Reducing Valve Operation Costs With Smart Valve Positioners

Control valves are critical components in almost every process, and one of the most expensive. Between the compressed air driving your pneumatic actuators and the regular maintenance on the valve assemblies themselves, many factors contribute to the continual costs of keeping your process up and running. 

Valve positioners bleed air by design, and different positioning technologies utilize compressed air in different ways. Using a positioner’s bleed rate, these costs can be quantified, and the annual costs may surprise you. How do the different technologies compare? Are there other ways to reduce air consumption? 

Control valve maintenance contributes significantly to a valve assembly’s lifetime costs, but it can be difficult to optimize. With smart positioner technology and digital communications, maintenance plans can be transitioned from reactive to predictive, and diagnostic data can make it easier to detect valve anomalies that need to be serviced quickly.

Incorporating options specifically designed for the oil and gas industry, the SIPART family of positioners from Siemens is a solid choice to boost the performance of your control valves and reduce overall costs.