Workingcontrolvalue

Calibratecurrenttopressuretransducers(I/P),valve
positioners,andcontrolvalves.
Temperature,pressure,level,andflowinstrumentsallsenseaprocessparameterandproduceasignalforindicationor
controllerinput.
Ifwewanttocontrolaprocessparameter,thecontrolleroutputmustconverttoasignalthatcantranslatetoandsubsequently
driveacontrolvalve.Thecontrolvalveisafinalcontrolelement.Afinalcontrolelementisanydeviceorelementthat
changesthevalueofamanipulatedvariable.Valvesandheatersarecommonexamples.Let'slookatcontrolvalvesandthe
devicesthatprocessthesignalsuppliedtothecontrolvalve.

Achievetheprogrammed
Inthisillustrationyoucanseethecontrolleroutputsendsanelectronicsignaltothecurrenttopressuretransducer(I/P),
whichsendsapneumaticsignaltothecontrolvalve.
Thecontrolvalvepositionchangesinresponsetothesignaltoadjustflowtothesetpoint.Astheflowchanges,itissensedby
theflowtransmitter.Whentheflowsensedisequaltosetpoint,thevalvepositionremainsthesame.Anytimethereisa
disturbancetothesystemorachangeinsetpoint,theflowcontrolloopautomaticallyrespondstoachievetheprogrammed
setpoint.Ablockdiagramofthisconceptishere.
ThefinalcontrolelementcanbeproportionalcontrolorONOFFcontrol.ForONOFFcontrol,acontrolleroutputrelay
changesthestateoftherelaycontact,whichcompletesthecircuitforasolenoidvalvetoenergize.Thesolenoidvalveopens
toallowairtoopen(orclose)acontrolvalve.
Thefirstcomponentinthefinalcontrolsubsystemisthesignalconditioner.Thesignalconditioneramplifiesand,ifnecessary,
convertsthesignalforcompatibilitywiththeactuator.
Typicaldevicesusedassignalconditionersincludecurrenttopneumatictransducers,currenttovoltage(I/E)transducers,
amplifiers(electronicorpneumatic),relays,digitaltoanalogconverters,oranalogtodigitalconverters.Themostcommon
signalconditionerinaproportionalcontrolloopisanI/Ptransducer.
AtypicalI/Ptransducerisaforcebalancedeviceinwhichacoilsuspendsandhangsinthefieldofamagnet.Currentflowing
throughthecoilgeneratesaxialmovementofthecoil,whichcausesmovementofthebeam.Thebeamcontrolsthe
backpressureagainstthenozzlebycontrollingtherestrictionofairflowthroughthenozzle.Thisbackpressureactsasapilot
pressuretocontroltheoutletpressure.
Thezeroadjustmentcausesthebeamtomoverelativetothenozzle.Thespanadjustmentisapotentiometerthatlimitsthe
currentthroughthecoil.TheI/Ptransducermustbesuppliedwithinstrumentairwithintherangespecifiedbythe
manufacturer,usuallyatleast20psig.
ThetypicalI/Ptransduceriscalibratedfora420mAinput=315psigoutput.MostI/Ptransducerscanbeconfiguredfor
directaction(outputpressureincreasesasinputsignalincreases)orreverseaction(outputpressuredecreasesasinput
signalincreases).

Mechanicallytothevalve
Thenextcomponentinthefinalcontrolsubsystem,ifapplicable,istheactuator.Theactuatorreceivestheconditionedsignal

andchangesittosomeformofmechanicalenergyormotion.
Typicaldevicesusedasactuatorsincludesolenoids,pneumaticvalvepositioners,ACandDCmotors,steppermotors,
hydraulicmotors,andhydraulicpistons.Manycontrolvalvesincludeapneumaticvalvepositioner.
Avalvepositionerisadeviceusedtoincreaseordecreasetheairpressure(fromtheI/P)operatingthecontrolvalveactuator.
Positionersusuallymounttothecontrolvalveactuatorandconnectmechanicallytothevalvestemforpositionindication.

