The control valve

The control valve is a variable restriction in a pipeline which receives its position command from a controller—either in the form of a single loop regulator or as part of a more complex control system. As such, the control valve constitutes by far the most common final control element although increasing use is being made of variable speed pumps and fluidics(64) to control the flowrates of process fluids. 

A typical control valve is illustrated in Fig. 7.119. It consists of three principal sections, viz.  

If the output from the controller is electric (e.g. 4-20 mA), then this can be converted to a pneumatic signal (with pressures up to 600 kN/m2) using an electropneumatic converter (Section 6.12.4). The resulting pneumatic signal then 

Coupling and lock nut Plug stem Threaded bushing Bonnet 

Guide bushing PTFE V ring packing Spring Packing box Plug (with seat 0  

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For air-flow control, the system may contain a control valve or damper that automatically or manually modulates system pressure drop. The dotted curves in Figure 4a on each side of the system resistance curve might represent operating extremes of the system resistance as the control valve is varied from maximum to minimum opening. These curves also intersect the fan curve at desirable operating portions of its range both for efficiency and flow control. 

Figure 11 shows a system for controlling the water dow to a chemical reactor. The dow is measured by a differential pressure (DP) device. The controller decides on an appropriate control strategy and the control valve manipulates the dow of coolant. The procedure to determine the overall failure rate, the failure probabiUty, and the reUabiUty of the system, assuming a one-year operating period, is outlined hereia. 

Various accessories can be suppHed along with the control valves for special situations. Positioners ensure that the valve stem is accurately positioned following small or slowly changing control signals or where unbalanced valve forces exist. Boosters, which are actually pneumatic amplifiers, can increase the speed of response or provide adequate force in high pressure appHcations. Limit switches are sometimes included to provide remote verification that the valve stem has actually moved to a particular position. 

If the allowance for control can be reduced, it should be. One option is the use of variable-speed drives. This eliminates the control valve and its pressure drop and piping. Its best appHcation is where a large share of the head is required for friction and where process demands cause the required flow to vary. 

In addition to energy conservation, the variable speed drives offer better control because of a faster response, ie, reduced dead band. They are also sometimes chosen for safety reasons because of elimination of the control station and accompanying valving. The capital saved by use of a smaller motor and elimination of the control valve partially compensates for the cost of the drive. 

The symbol for the control valve in Fig. 8-47 is for a pneumatic positioning valve without a valve positioner. 

Pneumatic Controllers The pneumatic controller is an automatic controller that uses pneumatic pressure as a power source and generates a single pneumatic output pressure. The pneumatic controller is used in single-loop control applications and is often installed on the control valve or on an adjacent pipestand or wall in close proximity to the control valve and/or measurement transmitter. Pneumatic controllers are used in areas where it would be hazardous to use electronic equipment, in locations without power, in situations where maintenance personnel are more familiar with pneumatic controllers, or in applications where replacement with modern electronic controls has not been justified. 

Valve-Control Deviee.s Devices mounted on the control valve that interface various forms of input signals, monitor and transmit valve position, or modify valve response are valve-control devices. In some applications, several auxiliary devices are used together on the... 

As most throttling control valves are still operated bv pneumatic actuators, the control-valve device descriptions that follow relate primarily to devices that are used with pneumatic actuators. The function of hydraulic and electrical coimteiparts are very similar. Specific details on a particular valve-control device are available from the vendor of the device. 

Valve Positioners The valve positioner, when combined with an appropriate actuator, forms a complete closed-loop valve-position control system. This system makes the valve stem conform to the input signal coming from the process controller in spite of force loads that the actuator may encounter while moving the control valve. Usually, the valve positioner is contained in its own enclosure and is mounted on the control valve. 

Trip Valves The trip valve is part of a system that is used where a specific valve action (i.e., fail up, Fail down, or lock in last position) is required when pneumatic supply pressure to the control valve falls befow a preset level. Trip systems are used primarily on springless piston ac tuators requiring fail-open or fail-closed acrion. An air storage or Volume tank and a check v ve are used with the trip valve to provide power to stroke the valve when supply pressure is lost. Trip valves are designed with hysteresis around the trip point to avoid instabihty when the trip pressure and the reset pressure settings are too close to the same value. 

Also, the electronic control-valve device s level of immunity to, and emission of, electromagnetic interference (EMI) can be an issue in the chemical-valve environment. EMI requirements for the control-valve devices are presently mandatory in the European Community but voluntary in the United States, Japan, and the rest of the world. International Electrotechnical Commission (lEC) SOI, Parts I through 4, Electromagnetic Compatibihty for Industrial Process Measurement and Control Equipment, defines tests and requirements for control-device immunity. Immunity and emission standards are addressed in CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) EN 50 081-1 1992, EN 50 081-2 1993, EN 50 082-1 1992, and prEN 50 082-2 1994. 

FIG. 8-82 Installed flow characteristic as a function of percent of total system head allocated to the control valve (assuming constant head pump, no elevation head loss, and an R equal 30 equal-percentage inherent characteristic). 

From a dynamic-response standpoint, the adjustable speed pump has a dynamic characteristic that is more suitable in process-control apphcations than those characteristics of control valves. The small amphtude response of an adjustable speed pump does not contain the dead baud or the dead time commonly found in the small amphtude response of the control valve. Nonhnearities associated with frictions in the valve and discontinuities in the pneumatic portion of the control-valve instrumentation are not present with electronic... 

