Valve actuator

A valve actuator is the mechanism for opening and closing a valve. Manually operated valves require someone in attendance to adjust them using a direct or geared mechanism attached to the valve stem. Power-operated actuators, using gas pressure, hydraulic pressure or electricity, allow a valve to be adjusted remotely, or allow rapid operation of large valves. Power-operated valve actuators may be the final elements of an automatic control loop which automatically regulates some flow, level or other process. Actuators may be only to open and close the valve, or may allow intermediate positioning; some valve actuators include switches or other ways to remotely indicate the position of the valve.

Used for the automation of industrial valves, actuators can be found in all kinds of process plants. They are used in waste water treatment plants, power plants, refineries, mining and nuclear processes, food factories, and pipelines. Valve actuators play a major part in automating process control. The valves to be automated vary both in design and dimension. The diameters of the valves range from one-tenth of a inch to several feet.

There are four common types of actuators: manual, pneumatic, hydraulic, and electric.

A manual actuator employs levers, gears, or wheels to move the valve stem. Manual actuators are powered by hand. Manual actuators are inexpensive, typically self-contained and easy to operate. However, some large valves are impossible to operate manually and some valves may be located in remote, toxic or hostile environments that prevent manual operations. As a safety feature, certain types of situations may require quicker operation than manual actuators can provide to close the valve.

Air (or other gas) pressure is the power source for pneumatic valve actuators. They are used on linear or quarter-turn valves. Air pressure acts on a piston or bellows diaphragm creating linear force on a valve stem. Alternatively, a quarter-turn vane-type actuator produces torque to provide rotary motion to operate a quarter-turn valve. A pneumatic actuator may be arranged to be spring-closed or spring-opened, with air pressure overcoming the spring to provide movement. A "double acting" actuator use air applied to different inlets to move the valve in the opening or closing direction. A central compressed air system can provide the clean, dry, compressed air needed for pneumatic actuators. In some types, for example, regulators for compressed gas, the supply pressure is provided from the process gas stream and waste gas either vented to air or dumped into lower-pressure process piping.

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