Air to open/close valves and direction of

control action
This section describes a couple of important points which are necessary to
understand prior to implementing a practical control systems.
Control valves come in two sorts: air to open; and air to close. Air to open valves
are normally held closed by the spring and require air pressure (a control signal) to
open them - they open progressively as the air pressure increases. Air to close
valves are valves which are held open by the valve spring and require air pressure
to move them towards the closed position. The reason for the two types of valves is
to allow failsafe operation. In the event of a plant instrument air failure it is
important that all control valves fail in a safe position (e.g. an exothermic reactor's
feed valves (or, perhaps, just one of the valves) should fail closed (air to open) and
its coolant system valves fail open (air to close)). The type of valve used obviously
impacts on what a controller has to do - changing the type of valve would mean
that the controller would need to move the manipulation in the opposite direction.
To simplify things in this course we shall assume that we are always using air to
open valves - an increase in control action will cause the valve to open and the
flow through it to increase.

The other important thing you need to understand is the direction of control action.
Consider the system shown in the diagram.

In this process I have connected a level controller to the bottom valve. For this
configuration the controller needs to increase its signal (and hence the flow) when
the level in the tank increases. Move the cursor over the diagram to see and
alternative configuration. In this case the controller needs to reduce the flow when
the level in the tank increases. Both configurations are equally capable of
controlling the level, but they require the controller to do entirely opposite things.
This is what direction of control action involves. A direct acting controller is one
whose output tends to increase as the measurement signal increases. A reverse
acting controller is one whose output tends to decrease as the measurement signal
increases. It isn't necessary to buy separate controllers - all commercial systems
include a switch (usually marked DIR/REV) which allows the controller to be
switched from direct acting to reverse acting.
It is important to get the correct direction of control action. If things are set-up
correctly a feedback control system will experience negative feedback, which
means that the system will act to reduce errors in its output. If you get the direction
of control action wrong the system will undergo positive feedback and will act to
reinforce output errors - this is very likely to cause the system to go unstable. If
you are having problems in setting up a stable controller the first thing to check is
that you have set the correct direction of control action!

The valve is fitted into the cylinder head. It is opened by contro

starting air distributor.

The valve shown is from a slow speed MAN-B&W two stroke engi
modern engines have valves working on similar principles and design
Materials

The body of the valve could be of mild steel, the spindle of h

stainless steel, and the valve and seat could have the contact fac
hardened.
How it works

Main starting air at about 30 bar from the manifold enters the cham
valve via the circumferential ports in the valve body.
The air pressure will not open the valve because a spring is holding
an the area of the balance piston is the same as that of the valve lid
pneumatically balanced.

When the valve is required to open, air at 30 bar from the air start dis
the the top of the valve body and acts on a piston. This force overcom
force holding the valve shut, and the valve opens. When the air sign
start distributor is vented, the spring closes the valve

When the start sequence is finished the main air start pressure is v
holes in the main start air manifold.

The Sulzer RTA air start valve

The Sulzer air start valve uses air on both sides of the
piston to maintain positive closing. The piston is step
reason for this is so the starting air valve will not ope
gas pressure in the cylinder is higher than the starting
i.e. when the cylinder is firing. Once the valve starts t
the opening is accelerated when the larger diameter p
opening air acting on it

The stepped piston also means that closing of the valv

as air gets trapped in the annular space formed when
diameter piston enters the upper part of the cylinder.
The air to operate the valve comes from the main air

The distributor pilot air operates the pneumatic chang

The Sulzer RTA Air Start Valve operating principle.

MAINTENANCE
After certain periods of service starting air valves are changed and overhauled. If
piston rings are fitted, care must be taken to ensure that they are free in their
grooves. Should it be necessary to fit new rings, the butt clearances of the rings
must be carefully checked by placing the ring into the operating cylinder and
measuring the clearance. This is especially important if they are usually made of
brass which has a larger coefficient of expansion than the other parts of the
valve. The valve and valve seat are ground with grinding paste and finished to a
fine surface with lapping paste. It is essential to ensure that all parts of the valve
are scrupulously clean before reassembly. Lubricate all sliding surfaces sparingly
with a molybdenum disulphide grease.

HOW DOES THE STARTING AIR BRAKE THE ENGINE WHEN

CHANGING DIRECTION?
If the engine is required to reverse whilst there is still way on the ship, the engine
will be driven by the propeller, and it may be a while before it comes to a halt,
and is thus able to start in the reverse direction.. To speed up the process, starting
air is admitted whilst the engine is still running ahead although the start air
distributor will have been retimed to admit air for reverse running.
Because of this, starting air flows into the cylinder half way up the compression
stroke. Towards the end of the compression stroke (no ignition, fuel injection cut
off by the running direction cut-out), compressed air, (at a pressure which has

increased above that of the starting air), then flows through the starting air valve,
which is still being held open, into the starting air distribution pipe. If the
starting air valve is then closed, there will be less air within the cylinder than at
the beginning. In this way, considerably less expansion work is done than for
compression, i.e. the engine is braked. The engine will come to a standstill and
then start to turn in the opposite direction, since the control elements are set for
this.
WHAT CAUSES AN AIR START VALVE TO STICK?
Leakage of a starting air valve is usually caused by sluggish valve action
preventing fast closure of the valve, or by dirt or foreign particles from the
starting air supply lodging on the valve seat and so preventing the valve from
closing fully. Sluggish valve action may be caused by dirty pistons or valve
spindle guides and the like. In newly overhauled valves sluggish valve action
may be caused by parts fitted with inadequate clearances.
HOW CAN I TELL IF AN AIR START VALVE IS LEAKING OR HAS
JAMMED OPEN?
When an engine is in operation leakage of starting air valves is shown by
overheating of the branch pipe connecting the starting air valve to the starting air
rail. The heating occurs due to the leakage of hot gases from the engine cylinder
into the starting air line connected to the starting air rail. During periods of
manoeuvring the temperature of each supply pipe from the air rail to the starting
air valve should be checked by feeling the pipe as close to the valve as possible.
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF AN AIR START VALVE JAMS OPEN WHILST
MANOEUVRING?
The fuel pump should be lifted (fuel rack zeroed, puncture valve operated or
whatever) on the affected unit and the bridge informed. The load should be kept
at a minimum, as one unit is now out of operation. As soon as safe to do so, the
engine should be stopped and the air start valve replaced.