Unhke the control valve, the centrifugal pump has poor or nonexistent shutoff capabihty. A flow check valve or an automated on/off valve may be reqiiired to achieve shutoff reqiiirements. This requirement may be met by automating an existing isolation valve in retrofit apphcations. 

In.strument air failure. The consequences of the loss of instrument air should be evaluated in coujuuc tiou with the failure mode of the control valve ac tuators. It should not be assumed that the correct air failure response will occur on these control valves, as some valves may stick in their last operating position. 

The strict requirements placed on the quality of the regenerator pressure control system necessitate complex control strategies that can only be achieved using modern freely programmable control systems, while the short actuating times of the control valves require controllers with ultrafast response. 

The control valves have a full-stroke actuating time of 600 msec thus, in 6 msec the valves are actuated through 1 % of their full stroke. Only controllers with a TPET of less than 3 msec are able to meet the strict requirements of this application. 

When there is a choice, design for no flashing. When there is no choice, locate the valve to flash into a vessel if possible. If flashing or cavitation cannot be avoided, select hardw are that can withstand these severe conditions. The dowmstream line will have to be sized for tw o phase flow. It is suggested to use a long conical adaptor from the control valve to the downstream line. 

The control valve coefficients in Table 4 are for full open conditions. The control valve must be designed to operate at partial open conditions for good control. Figure 3 shows partial open performance for a number of trim types. 

For good control where possible, make the control valve take 50%-60% of the system flowing head loss. 

Another example of pressure control by variable heat transfer coefficient is a vacuum condenser. The vacuum system pulls the inerts out through a vent. The control valve between the condenser and vacuum system varies the amount of inerts leaving the condenser. If the pressure gets too high, the control valve opens to pull out more inerts and produce a smaller tube area blanketed by inerts. Since relatively stagnant inerts have poorer heat transfer than condensing vapors, additional inerts... 

Column Bottom Temperature. The bottom temperature is often controlled on the reboiler outlet line with a control valve in the heating medium line. The control point can also be on a bottom section tray. Care must be exercised in location of the temperature control point. It is recommended, especially for large columns, that a cascade arrangement be used. The recommended scheme has a complete flow recorder/controller (FRC) in the heating medium line including orifice and control valve. The set point of this FRC is manipulated by the temperature recorder/controller (TRC). This eliminates the TRC from manipulating the control valve directly (recall that temperature is the most difficult parameter to control). This makes for smoother control for normal operations. Also, it is handy for startup to be able to uncouple the TRC and run the reboiler on FRC for a period. 

When a pump has a motor drive, the process engineer must verify that the motor will not overload from extreme process changes. The horsepower for a centrifugal pump increases with flow. If the control valve in the discharge line fully opens or an operator opens the control valve bypass, the pump will tend to run out on its curve, giving more flow and requiring more... 

Eor good control, design the pressure drop for the control valve between the fractionating system and the jet system for sonic velocity (approximately 2 1 pressure ratio). This means that the jets suction must be designed for half the absolute pressure of the evacuated system. 

Put the vacuum system control valves at the highest point of a horizontal run and the control valve bypass in the same horizontal plane. This is in compliance with item 8. 

For the purpose of this chapter, instrumentation will be considered everything from the primary element monitoring the controlled variable through the control valve performing the throttling action. The process equipment interacts with the instrumentation to provide the process... 

The reboiler must have enough surface area to provide a margin for control. The control valve introduces a... 

An alternate means of reboiler control is to remove the control valve from the steam line and provide a condensate level controller for the chest cascaded from the tray temperature. The alternate method uses A tube surface for control, with the condensate covering more or less tube surface to vary the area exposed to condensing stream. Condensing area is many times more effective for heat transfer than area covered by relatively stagnant condensate. The reboiler must have extra surface to allow part of its surface to be derated for control purposes. 

The control valve allows the Jets to pull noncondensibles out of the condenser as needed for system pressure control. In addition to requiring extra surface area for control, the vacuum condenser also needs enough surface area for subcooling to ensure that the Jets do not pull valuable hydrocarbons or other materials out with the noncondensibles. To allow proper control and subcooling, some designers add approximately 50% to the calculated length. 

For best control, a 2 1 pressure drop should be taken across the control valve, and the Jets must be designed accordingly. This is still another good example of part of the equipment s capacity being used for control. 

Water hammer can also occur in steam mains, condensate return lines, and heat exchange equipment where steam entrapment can take place (Fig. I). A coil constructed and installed as shown here, except with just a steam trap at the outlet, permits steam from the control valve to be directed through the center tube(s) first. Steam then gets into the return header before the top and bottom tubes are filled with steam. Consequently, these top and bottom tubes are fed with steam from both ends. Waves of condensate are moved toward each other from both ends, and steam can be trapped between the waves. 

The most frequently encountered flashing problems are in control valves. Downstream from the control valve a point of lowest pressure is reached, followed by pressure recovery. A liquid will flash if the low pressure point is below its vapor pressure. Subsequent pressure recovery can collapse the vapor bubbles or cavities, causing noise, vibration, and physical damage. 

Insufficient glycol to the Main Piston D-slide ports. Elevate the control valve end of the pump to correct. 

Percentage of flowing pressure drop taken at the control valve. 

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