Innovative Control Technology

SPECIAL PRINT

Digitalization of Industrial Control ValvesPeter Arzbach
Monika Schneider
SAMSON AG1Special print

Digitalization of Industrial Control Valves
No development in the past decades has had such an impact on our lives as the growing opportunities of recording, saving, processing and exchanging data. We have automatically integrated new products and systems into our everyday lives, smartphones
and car navigation systems being the two most prominent examples. Traffic management systems used on our roads also impact
our lives. They digitally count cars and measure their speeds. These data are collected and analyzed together with weather data.
Based on these data, the maximum permissible speed on a certain stretch of road is determined to increase its “availability”.
Simple statements, such as there being heavy traffic on a road, are things of the past. The same development from analog todigital technology can also be seen for industrial control valves. In globe valves, for example, the valve stem position can be read
off the mounted travel indicator scale directly at the valve. The classic analog technology was developed in the 1960s: an analog
device defined the set point and possibly also fed it back but without including a microprocessor. Today, digitalization in the formof the positioner has made the control valve transparent by continuously collecting and assessing valve data and making themavailable for further use. This opens up opportunities for data analysis that also allow the control valve to be assessed. Together
with further information, conclusions can be drawn that go beyond mere analyses of the control valve‘s condition, which can ultimately be used to increase plant availability.

SAMSON, as a manufacturer of valves and valve accessories,
recognized the benefits brought about by the digitalization ofcontrol valves at an early stage in the development. Ever since,
the focus has been on this topic with SAMSON taking an activerole in its implementation and further development. Back in
1986, SAMSON already participated in a joint project set up
by different industrial companies to define a fieldbus for automation later to become PROFIBUS. Communication as it is offered by fieldbuses, for example, is essential to digitalization to2

forward collected data and/or data analyses. Currently, control
valves are digitized using valve accessories, mainly positioners.
In 1995, SAMSON introduced its first digital positioner withHART® communication to the market. In 2001, the Series 3730
Positioners were added to the product range. The series comprises positioners with integrated diagnostic firmware and different communication protocols. In 2012, the 75th annual general meeting of NAMUR was held with the focus on control
valve engineering. Dr. J. Kiesbauer, member of the SAMSON AG
executive board for R&D, gave the keynote speech, describing
the evolution from manually operated throttles to smart controlvalves. SAMSON made essential contributions to all stages incontrol valve development described in the speech.
Today, mainly control valves for challenging tasks are equippedwith positioners. Simpler valves, such as on/off valves for example, continue to be fitted with solenoid valves and/or limit
switches. Their digitalization has not progressed quite at thesame pace, even though SAMSON also offers digital solutions
for such cases, for example the digital Type 3738 Limit Switch.
The task for SAMSON is not only to meet the requirements for
digitally interlinking supply chains at the customers‘, but also todevelop innovative solutions, e.g. for industry 4.0 environments.
Control valves must be able to both transmit data to the entire
system as well as to receive them. There is still some catching up
to do in the digitalization of on/off valves to achieve the samelevel as for throttling valves. This is where benefits for businessstill need to be generated.
Digitalization allows control valves to be monitored around theclock. Variables that can directly be measured, such as the set

point, actual value, set point deviation or actuator pressure, cancontinuously be recorded and in the future, it will be possible tosupplement them with further information. SAMSON counts onover 100 years of experience in valve engineering and has accumulated the necessary know-how to analyze the collected
data and draw the right conclusions. The positioners alert operators of faults in or on the valve at an early stage. Messages
indicating, for example an internal leakage or defective actuator springs, do not require the operator to further analyze thetransmitted data. Together with the high-quality EXPERTplus
valve diagnostics integrated into the positioner, digitalization
increases plant availability as possible faults can be detected
and removed at an early stage. The objective for the future is toentirely prevent faults, for example by predictively stroking thevalves in the plant as well as by proactive maintenance management. This makes the associated data and analyses on thecontrol valves in the plant indispensable and provides an essential competitive edge. At SAMSON, the influence of digitalization goes far beyond the actual products: it has effects on allareas from production to after-sales services. As an innovativecompany, SAMSON is at the forefront of the evolution and new
development of valves and valve accessories. Modern aftersales services are based on data collected throughout the product life cycle, which allows maintenance on individual valvesand entire plants to be planned and performed systematically.
What happens with the collected data will be crucial for new
developments in the future. Digitalization is not an end in itself;
merely collecting and communicating data is not enough. Data
must be made available for further use. This requires separating

important from unimportant data and analyzing the gathereddata in a targeted way. To make reliable statements on thecondition of a valve, data analyses must be based on soundvalve knowledge. At SAMSON, the staff‘s know-how on valves,actuators and positioners as well as the customers‘ knowledgeof the processes are integrated into the EXPERTplus diagnosticfirmware. The undisputed benefit of such diagnostic results canbe increased many times over if they are integrated into theprocess as well as into plant and maintenance management.
On the one hand, this implies mastering the technical challenges, i.e. managing the amount of data and creating a uniform
communication interface. On the other hand, companies must
be prepared and willing to commit to a high degree of digitalization and define its limits. Which data do we want to be transparent? Are data sufficiently protected? How much of our corporate know-how do we want to become public knowledge?
We are already familiar with such and similar questions fromour private environment. SAMSON and the customers alsoneed to find answers to them to fully exploit all opportunities
presented by digitalization.

Authors:Peter Arzbach
SAMSON AG, Positioners and Control Valve Accessories
Monika Schneider
SAMSON AG, Technical Documentation
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Special print

4SAMSON AG · MESS- UND REGELTECHNIK · Weismüllerstraße 3 · 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Phone: +49 69 4009-0 · Fax: +49 69 4009-1507 · E-mail: samson@samson.de · Internet: www.samson.de
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2015-04 HD · WA 335 EN

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