Industry: Process / Oil & Gas

Valve Calibration & Positioning System

Accuracy, functionality and availability are critical for process control. This is especially true in the oil & gas sector. Overhauled valves must undergo checks to ensure that they perform to specification. Be it in terms of movement timing or position control. Failure to do so could cause process upsets at the least, or catastrophic loss of control at the worst.

The customer worked together with Red Vector to design a system to measure the timing to open and close critical valves which have been overhauled. The system included a timer and inductive valve positioning sensor to consistently and accurately measure the time. Previous measurements were manual and relied on a technician to manually time the opening and closing of the valve. This resulted in inconsistencies between results. Repeatability was non-existent.

Red Vector provided a customized automated solution which increased productivity and repeatability. The inductive sensor complied to ISO 5211 and was fixed in the same position regardless of valve type for each testing. Valve open and closing positions could thus be accurately detected. The two signals were sent to a timer in the panel, which accurately and consistently measured the valve time of travel.

Red Vector solution enabled the digital transformation of such a manual process. Although it was a simple innovation, the valve calibration and positioning system greatly increased our customer’s effectiveness in delivering quality assurance to his end user.