The swift delivery of 82 large GP Range pneumatic valve actuators has assisted the completion of a natural gas pipeline owned by the Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) many months ahead of the original schedule. The order represents the largest supply of actuators from a single manufacturer on the entire pipeline.
Manufactured at the Rotork Fluid Systems factory in Lucca, Italy, the actuators have been supplied to valve-makers in India for installation on Phase 2 of the Kochi-Koottanad Bangalore-Mangalore Pipeline project. The actuators will operate above ground and buried service ESD (Emergency Shutdown) ball valves along the length of the 30” diameter, 879km pipeline, which runs from a new 5Mt annual capacity LNG import terminal constructed by Petronet at Kochi, on India’s south-west coast.
Rotork’s contract included packaging the actuators with cabinet-mounted limit switches and controls, together with gas storage tanks for the ESD duty. GP actuators are manufactured in double-acting and spring return configurations with torque outputs up to 600,000 Nm (5,000,000 lbf-in). Certifications include IP66M/67M, ATEX94/9/EC and PED 93/27/EC and the actuators are also suitable for use in SIL2 and SIL3 rated safety systems.
