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technology spotlight
ontrol valves have drawn more and more attention in recent valve stem to feel the motion of the valve. This technique was,
years, and modern diagnostic technologies and techniques
certainly, more of an art than a science. Determining whether the
are helping them shine under this increased scrutiny.
motion of the valve was normal required a unique skill set and
For many years, end-users focused on infrastructure-related
significant experience. And unless the valves motion was jerky
assets, invested in advanced process control system equipment,
(sticking and slipping), this technique provided no clues as to
and, following the tragedy of 9/11, tightened plant security.
what might be wrong with the valve.
Meanwhile, control valves, while essential, were line items buried
Veteran technicians also will recall using pencil and paper to
in the maintenance budget.
record pressure readings from the gauge on a valves actuator
The script is different today, however, thanks to global comand valve positions from a dial caliper. These readings would then
petition and growing pressure to increase profits, boost plant
be used to calculate friction and spring range.
performance, and improve process reliability. The final control
element has a direct impact on a facilitys operational excellence
Valve Diagnostics Timeline: 1980s
a combination of profitability, plant efficiency, quality, and safety The 1980s saw the introduction of computers and portable data
putting it squarely on the radar screens of maintenance teams
acquisition systems into process control facilities. These portable
and reliability and process control engineers.
systems (Figure 1) used external sensors to measure the forces
This, in turn, has made valve diagnostics more important than
generated by a valves actuator and used a travel sensor to meaever. To keep a plants control valves performing optimally, the
sure the valves motion. It was the birth of the valve signature
end-user must be able to monitor each
concept.
valves performance and have actionable
These portable valve diagnostic tools
information to use in identifying which
were (and still are) highly effective for valivalves require maintenance, accurately
dating the health of a control valve before
diagnosing valve problems, and planning
putting it in service or for verifying a valves
maintenance activities. And they need to
condition post-repair. They also are still
have this information in hand before valve
successfully used to diagnose the health of
problems impact process performance.
control valves equipped with analog posiDiagnostic methodologies and technolotioners.
gies for control valves have evolved greatly
These tools are not, however, userin the past 20 years with the advent of
friendly. The diagnostic process is timemicroprocessor-based valve positioners
consuming, taking at least one hour per
and the introduction of user-friendly ways
valve. Personnel must be specially trained
to integrate the information into the superin installing the sensors. Analyzing the data
visory system. This article will review the
so that it becomes actionable information
milestones in this evolution and describe
involves significant number-crunching.
Personnel may be required to enter potenhow online valve diagnostics (OVD) can help
Figure 1. The 1980s saw the introduction of
tially hazardous areas to conduct tests. And
improve process integrity by giving operaportable data acquisition systems that used
tions personnel the information they need to external sensors to measure the forces gener- using these tools is more disruptive than
using newer options, as it requires that the
address problems early, before they become ated by a valves actuator and a travel sensor
process be shut down or the control valve
major issues. It also will discuss the various to measure the valves motion.
bypassed.
types of diagnostic information that can be
provided by digital valve positioners and explain how to integrate
Valve Diagnostics Timeline: 1990s
this information with a plant asset management solution.
The 1990s were marked by the introduction of microprocessors
Valve Diagnostics Timeline: Pre-1980
placed inside valve positioners the birth of digital valve posiPrior to the 1980s, control valves could not be monitored remote- tioners (DVPs). This decade also saw a transition from proprietary
ly and diagnosing a problem valve involved the use of mechanical field communication protocols to open digital communication
tools and techniques that could only be mastered through extenstandards such as the HART Protocol, the Foundation fieldbus,
sive hands-on experience.
and PROFIBUS.
It was not uncommon to see a technician apply a finger to a
The new DVPs had embedded sensors to measure the pressure
August 2011
FC-0811-FB.1.indd 22
Flow Control
8/26/11 10:06 AM
By Sandro Esposito
moving the actuator and a travel sensor to track valve motion. This
made them significantly more user-friendly, because the end-user
did not need to complete any mechanical setup in order to measure
the force that moved the valve and track the valves actual position.
In addition, the new DVPs allowed embedded test routines, in
which the positioner would modulate the valve while measuring data
from embedded sensors. This essentially eliminated the need for
portable data acquisition systems, allowing the masses to make their
own signatures. Yet skills in analyzing signatures were still necessary
and the tests were as intrusive as those completed with portable
diagnostic tools.
There also was no open standard that all valve manufacturers
used to analyze the signature results and display them to the
end-user. Each manufacturer had its own proprietary software
that required additional hardware and software if the user wanted
to remotely access the data. Equipment from various manufacturers could not be easily integrated, creating islands of information that were frustrating and costly to use and support.
technology spotlight
Offline
Diagnostics
Continuous
Diagnostics
Online Valve
Diagnostics
DVP Condition
Runtime Information
DVP Performance
Seat Profile
Seat Load
Static Performance
Packing Condition
Bellows Condition
Guide Friction
Spring Adjustment
Spring Integrity
Feedback Linkage
Air Leak
Dynamic Performance
Historical KPIs
Shutoff Classification
Figure 2. This diagnostics capabilities checklist summarizes the various
facets of valve performance and condition that can be monitored using
each of the three flavors of diagnostics technologies. All three types of
information are necessary to get a complete picture of a valves health.
Diagnostics cannot assess seat leakage (shutoff classification); it can only
be tested by closing the valve and measuring the flow going through it.
Manager). Prior to the introduction of such standards, the integration of field device diagnostics was complex and required
significant engineering because each vendor had proprietary,
standalone solutions. With EDDL and DTM, the diagnostics provided by DVPs are easily integrated with control systems and asset
management software that support such standards. The user can,
therefore, access the digital positioners diagnostics with commercially available software and without the need for software
engineering.
In cases in which the host system does not support EDDL or
DTM, the end-user can still integrate the information via the OPC
(OLE for Process Control) standard. OPC is a communication
protocol allowing the exchange of data between computers and
between software. It creates a pipeline to move data between
a computer (the server) that is connected digitally to the DVP and
the computer (the client) that uses the raw data to generate and
present the diagnostics.
The integration of diagnostics is straightforward with control
systems that embed the HART Protocol, Foundation fieldbus, or
PROFIBUS. These systems have an architecture in which diagnostic information is passed from a DVP to a user interface.
In the case of older systems that still use an analog signal,
such as 4-20mA, the DVPs diagnostic data cannot be communicated through the host systems architecture because the
systems analog output channels are not capable of reading
the HART data. The emergence of wireless standards, such as
WirelessHART and ISA100, bridge that gap by allowing the data to
be wirelessly communicated from the DVP to a centralized data
acquisition computer.
When it comes to presenting the information to
the user, there are two primary industry standards
for doing so in a common fashion, regardless of
the DVPs manufacturer ISA SP75.26 and NAMUR
NE 107. ISA SP75.26 applies to offline diagnostics,
defining the terminology for valve diagnostics and
the graphical representations of valve signatures.
NAMUR NE 107 applies to continuous and online
diagnostics. It categorizes various possible asset
conditions and their severities and uses a set of color-coded symbols to communicate these statuses
(Figure 4). The same symbols are used for devices
made by various manufacturers, making them easily
recognized and interpreted much like the Check
Engine light on a cars dashboard.
www.ge-energy.com
Figure 4. The NAMUR NE 107 standard categorizes various possible asset conditions and
their severities and uses a set of color-coded symbols to communicate these statuses. The
same symbols are used for devices made by various manufacturers, making them easily
recognized and interpreted much like the Check Engine light on a cars dashboard.
August 2011
9/6/11 1:52 PM