K-Tork retrofit saves desert effluent treatment plant
10 Oct 2011
Las Vegas, Nevada — Rotork’s recent acquisition K-Tork International Inc. has completed a $1.9-million retrofit contract for the supply and installation of valve actuators at the Las Vegas Water & Pollution Control facility.
The facility is located in a desert area that barely sees 4” of rainfall per year, the use of reclaimed water for irrigation and other non-potable uses is on the increase. Treating and delivering recycled water saves the cost of pumping water from Lake Mead.
While recycled water for irrigation does not expand the Las Vegas Valley’s available water supply, it reduces energy costs and the environmental impact. As a part of the reclaimed water treatment process, the tertiary filtration facility has 30 gravity filters that assist in removing the fine particles and phosphorous before the final disinfection treatment.
Prior to the upgrade, the valves on these filters were operated with AWWA cylinder actuators that did not provide reliable open/close or modulating service and were difficult to troubleshoot.
The consulting engineer recommended the use of K-Tork vane actuators due to their simplicity (one-moving part) and long-lasting seal design. As a result, 205 K-Tork vane actuators were selected for retrofitting on the AWWA butterfly valves, ranging in size from 12 to 60 inches, in the filter gallery and intake piping.
The retrofit process was complicated and required a detailed field survey to measure the valve mounting dimensions, check for clearances and to provide easy operator access to the manual override and calibration points. Prior to fabrication, 3-D CAD drawings were provided for the engineer and end user, for review and approval.
All the actuators, reported Rotork, were installed without any linkage kit modifications or any obstruction issues.
