The company is now completing the final phased contracts to install new electric actuators on approximately three hundred
major valves as part
of a strategic upgrade programme at the National Grid Transco Bacton gas terminal in the UK. It has replaced earlier versions of its own actuators,
which in most cases have been operating since the Bacton plant first began processing North Sea gas in the early 1970s.
Valve actuators: vital elements
for reliability and plant safety
In any hazardous area installation the requirement for safety is paramount and recent accidents at
refinery and tank farm sites offer vivid illustrations of the catastrophic consequences of such events.
Valve actuators have an important impact on safety as vital components for the movement and
isolation of bulk fluids, providing not only the muscle to open and close the valves but also the
'brains' to communicate their activities and operating condition. The advent of digital communication
technology has dramatically enhanced the functionality of modern actuators whilst a long history of
development in the oil and gas industry environment has, in the case of Rotork, produced a
comprehensive range of designs and technologies to meet isolating, modulating, failsafe and ESD
(emergency shut down) duties. Selection of the appropriate equipment will enhance the reliability of
the plant and meet the requirements for safety demanded by increasingly strict legislation.
Mark Clark, Rotork Controls Ltd., Bath, Somerset, UK
Intelligent actuator development result of oil industry activity in the early condensation leading to breakdowns and
Rotork is celebrating its fiftieth birthday 1960s that Rotork began to develop high maintenance costs with traditionally
in 2007 and throughout its entire history design features in its electric actuators designed actuators.
the oil and gas industry has been and that have become benchmark industry The company's solution was to adopt
continues to be a market of great standards. Probably the most significant is circular spigoted flamepaths as an
importance to the company.Within this 'O' ring double-sealing, born out of the alternative to the customary flat flanges
industry, the company has extensive environmental challenges of the Middle and fit them with 'O' rings to provide
experience with hundreds of thousands East, where the practice of fitting environmental sealing.The result was the
of actuators installed on sites in every breathers and drains to explosion-proof first electric actuator design to feature an
part of the world. Indeed, it was as a equipment caused problems with explosion-proof and watertight enclosure.
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ACTUATORS
The double-sealing aspect of the design when the actuator was potentially (although modulating versions are also
concerned the terminal compartment, vulnerable to the effects of moisture in available), the IQ Pro is mechanically
where it was discovered that covers could the environment.The introduction of the simple, whilst its control and indication
be removed for days on site whilst wiring IQ intelligent actuator in 1993 functionality is highly sophisticated
up was in progress, once again leaving eliminated this single surviving window (intelligent) and user friendly.These
the internal electrics vulnerable to the of vulnerability. features facilitate automation, safety and
effects of the weather. Double-sealing The Rotork IQ broke new ground with optimum plant utilisation.
prevented this through the introduction the introduction of 'non-intrusive' data
of a separately 'O' ring sealed terminal communication by means of a hand-held Non-intrusive communication
bung. As a result, when the terminal setting tool, utilising infra-red technology An intrinsically safe, hand-held setting
cover was removed any ingress of water to enable actuators to be commissioned, tool is used to commission the actuator,
or condensation could not reach any part even in wet or hazardous locations, following the instructions on the
of the actuator's internal electrical parts. without the necessity of removing any actuator's illuminated LCD display
This feature is now a standard in all of electrical covers. Electronic technology screen, utilising a non-intrusive cableless
Rotork's electric actuator designs, but its also enabled the commissioning of infrared communication link. Settings can
introduction in the 1960's has also actuators without mains power also be downloaded by the same tool and
facilitated dramatic advances in the connected. Another feature of the 'non- used to programme other actuators,
functionality of the modern electric valve intrusive' design introduced local control saving time in installations containing
actuator. Again, going back to the 1960's, switches (open/stop/close, remote/local) many units with similar commissioning
the first of these was the ability to that do not penetrate the actuator requirements.
incorporate electric motor starter and enclosure, further protecting internal The screen provides a comprehensive
control equipment within the actuator components from the threat of numerical and textual representation of
enclosure itself, instead of remotely siting environmental harm.The IQ also utilised the status of the actuator, with user
such equipment in separate motor electronics to replace the traditional configurable multilingual capability. All
control centres. Introduced as Rotork switch mechanism, combining it in a actuators incorporate real time,
Syncropak, this design created enormous single module thus encompassing all the instantaneous torque and position
savings in installation costs through actuator's control and instrumentation monitoring which is used to record and
reduced wiring, wiring trays and barriers functions. Now in its third generation, store valve performance during
as well as simplifying the overall layout. designated IQ Pro, the actuator has been operation, enabling the effect of process
Today, the modern evolution of constantly developed to optimise changes, wear and duty to be evaluated.
Syncropak is sold in virtually every reliability and proactively improve plant Using the setting tool the actuator display
actuator marketplace and application. utilisation. can be programmed to indicate real time
The advancement of electronics has torque and position. Also included are
enabled increasingly sophisticated control Today's intelligent actuator texts to assist in the identification of
and indication functions to be included The IQ Pro is a rugged, mechanically valve, control or actuator alarms.The
within the actuator, such as remote simple and therefore reliable actuator for idea behind these is that users only use
monitoring circuits and standard multi- multi-turn or quarter-turn valves. these screens infrequently and therefore
voltage control inputs. Further Designed in the main for isolating duties need immediate, clear information.
innovations include Syncrophase,
whereby the actuator motor will always
run in the required direction, no matter
which way its three-phase connections
are wired in, ending the threat of valve
damage caused by incorrect phase
rotation.
By the 1990's a solid state gate array
replaced numerous separate electronic
components in the Rotork control
module, securing optimum reliability in
the harshest of operating environments.
