontinuous
operationsincethe
motorheatbuildupcan

beexcessive.

Limitandtorquesensors(2)
Thelimitswitchessignalwhenanendpositionhasbeenreached.Thetorqueswitchingmeasuresthetorque
presentinthevalve.Whenexceedingasetlimit,thisissignalledinthesameway.Actuatorsareoften
equippedwitharemotepositiontransmitterwhichindicatesthevalvepositionascontinuous420mA
currentorvoltagesignal.

Gearing(3)
Oftenawormgearingisusedtoreducethehighoutputspeedoftheelectricmotor.Thisenablesahigh
reductionratiowithinthegearstage,leadingtoalowefficiencywhichisdesiredfortheactuators.The
gearingisthereforeselflockingi.e.itpreventsaccidentalandundesiredchangesofthevalvepositionby
actinguponthevalvesclosingelement.
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Valveattachment(4)
Thevalveattachmentconsistsoftwoelements.First:Theflangeusedtofirmlyconnecttheactuatortothe
counterpartonthevalveside.Thehigherthetorquetobetransmitted,thelargertheflangerequired.
Second:Theoutputdrivetypeusedtotransmitthetorqueorthethrustfromtheactuatortothevalveshaft.
Justlikethereisamultitudeofvalvesthereisalsoamultitudeofvalveattachments.
DimensionsanddesignofvalvemountingflangeandvalveattachmentsarestipulatedinthestandardsEN
ISO5210formultiturnactuatorsorENISO5211forpartturnactuators.Thedesignofvalveattachments
forlinearactuatorsisgenerallybasedonDIN3358.

Manualoperation(5)
Intheirbasicversionmostelectricactuatorsareequippedwithahandwheelforoperatingtheactuators
duringcommissioningorpowerfailure.Thehandwheeldoesnotmoveduringmotoroperation.
Theelectronictorquelimitingswitchesarenotfunctionalduringmanualoperation.Mechanicaltorque
limitingdevicesarecommonlyusedtopreventtorqueoverloadduringmanualoperation.

Actuatorcontrols(6)
BothactuatorsignalsandoperationcommandsoftheDCSareprocessedwithintheactuatorcontrols.This
taskcaninprinciplebeassumedbyexternalcontrols,e.g.aPLC.Modernactuatorsincludeintegral
controlswhichprocesssignalslocallywithoutanydelay.Thecontrolsalsoincludetheswitchgearrequired
tocontroltheelectricmotor.Thiscaneitherbereversingcontactorsorthyristorswhich,beinganelectric
component,arenotsubjecttomechanicwear.Controlsusetheswitchgeartoswitchtheelectricmotoronor
offdependingonthesignalsorcommandspresent.Anothertaskoftheactuatorcontrolsistoprovidethe
DCSwithfeedbacksignals,e.g.whenreachingavalveendposition.

Electricalconnection(7)
Thesupplycablesofthemotorandthesignalcablesfortransmittingthecommandstotheactuatorand
sendingfeedbacksignalsontheactuatorstatusareconnectedtotheelectricalconnection.Theelectrical
connectioncanbedesignedasaseparatelysealedterminalbungorplug/socketconnector.Formaintenance
purposes,thewiringshouldbeeasilydisconnectedandreconnected.

Fieldbusconnection(8)
Fieldbustechnologyisincreasinglyusedfordatatransmissioninprocessautomationapplications.Electric
actuatorscanthereforebeequippedwithallcommonfieldbusinterfacesusedinprocessautomation.
Specialconnectionsarerequiredfortheconnectionoffieldbusdatacables.

Functions
Automaticswitchingoffintheendpositions
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Afterreceivinganoperationcommand,theactuatormovesthevalveindirectionOPENorCLOSE.When
reachingtheendposition,anautomaticswitchoffprocedureisstarted.Twofundamentallydifferentswitch
offmechanismscanbeused.Thecontrolsswitchofftheactuatorassoonasthesettrippingpointhasbeen
reached.Thisiscalledlimitseating.However,therearevalvetypesforwhichtheclosingelementhastobe
movedintheendpositionatadefinedforceoradefinedtorquetoensurethatthevalvesealstightly.Thisis
calledtorqueseating.Thecontrolsareprogrammedastoensurethattheactuatorisswitchedoffwhen
exceedingthesettorquelimit.Theendpositionissignalledbyalimitswitch.

