The Swanson Flo Blog is dedicated to provide educational and new product information on process control instrumentation, control valves, and valve automation. For more information on these products, visit SwansonFlo.com or call 800-288-7926.
Happy New Year from Swanson Flo
With 2017 coming to a close, all of us at Swanson Flo wanted to reach out and send our best wishes to our customers, our vendors, and our friends! We hope that 2018 holds success and good fortune for all of you.
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Industrial Valve Actuators: An Overview
Pneumatic Actuator (Limitorque) |
Thanks to actuators, multiple valves can be controlled in a process system in a coordinated fashion; imagine if, in a large industrial environment, engineers had to physically adjust every valve via a hand wheel or lever! While that manual arrangement may create jobs, it is, unfortunately, completely impractical from a logistical and economic perspective. Actuators enable automation to be applied to valve operation.
Electric Actuator (Limitorque) |
Pneumatic actuators utilize air pressure as the motive force which changes the position of a valve. Pressurized-liquid reliant devices are known as hydraulic actuators. Electric actuators, either motor driven or solenoid operated, rely on electric power to drive the valve trim into position. With controllers constantly monitoring a process, evaluating inputs, changes in valve position can be remotely controlled to provide the needed response to maintain the desired process condition.
Large butterfly valve with actuator. |
Thanks to their versatility and stratified uses, actuators serve as industrial keystones to, arguably, one of the most important control elements of industries around the world. Just as industries are the backbones of societies, valves are key building blocks to industrial processes, with actuators as an invaluable device ensuring both safe and precise operation.
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Visual Demonstration of Cavitation and its Adverse Effects on Control Valves and Pumps
Fluid passing through a control valve experiences changes in velocity as it enters the narrow constriction of the valve trim (increasing velocity) then enters the widening area of the valve body downstream of the trim (decreasing velocity). These changes in velocity result in the fluid molecules’ kinetic energies changing as well. In order that energy be conserved in a moving fluid stream, any increase in kinetic energy due to increased velocity must be accompanied by a complementary decrease in potential energy, usually in the form of fluid pressure. This means the fluid’s pressure will fall at the point of maximum constriction in the valve (the vena contracta, at the point where the trim throttles the flow) and rise again (or recover) downstream of the trim:
If fluid being throttled is a liquid, and the pressure at the vena contracta is less than the vapor pressure of that liquid at the flowing temperature, the liquid will spontaneously boil. This is the phenomenon of flashing. If, however, the pressure recovers to a point greater than the vapor pressure of the liquid, the vapor will re-condense back into liquid again. This is called cavitation.
As destructive as flashing is to a control valve, cavitation is worse. When vapor bubbles re-condense into liquid they often do so asymmetrically, one side of the bubble collapsing before the rest of the bubble. This has the effect of translating the kinetic energy of the bubble’s collapse into a high-speed “jet” of liquid in the direction of the asymmetrical collapse. These liquid “microjets” have been experimentally measured at speeds up to 100 meters per second (over 320 feet per second). What is more, the pressure applied to the surface of control valve components in the path of these microjets is intense. Each microjet strikes the valve component surface over a very small surface area, resulting in a very high pressure (P = F/A ) applied to that small area. Pressure estimates as high as 1500 newtons per square millimeter (1.5 giga-pascals, or about 220000 PSI!) have been calculated for cavitating control valve applications involving water.
If fluid being throttled is a liquid, and the pressure at the vena contracta is less than the vapor pressure of that liquid at the flowing temperature, the liquid will spontaneously boil. This is the phenomenon of flashing. If, however, the pressure recovers to a point greater than the vapor pressure of the liquid, the vapor will re-condense back into liquid again. This is called cavitation.
As destructive as flashing is to a control valve, cavitation is worse. When vapor bubbles re-condense into liquid they often do so asymmetrically, one side of the bubble collapsing before the rest of the bubble. This has the effect of translating the kinetic energy of the bubble’s collapse into a high-speed “jet” of liquid in the direction of the asymmetrical collapse. These liquid “microjets” have been experimentally measured at speeds up to 100 meters per second (over 320 feet per second). What is more, the pressure applied to the surface of control valve components in the path of these microjets is intense. Each microjet strikes the valve component surface over a very small surface area, resulting in a very high pressure (P = F/A ) applied to that small area. Pressure estimates as high as 1500 newtons per square millimeter (1.5 giga-pascals, or about 220000 PSI!) have been calculated for cavitating control valve applications involving water.