Apositionerisatypeofairrelay,whichactstoovercomehysteresis,packingboxfriction,andeffectsofpressuredropacross
thevalve.Itassuresexactpositioningofthevalvestemandprovidesfinercontrol.Therearemanytypesofpositioners.The
basicprinciplesofoperationaresimilarforalltypes.
Theinstrumentpressure(fromanI/P,forexample)actsontheinputmodule,whichcontrolstheflappernozzlesystemofthe
relay.Supplypressureappliestotherelayandtheoutputpressureoftherelaygoestothecontrolvalveactuator.
Mostpositionerscansetupandfunctionfordirectorreverseaction.Foradirectactingpositioner,increasingtheinstrument
pressurecausestheinputmoduletopivotthebeam.Thebeampivotstheflapperandrestrictsthenozzle.Thenozzle
pressureincreasesandcausestherelayassemblytoincreaseoutputpressuretotheactuator.
Withadirectactingactuator,theincreasedpressuremovestheactuatorstemdownward.Thepositionerconnects
mechanicallytothestemofthevalve.Stemmovementfeedsbacktothebeambymeansofafeedbackleverandrange
spring,whichcausestheflappertopivotslightlyawayfromthenozzletopreventfurtherincreaseinrelayoutputpressure.
NotethatsomepositionersacceptamilliampinputandincludeanintegralI/Ptransducer.

Thelastcomponentinthefinalcontrolsubsystemisthefinalcontrolelement.Let'slookatcontrolvalves(Otherfinalcontrol
elementsincludeservovalves,heaters,conveyors,augerfeeds,andhoppergates.).
Therearemanydifferenttypes,sizes,andapplicationsforcontrolvalves.Selectingthecorrectcontrolvalveforaspecific
applicationiscrucialtopropersystemperformance.Undersizingandoversizingarecommonproblems.
Therearemanyvaluableresourcesavailabletoassistwithproperselection,nottheleastofwhichisacontrolvalvesales
engineer.Here'satypicalcontrolvalve.

Thepneumaticsignalfromthepositioner(orI/Pifapositionerisnotused)appliesdirectlytotheactuator.Forthiscontrol
valve,theairentersabovethediaphragmandpushesagainstspringpressuretoclosethevalve.Thevalvefullycloseswhen
theplugseatstightlyagainsttheseatring.
Asairpressuredecreases,thespringpressurecausesthediaphragm,stem,andplugtomoveupward,openingthevalve.
Thismeansalossofpressurewouldcausethevalvetoopen.Thisisafailopenvalve.
Differentconfigurationsofairinlet,springlocation,andvalveseatarrangementresultindifferentfailpositionsanddetermine
whetherthevalveisdirectorreverseacting.Forexample,thissamevalve,withtheplugbelowtheseatring(reverse
seated),wouldopenwithincreasedairpressureandwouldfailclosedonlossofairpressure.

So,allcomponentsinthefinalcontrolsubsystemmustbeconfiguredcorrectlyforthesystemtoworkproperly.Thefailsafe
positionsmustbecorrectfortheapplication,andtheactionmustproducethedesiredresults.Theseconfigurationsmustbe
properlydocumentedandutilizedduringcalibration,loopchecks,ortroubleshooting.

AttuneI/Ptransducer
ThefigurebelowshowsthesetupforabenchcalibrationofanI/Ptransducer.Theairsupplyconnectedtotheinputmustbe
inaccordancewithmanufacturer'sspecification(typicallybetween20100psig).

