In the oil and gas industry, there are instances where you would use natural gas to move control valves. So, why spend money on a compressor for producing instrument air and add electricity costs when you have ample natural gas available? There are issues, however, when using the gas for these applications. This is common […]

At times, we have applications where a large control valve is required at high process pressure. This combination requires a pneumatic actuator with substantial area and displacement volume in order to operate the valve. When a positioner is used, the ability to move this valve in a reasonable time becomes a challenge because positioners are not known to have high air flow capacity. 

Have you ever wondered how to quantify something you can’t see? How about equating that something to dollars? What if that “something” was plant air and your valve positioner was consuming a lot of it? How do you quantify that, and is it even worth your time? In short, yes, it IS worth it!  A few years back, one of our colleagues showed us how getting a handle on the cost of air saved one customer $600,000. You can read it here.

Industrial plants are being tasked with reducing costs and increasing production. To achieve this, they must exploit plant efficiencies while simultaneously reducing their workforce. This forces plants to rely on their suppliers for the know-how solutions and advice to accomplish these tasks.

At times, we have valve positioner applications that are affected by excessive vibration, temperatures, radiation, magnetic influence, and unsafe and/or poor locations. Addressing the root cause of the issue can be timely, expensive and sometimes deemed impossible by plant management.

Control valves can be fickle pieces of equipment. If we take a step back and say, “What are we asking the control valve to do?” The answer is: we are asking this piece of mechanical equipment to provide the same type of precise movement time and time again.