EXPERIMENT 2 CONTROL ENGINEERING

WHAT IS A VALVE POSITIONER, AND

WHAT DOES IT DO?
 January 16, 2019
 
 Cascade Automation
 
 Uncategorized

THE FUNCTION OF A VALVE POSITIONER

Valve positioners are devices used to put a valve in the correct position by increasing or decreasing the air load
pressure on the actuator. Instead of the process controller sending a signal directly to the actuator to move the
valve, a valve positioner senses the exact position of the valve and communicates to the actuator to move the
valve.

Valve positioners are usually mounted on the yolk or top casing of a pneumatic actuator (for linear control
valves), or near the end of the shaft (for rotary control valves). For either set-up, the positioner is connected
mechanically to the valve stem or valve shaft. This allows for the valve’s position to be compared with the
position requested by the controller.
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1. PNEUMATIC VALVE
POSITIONER WORKING
PRINCIPLE
Pneumatic Valve Positioner Working Principle

The Pneumatic Valve Positioner is an instrument working on force balance principle to position the Control
Valve stem in accordance to a pneumatic signal received from a controller or manual loading station,
regardless of packing box friction, actuator hysteresis or unbalanced forces on the valve plug. Thus, the
positioner ensures a reliable and accurate operation of Control Valve.

Principle of Operation
The Valve Positioner is force balance device which, ensure the position of the plug, which is directly
proportional to the controller output pressure. The Positioner compares the forces generated by the control
signal and the control valve stem through the motion connector and the feed back cam, and accordingly it feeds
or bleeds the air going to the valve actuator.

The instrument air signal is applied to the signal diaphragm. An increase in signal will drive the diaphragm
and flapper-connecting stem to the right. The flapper-connecting stem will then open the supply flapper
admitting supply pressure into the output which is connected to the actuator diaphragm. The exhaust flapper
remains closed when the flapper connecting stem is deflected to right. The effect of increasing signal is to
increase the pressure in the actuator. This increased pressure in the actuator drives the valve stem downward
and rotates the positioner lever clockwise. This clockwise rotation of the lever results in a compression of
range spring through cam. When the valve stem reaches the position called for by the controller, the
compression in the range spring will give a balance force resulting the closure of both the flapper.

If the control signal is decreased, the force exerted by the signal diaphragm will also decrease and the force
from the range spring will push the flapper-connecting stem to the left, opening the exhaust flapper. This
causes a decrease actuator diaphragm pressure and allows the valve stem to move upward until a new force
balance is established.

Original Source: https://instrumentationtools.com/pneumatic-valve-positioner-working-principle/

5, FERRIS WHEEL POSITIONERS

RobotWorx is capable of customizing Ferris Wheel systems to fit your
manufacturing needs. Ferris Wheel cells are a cost-effective way to automate
fabrication operations, while increasing productivity and efficiency.

Ferris Wheel positioners have a slim line part positioning capability and uses
three different independent servo motors. The central motor rotates two
separate axes 360 degrees. Independent control of these tooling axes along
with a divider wall on the central rotating axis allow for A/B style production. In
this setup, "A" side tooling axis can be loaded and unloaded while the part in
the "B" side tooling axis can be welded by a robotic arm. The divider wall
simply eliminates arc glare from the operator loading and unloading parts.

2. ELECTRONIC POSITIONER
The purpose of a valve positioner is to ensure the mechanical valve’s position matches the command
signal at all times. Thus, a valve positioner is actually a closed-loop control system in its own right:
applying as much or as little pressure to the actuator in order to achieve the commanded valve stem
position at all times. Mechanical valve positioners use levers, cams, and other physical components to
achieve this closed-loop control. Electronic valve positioners, such as the Fisher model DVC6000, use
an electronic sensor to detect valve stem position, a microprocessor to compare that sensed stem
position against the control signal by mathematical subtraction (error = position − signal), then a
pneumatic signal converter and relay(s) to send air pressure to the valve actuator.

As you can see from this diagram, there is a lot going on inside an electronic positioner. We have not
just one, but two control algorithms working together to maintain proper valve position: one
monitoring and controlling pressure applied to the actuator (compensating for changes in air supply
pressure that might otherwise affect the valve’s position) and the other monitoring and controlling
stem position itself, sending a cascaded control signal to the pressure control components.

The command signal (sent from the process loop controller, PLC, or other control system) tells the
positioner where the valve stem should be positioned. The first controller inside the positioner (PI)
calculates how much air pressure at the actuator should be needed to achieve the requested stem
position. The next controller (PID) drives the I/P (current-to-pressure) converter as much as
necessary to achieve that pressure. If anything causes the valve stem to not be at the commanded
position, the two controllers inside the positioner work together to force the valve to its proper
position.
 3. ELECTROPNEUMATIC POSITIONERS

Electro-pneumatic positioners are used with rotary air actuators to accurately position control
valves used in throttling applications. These valve positioners convert a 4-20mA input control
signal to a proportional pneumatic output. This output is fed to an air actuator which in turn
controls the valve position and flow (combined with mechanical feedback). Air actuated valves
with positioners have a history of rugged and reliable service in tough applications. Valworx
positioners offer fast and accurate control of ball valves, butterfly valves and other type valves.
These positioners direct mount to rotary type air actuators with the standard VDI / VDE-3845
Namur style top shaft mounting. Universal Namur mounting bracket kit is included with each
positioner. Suitable for use with Valworx double acting or spring return air actuated valves, as
well as most other brands utilizing the standard Namur mount. Rugged aluminum die cast
housing has superior anti-corrosion surface treatment and an easy read visual valve position
indicator. Easy to adjust zero and span. Positioner is PRE-INSTALLED when ordered with a
Valworx air actuated valve package.
 4. DIGITAL POSITIONERS

Smart digital positioners form the vital link between the control system and the
valve. Digital positioners from ABB incorporates auto-adjust to reduce
commissioning time and an adaption program provides for optimal control of the
position until set point is reached.
Digital valve positioners can improve valve operation while lowering operating and
maintenance costs in a process plant. This article discusses the process control loop
with a specific focus on the control valve and its role in these systems.

The article will then look at valve types very briefly before focusing on digital positioners.
It will examine the expectations that the user should have with regards to digital
positioners, for example, whether they are an individual in the engineering team that will
have to spec out positioners or an end-user.

A number of considerations for selecting a good digital positioner will also be explored,
looking at what potential buyers should be looking for, features that would be beneficial
in the longer term and the importance of making purchases with a view to long-term
plans and use of digital positioners.

Repeatable and sustainable performance are key factors when selecting a digital
positioner. This is also very important when considering control valves because the
positioner is the driving force behind the entire assembly that ensures the valve
performs in line with expectations.

This article will also look at valve automation and how to best put together the positioner
and control valves before finally looking at options around the predictive and
preventative diagnostics that digital positioners provide.