3 Design and principle of
operation
The electropneumatic positioner is attached
to pneumatic control valves. It is used to as-
sign the valve stem position (controlled vari-
able x) to the control signal (reference vari-
able w). The input signal received from a
control system is compared to the travel or
rotational angle of the control valve, and a
pneumatic signal pressure (output variable
y) is produced.
The positioner basically consists of an elec-
trical travel sensor system (2), an analog i/p
converter (6) with downstream air capacity
booster (7) and the electronics unit with a
microcontroller (5).
The standard positioner is fitted with three
binary contacts: A fault alarm output indi-
cates a fault to a control station and two
configurable software limit switches are
used to indicate the end positions of the
valve.
The valve position (x) is transmitted as a lin-
ear travel motion or an angle of rotation by
the pick-up lever and travel sensor (2) to an
analog PD controller (3). Simultaneously, an
A/D converter (4) transmits the position of
the valve to the microcontroller (5). The PD
controller compares this valve position to the
4 to 20 mA DC control signal supplied by
the controller after it has been converted by
the A/D converter (4). In case of a system
deviation, the actuator (1) is either vented or
filled with more air by changes to the i/p
converter (6). This causes the valve plug to
adopt the position corresponding to the ref-
erence variable (w).
The supply air is supplied to the air capacity
booster (7) and the pressure regulator (8).
An intermediate flow regulator (9) with fixed
settings is used to purge the positioner and
also guarantees trouble-free operation of the
air capacity booster. The output signal pres-
sure supplied by the booster can be limited
over the software. Both pressure sensors (23
and 24) monitors the supply pressure psand
the signal pressure pout.
The volume restriction Q (10) is used to opti-
mize the positioner.
The positioner is suitable for the following
types of attachment using the corresponding
accessories:
4Direct attachment to SAMSON
Type 3277 Actuator: Section 4.1
4Attachment to actuators acc. to
IEC 60534-6 (NAMUR): Section 4.2
4Attachment to Type 3510 Micro-flow
Valve: Section 4.3
4Attachment to rotary actuators acc. to
VDI/VDE 3845: Section 4.4
8EB 8384-6 EN
Design and principle of operation