Solenoid valves are installed where most of the surrounding ecosystem consists of water or moisture. And if these valves are installed properly with tight fittings, they are capable of running for up to several years without any maintenance which is a major advantage. In hydrocarbon, gas, oil, and refining applications, proportional solenoid valves are installed to balance the temperature and pressure of the fluid. Usually, the temperature is kept very low in the hydrocarbon, oil, and gas industry to avoid any severe bursting. But it is to be noted that the seal integrity and flexibility decrease with the passing of time.
Solenoid valves are specifically manufactured to bear extreme cold temperatures up to -60 degree celsius. Also, the low-power capability combination is also offered by these mechanical devices. In arctic regions like Canada and Alaska, the proportional solenoid valves are considered very efficient and that is why engineers prefer using them for arctic piping networks.
Effect of Low Temperature on Valve Performance:
Although solenoid valves are more prone to operate under severe cold conditions, they get affected in several ways too that include:
Seal Integrity Is Compromised:
When the temperature gets too low, it affects the working of the elastomers that are equipped in the disc of the valve. This is because the materials provide more flexibility for the valve seat to get settled. The elastomeric polymers in them get shrunk when the temperature falls too much. When the temperature reaches the glass transition range, the elastomers get brittle enough to reach the breaking point.
Infrequent Actuation Can Cause Valve Dormancy:
When valves operate under harsh conditions, they introduce the risk of dormancy which leads to uncompromised material flexibility. This mainly happens when valves are prone to infrequent intervals or low-cycling applications. The main ring within the body of the valve
remains always in an uninterrupted connection with the main spool of the device. In this condition, the operation of the proportional valve solenoid gets limited.
Remote Locations:
The consumption of power is no doubt affected by remote locations. And power consumption is the next crucial thing that needs to be analysed to check the capability of the valves. Extraction sites or pipelines are among those equipmenst that will reduce the costs of the proportional solenoid valves installation in remore areas. If you are dealing with conventional valves, then there is much need of extra protection. This requires the use of bigger and costly power supplies to be installed that can increase the investment for the overall system.
Keeping Vendor’s Reputation:
When it comes to installing solenoid operated pinch valves in extreme cold conditions or ecosystems, it becomes very important to purchase high-quality products so that any hurdle could be minimized. This keeps the valve abstain from any future maintenance issues that can be very dangerous. Also, keeping the reliability record will as well let the valve work more efficiently under such conditions.
Wrapping It Up:
Oceans can have changing temperature every other minute. That is why mechanical engineers find it handy to install proportional solenoid valves for oil and gas mining purposes due to their no issue in working during extreme weathers.