Convenient smart and fieldbus digital control valve positioners reduce costs and effort

For control valve users who spend too much effort and resources on maintenance, and see too much variability in product quality, digital control valve positioners can significantly reduce the cost of operation for the valve package. Unlike traditional analogue positioners, digital positioners are microprocessor based and have digital communication. Digital valve positioners have been around for some time, but a second generation has entered the market and the experience from the first year in the field is promising. These new devices offer several significant improvements resulting in tangible benefits for the users. New characteristics include FOUNDATION(TM) Fieldbus communication and a nonmechanical feedback design that does away with levers and potentiometers, standard mounting and universal application for use with any valve and actuator, as opposed to early models designed just for the manufacturer's own valves. Digital displays, a wider diagnostics coverage and accompanying software which is now interoperable thanks to FOUNDATION(TM) Fieldbus in general and Device Description (DD) in particular. Because of the standard mounting, instrument companies are now supplying valve positioners bringing more software, electronics and networking into the valve market.