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ELSEVIER

ISA Transactions 35 (1996) 217-223

Optimizing valve actuator parameters to enhance control valve

performance
Raymond P. Champagne, Stephen J. Boyle *
Neles-Jamesbuo', Inc., 640 Lincoln St., Box 15004, Worcester, MA 01605-0004 USA

Abstract
The market demands for higher quality products have increased the need for reduced process variation. One factor in the
quality of the final end product is the improvement of the control loop performance. A critical component in the loop is the
final control element, the control valve package. Optimized actuator parameters play a vital role in the dynamic performance
of the control valve. This paper reviews the pneumatic actuator and positioner parameters that effect the control package
performance. This is done through the use of a control valve package computer model to assess the dynamic performance.
The attributes of spring return versus double acting actuators are illustrated. The effects of supply pressure, step size, load
margin, and flow, actuator volume and design style are investigated through the use of mathematical simulations of control
valve dynamic performance. Copyright 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Keywords: Control valves; Actuators; Positioners

1. Introduction
A computer model has been developed [1] to
assess the dynamic performance of a control valve,
actuator and positioner (control package) assembly.
Through this model, a parametric analysis is made of
load margin, supply pressure and flow, actuator volume and design style.

2. Background
In the modeling of the control valve, actuator and
positioner, the component kinematics, geometry, fluid
flow and friction must be considered. The model for

* Corresponding author.

a double acting actuator may be viewed schematically as shown in Fig. 1.

The action of the three major components: valve,
actuator and positioner are integral to the performance of the control package. Each component is
modeled to allow analysis of the interaction of parameters on the performance of the integrated control
valve package. The mathematical model of the control package was described in [1]. Here, the kinematic and fluid dynamic properties of each component were combined to give an overall simulation of
the control valve package.

3. Friction modeling
In order to model any of the components, the
mechanical friction must be addressed. The mathe-

0019-0578/96/$15.00 + 0.00 Copyright 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII S00 1 9 - 0 5 7 8 ( 9 6 ) 0 0 0 2 8 - 6

R.P. Champagne. S.J. Boyle / lSA Transactions 35 (1996) 217 223

218

--

--

DOUBLE ACTING ACTUATORS

Signal

Actuator
[

S u p p l y air

xh+t
Positioner

TORQUE

Feedback

CLOSER

OPEN

Valve
S P R I G RETURN ACTUATORS

Fig. 1. C o n t r o l v a l v e p a c k a g e s c h e m a t i c .

matical model includes the formulation of the dynamic as well as the static coefficients of friction
(Fig. 2).

TORQUE

R A C K & PI]N1ON

4. Valve / actuator transform modeling

Solid is A i r direction
Dash is Spring d i ~ c t i o n

CLOSED

Linear valves have a simple, direct coupling of

the valve load to the actuator. However, rotary valves
can have a variety of linkages to convert the linear
piston or diaphragm force to rotary motion and
torque. For example, some double acting and spring
return profiles are shown in Fig. 3.
As with a linear valve, the spring constant alters
the load output of the actuator air stroke. However,
for rotary valves, the valve motion and forces must
be transformed into actuator rotary coordinates. The
mathematical model includes position dependent coefficient tables to support this transform.

OPEN

Fig. 3. L i n e a r to r o t a r y f o r c e t r a n s f o r m s
position.

torque versus valve

and pressure gain [2] should be linear within the

normal span of the error signal. In Fig. 4a, the flow
gain versus signal error is shown for an example
positioner. In normal control operation, error signals
do not exceed 10% of full span so, the flow gain is
linear in the normal signal error range (perhaps
0.5-10% of full span). Similarly, Fig. 4b shows a
graph of the pressure gain relative to the error signal.
The gain is constant above very small error signals
and throughout the normal control range.

5. Positioner modeling
6. Step response
The positioner can have a significant influence on
the control package dynamics. Ideally, the flow gain

~t

= /~d
~t
d
s
"/
5
v

There are many measures of control valve performance including non dynamic measures such as

+('Us-/-td)e-YV(~

- coefficient of friction
- d3mamic
- static
- stick-slip parameter
- material parameter
-velocity

Fig. 2. D y n a m i c c o e f f i c i e n t o f friction.

Positioner Pressure Gain

Positioner Flow

Delta
Pressure

Capacity

Error Signal
(a)

Error Signal
[b)

Fig. 4. P o s i t i o n e r f l o w a n d p r e s s u r e gain profiles.

