Digital torque transducers provide enhancements for pump and valve test rigs

02 March, 2023

As well as developing its test regimes, Bifold is also advancing its product technologies and business systems. When it wanted to assess the effects of wear on its long-life valves it set about designing a special test rig. Engineer Andrew Laverick recalls: “We wanted to measure the power required to operate the valve to see how it changed over time and with long term use. It was clear that the best way to do this was to measure the torque input over an extended period.”

Helpful and knowledgeable

He continues: “We were open to any design concept for the test rig, but soon found ourselves gravitating towards a TorqSense solution because the Sensor Technology engineers were so helpful and really knowledgeable about test rigs.” Sensor Technology’s Mark Ingham adds: “TorqSense has been used on many test rigs over the years and I was delighted to hear the Bifold engineers say how easy it is to use and how robust the software is.”

Laverick reflects that as a test engineer one is almost resigned to long set-up procedures and software that falls over at the drop of a hat. However, he adds that Sensor Technology has designed these problems out of its TorqSense equipment, with the result that Bifold was able to complete its long-term test procedures with the minimum amount of fuss and heartache and well within the allotted time schedule.

Second purchase

Indeed, Bifold has since sourced a second TorqSense, which is being fitted to a new test rig used to assess the performance of mission-critical chemical injection pumps, as used at oil and gas wellheads and on process pipelines.

“This project is proceeding well,” says Laverick, “and is allowing us to further develop our abilities to quickly provide bespoke equipment for ultra-demanding applications, safe in the knowledge that it will perform faultlessly over a long working life.”

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