Process Control Valves

 Process control valves are used to control the rate of fluid flow and are used
where, perhaps, the rate of flow of a liquid into a tank has to be controlled.
 The basic of such valves is an actuator being used to move a plug into the flow
pipe and so alter the cross-section of the pipe through which the fluid can flow.
 A common form of pneumatic actuator used with process control valves is the
diaphragm actuator.
 Essentially it consists of a diaphragm with the input pressure signal from the
controller on one side and atmospheric pressure on the other, this difference in
pressure being termed the gauge pressure.

Process Control Valves

 The diaphragm is made of rubber which is sandwiched in its center between two
circular steel discs.
 The effect of changes in the input pressure is thus to move the central part of the
diaphragm, as illustrated in figure 20.
 This movement is communicated to the final control element by shaft which is
attached to the diaphragm.

Figure 20:Pneumatic diaphragm actuator

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 Process Control Valves
 The force acting on the shaft is the force that is acting on the diaphragm and is
thus the gauge pressure multiplied by the diaphragm area .
 A restoring force is provided by a spring.
 Thus if the shaft move through a distance , and assuming the compression of
the spring is proportional to the force, i.e. = with being a constant, then
= and thus the displacement of the shaft is proportional to the gauge
pressure.

Process Control Valves

 A diaphragm actuator to be used to open a control valve if a force of 500 N must
be applied to the valve. What diaphragm area is required for a control gauge
pressure of 100 kPa?

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 Process Control Valves
Valve bodies and plugs
 Figure 21 shows a cross- section of a valve for the control of rate of flow of a fluid.
 The pressure change in the actuator causes the diaphragm to move and so consequently
the valve stem.
 The result of this is a movement of the inner-valve plug within the valve body.
 The plug restricts the fluid flow and so its position determines the flow rate.

Figure 21:Diaphrahm-operated process control valve

Process Control Valves

Valve bodies and plugs
 There are many forms of valves body and plug.
 Figure 22 shows some forms of valve bodies.
 The term single seated is used for a valve where there is just one path for the fluid
through the valve and so just one plug is needed to control the flow.
 The term double seated is used for a valve where the fluid on entering the valve splits
into two streams, as in figure 21, with each stream passing through an orifice controlled
by a plug. There are thus two-plugs with such a valve.

Figure 22:Diaphrahm-operated process control valve

Figure 21:Diaphrahm-operated process control valve

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 Process Control Valves
Valve bodies and plugs
 A single-seated valve has the advantage that is can be closed more tightly than a double-
seated one but the disadvantage that the force on the plug due to the flow is much higher
and so the diaphragm in the actuator has to exert considerably higher forces on the stem.
 This can result in problems in accurately positioning the plug.
 Double-seated valves thus have an advantage here.
 The form of the body also determines whether an increasing air pressure will result in the
valve opening or closing.

Figure 22:Diaphrahm-operated process control valve

Valve bodies and plugs Process Control Valves

 A single-seated valve has the advantage that it can be closed more tightly than a double-
seated one but the disadvantage that the force on the plug due to the flow is much higher
and so the diaphragm in the actuator has to exert considerably higher forces on the stem.
 This can result in problems in accurately positioning the plug.
 Double-seated valves thus have an advantage here.
 The form of the body also determines whether an increasing air pressure will result in the
valve opening or closing.
 The shape of the plug determines the relationship between the stem movement and the
effect on the flow rate.
 Figure 23 shows three commonly used types.

Figure 23:Plug shapes

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 Rotary actuators
 A linear cylinder can, with suitable mechanical linkages, be used to produce rotary
movement through angles less than 360 , figure 24 illustrating such an arrangement.
 Another alternative is a semi-rotary actuator involving a vane(figure 25).
 A pressure difference between the two ports causes the vane to rotate and so give a shaft
rotation which is a measure of the pressure difference.
 Depending on the pressures, so the vane can be rotated clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Figure 24:A linear cylinder Figure 25:Vane-type semi-rotary

used to produce rotation actuator

Rotary actuators
 For rotation through angles greater than 360 a pneumatic motor can be used; one form
of such is the vane motor figure 26.
 An eccentric rotor has slots in which vanes are forced outwards against the walls of the
cylinder by the rotation.
 The vanes divide the chamber into separate compartments which increase in size from
the inlet port round to the exhaust port.
 The air entering such a compartment exerts a force on a vane and causes the rotor to
rotate.
 The motor can be made to reverse its direction of rotation by using a different inlet port.

Figure 26:Vane motor