By that time three decades of
development meant that the only cover
that it was necessary to remove on site
was for resetting the switch mechanism, IQ Pro actuator and hand held
setting/communication tool.
and this was therefore the only time
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ACTUATORS
who have been seeking to improve
failsafe emergency shutdown valve
performance.
At the Chevron Texaco site in Plymouth,
for example, Skilmatic electro-hydraulic
actuators have been installed to replace
obsolete equipment on ESD valves fitted
on the product lines between the storage
tanks and export loading bays.
Emergency pushbuttons on each loading
bay and at other strategic areas cause
these actuators to close immediately and
stop the flow of product in the event of a
perceived or potential hazard.
Large electro-hydraulic actuators are also
manufactured by the company's Fluid
Systems Division to suit applications such
as mainline block valves and ESD valves
on cross country pipelines. In a recent
contract, the firm's PCI electro-hydraulic
actuators have been supplied for the
operation of such valves in sizes up to 42
inches on the Baku-Thilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
strategic oil pipeline.These large, heavy
duty actuators are custom-built to suit
precise control and safety procedures,
Skilmatic actuators installed at Chevron Texaco, Plymouth, UK. and include integral accumulators to
Predictive maintenance hour. Such actuators are generally not guarantee valve operation without the
A data logger in each actuator stores suitable for failsafe and emergency shut hydraulic pump running. Other special
commissioning settings, valve torque down duties unless additional plant such safety features include earthquake-proof
signature profiles, a historical log of valve as independent electric power sources solenoid valve assemblies and partial
operations and a record of torque values are provided, and therefore these stroking function testing capabilities.
during each opening and closing specialised applications still tend to be Electro-hydraulic actuators have also
operation.The setting tool allows the fulfilled by fluid power (pneumatic and
user to extract and store this hydraulic) actuators with spring-return
information, which can be downloaded capabilities.
and viewed on a PC running IQ-Insight A recent development in which
software. Process changes, such as considerable investment has been placed
differential pressure, tight spots in valve is the electro-hydraulic actuator, which is
travel and changes in torque profiles can a self-contained unit providing the speed
be identified by analysing this data, and flexibility of hydraulic operation for
facilitating predictive maintenance of the double-acting, spring return, failsafe and
valve in service. In this way unexpected ESD operation with the convenience and
interruptions to plant operation are control benefits of the electric actuator,
avoided and safety is enhanced. including IQ intelligence and 'non-
intrusive' technology.
Spread of intelligence Electro-hydraulic actuators are equipped
The company's IQ actuator intelligence, with an integral hydraulic reservoir and
functionality and asset management pump to provide the operating motion,
benefits, as epitomised by non-intrusive for quarter-turn or linear valve
communication, datalogging and operation. Rotork offers several variants
performance analysis, were originally of the actuator type, including the
developed for actuators designed for Skilmatic SI Range.The benefit of
valve isolating duties and modulating electric operation has made these popular EH range electro-hydraulic actuator on
duties within the range of 1200 starts a with the owners of tank farm facilities BP Unity.
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ACTUATORS
been installed during an upgrade on the fibre cloth to provide a semi-rigid applications where there are often space
BP Unity platform, a vital unmanned enclosure which can be individually restrictions around the actuator
facility that receives the oil from five tailored to minimise the amount of space installations.
fields in the North Sea and sends it taken up.The semi-rigid product has The final fireproofing option offered by
ashore through the Forties Pipeline been tested at the Warrington Fire Rotork can only be specified for new
System. Eleven actuators perform ESD Research Centre in the UK and provided actuators. Known as System-E it
duties on high pressure (Class 1500) riser protection for an actuator for 30 comprises an intumescent coating which
valves, replacing traditional hydraulic minutes at 1093°C. has been developed with a leading
actuators and associated compressor The same level of protection can also be fireproofing specialist. In the event of a
plant. achieved with a flexible enclosure fire the patented coating will swell to
Rotork's intelligent data logging and system consisting of protective jackets between four and five times its original
diagnostic capabilities enable valve and which fit snugly around the actuator. thickness to form a lava-like char which
actuator conditions to be remotely These are extensively used in offshore insulates the actuator and reflects heat
monitored and logged - in this case at the oil and gas and petrochemical back to the fire.
BP Unity onshore control centre -
minimising the risk of unexpected
problems and helping to maintain the
platform's very high availability
commitment.
Fireproofing
The equipment described so far has an
impact upon improving safety and the
prevention of accidents. If, however, an
accident does occur it will often result
in a fire of some description. Danger and
damage from fire can be minimised by
Actuators protected by rigid fireproof enclosures.
the effective protection of the systems
controlling the plant, which for the most
part are valves and actuators.This is
when fireproofing plays a crucial role.
A number of different fireproofing
systems are available for actuators, each
enabling the unit to continue to function
when engulfed by the fire, in some cases
for periods of up to two hours. In all
cases it has to be emphasised that
successful fireproofing is also dependant
on the effective protection of the
elements (cabling, air lines, hydraulic
lines) that bring power and control to A semi-rigid fireproofing installation.
the actuation, as well as the valve itself.
If space around the actuator is not
greatly restricted a rigid enclosure
system can be used to protect against a
flame temperature of 1200°C for up to
two hours, as well as repeated exposure
to minor fires.This system comprises a
box manufactured from high thermal
performance materials which is built
around the actuator with removable
panels fitted for maintenance and
inspection purposes.
A similar approach utilises a steel sub-
frame, silicate fibre blanket and glass Flexible fireproofing system.
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