Kinetrol Vane Actuators Lower Cost of Filter Operation at Power Plant

A Monoscour^® filter is a heavy duty, high-rate, gravity filter. It is designed for filtering high turbidity media and sticky particulates, and is commonly used in polymer chemical treatment, cooling tower side-stream filtration, and industrial wastewater filtering. This kind of filter is designed to be fully automatic and includes all piping and valves needed to change from filter mode to cleaning mode. Inexpensive rack and pinion actuators are installed as OEM components to divert flow between cycles. The actuators are mounted on 4" lug style butterfly valves.

A Midwestern power plant was experiencing failures with their filter's OEM rack and pinion actuators. The actuator cycle rate was moderate-to-high, approximately (1) cycle per hour, continuous.

While the cost of rack and pinion actuator replacement was relatively low, the cost of filter downtime and labor was very high for the utility. As part of an ongoing, long term cost savings effort, a more reliable and robust solution was required.

The local Kinetrol Distributor Salesperson was called in and immediately saw that replacing the rack and pinion actuators with Kinetrol vane actuators was the answer. Based on the countless applications around the world, where Kinetrol actuators perform reliably in the most challenging circumstances, this particular application was comparatively easy and straightforward.

The new Kinetrol actuators were retro-fitted to the existing valves with new mounting hardware and have been operating flawlessly for over a year now. Its expected the valves will wear out long before the actuators ever need service.

For more information about using Kinetrol vane actuators on filtration towers, contact Kinetrol USA by visiting https://kinetrolusa.com or by calling 972-447-9443.


Monoscour^® is a registered trademark of Graver Water Systems.

Even In the Hot Seat, Kinetrol Actuators Perform

This picture is of what used to be a Kinetrol
097-120 and the valve it secured.

Liquid-phase oxidation of hydrocarbons is used in the production of  terephthalic acid (TPA).  Air is the source of oxygen gas in the oxidation processes. The air for the reaction is supplied by large compressors.

A chemical manufacturer in the southeastern USA experienced a catastrophic fire in their compressor house 2014. The fire caused extensive damage to the facility and equipment, and shut down production for months. The compressor alone cost $30 million.

As part of the compressor safety shutdown system, two 6" Class 150 high performance butterfly valves with Kinetrol 097-120 actuators were installed on the process air lines. In the the event of an emergency, these valves needed to quickly close, and then stay closed, under any - and all - conditions.

Close-up view of the Kinetrol
Actuator. A melted ball of metal.

Immediately upon activation of the emergency alarm, the two Kinetrol actuated assemblies received their signal and closed the valves quickly and tightly. As the fire raged, the actuators kept the valves secure, even after the extreme heat from the fire completely melted the actuator housings and internals.

As you can see from the pictures, the actuators were completely destroyed, but the valves stayed closed and and escalation of the emergency was prevented.

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

Kinetrol Solves Scotch Yoke Actuator Reliability Issues on Top Entry Ball Valves

A southeastern chemical company had reliability issues with the leading brand of scotch yoke actuators. The actuators were mounted on 12" top entry ball valves that sent process reactor off-gas to a dryer for processing. The actuators cycle the valves every two minutes.

Top entry ball valve automation is challenging because the adjustable ball stops on top entry ball valves can increase torque values, and undersized actuators are common. In this application, the scotch yoke actuators were also unreliable due to seal leaks, sticking, and lock up, which dramatically affected the plants production of PTA (purified terephthalic acid).

The first Kinetrol actuator installation for this application, a 187-100, was installed at the chemical plant 1997, and it is still in service today. By our calculations, that actuator has cycled 5,148,000 since then, considering it strokes every two minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 325 days a year.

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

Upgrade in Steam Balancing Valve Actuators at Combined-cycle Power Plant Lead to Kinetrol

The customer for this application note is an electrical power station with a combined-cycle, natural gas-fired generating unit with two combustion turbines, two heat recovery steam generators and one steam turbine. The output of combustion turbines can vary at different times throughout the year. The nominal output for this facility is 577 megawatts. The station burns natural gas.

A combined-cycle power plant uses a gas and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50% more generated electricity, using the same fuel, when compared to a traditional simple-cycle plant. The gas turbine waste heat is routed to the nearby steam turbine which, in turn, generates the extra power.

One of the most common components for managing high-pressure steam in a combined-cycle plant is the HRH bypass valve (HRH stands for "hot reheat"). Since the valve actuator controls the valve’s ability to reliably and accurately respond to system demands, it can be argued it is one of the most important elements in the steam bypass system, and therefore the entire combined-cycle plant.

In this application, the customer had two 18" steam balancing valves using large, high torque, scotch-yoke actuators that had to cycle 20 times a day. These actuators presented significant performance issues (they were failing), plus they were very large which presented maintenance difficulties.

The customer approached the local Kinetrol USA Distributor and inquired if they could suggest a better alternative. The goal was to provide replacement actuators that provide very high torque, be highly reliable, and save space.

The Distributor recommended Kinetrol Model 30 pneumatic rotary actuators. The Model 30 provides 168000 lbf ins (19140 Nm) at 100 psi (7 bar) of torque and were significantly smaller and lighter than the legacy scotch-yoke actuators. Most importantly, they carried the world-renowned Kinetrol reputation for outstanding reliability, long life, and maintenance-free operation.

Kinetrol USA
https://kinetrolusa.com
972-447-9443

Trouble-free Pneumatic Valve and Damper Actuators

A rugged, corrosion-resistant pneumatic vane actuator with only a single moving part, the Kinetrol vane actuator is warranted to operate trouble-free for millions of cycles.

With millions of actuators performing reliably around the world, the Kinetrol vane actuator's outstanding cycle life, smooth and precise movement, and environmentally rugged design makes it the best choice for all of your automated valve requirements.

Kinetrol USA
https://kinetrolusa.com
972-447-9443

Proven Dependability: Kinetrol Vane Actuators

Kinetrol actuators provide years of reliable and dependable performance in the toughest environments and application. When you plan your next valve automation requirement, choose Kinetrol vane actuators.

Kinetrol USA
https://kinetrolusa.com
972-447-9443

Demonstration of NAMUR Mount Solenoid Valve with Manual Bypass Option on Kinetrol Actuator

This video demonstrates a very helpful solenoid valve option, the manual bypass feature. The technician uses a NAMUR mounted solenoid valve with built-in bypass on a Kinetrol vane actuator to show you exactly how the option works.