Direct acting actuator and reverse acting control valve

Fig. 6.6.4 Direct acting actuator and reverse acting control valve

The choice between direct acting and reverse acting pneumatic controls depends on what position the valve should revert to in the event of failure of the compressed air supply. Should the valve close or be wide-open? This choice depends upon the nature of the application and safety requirements. It makes sense for steam valves to close on air failure, and cooling valves to open on air failure. The combination of actuator and valve type must be considered. Figure 6.6.5 and Figure 6.6.6 show the net effect of the various combinations.

Fig. 6.6.5 Net effect of various combinations for two port valves

Fig. 6.6.6 Net effect of the two combinations for three port valves

Effect of differential pressure on the valve lift
The air fed into the diaphragm chamber is the control signal from the pneumatic controller. The most widely used signal air pressure is 0.2 bar to 1 bar. Consider a reverse acting actuator (spring to extend) with standard 0.2 to 1.0 bar spring(s), fitted to a direct acting valve (Figure 6.6.7).

Fig. 6.6.7 Reverse acting actuator, air-to-open, direct acting valve - normally closed

When the valve and actuator assembly is calibrated (or 'bench set'), it is adjusted so that an air pressure of 0.2 bar will just begin to overcome the resistance of the springs and move the valve plug away from its seat.

As the air pressure is increased, the valve plug moves progressively further away from its seat, until finally at 1 bar air pressure, the valve is 100% open. This is shown graphically in Figure 6.6.7.

Now consider this assembly installed in a pipeline in a pressure reducing application, with 10 bar g on the upstream side and controlling the downstream pressure to 4 bar g.

The differential pressure across the valve is 10 - 4 = 6 bar. This pressure is acting on the underside of the valve plug, providing a force tending to open the valve. This force is in addition to the force provided by the air pressure in the actuator.

Therefore, if the actuator is supplied with air at 0.6 bar (halfway between 0.2 and 1 bar), for example, instead of the valve taking up the expected 50% open position, the actual opening will be greater, because of the extra force provided by the differential pressure.

Also, this additional force means that the valve is not closed at 0.2 bar. In order to close the valve in this example, the control signal must be reduced to approximately 0.1 bar.

The situation is slightly different with a steam valve controlling temperature in a heat exchanger, as the differential pressure across the valve will vary between:

• A minimum, when the process is calling for maximum heat, and the control valve is 100% open.
• A maximum, when the process is up to temperature and the control valve is closed.

The steam pressure in the heat exchanger increases as the heat load increases. This can be seen in Tutorial 6.5, Example 6.5.3 and Table 6.5.7.

If the pressure upstream of the control valve remains constant, then, as the steam pressure rises in the heat exchanger, the differential pressure across the valve must decrease.

Figure 6.6.8 shows the situation with the air applied to a direct acting actuator. In this case, the force on the valve plug created by the differential pressure works against the air pressure. The effect is that if the actuator is supplied with air at 0.6 bar, for example, instead of the valve taking up the expected 50% open position, the percentage opening will be greater because of the extra force provided by the differential pressure. In this case, the control signal has to be increased to approximately 1.1. bar to fully close the valve.

Fig. 6.6.8 Direct acting actuator, air-to-close, direct acting valve - normally open