"Exhausting" High Cycle, Fast Open/Close Foundry Applcation

An iron foundry located in the Midwest USA has a valve application with extreme requirements. The atmosphere is scorching and dusty, and the valve and actuator combination has to cycle at a very high rate. 

There two most considerable challenges are:

1. Finding a valve actuator that can stand up to 100,000 actuator cycles per month (around 1.3 million cycles per year) and operate for more than a year.
2. The actuators have to cycle open and closed in a fraction of a second.

Solution

1. Due to their reputation for extreme durability, Kinetrol actuators are specified.  They are known worldwide to perform flawlessly where cycle rates are high. 
2. High flow solenoid valves manage the high volume of fill and exhaust air to handle the rapid cycling.

As of the last check, the Kinetrol actuators are operating without problem for more than two years.

For more information, contact:
Kinetrol USA
https://kinetrolusa.com
972-447-9443

Kinetrol Steadyline Actuators

The Kinetrol Steadyline series are precision valve actuators with built-in damping devices that give smooth rotational resistance to the actuator / valve shaft. The Kinetrol Steadyline product smoothes the standard travel of the actuator, dampens any pipeline flow-induced oscillations of the valve disks and enables the user to set a minimum amount of travel time on power failure. 

Kinetrol Steadyline is tailor-made and designed for precise, repeatable valve operation, offering superior stability and precision in opening / closing times.

Kinetrol Steadyline offers the next level of valve stability, precision, and control when there is a need to minimize or remove harmful shock or unnecessary motion, or when a valve application needs precise and repeatable closing or opening times. 

Contact Kinetrol USA by calling 972-447-9443 or email sales@kinetrolusa.com for more information.

Happy Labor Day from Kinetrol USA!

 

A sincere thanks to all the hard working people that make the US economy run each and every day. 

Kinetrol Rotary Vane Actuators. Simply the Best.

Kinetrol rotary vane actuators have a well earned, and long established, reputation for  performing where other pneumatic actuators fail. With outstanding cycle life, smooth and precise operation, and an environmentally rugged design, Kinetrol actuators are "simply the best" quarter-turn valve and damper actuator on the market today. Period.

For more information, contact Kinetrol USA. Call them at 972-447-9443 or visit their website at https://kinetrolusa.com.

Kinetrol Steadyline Actuators Mitigate Water Hammer Damage from Pump Station

Water hammer occurs when a pipe's fluid flow changes rapidly. The effect may be high pipe pressures, mechanical stress on pipe structures, and potential flow reversal. If not controlled, it can cause pipe bursting, pipe breaking and joint leakage. Vane actuators open and close valves and can be tightly controlled with regards to opening and closing speeds. The Kinetrol Steadyline series are precision valve actuators with built-in damping devices providing a smooth resistance to shaft rotation which increases with angular velocity. The Kinetrol Steadyline product smooths out the normal travel, dampens any valve-flow induced disc oscillations, and provides a minimum user-specified amount of travel time on power failure.

A water treatment facility pump station was having recurring problems with a large hydraulic actuator that was very cumbersome and expensive to maintain. The well engineered solution was a Kinetrol Size 14 Steadyline double acting actuator with digital speed controllers installed on 12” Pratt butterfly valves. The result: better performance, reduced downtime, lower cost of operation. 

Kinetrol USA

https://kinetrolusa.com

972-447-9443

Are Wastewater Treatment Plants the Key to Coronavirus Outbreak Early Warning?

Wastewater testing, or “wastewater quality indicators” are broad descriptions for the various test methodologies to measure water quality.  These tests analyze the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of wastewater.

As countries and individual healthcare organizations work to arrest the spread of Covid-19 and to care for those who are infected, officials in some geographic locations are using wastewater testing as a possible method for identifying levels of Covid-19 in their communities.  The testing goal is to detect evidence of the Covid-19 genetic material, ribonucleic acid (RNA), in fecal matter in sewage and wastewater.

The novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, is the virus that causes Covid-19. It is known to invade the GI (gastrointestinal) track in some patients, and so the virus is extracted in their fecal matter. 

Looking at the amount of viral matter in waste water from a community could uncover the level of Covid-19 spread in the population.  This information can then be a trigger for the required mitigation initiatives and response plans, such as testing individuals, contract tracking, and quarantine. It also allows for information to be gathered on a cross section of the population, allowing for a way to monitor public health solutions for large groups.  

Figure 1

Scientists from around the world are setting up pilot programs to test waste water.  The Netherlands has successfully performed a Covid-19 test for waste water and additional programs are launching in Singapore, Zurich, Lausanne,  Milan, Rome, Australia, and in parts of the US, such as Colorado, Ohio, New York, and Wyoming.  Scientists in these regions have been able to identify the novel Coronavirus at low concentrations in waste water, pointing to an early warning systems for communities.  

In April, 2020, the scientific journal, Nature, listed that over a dozen groups around the globe were doing research analyzing waste water for Covid-19, and that evidence of the virus was already found in the United States, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Sampling and analysis of pre-treated sewage is key. The results of this analytical testing reveal the characteristics and presence of the Coronavirus in parts per million quantities, and can be laid against the population numbers of a geographic area to ascertain the existence and amount of virus existing in the wastewater.  An example of this kind of data dump is illustrated in Figure 1 (courtesy of the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority and Biobot Analytics). 

Article courtesy of Kinetrol USA.

High Pressure Steam Balancing Act in Combined-Cycle Power Plant

The most common design for managing high-pressure steam in combined-cycle power generation plants is cascading bypass systems. Balancing valves are used on the hot reheat line to respond to loop control requirements. The application is difficult due to high pressures, high temperatures and large sizes of the valve (high torque). The valves must close tightly and be able to throttle precisely as well. 

It is also difficult to equip these valves with pneumatic actuators. Due to the size of the valve and the design of the valve, the actuators must have a high torque output without taking up large amounts of space. Actuators also need to act quickly and eliminate hysteresis. 

Most pneumatic actuator designs simply can not meet operating and size limitations, and hydraulic actuators, with all their associated maintenance problems, are used instead.

A better solution is to apply Kinetrol vane actuators. They deliver high torque in a relatively small package, and combined with state-of-the-art valve positioners, provide the precision and response the application requires to eliminate oscillations and instability.

For more information contact:

Kinetrol USA

972-447-9443

https://kinetrolusa.com