Rotork, a global actuator manufacturer and flow control company with locations throughout the US, has received an order for 220 pneumatic actuators for the NASR Phase II full field development project in the UAE. The aim of the project is to increase the field’s oil production capacity to 65,000 bpd from the existing capacity of 22,000 bpd.
The order included spring-return pneumatic actuators to operate 30 inch and 36 inch Class 1500 ball valves, with the specification that the maximum actuator output torque at a design pressure of 9.4 bar should not be in excess of 90 percent of the valves’ maximum allowable stem torque (MAST).
Rotork engineers added a second pneumatic cylinder, mounted between the GP scotch yoke centre body and the spring-return cylinder. Both cylinders are pressurized in the same direction at the same time, so one delivers torque for valve movement, satisfying the valve MAST requirement, whilst the other independently applies the torque to compress the spring.