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Water Quality Analyzers for Ultra-pure, Industrial, and Drinking Water Systems
In the operation of an industrial process, there can be any number of reasons for analyzing water quality. Safety, regulatory compliance, operating efficiency, and process control are a few of the broader categories.
Waltron has been an active participant in the water chemistry and analysis field for over 100 years. The company's focus started with boiler feedwater and has expanded over many years to include online analyzers for process water in a broad range of industries.
Waltron has been an active participant in the water chemistry and analysis field for over 100 years. The company's focus started with boiler feedwater and has expanded over many years to include online analyzers for process water in a broad range of industries.
- Power Generation
- Petrochemical
- Pulp and Paper
- Water and Wastewater
- Electronics and Semiconductor
- Environmental
- Pharmaceutical
- Copper
- Dissolved Hydrogen
- Dissolved Oxygen
- Ethylene Glycol
- Hardness
- Hydrazine
- Iron
- Oil in Water
- Phosphate
- Silica
- Sodium
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Schneider Electric Foxboro Measurement and Control Product Catalog
Schneider Electric / Foxboro provides customers a complete solution - from instruments in the field to the control room - to enable customers to optimize their assets-people, equipment, plant. With a history of innovation, Foxboro Field Devices provides solutions across a wide range of industries, including Energy, Oil, Gas & Refining, Renewable Fuels, Nutrition And Life Sciences, Process Automation, Water & Wastewater.
Foxboro / Schneider Electric range of products in Measurement and Instrumentation include:
- Flow
- Level
- Pressure
- Process Liquid Analytical
- Temperature
- Control
- Data Acquisition & Configurator
- Pneumatic
- Valve Positioners
- Accutech
Visit this page on the Swanson Flo website to download your full PDF version.
You can easily specify many instruments and accessories described in this catalog. Sections covering our most popular items include all the technical data you need to know for most applications. To specify the appropriate item, simply follow the step-by-step procedure at the end of each description. Please feel free to contact Swanson Flo for help.
You can easily specify many instruments and accessories described in this catalog. Sections covering our most popular items include all the technical data you need to know for most applications. To specify the appropriate item, simply follow the step-by-step procedure at the end of each description. Please feel free to contact Swanson Flo for help.
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New Product Alert: The Jordan Mark 75PTP Sliding Gate Control Valve
Jordan Mark 75PTP |
The Mark 75PTP provides great capacity in a com-pact wafer style body. A 2" Mark 75PTP provides 72 Cv (62 Kv). (Refer to Cv Capacity Charts for information concerning all line sizes).
The Mark 75PTP features a 'T' slot design connection to the disc. This connection allows for quick and easy reversing of functions. Instead of having to go into the actuator to change action, all that is needed in a Mark 75PTP is to rotate the seats 180°. With this simple rotation, the valve can go from reverse acting to direct acting (or vice versa).The stroke length of the Mark 75PTP is a slightly longer stroke than standard sliding gate valves. This longer stroke enables better turndown. Combined with the capacity of the Mark 75PTP, the in-creased turndown makes for a great control valve.
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Limitorque Actuator Product Range
Limitorque has 90 years experience providing electric actuators to safely operate automated valves that protect people and property. The products that Limitorque offer are:
- Intrusive Multi-Turn Actuators - L120 and SMB Series
- Non-Intrusive Multi-Turn Actuators - MX Series
- Non-Intrusive Quarter-Turn Electric Actuators - QX Series
- Gas Powered Actuators - LDG Direct Gas Actuator
- Hydraulic Actuators - LHS and LHH Series
- Pneumatic Actuators - LPS and LPC Series
- Multi-Turn Gearboxes - V Series and SR Series
- Quarter-Turn Gearboxes - WG Series and HBC Series
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