Opening and Closing Big Valves Within a Wastewater Treatment Plant

For townships and cities that maintain a central sewer system, it is important to treat the wastewater and make it safe for release back into the environment. The mechanical operations of flow control valves, actuators, circulation tanks and gates help treatment plants manage the flow of wastewater during this process.

Today, more Americans than ever believe in environmental protection. After all, there is no doubt that improper waste management leads to contamination and the spread of diseases. This makes it all the more important for municipalities to ensure they have full control over the flow of all substances in and out of these treatment plants.

Mistakes can be costly and valve failure must be prevented. This is just one of the many reasons so many municipalities rely on electric actuators over hydraulic or pneumatic actuators.

A Brief History of Waste Treatment

In 1948, Congress signed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to address the contamination of water supply systems. As awareness grew in America, it created enough momentum to pass the 1972 Clean Water Act. Not only do homes and businesses need to abide by the 1972 law, but municipalities need to as well.

Since then, there have been several amendments to strengthen the law and to provide more leeway to the EPA to implement programs aimed at solving pollution problems. Wastewater treatment plays a significant role in this goal.

The Needs of the Treatment Plant

Municipality maintenance crews are beholden to check and maintain the integrity of the rotary actuators for valves and gates that help to manage the flow of water and wastewater sludge. Periodic testing is mandatory to help keep the system stable. The flow of wastewater through primary and secondary clarifiers must not be impeded upon and the cleaning of debris and grit screens daily ids a must. The chlorination process works best when the majority of heavy particulates are removed before chlorination. Often the controls for butterfly valves is what impedes water flow, especially if older hydraulic equipment is not well maintained. These pages do a good job defining what is a hydraulic actuator and what is a pneumatic actuator.

Each treatment plant is different and should be evaluated as an independent unit. However, all treatment plants prioritize the release of safe substances back into the environment well after the dichlorination process and final filtering with sodium bisulfate. Problems occur when there is faulty equipment in the flow of water and sludge water. This flow requires the use of heavy-duty valves built to handle wastewater that may also hold suspended solids and reliable actuators for wastewater treatment applications. The valves, in turn, need the right controls to ensure maximum precision.

The Importance of Precision

When it comes to wastewater management, engineers and operators must be able to maintain the controls for these butterfly valves and wastewater gates. Selecting a good valve actuator manufacturer to evaluate the needs before selecting the right equipment can help. Opening and closing these big valves requires not just the right equipment from a reputable valve actuator manufacturer to stand behind their equipment.

Even a small glitch can wreak havoc. For shut off valves that workers may control manually, opening and closing at the wrong time may not only lead to contamination but valve damage.

The Role of Actuators in Productivity Growth

The United States economy relies heavily on the manufacturing industry. The production of commercial goods, exports and the abundance of jobs helps this country thrive. Last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over the last decade, growth in manufacturing productivity only increased an average of 0.7% versus an astounding 4.3% the previous decade.

Industry leaders strive for improvement through upgrades in factory machinery and manufacturing techniques. One example of these efforts is the implementation of actuators in valve operation.

How Do Valves Work With Actuators?

Valves are responsible for controlling the amount of air or fluid that is directed into various parts of the machine. Although valves can be opened and closed manually, there are benefits to using automated solutions.

Actuators can be programmed, decreasing the risk of human error. In emergency situations, they can automatically revert to an open or closed position, depending on which is safest for that particular machine. Not only does this neutralize a dangerous situation automatically, but it removes a human worker from a potentially threatening position.

There are many different applications for actuators in the manufacturing and industrial space. Many factories are switching from pneumatic rotary actuators to electric actuators, because electric models tend to be more reliable and require less maintenance. Electric actuators also operate with greater accuracy.

Why Do Actuators Increase Productivity?

Production lines are often precise processes that rely on a narrow margin of error. When one stage of the operation breaks down, the entire workflow breaks down. Lost time means smaller manufacturing yields and less profitability; this can put a factory way behind schedule and cause it to fail to meet demands on time.

Actuators have the ability to automate valve operation, resulting in fewer human errors. A facility that can operate for more hours throughout the day has the potential to produce greater volumes of goods. Larger manufacturing operations help contribute to the U.S.’s GNP, which ultimately helps the economic forecasts.

