Automatic Process Control

Dr. Eng. Mohamed Salaheldin

Automatic Process Control

 Lecture 8

Final Control Element

“Control Valves”

Automatic Process Control

Control Valves
1. Control Loops & Final Control Element
2. Control Valve Assembly
3. Popular Control Valve Body Styles
4. Actuators
5. Control Valve Accessories
6. Flow Coefficient Cv
7. Control Valve Flow Characteristics
8. Some Control Valve Problems
9. Control Valve Selection

Automatic Process Control

Components and Signals
of a Typical Control Loop

Actuator System

F1 F2

T1 T2

Thermowell
3-15 psig
T
F
4-20 mA
Air I/P D/A
Thermocouple
millivolt signal

Tsp DCS 4-20 mA

Operator
Control A/D Transmitter
Console
Computer

Controller Sensor System

Automatic Process Control

 What is
Final Control Element & Control Valve?
▪ Final Control Element is the term
that has been applied to the item
that Finally responds to make a
change in the measured variable.
▪ The most common final control
element in the process control
industries is the control valve

Valves are flow-regulating devices

The control valve manipulates a flowing fluid, such as gas, steam, water, or
chemical compounds, to compensate for the load disturbance and keep the
regulated process variable as close as possible to the desired set point

Automatic Process Control

Elements of the final control

Automatic
Valve actuator

I/P transducer
Valve body
 Control Valve Assembly

▪ The two important Part

assemblies of a control
valve are

◦ valve actuator

◦ valve trim & body

Control Valve Assembly

It consists of:
◦ Valve body,
◦ Internal trim parts,
◦ An actuator to provide the
motive power to operate the
valve,
◦ Valve accessories, such as
◦ positioners,
◦ transducers,
◦ supply pressure regulators,
◦ manual operators,
◦ limit switches.

Automatic Process Control

Popular Control Valve Body Styles
• Sliding-stem valves • Rotary-stem valves
• Globe Valves • Ball Valves
• Gate Valves • Butterfly Valves
• Diaphragm Valves
 Valve Body with Cage Style Trim
▪ Cage-style single seated
valve bodies can be easily
modified by change of trim
parts to provide reduced-
capacity flow, noise
attenuation, or reduction or
elimination of cavitation

Automatic Process Control

The appearance of the cage (in this case, with the plug in
the fully closed position)
“T”-shaped ports in the cage, through which fluid flows
as the plug moves up and out of the way
 Gate Valve
Ball Valve Butterfly Valve
Bodies
Actuators
▪ Control valve actuators translate a control signal (normally
3 to 15 psi or 4 to 20 mA) into the large force or torque
that is needed to manipulate a valve.
▪ Pneumatically operated control valve actuators are the
most popular type in use, but electric, hydraulic, and
manual actuators are also widely used.
▪ Actuators’ Common Types:
◦ Manual Actuators Various styles include:
◦ Diaphragm Actuators Direct-acting
◦ Piston Actuators reverse-acting

◦ Electric Actuators

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 Direct-acting

the control signal is used to close the

valve, while the spring force is used to
open the valve
increasing air pressure pushes down ◦ air-to-close
diaphragm and extends actuator stem OR
◦ fail-open operation
 Reverse-acting

the control signal is used to open the

valve, while the spring force is used to
▪ increasing air pressure pushes up close the valve
diaphragm and retracts actuator stem air-to-open
OR
fail-close operation
The most common combinations mix a direct-acting valve body
with either a reverse- or direct-acting valve actuator
• If a direct-acting actuator is used with direct-acting
valve body, the valve will close as the controller output
signal increases, and will open as the signal decreases.
 Electric Motor Actuators
▪ The motor moves the stem through the
gear assembly. The motor reverses its
rotation to either open or close the
valve.
▪ The clutch and clutch lever disconnects
the electric motor from the gear
assembly and allows the valve to be
operated manually with the handwheel.

Automatic Process Control

 Positioners
Pneumatic Positioners
▪ A pneumatic signal (usually 3-15 psig)
is supplied to the positioner

▪ The positioner translates this to a

required valve position and supplies
the valve actuator with the required
air pressure to move the valve to the
correct position.

Automatic Process Control

 Analog I/P Positioner
▪ This positioner performs the same function
as the pneumatic one, but uses electrical
current (usually 4-20 mA) instead of air as
the input signal

I/P converter:
converts 4-20 mA electric signal
into 3-15 PSI pneumatic signal

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 Solenoid Valve

A very common form of on/off valve used for pneumatic and hydraulic systems alike is
the solenoid valve.
A “solenoid” is nothing more than a coil of wire designed to produce a magnetic field
when energized. Solenoid actuators work by attracting a movable ferrous armature into
the center of the solenoid coil when energized, the force of this attraction working to
actuate a small valve mechanism.

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Flow Coefficient Cv
▪ A constant (Cv) related to the geometry of a valve, for a
given travel, that can be used to establish flow capacity

▪ It is the number of U.S. gallons per minute of 60F water

that will flow through a valve with a one pound per
square inch pressure drop

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Cv Equation for Liquid Flow

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Control Valve Flow Characteristics
▪ The flow characteristic of a control valve is the relationship between
the flow rate through the valve and the valve travel as the travel is
varied from 0 to 100%.

