Since 2007, over 300 installations of Beck Actuators have taken place in Europe. This is in addition to the existing installed base that dates back to 1956.

Clients installing Beck products include the following;

 UK Power Station ID Fan Damper Upgrade

This major UK Power Station was looking for an alternative to the obsolete ID Fan Damper Actuator system, originally installed when the station was commissioned.

The  system consisted of a hydraulic cylinder which was driven by an electric motor driven hydraulic power pack.

As well as being obsolete equipment, the system suffered from a number of other issues, including;

• The operation of the ID fans had caused concern for a while as the performance, precision and repeatability required by the system was not being met. This had a potential to affect the efficiency of the whole unit.
• The power pack needed to be constantly energised to maintain a head of pressure for the cylinder operation. This meant that once the required pressure was met, the remaining oil was crashed over the relief valve. As well as being a waste of energy, having the oil constantly going over a relief valve can be considered a maintenance issue.
• The system required regular oil filter changes to maintain the oil at a suitable oil cleanliness level. As well as being an expensive consumable, having to change oil filters regularly is an additional maintenance cost, and the disposal of the used filters is an environmental issue and cost.
• The oil cylinder seals were susceptible to leaks, which as well as affecting the operation of the system, created a potential environmental hazard.

The station gave a list of criteria that they required as part of the upgrade project. These included being able to meet, or better the current hydraulic system stoke timing, have the best possible operating resolution and  repeatability, and be as maintenance free as possible. Being on such important installation reliability was also a key issue for the station.

A number of actuator suppliers, including the site actuator/valve maintenance company where invited to supply proposals for the upgrade. 

After much research and consideration, Beck drives were chosen to be the supplier of the upgrade package, despite the site never having fitted Beck drives before, and despite this being one of the most expensive options. Beck were however able to meet the very strict technical requirements demanded by the application.

In addition to supplying the drives, Beck also undertook to provide the necessary assistance to install and commission the drives.  The whole installation of the 2 units was completed in approximately 5 hours.

The new Beck installation will remove many of the issues that affected this ID Fan system, providing a much better level of damper control, and repeatability, which in turn should contribute to improving the installation efficiency.  The power requirement for the system will also be significantly reduced, as the Beck drive only energises in response to a system demand.

The General specification of the drives as installed are;

• Output Torque 10846nm
• Timing for the full 100° actuator crank arm    20 seconds (configurable from 15 to 300 seconds).
• Minimum Step size 0.1°
• Hysteresis 0.25% of span at any point
• Current Demand for Drive motor 3.5 amps approx.
  

In addition the maintenance requirements of the ID Fan Damper actuation system will be significantly reduced, the drives being able to run between outages without maintenance.

Finally a large environmental hazard, with all its associated costs and risks has been removed from site.

UK Container Glassworks

Two complete glass furnace, forehearth and line rebuilds. Each rebuild using 40 actuators in various critical performance applications.

The client chose Beck 11-156 actuators as his preferred option due to experience of using the actuators in high temperature, arduous conditions where precise control is required. Despite being the most expensive option, Beck has repaid the clients faith in so far providing 3 years of maintenance free operation.

The performance has been impressive enough for the client to start a change over programme to Beck on his other lines, as actuators provided by other manufacturers fail.

The simple drop in installation of Beck, makes this a simple procedure, more cost effective than maintaining his failing actuators, and ultimately gives the client a more efficient operating system.

UK Coal Fired Power Stations

Upgrade of primary air damper system control on a major UK Power Station requiring 24 actuators in total.

Despite having no installed actuators on site, the client chose Beck G31 as reliability and performance were equally important.

The position of the installation is such that non routine maintenance is virtually impossible to achieve with the unit generating.

Beck provided the actuator and valve assemblies, factory calibrated for a drop in installation, to ensure that the client had minimal work to do on site.

Upgrade of Induced Air fan control system on major UK Power Station.

The original actuators on the variable speed controls where obsolete and proving difficult to maintain.

A Beck 11-159 was chosen as the supplier for this upgrade, against completion from the sites normal actuator supplier/maintainer, who was offering a cheaper alternative. The promise of a much simplified installation, coupled with the better system control offered by Beck, was considered worth the extra cost.

Upgrade of fluid coupling scoop actuation on an extraction fan system installed on a primary metal manufacturing site.

The installed actuators had been in service for 15 years, and were proving to be ever more troublesome in terms of reliability.

Beck was chosen as the preferred supplier due to the experience they had in providing actuators for this type of application.

After the new installation using Beck 11-209  drives was completed and operating on the same signal and feedback system as the original actuators, the client found that the control of the coupling scoop tube was significantly more precise than before. The combination of speed and precision of the actuator movement as eliminated the overshoot/undershoot problems previously experienced.  This has give the client a further benefit of reduced energy usage, as the coupling is now not constantly modulating to find the set operating point.

UK Plasterboard Plant

Installation of fluid coupling scoop control actuator on a building material producer’s mill application.

The original actuator supplied by the fluid coupling OEM was unable to cope with the heavy vibration associated with this application, leading to multiple failures.

Beck not only supplied a suitable 11-159 actuator for the application, but also provided designs for the actuator mounting plinth. Installation and commissioning was completed in one morning, and the system has run since then with no problems.

UK Oil Refinery

Upgrade of ID and FD fan damper installation on Industrial Boiler Plant.

The customer was required to update his boiler system damper controls, as the current installation did not meet current regulations.

The Beck 11-209 drive was chosen as it was able to meet these regulations, was easy to install, and due to the low current drawn by the motor, did not need the cables to be housed in shielded underground  cable troughs, but  could be located in normal surface cable troughs, saving significantly on the installation cost normally associated with electric actuators.

In addition to supplying the drives and mounting plinth, Beck also carried out the final commissioning of the drives, including setting the linkages and crank arms using the Beck Link-Assist™ program.

Installation of the two drives was completed in 4 hours

UK Container Glassworks

Replacement of Unreliable, Poorly operating Electric Actuators on gas control valves.

The client was using an electric linear actuator to control a globe valve on furnace gas skid.

The actuator employed a typical synchronous electric motor, which was unable to need the modulating requirements of the application. Additionally the actuators proved to be very unreliable.

Beck were asked to provide a solution to the problem and came up a package of Beck G31 actuator combined with an adjustable port valve.

The actuator/valve assembly was designed to fit into the existing pipework footprint, and as such became a quick drop in installation for the client.

Once commissioned the new assembly immediately provided much improved control over the gas flow, whilst removing the reliability problems entirely.

In addition there are numerous other installations dating back to the 1950’s, which are still operational, despite being in arduous, hot, and dusty environments. Many have needed next to no maintenance in this time, and continue to operate successfully today, even with the latest control technology.