Schiebel actuators, the Austrian manufacturer of electric actuators, has been dedicated to the safety issue for decades. With its inhouse developed fail-safe technology, the company meets the highest requirements for the safe operation of plants in the process industry. Fail-safe actuators ensure safe closing or opening in the event of a malfunction - even if the supply of electrical energy fails, since the safety position can be reached with a mechanically preloaded spring. Very high closing speeds can be achieved, which, by the way, can be used in the event of a malfunction and also during normal operation. The use of the mechanical spring compensates the disadvantage of electric actuators:  a failure of the electrical power means a failure of the actuator.

In order to not only ensure safe operation for failsafe actuators and electric positioning and control actuators, but also to increase availability, Schiebel has implemented the topic of preventive maintenance as a comprehensive solution in its new Firmware 1700. An unexpected failure of an actuator due to wear or a non-optimal parameterization is usually associated with a high effort and costs for the plant operator - this is even more true if the actuator is installed in a remote region or if there is a loss of earnings due to a production stoppage.

In order to ensure the reliable and safe operation of the actuator without unexpected interruptions, the upcoming firmware version collects various information about the actuator. Specifically, it records, for example, how often the actuator has moved in the direction of closing or opening and whether the end positions were actually reached, how often a partial-valve stroke test was successfully performed, or whether there were any problems. Furthermore, the firmware records, for example, how often the failsafe function has responded or how often the actuator has been stopped due to the cut-off torque being reached. In addition, the firmware provides detailed data on an introduced torque classification, which has accrued pro rata during open/close during operation. Operating and power-on times and availability are logged. The thermal load on the power electronics or motor is also monitored and evaluated, whether or how often an exceedance of temperature above a defined limit has occurred and what influence this has on thermal aging. 

Finally, the occurrence of undervoltage events on the grid side is also recorded, analyzed and reported. An essential aspect of the entire health monitoring is that the time or periods within which certain events occur are also included. Thanks to this data, reliable statements can be made about availability, maintenance intervals, plant condition or the expected remaining service life of the actuator. Operators thus gain maximum transparency, plannability and availability of the actuators used and thus about the state of health as well as the risk of failure of the entire plant.