..
Burkert helps to
improve efficiency at
UK car engine plant
hen a system
integrator working
for Nissan in
Sunderland (JEB
Contractors) identified a
control process within the
engine casting plant that was
in need of improvement, the
team requested vital input
from flow control specialist
Bürkert. By designing and
installing an electronic
control solution to replace
the manually adjusted flow
control valves, a significant
improvement was made to
efficiency and reliability of the
process.
W
The Nissan Sunderland
car plant builds more than
500,000 cars per year. There
are two parallel assembly
lines building a wide variety
of models that require the
engine plant to keep pace
with the car production lines,
meaning that the engine
line has to change model
production on a regular basis.
The engine line is supplied by
the engine casting plant which
uses a number of different
production settings to produce
3 different petrol engine
models which are produced
and tested on site.
One of these processes
is the cooling process for
the freshly cast aluminium
components, which was
controlled by a variety of
manual valves. When the
time came to change the
engine model, these valves
had been adjusted by hand
to the new settings required
for the next production run.
The change-over process was
time consuming and the final
settings often had to fine
tuned. As part of a project to
improve this control process,
the system integrators on
the site invited Bürkert to
offer suggested solutions and
improvements to the current
system.
The design engineers
from Bürkert assessed the
requirements of a new
system and the current
control infrastructure before
suggesting the use of the type
2836 proportional valve which
would be controlled through
the type 8605 pulse-width
modulated (PWM) controller.
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PECM Issue 14
The engine component cooling
process is controlled by a PLC
which uses a proportionalintegral-derivative (PID)
controller to precisely set and
monitor the flow rates of the
cooling system.
The PLC produces a 4-20mA
control signal for the required
flow and this signal is used by
the PWM controller to set the
flow rate in the proportional
valve. To ensure that the
desired flow rate has been
achieved, a flow signal is fed
back to the PLC, which can
then make any adjustments
if required. This control loop
ensures that the process is
continuously monitored and
therefore provides a far more
accurate process.
The type 2836 solenoid
control valve is a direct acting
valve which can be made
from brass or stainless steel,
depending on the application.
Capable of handling pressures
up to 25 bar and available
with a range of orifice and
port connection sizes, the type
2836 can be designed to meet
a wide range of requirements.
In this case, the design
expertise of the Burkert
engineers ensured that the
correct parameters were
selected in order to deliver the
required performance.
The PWM controller can
either be combined with the
valve itself, or, as in this
www.burkert.co.uk
ABOVE
Picture shows the
Qashqai Engine
production line at
Nissan Sunderland.
Image provided
courtesy of Nissan
Motor Manufacturing
(UK) Limited.
BELOW
Burkert type
8605 pulse-width
modulated (PWM)
controller is used to
control type 2836
proportional valves,
replacing a manually
adjusted system.
case, mounted in a separate
enclosure and connected
to the valve by a control
wire. This range of options
is designed to ensure that
different environments and
control arrangements can be
accommodated. The input
signal can be configured from
a range of options including
0-20mA, 0-5V, 0-10V or
4-20mA as in this case.
The completed design has
greatly improved the accuracy
of the flow control system as
well as significantly reducing
the time taken to change the
various settings to prepare for
the next engine type. In doing
so, the facility for applying
even tighter quality control
parameters has been added
and the total efficiency of the
engine casting line has been
improved.
Craig Kerr, Area Sales
Manager for Bürkert,
comments: “This is a great
example of a systems
integrator making use of the
design expertise of Bürkert
to help them make significant
improvements to the control
of a fluid control system.
Working with integrators,
automation companies and
panel builders allows us
to combine knowledge to
produce improved efficiency.
It is often the case that
the on-site engineers will
identify a system that could
be improved, but need some
specialist technical help in
making that goal a reality.”