How Can You Help Improve the Numbers? The use of industrial actuators for boilers is most common in the metal manufacturing sector. Often a more compact rotary actuator is required when dealing with manufacturing equipment. Conversion to electric actuators can do the same job of its counterparts with added benefits to the environment. To start the process of upgrading your own factory equipment, reach out to a valve actuator manufacturer that has a good engineering team to help configure a solution for your application.

What is an Actuator? And What Kind Do I Need?

Shopping for the right components for your automatic control processes means weighing the needs of the system in terms of performance against both the costs and the timing demands necessary to produce it to order. This means that when you are designing those systems, you need actuators with the precision to meet your quality control specifications and the speed to keep your entire system in balance.

What is an actuator? It’s the part of the system that executes, or actuates, the command from the control to perform a mechanical action. There are several kinds, and they are involved in everything from automated manufacturing processes to boiler control for power plants and heating systems, wastewater treatment, and many more applications.

Flow Control Valve Actuators

Fluid control systems allow for everything from the treatment of a city’s water and wastewater to the regulation of building heating systems and even the power plants that run entire cities. To do this, they depend on flow control valves and the actuators that control them. The rise of automated systems across industries has led to growth projections in the demand for actuators that see expansion clear to 2023.

Finding the Right Actuators

What is an actuator good for if it is less reliable than having a manual operator? This is the limiting factor in many processes that prevent their automation. If you’re looking for an actuator manufacturer in the USAwhose product offers a level of speed and precision unmatched by other models, you need an actuator that performs consistently.

• Responsive

• Precise

• Instantaneously responds to control systems

That way, you’re going to be able to deliver a consistent performance throughout the fluid control system you’re designing or updating. It’s also important to remember the shipping costs and times associated with suppliers. If you’re in the USA, it’s a good idea to find an electric actuator manufacturer in the USA.

Learn More About Actuator Options

All industry analysis points to the continued rise of automation in many industrial processes, from the extraction of resources to the production of energy and manufactured goods. It contains costs, increases output, and allows businesses to do more with the same resources. That is driving a push to automate more and more industries.

You should consider working with the kind of supplier who constantly asks the right questions and then delivers answers that have the best, most relevant and well thought-out solutions for your infrastructure. Harold Beck and Sons has been making flow control valve actuators for a variety of applications since 1936 and continues to improve upon an already strong product line.

Figuring Out Which Actuator is Right for Our Needs

An actuator is designed to control the flow of liquids, gases, steam through a mechanical system. The actuator device more often than not receives a control signal electronically that instructs a motor to power the valve or damper system to open, close or partially move based upon the flow control needs of that mechanical system. There is a great answer to the question “What is an Actuator” here on this page. In industrial applications such as petroleum processing, building mechanical systems, metal manufacturing and even the creation of electricity in power plants, the systems involved are very different and the actuator types can vary greatly.

Flow Control Valve Actuators

Automated systems require a variety of process changes to build products, from assembly and fabrication actions like gluing parts together or drilling holes in them to fluid control systems that blend ingredients in chemical processes. They act by controlling the rate of flow through valves in the system, introducing raw materials at the right speed to move them through the rest of the manufacturing process. Actuators use a variety of methods, including electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic action. They ensure raw materials do not enter pressure and temperature-controlled parts of their treatment process in ways that disrupt the necessary chemical reactions. They also provide the control necessary for activities like bottling.

Finding the Right Actuators

An actuator needs to be more reliable than humans and built to withstand repetitious movements, often during harsh environments. Automating monotonous tasks like opening and closing of valves has been around since the industrial revolution. When looking for an actuator manufacturer in the USA whose product offers a level of speed and precision unmatched by other models, you need to look hard at the manufactures quality manufacturing  processes and commitment to excellence. An actuator needs to perform consistently for years to come. It should be:

• Responsive

• Precise

• Instantaneously responds to control systems

Learn More About Actuator Options

All industry analysis points to the continued rise of automation in manufacturing. It contains costs, increases output, and allows businesses to do more with the same resources. In the end, it looks almost certain that companies who don’t resolve to build automatic systems as they become available for new procedures will be outpaced by the competition. Your supplier should have a knowledgeable engineering team that can answer your tough questions and an online resource library of flow control valve actuators, diagrams and answers to commonly asked questions.

Not only do top electric actuator manufacturers constantly offer new products to meet the changing needs of the industries they serve, they should also of a rapid response actuator repair service that can step up in case of emergencies. There can big dollars at stake when an actuator fails.