Document Title:

Training on GET-Instrumentation

November
2014

CONTROL VALVES

Code: PI

Introduction:Process plants consist of hundreds, or even thousands, of control loops all

networked together to produce a product to be offered for sale. Each of these control loops
is designed to keep some important process variable such as pressure, flow, level,
temperature, etc. within a required operating range to ensure the quality of the end
product. Each of these loops receives and internally creates disturbances that detrimentally
affect the process variable, and interaction from other loops in the network provides
disturbances that influence the process variable. To reduce the effect of these load
disturbances, sensors and transmitters collect information about the process variable and
its relationship to some desired set point. A controller then processes this information and
decides what must be done to get the process variable back to where it should be after a
load disturbance occurs. When all the measuring, comparing, and calculating are done,
some type of final control element must implement the strategy selected by the controller.
The most common final control element in the process control industries is the control
valve. The control valve manipulates a flowing fluid, such as gas, steam, water, or chemical
compounds, to compensate for the load disturbance and keep the regulated process
variable as close as possible to the desired set point.

TERMINOLGIES:Accessory: A device that is mounted on the actuator to complement the actuators function
and make it a complete operating unit. Examples include positioners, supply pressure
regulators, solenoids, and limit switches.
Actuator*: A pneumatic, hydraulic, or electrically powered device that supplies force and
motion to open or close a valve.
Actuator Assembly: An actuator, including all the pertinent accessories that make it a
complete operating unit.
Closed Loop: The interconnection of process control components such that information
regarding the process variable is continuously fed back to the controller set point to provide
continuous, automatic corrections to the process variable.
Controller: A device that operates automatically by use of some established algorithm to
regulate a controlled variable. The controller input receives information about the status of
the process variable and then provides an appropriate output signal to the final control
element.

Document Title:

Training on GET-Instrumentation

November
2014

CONTROL VALVES

Code: PI

Control Range: The range of valve travel over which a control valve can maintain the
installed valve gain between the normalized values of 0.5 and 2.0.
Control Valve Assembly: Includes all components normally mounted on the valve: the valve
body assembly, actuator, positioners, air sets, and transducers, limit switches, etc.

Control Valve:Control valves are comprised of two major parts: the valve body, which contains all
the mechanical components necessary to influence fluid flow; and the valve actuator, which
provides the mechanical power necessary to move the components within the valve body.
Often times, the major difference between an on/off control valve and a throttling
control valve is the type of actuator applied to the valve , on/off actuators need only
position a valve mechanism two one of two extreme positions (fully open or fully closed).
Throttling actuators must be able to accurately position a valve mechanism anywhere
between those extremes.

Sliding-stem valves:A sliding-stem valve body is one where the moving parts slide with a linear motion. Some examples
of sliding-stem valve body designs are shown here: Most sliding-stem control valves are direct
acting, which means the valve opens up wider as the stem is drawn out of the body. Conversely, a
direct-acting valve shuts off (closes) when the stem is pushed into the body. Of course, a reverseacting valve body would behave just the opposite: opening up as the stem is pushed in and closing
off as the stem is drawn out.

Document Title:

Training on GET-Instrumentation

November
2014

CONTROL VALVES

Code: PI

Most sliding-stem control valves are direct acting, which means the valve opens up wider as
the stem is drawn out of the body. Conversely, a direct-acting valve shuts off (closes) when
the stem is pushed into the body. Of course, a reverse-acting valve body would behave just
the opposite: opening up as the stem is pushed in and closing off as the stem is drawn out.

Control Valve Actuators:The purpose of a control valve actuator is to provide the motive force to operate a valve mechanism.
Both sliding-stem and rotary control valves enjoy the same selection of actuators: pneumatic,
hydraulic, electric motor, and hand (manual).

