Energy Sector Looks to Electric Valve Actuators to Prevent Methane Emissions

Dec. 9, 2024

Kinitics Automation developed the KVA38 electric valve actuator as an alternative to pneumatic options which often cause methane emissions to occur during natural gas production.

Sara Jensen

Methane-venting pneumatic valve actuators have commonly been used in equipment utilized by the energy sector for production of natural gas. However, upon learning these actuators are enabling methane to escape into the atmosphere, the industry began looking for an alternative to prevent this.

Kinitics Automation, a developer of motion control technologies including linear actuators and hydraulic piston pump actuators, set out to create such an alternative which resulted in its KVA38 electric valve actuator.

The actuator utilizes a different drive technology than other valve actuators in the market said Dean Pick, P. Eng., President & CEO of Kinitics Automation. It uses Shape Memory Alloy technology which combines precise linear motion with mechanical spring return.

“A Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) is a special kind of material that is able to change its shape,” he explained. “We can control the length of it by exciting it with the electricity that's supplied from the [production] site.

“Opposing the shape memory alloy is a very traditional valve spring. The spring, for the KVA38, puts out about 900 lbs. of force, otherwise known as thrust; when idle, the spring is pushing down and holding the valve in a closed position,” he said.

“When we want to open the valve, we flow electricity through the SMA material. It compresses the spring even further, lifting the valve plug off the seat, allowing gases to flow,” he continued.

Pick said it is a very controllable actuator technology with the ability to set it to an extremely fine position of 50 microns or 2,000ths of an inch, allowing for modulation of throttling gases or fluids through a valve.

In this interview with Power & Motion, Pick provides an overview of the KVA38 electric valve actuator and how it differs from other technologies being used in the energy sector.

About the Author

Sara Jensen | Executive Editor, Power & Motion

Sara Jensen is executive editor of Power & Motion, directing expanded coverage into the modern fluid power space, as well as mechatronic and smart technologies. She has over 15 years of publishing experience. Prior to Power & Motion she spent 11 years with a trade publication for engineers of heavy-duty equipment, the last 3 of which were as the editor and brand lead. Over the course of her time in the B2B industry, Sara has gained an extensive knowledge of various heavy-duty equipment industries — including construction, agriculture, mining and on-road trucks —along with the systems and market trends which impact them such as fluid power and electronic motion control technologies.

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