Rotork’s innovative CVA electric control valve actuator technology has successfully delivered an improvement in performance with reduced operating costs for the vital gas blending process on a European natural gas distribution network.
Fluxys is the independent operator of the natural gas storage and transmission system in Belgium, supplying domestic and industrial consumers throughout the country. Wishing to improve the gas blending process, Fluxys identified valve actuation as a key area. Improving process valve response times whilst reducing dead-time and overshoot would increase control efficiency and eliminate potential cycling and variability problems. If an electrical solution could also be found, it would reduce operating costs and improve environmental performance by eliminating the requirement to waste gas through venting to air as determined by existing equipment.
Prodim, Rotork’s agent in Belgium, proposed the use of the CVL-5000 electric control valve actuator as an alternative to the existing actuator on a blending flow control valve in a trial at the Fluxys booster station at Le Roeuix.
Engineers from Fluxys, Rotork and Mokveld removed the existing actuator, fitted an ATEX certified explosionproof CVL-5000, re-connected the control signal and carried out a series of tests that demonstrated improved response times, accurate valve positioning, low running costs and fail-to-position operation on loss of mains supply. As a result, Fluxys has decided to adopt the CVL-5000 as the standard actuator for its gas blending plants; over time, existing valves will be retrofitted whilst new valves will have the actuators factory fitted.