Pneumatic actuators:Pneumatic actuators use air pressure pushing against either a flexible diaphragm or a piston
to move a valve mechanism. The following photograph shows a cut-away control valve, with
a pneumatic diaphragm actuator mounted above the valve body. You can see the large coil
spring providing default positioning of the valve (air pressure acting against the diaphragm
moves the valve against the spring) and the rubber diaphragm at the very top. Air pressure
applied to the bottom side of the diaphragm lifts the sliding stem of the valve in the upward
direction, against the springs force which tries to push the stem down:
The air pressure required to motivate a pneumatic actuator may come directly from the
output of a pneumatic process controller, or from a signal transducer (or converter)
translating an electrical signal into an air pressure signal. Such transducers are commonly
known as I/P or I to P converters, since they typically translate an electric current signal (I)
of 4 to 20 mA DC into an air pressure signal (P) of 3 to 15 PSI.

Document Title:

Training on GET-Instrumentation

November
2014

CONTROL VALVES

Code: PI

Hydraulic actuators:Hydraulic actuators use liquid pressure rather than gas pressure to move the valve
mechanism. Nearly all hydraulic actuator designs use a piston rather than a diaphragm to
convert fluid pressure into mechanical force. The high pressure rating of piston actuators
lends itself w ell to typical hydraulic system pressures, and the lubricating nature of
hydraulic oil helps to overcome the characteristic friction of piston-type actuators. Given the
high pressure ratings of most hydraulic pistons, it is possible to generate tremendous
actuating forces with a hydraulic actuator, even if the piston area is modest. For example, an
hydraulic pressure of 2,000 PSI applied to one side of a 3 inch diameter piston will generate
a linear thrust of over 14,000 pounds (7 tons)!
In addition to the ability of hydraulic actuators to easily generate extremely large
forces, they also exhibit very stable positioning owing to the non-compressibility of
hydraulic oil. Unlike pneumatic actuators, where the actuating fluid (air) is elastic, the oil
inside a hydraulic actuator cylinder does not yield appreciably under stress. If the passage of
oil to and from a hydraulic cylinder is blocked by small valves, the actuator will become
firmly locked into place. This is an important feature for certain valve-positioning
applications where the actuator must firmly hold the valve position in one position.
Electric actuators:Electric motors have long been used to actuate large valves, especially valves operated as
on/off(shutoff) devices. Advances in motor design and motor control circuitry have
brought motor operated valve (MOV) technology to the point where it now competes with
legacy actuator technologies such as pneumatic in actuating throttling valves as well. Most
electric valve actuators use a worm gear set to reduce the high rotational speed of the
electric motor to a slow rotation suitable for moving a large valve mechanism.

The worm screw looks much like a threaded fastener, with its threads properly pitched to
engage with the teeth of the worm wheel gear. As the worm screw turns, it slowly pushes or
pulls the circumference of the worm wheel, resulting in a large gear ratio (i.e. many turns of
the screw are required to produce a single turn of the wheel). This slow-turning wheel may
then be used to move a sliding-stem valve by means of a threaded shaft (another screw) or
used to directly turn a rotary valve (e.g. butterfly, ball, plug).

Document Title:

Training on GET-Instrumentation

November
2014

CONTROL VALVES

Code: PI

Control Valve Installation:Many important factors must be considered when designing the physical installation of
the control valve. Perhaps the most important is the design of piping for manual bypass. A
control valve may require periodic maintenance to correct leaks, noise, vibration, increasing
dead band, and so forth. Since a plant shutdown usually involves a large economic penalty, an
incentive exists to maintain plant operation while the control valve is being repaired in many,
but not all, situations. The bypass system shown in Figure 11 provides the ability to block out
the control valve while the process flow passes through the manual bypass valve.

The performance is best when the design includes 10-20 diameters of straight run piping
in the inlet and 3-5 diameters in the outlet. An operator must close the block valves and
manipulate the bypass valve to achieve some desired operating condition, such as flow rate or
temperature. For a typical globe valve, the valve should be installed so that the stem moves
vertically with the actuator above the valve. In addition, the valve should be located with
enough clearance from other equipment so that maintenance can be performed on the valve.