Due to their high thrust strength capabilities and small size, double-acting actuators are preferred for highly demanding industrial pipelines.
Fremont, CA: Actuators translate process signals into mechanical motion, causing valves to open or close and thus controlling fluid flow. These devices come in a variety of designs and sizes to help with the automation of various piping systems. Actuators improve process accuracy and precision by ensuring that valves operate smoothly regardless of cycling requirements. When choosing valves for specific applications, it is critical to consider their actuation methods. Electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic actuators are common valve actuators for industrial piping systems.
Pneumatic and hydraulic actuators use air or fluid pressure to control the position of a valve. Actuators in both categories are either spring return or double-acting—single-acting spring return actuators. As a result, any section in this article that mentions single-acting actuators will be referring to spring return actuators. What effect does the design of these actuators have on their efficiency?
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When there is a loss of fluid pressure or power, spring-return actuators have the ability to quickly retract and return the valves to their original positions. However, they have a number of drawbacks, making double-acting actuators a popular choice for a variety of processes. The following are some applications for double-acting actuators in piping systems.
Thrust Strength Improved
Overall, large valves with high actuating forces are required in piping systems with large pipes. To improve the reliability and responsiveness of these valves, it is critical to minimize resistance by the actuating mechanisms. The presence of a spring in a single-acting actuator technically minimizes the actuator's thrust strength. Because they must overcome the torque of the valve as well as the spring forces, single-acting valve actuators must be larger. It translates to oversizing single-acting actuators, which means more material is required to manufacture the actuator, raising its cost. The springs also increase the overall size of the actuators, making them much heavier than their double-acting counterparts.
A double-acting actuator provides the greatest actuation force in both directions. Double-acting actuators have a lower thrust requirement than single-acting actuators. Due to their high thrust strength capabilities and small size, double-acting actuators are preferred for highly demanding industrial pipelines.
Stable Control
Fluid properties such as pressure and temperature change rapidly and frequently in some piping systems, affecting their reliability and efficiency. In addition to the variability of fluid properties potentially influencing the forces needed to stroke the valve, spring resistance consistently offers an opposing force that the system must account for and overcome, impacting operational efficiency. The functions of spring-return valves are frequently limited to fully opening or closing the valve.
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