Safetyfunctions
Thetorqueswitchingisnotonlyusedfortorqueseatingintheendposition,butitalsoservesasoverload
protectionoverthewholetravelandprotectsthevalveagainstexcessivetorque.Ifexcessivetorqueacts
upontheclosingelementinanintermediateposition,e.g.duetoatrappedobject,thetorqueswitchingwill
tripwhenreachingthesettrippingtorque.Inthissituationtheendpositionisnotsignalledbythelimit
switch.Thecontrolscanthereforedistinguishbetweennormaloperationtorqueswitchtrippinginoneof
theendpositionsandswitchingoffinanintermediatepositionduetoexcessivetorque.
Temperaturesensorsarerequiredtoprotectthemotoragainstoverheating.Forsomeapplicationsbyother
manufacturers,theincreaseofthemotorcurrentisalsomonitored.ThermoswitchesorPTCthermistors
whichareembeddedinthemotorwindingsmostlyreliablyfulfilthistask.Theytripwhenthetemperature
limithasbeenexceededandthecontrolsswitchoffthemotor.

Processcontrolfunctions
Duetoincreasingdecentralisationinautomation
technologyandtheintroductionofmicro
processors,moreandmorefunctionshavebeen
transferredfromtheDCStothefielddevices.
Thedatavolumetobetransmittedwasreduced
accordingly,inparticularbytheintroductionof
fieldbustechnology.Electricactuatorswhose
functionshavebeenconsiderablyexpandedare
alsoaffectedbythisdevelopment.Thesimplest
exampleisthepositioncontrol.Modern
positionersareequippedwithselfadaptation
i.e.thepositioningbehaviourismonitoredand
continuouslyoptimisedviacontroller
parameters.

Thepositioner[1]issuppliedwithasetpoint[2]andan
actualvalue[3].Themotoriscontrolleduntiltheactual
valueisidenticaltothesetpoint.TheDCSgenerallyneedsa
feedbacksignal[4]

Meanwhile,electricactuatorsareequippedwith
fullyfledgedprocesscontrollers(PID
controllers).Especiallyforremoteinstallations,
e.g.theflowcontroltoanelevatedtank,the
actuatorcanassumethetasksofaPLCwhichotherwisewouldhavetobeadditionallyinstalled.

Diagnosis

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Modernactuatorshaveextensivediagnosticfunctionswhichcanhelpidentifythecauseofafailure.They
alsologtheoperatingdata.Studyoftheloggeddataallowstheoperationtobeoptimisedbychangingthe
parametersandthewearofbothactuatorandvalvetobereduced.

Dutytypes
Opencloseduty
Ifavalveisusedasashutoffvalve,thenitwill
beeitheropenorclosedandintermediate
positionsarenotheld.

Positioningduty
Definedintermediatepositionsareapproached
forsettingastaticflowthroughapipeline.The
samerunningtimelimitsasinopencloseduty
apply.

Typicaltimeperiodinopencloseduty.t1istheoperating
timeandmaynotexceedthemaximumpermissiblerunning
time

Modulatingduty
Themostdistinctivefeatureofaclosedloop
applicationisthatchangingconditionsrequire
frequentadjustmentoftheactuator,for
example,tosetacertainflowrate.Sensitive
closedloopapplicationsrequireadjustments
withinintervalsofafewseconds.Thedemands
ontheactuatorarehigherthaninopencloseor
positioningduty.Actuatordesignmustbeable
towithstandthehighnumberofstartswithout
anydeteriorationincontrolaccuracy.

Typicaltimeperiodinmodulatingduty.