R.P. Champagne, S.J. Boyle / I S A Transactions 35 (1996) 217-223

T d(v()~_.vrt. + y(t) = Gi
dt

oo

f l

y(t)=G 1-e T
1T

2T

3T

4T

Fig. 5. O u t p u t versus i n p u t - f i r s t order.

linearity, repeatability, hysteresis and deadband. See

Ref. [2] for definitions and details on these factors.
One key measure of dynamic performance is the step
response of the control valve package. This is the
measure used here to evaluate the relative performance of control valve packages. Normally, the
control valve shaft is monitored as the step signal is
sent to the positioner. This step is normally in the
range of 2-10% of full span. The time constant, T
(Tau), is the time required for the output to move to
63% of the full output response to the step change in
input. Fig. 5 illustrates the response y(t) of a first

I
ve

order system to a step change in input where T is the

time constant, G is the gain and t is the time.
In addition, the time for the output to start to
change in response to the input step is the dead time,
td. During this dead time the air pressure in the
actuator must build to the unbalanced force necessary to move the valve. These two times, td and T
are used herein to compare the performance of control valve packages with parametric variations.

7. Computer program output

The computer program used for this parametric
analysis calculates the dead time and time constant
for the control package in response to a step change
in input signal. This program is based on the mathematical model described earlier and in Ref. [1]. Fig.
6 shows an example of the output. The valve travel
is shown relative to the signal input and the
pressure(s) in the actuator are both shown relative to
time. The actuator cylinder pressures create the dif-

Dynamic response

62

60

Signal

58
56

t
ra 54
v
52
I
X

5O

.//
i m
0

Valve Travel

/
1

Time

Actuator cylinder pressures

8.0
P

r
e
s
s

I"
e
s

BA
R

?.5

T.O

,,.,t,,-"

6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0

219

Time

Fig. 6. Theoretical position c h a n g e versus step c h a n g e input - - time is in sec.

220

R.P. Champagne, S.J. Boyle / lSA Transactions 35 (1996) 217 223

Td vs Positioners for 5% Steps

2.5

'

1.5 I ............................. 4>

[]

&

60

80

,_

,,

40

.....................

,~

.t

103

120

Supply Pressure (psig)

Ta u vs Positioners for 5% Steps

1.2

1
"&

0.8

&

0.6

I~

0.4

"

!..................

reduction is roughly by 65% for td and 25% for tau.

These time reductions, due to an increase in air
supply pressure, are consistent for a given positioner
and (not shown) roughly consistent for various step
sizes. In short, the time reductions are approximately
consistent for a given flow capacity.
Also, the dead time is consistently greater than
the time constant for this control package. As shown
in Fig. 7, before the valve can change position the
actuator must create an unbalanced load to overcome
the valve resisting load. Once moving, the unbalanced force is maintained with the assistance of the
momentum of mechanical parts.
It can be concluded that increases of supply pressures significantly increase the speed of response of
a control valve package.

T1

i iii: !!oA

9. Step signal size

0.2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40

'

60

80

........ ~
1O0

.....t
120

Next, the influence of the magnitude of the step

change of the input signal is investigated. A series of

Supply Pressure (psig)

Td vs Step Size for Positioner B

Fig. 7. Effects of flow gain and supply pressure variation.

5

ferential load to move the valve. Once in position,

the differential will re-converge to the average pressure.

4
3
g 2
I,-,,.
.....................

1
0

8. Supply pressure

4o

The supply pressure delivered to the actuator

would seem to influence the control package speed
of a response by providing a higher differential to
increase the flow rate and by raising the load margin
of the actuator over the valve. A series of runs were
made with the same valve and actuator package. The
dead time and time constant were recorded for step
inputs of 2, 5, and 10% of full span for a double
acting actuator. The supply pressure parameter was
varied: 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 psi and the positioner
flow capacity was varied in three levels: A, B, C
(lowest to highest). Fig. 7 illustrates the dead times
and time constants for the 5% step size.
In both cases, the dead times and time constants
are reduced as the supply pressure is increased. This

[] .......

[] ....................

&

[]

60

80

1O0

120

Supply Pressure (psig)

Tau vs Step Size for Positioner B

1 ii IIIIIIIIIIII
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IIIIIIIIIIIIIZ
- 08
0.6 iiiii
0.4

[,,-

0.2

40

60

80

1 O0

120

Supply Pressure (psig)

Fig. 8. Effects of step signal size and supply pressure variation.

