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V O LU M E 1 8 , N O. 4
PLUS:
䡲 Market Outlook '07
䡲 Evolution of the Valve Industry
䡲 Back to Basics: Relief Valves
䡲 Desuperheating for
Temperature Control
䡲 Castings or Forgings?
Fundamentals of
Electric Actuator
Control
A VIEW OF THE ELECTRICAL
FUNCTIONS OF A MOTOR ACTUATOR
FUNDAMENTALS OF
ELECTRIC ACTUATOR
CONTROL
ELECTRIC ACTUATORS HAVE BECOME A
E very motor requires controls,
and the motor of an electric
valve actuator is no different. The POPULAR WAY TO AUTOMATE ALL TYPES
function of the electric actuator’s OF INDUSTRIAL VALVES. ONE OF THEIR
controls is to start and stop the PRIMARY ADVANTAGES IS THE
motor. Those controls typically
consist of the motor switchgear, INHERENT FLEXIBILITY OF THEIR
devices that control that CONTROLS BOTH BECAUSE OF WHERE
switchgear and various interfaces
with the plant control system.
THE CONTROLS CAN BE LOCATED AND
A simple on-off switch or a BECAUSE OF THE WIDE RANGE OF
switch and a motor starter can CONTROL SYSTEM INTERFACES
control a fan motor that oper-
ates in only one direction. How- AVAILABLE.
ever, a valve actuator motor
BY RICHARD D. OAKS
must be controlled considering
criteria such as:
䡲 valve position motors, this can be accomplished by reversing two of the three motor power
䡲 torque or thrust output leads or phases. We achieve phase reversal by using two motor starters, which
䡲 motor protection work together to be what we commonly refer to as a reversing starter.
䡲 control system commands Figure 1 shows how a reversing starter reverses the direction of a motor.
䡲 local control When Coil A is energized, Contacts A close, and the motor runs in the
䡲 operation in both direc- clockwise direction. When Coil B is energized, Contacts B close, and the
tions (since we want to motor runs in the counter-clockwise direction. Note that motor power leads
open and close the valve). L1 and L3 are reversed when Contacts B are energized as opposed to when
Open
Direction
Starter
Three Phase Contacts
Power Motor
Closed
Direction
Control Supply Starter
Power Contacts
Open Open
Open
Direction Direction Open Direction
Position
Control Torque Starter Coil
Sensor
Signal Sensor
Motor
Protection
Closed Closed
Closed
Direction Direction Closed Direction
Position
Control Torque Starter Coil
Sensor
Signal Sensor
Figure 3—In this motor control logic block diagram, the power circuit is shown with blue lines and the control circuit with green lines.
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