Control of a three-way valve for cycling oxygen flow
Xothermic Inc., located in Apopka, Florida, provides automation and controls for industrial oxy-fuel combustion applications
Xothermic was using a stepper motor with a stepper drive to control the three-way valve. This valve controls the flow of oxygen between several ports which control flame movement in a specialized foundry burner application. Because the stepper drive utilized a Profibus network, the system required extensive use of CPU memory and restricted the deployment of different types of processors. To meet the customer’s requirements for retrofit installations, Xothermic needed an analog solution that would not limit the types of processors that could be used. Furthermore, this application required a high cycle rate and continuous operation. Xothermic needed a robust solution that could operate in these challenging conditions.
Xothermic decided to purchase an Exlar Tritex rotary actuator to control the valve on this combustion application. James Nabors, owner of Xothermic stated, “the compact design of the RTM actuator allowed us to simply replace the stepper drive system with analog I/O and eliminate the restriction on processors.” The robust construction of the Tritex actuator allowed it to meet the high cycle rate and continuous operation requirements of this application. Xothermic was impressed by the simplicity of the Tritex software and the compact package size of the actuator.
Exlar’s Tritex rotary actuator provides simple replacement for stepper motor for industrial oxy-fuel combustion applications.
- Removed limitation on types of processors that could be used
- Simple replacement of the stepper motor
