ARC recently released an “ARC insights” on “Intelligent Valve controllers Improve Plant Efficiency and Safety”
http://www.arcweb.com/strategy-reports/2014-04-24/intelligent-valve-controllers-improve-plant-efficiency-and-safety.aspx
The ARC study has a focus on On-Off valves in general purpose service and notes that as plants are working to improve profitability “Many are turning to predictive maintenance to help reduce maintenance costs” and that “Intelligent field devices are a key piece to implementing a successful predictive maintenance strategy”. ARC also notes “the latest trend is to install intelligent valve controllers on critical automated On-Off valves to bring some of the diagnostic benefits commonly available with control valves to automated On-Off valves”. The reason being that On-Off valve controllers have “diagnostic features and communications that can help end users move from a reactive to a predictive maintenance strategy” that “can help plants avoid costly unplanned downtime and improve valve reliability, which can translate into millions of dollars of savings for manufacturers”. ARC notes that the majority of the On-Off valves currently in service are "dumb" and cannot provide asset health or connect to digital plant communications for online diagnostics. As a result have no visibility into the health of their On-Off valves
Traditionally On-Off valves are automated with a solenoid valve and two proximity switches. However, new plants often deploy two-wire intelligent On-Off valve controllers like the TopWorx Valvetop DXP (http://www.topworx.com/) as well as the FieldQ (http://www.fieldq.com/) instead. Existing plants can be modernized using wireless On-Off valve controllers like the Fisher 4320:
http://www2.emersonprocess.com/en-US/brands/fisher/FieldInstrumentation/valveaccessories/Position%20Transmitter/4320/Pages/4320.aspx
On-off valves applications, such as Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) or filter backwash/blowback, work very hard and are cycled On-Off frequently, so they should see more wear-and-tear on both valve and actuator parts. On-off valve controllers have on-board diagnostics like open and close travel time, which can be trended to detect deteriorating valve performance, reversal counters used to estimate wear and tear, as well as temperature monitoring. The diagnostics is communicated to the asset management system.
What are common problems with On-Off valves used in general purpose service operations, such as emptying and filling tanks, backwash and blow-back of filters, loading and unloading, and sequencing of equipment and products in batch applications?
Here's an article on the topic of intelligent on-off valves. See page 18
www.ceasiamag.com/.../1407.asp
There are some illustrations so you can see what they look like in case you have not seen one before
In reply to Jonas Berge:
This article is now available in an easier to read HTML page format:
www.ceasiamag.com/.../10661
"how intelligent on-off valves, in conjunction with asset management software, can help reduce unnecessary valve inspection, speed up valve overhaul, and enable shorter turnarounds to be planned in plants."