Kinitics Automation, a Vancouver-based startup founded in 2017, has commercially launched its KVA38 valve, which is an actuator that uses electricity and shape memory alloys to activate valves in the oil and gas sectors, as well as in the chemical and aerospace sectors.
Every time a pneumatic valve at a natural gas well is triggered, a puff of natural gas is released, which is bad for the environment, since methane’s global warming potential is so much higher than CO2. There are thousands of such wells in B.C. and other natural gas producing regions, so these thousands of small releases can add up to a big problem for a sector that faces increasing regulatory controls on methane emissions.
Central to the Kinitics Automation actuators are assemblies created from bundled wires made from shape memory alloys. They are activated using electricity, which causes them to change shape. When they change shape, it opens or closes a valve. However, if there is a power failure, the valve will close automatically, based on temperature changes, unlike motorized valves.
Courtesy of BIV.