Control Valve

Actuator
Pneumatic Hydraulic Electromechanical motor

Valve Body
Changes clearance between plug and seat available for flow Thus alters flow Design decides valve characteristics

Fig.2: AIR OPERATED DIAPHRAGM CONTROL VALVE

Fig. 3: COMPONENTS OF A CONTROL VALVE

Control Valve
Should respond accurately to change in signal Operate over a wide range of flows Exhibit little dead time Exhibit little hysteresis React to incremental changes in signal (resolution) Respond with appropriate speed (stroking speed) Offer acceptable mechanical/hydraulic behavior (noise, vibrations, unbalanced forces, pressure drop, etc.)

Control Valve Basics

Inherent Valve Characteristics
Depends on valve geometry Independent of flow characteristics Flow rate v lift at constant P

Installed Valve Characteristics

Flow rate v lift at actual P Coupled with characteristics of elements in the flow circuit Could be very different from installed characteristics

Inherent Valve Characteristics

The flow rate through a control valve is given by
q Ca ( p p ) 1 2

where, q is flow rate p1 is upstream pressure p2 is downstream pressure C is flow coefficient is density a is area available for flow

 Valve designs differ in the way a is related to x, the fraction of valve stroke. The a-x relationship decides the q-x relationship. Standard q-x relationships are:
Linear Equal percentage Square root

Linear Characteristics
q / qmax = x
Where, x = fraction of total valve stroke = 0, fully closed valve = 1, fully open valve qmax = maximum flow (q at x = 1)

Equal Percentage
d (q/qmax) / dx = k (q/qmax) (q/qmax) = (qmin/qmax) at x = 0 (q/qmax) = (qmax/qmax) =1, at x = 1 (q/qmax) = (qmin/qmax) (qmax/qmin)x

Square Root
d (q/qmax) / dx = k / (q/qmax) (q/qmax) = 0 at x = 0 (q/qmax) = 1, at x = 1 (q/qmax) = x

Fig. 5: CONTROL VALVE CHARACTERISTICS

Choice of Valve
Process considerations become important in selection of proper inherent valve characteristics.
Temperature Control of HX outlet temperature Constant terminal pressure circuit Pump circuit with constant source-sink pressures

Valve-system combination (installed valve) should have linear characteristics or constant gain while each could separately have nonlinear behavior

Fig.6: BLOCK DIAGRAM - TEMPERATURE CONTROL SCHEME

Fig.7: VALVE FLOW CIRCUIT - CONSTANT TERMINAL PRESSURES

Fig. 8: PRESSURE DROP PROFILE

Fig. 9a

Fig. 9B

Fig. 10: FLOW CIRCUIT WITH DUMP

Fig. 11: PRESSURE PROFILE

Fig. 13: NOMOGRAPH FOR SIZING CONTROL VALVES

Selection Heuristics
Choose Valve with Linear Inherent Characteristics
For liquid level or flow control service When P across valve is expected to be fairly constant When major portion of system P (i.e. across process and valve together) is across control valve

Selection Heuristics
Choose Valve with Equal Percentage Inherent Characteristics
For temperature control service For pressure control service When major portion of system P (i.e. across process and valve together) is across control valve

Valve Heuristics
The valve gain should be > 0.5 everywhere Use only 10-80% of the stroke for better control Pressure drop in CV in steam lines to turbines, reboilers or process vessels should be 10% of the design pressure of the steam system or 5 psi, whichever is greater.

Valve Heuristics
If static pressure is the moving force for liquid transport from one vessel to other, allocate 10% of the lower terminal vessel pressure to CV or 50% of the dynamic pressure loss, whichever is higher For CV in a suction or discharge line of a centrifugal compressor, allocate 5% of suction pressure or 50% dynamic to CV.

Valve Heuristics
In a pump circuit, pressure drop allocation to CV should be 33% of the dynamic losses in the system at rated flow or 15 psi, whichever is larger. Do not recommend 1 size lower if it means significantly different CV size as compared to line size.

Valve Noise
Caused by vibrations, cavitation, high velocity pressure oscillations, unsteady flow etc. Typically 100 dB Normal conversation 60 dB Pain threshold of ear-drums : 130 dB Convey noise specs of process to supplier.