Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Belgium gas transmission system operator

Part-turn intelligent electric actuators from Rotork have been installed in several gas pressure reducing stations in Belgium to provide reliable flow control without the release of undesirable greenhouse gas emissions. 

Rotork has a long-standing history with Fluxys Belgium, which operates 4,000 kilometres of pipeline, a liquefied natural gas terminal and an underground storage facility in Belgium.The IQT actuators ordered by Fluxys Belgium operate butterfly valves on boilers in unmanned gas pressure reducing stations across Belgium that reduce the pressure of natural gas so that it can flow through a network operated at a lower pressure or be transferred to an end consumer's facilities. This operation brings about a cooling of the natural gas and therefore requires natural gas to be pre-heated by boilers to keep the downstream temperature within a certain range.

The existing actuators on these sites used gas in the pipelines as the control medium, resulting in undesirable venting of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. To avoid these emissions and to reduce Fluxys Belgium’s environmental footprint, Rotork Site Services and local agent Prodim installed electric actuators. The valves regulate the flow of gas within this process. The boilers will now provide a more precise regulation duty, are reliable and prevent any emissions that the previous pneumatic actuators created.

The installation of IQT actuators has allowed for extremely accurate flow control, no emissions, easy set-up, diagnostics and reliable operation. Rotork Site Services retrofitted IQTs onto existing valves on the multiple sites, with design and execution of mounting kits, site installation, commissioning and training supplied in partnership with Prodim. IQT actuators are the part-turn version of IQ3 actuators, Rotork’s leading intelligent electric actuator range. They provide continuous position tracking at all times, even without power. They are explosionproof to international standards and are protected against water ingress (double-sealed to IP66/68 at 20 m for 10 days).