Today's Automation News Headlines from Automation.com

March 9, 2011 - Flowserve Corporation announces ValveSight for the Limitorque MX/QX family of smart electric actuators. ValveSight for Limitorque provides enhanced diagnostic and graphical user interface features for facilities using the Foundation Fieldbus protocol for their digital communication networks.

The Limitorque MX and QX use ValveSight to monitor the status, alarms and health of the valve actuator. Embedded predictive diagnostics provide advanced warning of pending problems, helping reduce operational costs associated with unscheduled plant shutdowns and loss of productivity. Additional value is realized by a reduction in commissioning time and a greater visibility into overall valve performance.

With ValveSight for the Limitorque MX/QX, plant operators can fine tune their process control through the use of a Proportional-Integral-Derivative function block. Plant maintenance personnel also benefit from a graphical diagnostic tool set that offers a proactive service approach to Partial Stroke Testing, Travel Histogram, Data/Operational Logging, and LimiGard circuit protection.

"Industrial Foundation Fieldbus applications gain the flexibility of using standard function blocks, linked within various manufacturers' field devices to incorporate a distributed control strategy uniquely tailored to the user," said Scott Wilkerson, product portfolio manager, host integration, Flowserve Flow Control Division. "ValveSight for Limitorque actuators embraces our customer's distributed control strategy by providing an enriched graphical user interface so plant operators can continually monitor the actuator's health by way of its Built-In-Self-Test feature."

Flowserve ValveSight for Limitorque is certified by the FDT Group and is now available for download.