Emerson’s Fieldvue DVC6200 series digital valve controller has racked up more than 1 billion hours of on-line use within the process and energy industries since its introduction in 2010.
Steve Hagen, Fieldvue product manager, credited the instrument’s linkage-less, non-contact feedback system as one reason behind the milestone.
“We’ve eliminated physical contact between valve stem and the instrument, which means it can withstand the high levels of vibration and corrosion often found in process environments,” he says.
For instance, in China, at one of the world’s largest integrated chemical facilities, instrument engineers were faced with pipeline vibration that was destroying a steam service valve’s instrumentation. Since it was not feasible to change the process conditions or piping, the valve positioner had to be replaced about every three months.
To solve this problem, a DVC6200f was installed to take advantage of the unit’s resistance to high levels of vibration as well as its Foundation fieldbus communications capability. The digital valve controller saved the facility $40,000 per year in replacement costs, lost production and labor.
For more information, visit www.fieldvue.com.