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R.P. Champagne, S.J. Boyle / ISA Transactions 35 (1996) 217-223

runs were made where the dead time and time

constant were recorded for various positioner flow
capacities in three levels: A, B, C (low to high
capacity) with a double acting actuator. The supply
pressure parameter was varied: 40, 60, 80, 100, 120
psi and the input step size was varied through 2, 5,
10% of full span. Fig. 8 illustrates the dead times
and time constants for the size B positioner.
When the input step size is varied, the dead time
in Fig. 8 decreases with the step size. The dead time
for the 5% step is 60% of that for the 2% step.
Similarly, the dead time for the 10% step is 80%.
The impact is consistent for supply pressure variation and (not shown) for positioner size. This result
confirms the model of the linear proportional gain
for the positioner discussed earlier.
Step size has a far smaller impact on the time
constant. In fact, the time constant of the control
package is relatively constant with the variation in
step size as shown in Fig. 9. It seems that the
kinematics of the control package effects the load
balance of the system once the valve and actuator
elements are moving. As shown in Fig. 9, the larger
step change signal creates a greater pressure unbalance in the actuator. This coupled with the valve/actuator kinematics allows the control package to make
a larger step change in position in nearly the same
time constant as the smaller step change. The total
time difference is mainly that caused by dead time.

10. Actuator sizing-load margin and volume

The sizing of the actuator can have a significant

impact on the performance on the control valve
package. Fig. l0 shows the relative step response of
a control package with two different size actuators.
The undersized actuator shows a longer dead time
but a shorter time constant than the larger actuator.
The reason is seen in the actuator pressure differential curve. The smaller actuator needs a higher differential pressure to create the load unbalance to move
the valve. However, since the actuator is smaller, it
is easier to keep this differential pressure as the
control valve package strokes due to the smaller
stroke volume.

11. Spring return actuators

Spring return actuators, in some ways, react differently to a variation in parameters than double
acting actuators. First, the spring return actuator
unbalances the spring using air pressure to create
load unbalance to move the control valve. Once in
position, the spring is counterbalanced with the appropriate air pressure to prevent motion. Higher supply pressures are not translated into higher pressures
in the actuator; therefore, the stroke speed created by
the spring is not effected by a variation in supply

Step Response Times (spring return)

..........................................................................................

Td(A)

B Tau(A)
O
~ 3

Td(B)

....................................

[]
2

[]
--

......~
....................................

........................
+

--

25-

50+

[]

+ Td(C)

[]
......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+

O Tau(C)

e
:5+

50-

75+

Tau(B)

75-

Position & Direction

Fig. 11. Effects of direction and position in spring return actuators.

R.P. Champagne, S.J. Boyle / lSA Transactions 35 (1996) 217-223

pressure. The stroke speeds during the air stroke are

effected somewhat, since the differential across the
positioner may be increased similar to that developed
with the double acting actuator discussed earlier. It
follows that the step size would impact the dynamic
performance of the spring return actuator similar to
that of the double acting actuator. And, actuator
sizing has similar benefits to the double acting as
well.
The dead time and time constants were investigated for a spring return actuator at various positions
through the valve stroke. The balance between the
spring and the air changes throughout this stroke as a
result of the spring constant. The results are shown
for an example 5% step signal change in Fig. l 1.
Both the initial position, 25, 50, 75%, and direction, + is air stroke and - is spring stroke, are
shown for a variation in positioner size. Two features
are noted. First, the difference between the step
response in the spring direction versus the air directions is apparent. The relationship can vary with the
control valve package. Second, the effects of the
spring constant are shown as the valve is moved
toward the open position where the spring force and
opposing air pressure increase with the percent opening.

223

12. Conclusions
The control valve package is a complicated dynamic system where the performance can be significantly effected by the variation of certain parameters.
The selection and use of valve, actuator and positioner may be assisted by guidelines uncovered here.
Clearly, higher supply pressure is the single greatest
benefit in the speed of response of a control valve
package using a double acting actuator. However,
the interaction of kinematics and fluid dynamics is,
at times, not obvious. The more reliable prediction of
control valve package performance may result in the
use of a mathematical model of the valve, actuator
and positioner package.

References
[1] Jouni Py5tsi~i, " A mathematical model of a control valve",
Paper Presented in ISA/92 Advances in Instrumentation and
Control, Vol. 47, Part 2, p. 1341.
[2] "Method of evaluating the performance of positioners with
analog input signals and pneumatic output", ISA-$75.13,
1989.