Thepressurestandardconnectstotheairoutlet,andamAsimulatorconnectstothecurrentinput.ItisimportantfortheI/P
transducertobeorientedthesamewayastheinstalledpositioninthefield.Achangeinorientationwillintroduceerrorin
mostI/Ptransducers.
Ifthecalibrationtakesplaceinthefield,oneusestheexistingsupplyair.Itisconvenienttoteeintotheairoutletsoonecan
checkthecontrolvalvepositionatthesametime.Ofcourse,youneedtoensurethesystemisinasafeconditionbeforeyou
openandclosethevalve.
Oncethesetupisestablished,applythemAinputsforeachdesiredtestpoint,suchas4.0,8.0,12.0,16.0,and20.0mA.
Recordthecorrespondingoutletpressureateachtestpoint.Fora420mAinput=315psigoutputI/P,thecorresponding
outputswouldbe3.0,6.0,9.0,12.0,and15.0psig.
Somefacilitiesadjustthe0%testpointsoaslightlyhighermAinputresultsinthe0%output.Forexample,4.10mAmay
resultina3.0psigoutput.Thisensuresthevalveisintheclosedstatewithacontrolleroutputof4.0mA.
Uponascertainingtheasfoundreadings,evaluatetheresultsagainsttherequiredspecification.Ifrequired,performzeroand
spanadjustmentsuntilnofurtheradjustmentisrequired.Then,repeatalltestpointstorecordasleftreadings.
ManyorganizationsdonotrequireperiodiccalibrationofI/Ptransducers,positioners,orcontrolvalves.Thejustificationisthe
controlsignalwilladjusttheoutputuntiltherequiredsetpointisachievedbasedontheprocessmeasurement.Thisistrue,
butyouwanttomakesuretheoutputloopisperformingcorrectly.Thebestwaytodosoistocheckthecalibration
periodically.

Calibratevalvepositioner
CalibrationofthevalvepositionercanbeperformedatthesametimeastheI/Pinaloopcalibration.Simplyteeinthe
pressuremoduleattheI/PoutletintheI/Pcalibration.Recordthevalvepositionateachtestpoint.
Ifcalibratingthevalvepositionerseparately,connectaninputtestpressureregulatororhandpump,andmonitortheinput
pressureappliedwithapressurestandard.Ifthereisnosupplyair,connecttherequiredsupplyairtothepositioner.Apply
thepressureforthedesiredtestpointsandrecordvalveposition.
Forexample,assumeourvalvepositioneris315psiginput=0100%valveposition.Inthiscase,apply3.0,6.0,9.0,12.0,
and15.0psig.Theexpectedvalvepositionsshouldbe0,25,50,75,and100%,respectively.
Thevalvepositionindicatoronthestemusuallymarksoffin5%or10%increments.Therefore,abestestimateofthevalve
positionmaybeallyoucanobtain.Inothercases,avalvepositiondetectorprovidesaremoteindicationtoaDCS.Insuch
cases,ensurebothindicatorsareworkingproperly.
Manyorganizationsdonotrequirecalibrationofvalvepositionersforthesereasons.There'smuchdocumentationthatcontrol
valvepositionerperformanceisresponsibleforsignificantlossinsystemefficiencyand,therefore,increasedcosts.
Toprovideguidanceonmethodsfortestingpositionersandcontrolvalveperformance,ISAhasdevelopedastandard,
ANSI/ISA75.25.012000,TestProcedureforControlValveResponseMeasurementforStepInputs.
Astocontrolvalvecalibration,theprocessissimilartopositionercalibrationinthatoneappliesapressuresignaltothe
actuatorandthentalliestheresultingvalveposition.Thisstepcantakeplacewiththepositionercalibration,ifapplicable,and
itcanhappeninconjunctionwithI/Pcalibration.
Remembertoensurethesystemisinasafeconditionifperformingthecalibrationinthefield.Inaddition,knowthecorrect
action,directorreverse,andfailpositionbeforestarting.CE
NicholasSheble(nsheble@isa.org)editstheCertificationdepartmentforInTechmagazine.ThisarticleisfromMichael
Cable'sbookCalibration:ATechnician'sGuide,ISAPress2005.CableisaLevel3CertifiedControlSystemTechnicianand
isthevalidationmanageratArgosTherapeutics.