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Trim Shapes for different Valve
Characteristics

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The Cv for linear and equal-percentage
control valve trims
▪ For Linear trim: 𝐶𝑣 = 𝑥 𝐶𝑣𝑚
▪ For Equal percentage trim: 𝐶𝑣 = 𝑅 𝑥−1 𝐶𝑣𝑚
Where,
𝐶𝑣 is Flow coefficient of control valve at stem position 𝑥
𝐶𝑣𝑚 is Flow coefficient of control valve while wide-open (𝑥 = 100%)
𝑥 is Stem position, as a per unit value (ranging from 0 to 1)
R is Rangeability coefficient of equal-percentage trim
◦ (rangeability, which (at constant ΔP) is the ratio of that Cvmax/Cvmin at
which the valve maintains its =% characteristics within 25%.)

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Quick Opening
▪ Rapid increase in flow capacity when valve begins to open

▪ Rate of change decreases as travel increases

▪ the quick opening valve plug is used primarily for on-off service

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 Linear
▪ Flow rate proportional to amount of travel
▪ Change in flow rate is constant with valve travel
▪ The linear valve plug is commonly specified for liquid level control and for
certain flow control applications requiring constant gain
▪ Valve gain is the magnitude ratio of the change in flow through the valve to
the change in valve travel under conditions of constant pressure drop
▪ Responds to input signal in a uniform fashion over the operating range
▪ A flow characteristic in which equal increments in valve opening cause equal
increment changes in Cv

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 Equal Percentage
▪ equal increments of valve travel produce equal percentage changes in the
existing flow
▪ Change in flow rate is always proportional to the flow rate just before the
change in valve position is made
▪ Rate of change in flow increases with increased travel
▪ At low % opening, low changes in flow rate
▪ At high % opening, high changes in flow rate
▪ A flow characteristic in which equal increments in the valve opening cause a
constant percentage increase in Cv

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Example
▪ In a certain service in chemical processing plant, water is
passing through a control valve across which the pressure
difference is 60 psi when the valve is fully opened.
▪ What is the valve flow coefficient Cv, if the flow rate was
40 gpm.
▪ What is the valve opening that pass a flow of 20 gpm in
the following two cases:
◦ Case 1: The valve has linear characteristic
◦ Case 2: The valve has equal percentage (Eq%)
characteristic with rangeability R=15

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Solution
▪ When the valve is 100% open , 𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 40 gpm
▪ ∆𝑃 = 60 𝑝𝑠𝑖
▪ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐺𝑓 = 1

𝐺𝑓
𝐶𝑣𝑚 = 𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥
∆𝑃

1
𝐶𝑣𝑚 = 40 = 5.16
60

Automatic Process Control

 Solution (cont’d.)
▪ When the valve is 100% open , 𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 40 gpm, 𝐶𝑣𝑚 = 5.16 gpm
▪ When Q=20 gpm:

◦ Case 1: The valve has linear characteristic, i.e. 𝐶𝑣 = 𝑥 𝐶𝑣𝑚

𝐶𝑣 𝑄 20 𝐶𝑣
𝑥= = = =
𝐶𝑣𝑚 𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥 40 5.16

𝑥 = 0.5, 𝐶𝑣 =2.58

◦ the valve opening that pass a flow of 20 gpm will be 50%

Linear psi out = 3 + (𝟏𝟐 × 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏% ሻ For an Air-to-open valve,

Corresponding to a pneumatic
signal of 9 psi

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Solution (cont’d.)
▪ When the valve is 100% open , 𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 40 gpm, 𝐶𝑣𝑚 = 5.16 gpm
▪ When Q=20 gpm:

◦ Case 2: The valve has equal percentage (Eq%) characteristic with

rangeability R=15
𝐶𝑣 = 𝑅 𝑥−1 𝐶𝑣𝑚
𝐶𝑣 = 15 𝑥−1 𝐶𝑣𝑚

𝑥−1
𝑄=𝑅 𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑥−1 𝑥−1
20 = 15 × 40 ; 0.5 = 15 ; ln(0.5ሻ = 𝑥 − 1 ln 15;

𝑥 = 0.744
▪ Hence; The Eq% valve will open 74.4% to pass a flow of Q = 20 gpm

For an Air-to-open valve,

Corresponding to a pneumatic
Automatic Process Control signal of 11.93 psi
 Some Control Valve Problems
▪ Flashing
▪ Cavitation
▪ Noise
▪ Leakage This is a required
research point
Please send it to the below email:
msalaheldin@yahoo.com
Put your full name and ID in the subject
An individual report is
required from all
students
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 Control Valve Selection
▪ Selection of a control valve body assembly requires particular
consideration to provide the best available combination of valve
body style, material, and trim construction design for the
intended service
For a certain application;
There are several possible correct choices
Therefore, it is important to provide Enough Information
to the control valve manufacturers

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Required Information for Control Valve Selection
1. Type of fluid to be controlled
2. Temperature of fluid, Viscosity of fluid, Specific gravity of fluid
3. Flow capacity required (max / min)
4. Inlet pressure at valve (max / min), Outlet pressure (max / min)
5. Pressure drop during normal flowing conditions , Pressure drop at shutoff
6. Maximum permissible noise level and the measurement reference point
7. Inlet and outlet pipeline size and schedule
8. Body Material (ASTM A216 grade WCC, ASTM A217 grade WC9, ASTM A351 CF8M, etc.)
9. End connections and valve rating (screwed, Class 600 RF flanged, Class 1500 RTJ flanges, etc.)
10. Action desired on air failure (valve to open, close, or retain last controlled position)
11. Instrument air supply available
12. Instrument signal (3 to 15 psig, 4 to 20 mA, Hart, etc.)