Are hydraulic actuators used in petrochemical plants?
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Are there any areas in petrochemical plants where purely hydraulic actuators are used?
Yes, I have seen regenerative valves for heavy oil catalytic cracking that are hydraulically controlled.
A slide valve is a hydraulic actuator; of course, there are also pneumatic ones.
Is the catalytic device a gas-liquid interaction device? Are there any purely hydraulic ones?
It’s a gas-liquid actuated system, right? Are there any purely hydraulic ones?
I’ve never seen a purely hydraulic system; I have seen pneumatic-hydraulic and electro-hydraulic systems. It is generally used in natural gas and oil transmission pipelines, where the valve diameter is large, a short shutdown time is required, and the ability to return to normal operation in case of an accident is essential.
The programmable control valves of the gas generation furnaces used for intermittent hydrogen production have a relatively large diameter, and hydraulic actuators are mostly employed.
Then you need a hydraulic system; in the coal chemical industry, there are hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric control valves.
Whether it is night operation or pneumatic operation, for remote control, it involves the conversion of electro-hydraulic or electrical signals. Common catalytic devices such as the raw catalyst slide valve (or plug valve), regeneration slide valve, double-acting slide valve, external fluidized catalyst circulation control valve, and turbine oil motor all make use of electro-hydraulic actuation for control.
The regeneration slide valve and the unregenerated plug valve of the catalytic unit are both hydraulically operated. With the increasing size of petrochemical plants these days, some valve diameters are too large, and the pressures and pressure differences are high, which makes it difficult to choose appropriate pneumatic actuators; therefore, hydraulic actuators are often used instead.
It seems that hydraulic valves are used in all turbine machinery.