Serviceconditions
Actuatorsarespecifiedforthedesiredlifeandreliabilityforagiven
setofapplicationserviceconditions.Inadditiontothestaticand
dynamicloadandresponsetimerequiredforthevalve,theactuator
mustwithstandthetemperaturerange,corrosionenvironmentand
otherconditionsofaspecificapplication.Valveactuator
applicationsareoftensafetyrelated,thereforetheplantoperators
puthighdemandsonthereliabilityofthedevices.Failureofan
actuatormaycauseaccidentsinprocesscontrolledplantsandtoxic
substancesmayleakintotheenvironment.
Processcontrolplantsareoftenoperatedforseveraldecadeswhich
justifiesthehigherdemandsputonthelifetimeofthedevices.
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Forthisreason,actuatorsarealwaysdesignedinhighenclosure
protection.Themanufacturersputalotofworkandknowledgeinto
corrosionprotection.

Enclosureprotection
TheenclosureprotectiontypesaredefinedaccordingtotheIPcodes
ofEN60529.Thebasicversionsofmostelectricactuatorsare
designedtothesecondhighestenclosureprotectionIP67.This
meanstheyareprotectedagainsttheingressofdustandwater
...andalsointheSahara
duringimmersion(30minatamax.headofwaterof1m).Most
actuatormanufacturersalsosupplydevicestoenclosureprotection
IP68whichprovidesprotectionagainstsubmersionuptoamax.headofwaterof6m.

Ambienttemperatures
InSiberia,temperaturesdownto60Cmayoccur,andintechnicalprocessplants+100Cmaybe
exceeded.Usingtheproperlubricantiscrucialforfulloperationundertheseconditions.Greaseswhichmay
beusedatroomtemperaturecanbecometoosolidatlowtemperaturesfortheactuatortoovercomethe
resistancewithinthedevice.Athightemperatures,thesegreasescanliquifyandlosetheirlubricating
power.Whensizingtheactuator,theambienttemperatureandtheselectionofthecorrectlubricantareof
majorimportance.

Explosionprotection
Actuatorsareusedinapplicationswherepotentiallyexplosiveatmospheresmayoccur.Thisincludes
amongothersrefineries,pipelines,oilandgasexplorationorevenmining.Whenapotentiallyexplosive
gasairmixtureorgasdustmixtureoccurs,theactuatormustnotactasignitionsource.Hotsurfacesonthe
actuatoraswellasignitionsparkscreatedbytheactuatorhavetobeavoided.Thiscanbeachievedbya
flameproofenclosure,wherethehousingisdesignedtopreventignitionsparksfromleavingthehousing
evenifthereisanexplosioninside.
Actuatorsdesignedfortheseapplications,beingexplosionproofdevices,havetobequalifiedbyatest
authority(notifiedbody).Explosionprotectionisnotstandardizedworldwide.WithintheEuropeanUnion,
ATEX94/9/ECapplies,inUS,theNEC(approvalbyFM)ortheCECinCanada(approvalbytheCSA).
Explosionproofactuatorshavetomeetthedesignrequirementsofthesedirectivesandregulations.

Additionaluses
Smallelectricactuatorscanbeusedinawidevarietyofassembly,packagingandtestingapplications.Such
actuatorscanbelinear,rotary,oracombinationofthetwo,andcanbecombinedtoperformworkinthree
dimensions.Suchactuatorsareoftenusedtoreplacepneumaticcylinders.[3]

References
1.Etheridge,Cooper(June2014)."ForGateValves,Actuationisnot
TurnTurnTurn".ValveWorldAmericas(5):6.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_actuator

WikimediaCommonshas
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2.Baumann,Oliver"Typeofdocuments/Cutawaydrawings/Actuators
mediarelatedtoValve
(http://www.auma.com/cms/AUMA/en/documents/redcmsp/node835
actuators.
0/orderDESC/sortfriendly_name/1,111003,29635.html)".auma
RiesterGmbH&Co.KG.September28,2008.
3.Preston,David."Actuatordrawingsandcatalogs"(http://www.rotork.com/en/documents)

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