Actuator control network solution provided at Spanish chemical processing plant

Almost 150 intelligent electric actuators on Rotork’s Pakscan™ control network have been ordered for the Quimica Puente Mayorga chemical processing plant in Cádiz, Spain.

The plant is owned by CEPSA, a Spanish multi-national oil and gas company with operations throughout Europe. The Quimica Puente Mayorga plant is one of the world's biggest producers of linear alkyl benzene, with paraffins, sulphonic acid and heavy alkylate among the other chemicals produced at the plant.

Some of Rotork’s IQ range of intelligent electric actuators have already been installed; the remainder are to be installed in the coming months. The actuators were installed on gate valves and control the flow of unprocessed fluids, as well as providing Emergency Shutdown (ESD) functionality. In an emergency, they release the fluids into suction and discharge pumps for isolation.

The actuators have been installed on a double loop system with a Rotork Master Station on a Pakscan control network. The installation of this control network has enabled CEPSA to reduce their wiring costs at the Quimica Puente Mayorga plant. This was achieved using a single twisted pair, rather than having to depend upon an expensive multicore cable. This was also a cost-efficient solution due to the short commissioning time of the product and the increased plant productivity that Pakscan can provide. Additionally, with one cabinet acting as an access point to over 240 field devices within a 20 km loop, it helps to prevent the spacing issues which control cabinets might otherwise create.

Rotork also manufactured a bespoke cabinet to be installed with the Rotork Master Station. While the Rotork Master Station is accessible to senior staff, the cabinet provides an additional access point which has been designed to give site operators the ability to open or close valves in the event of an emergency. Pakscan was essential for this application, as the space taken up by wiring would have made it impossible to implement via other means.

Rotork’s IQ range of intelligent electric actuators provide unrivalled, industry-leading reliability with continuous position tracking at all times, even without power. They provide a multi-turn torque output of 10 to 3,000 Nm (7 to 2,200 lbf.ft) and a part-turn torque output of up to 826,888 Nm (609,881 lbf.ft).

The Rotork Master Station provides a state-of-the-art control interface for Pakscan network loops and can be configured fully via the touch screen interface or web interface.