Thames Water Choose AUMA to Upgrade Actuators

Thames Water has selected AUMA Actuators Limited to upgrade a pair of actuators situated off an access road to a yacht club near the company’s Hampton water treatment works - one of Thames Water’s largest operational sites originally built in the 1850s.

The pair of installed actuators for replacement were undersized for the application, causing them to torque out and overheat, as the existing gearbox shaft arrangements were not specified for the increased torque of larger actuators.

Colin Borrows, Operations Manager, AUMA Actuators Limited, says: “It was clear from our inspection that the installed devices were clearly not up to the job and were in danger of failing due to being under-specified for the task in hand.

“The valves controlled by the actuators form part of the Thames Water Ring Main (formerly the London Water Ring Main). On occasion, the valves are opened to discharge excess capacity into the River Thames. Our experienced engineers installed two AUMA SA14.6 actuators, which provide higher torque output and umbilical capability, with remote mounted AC control heads on adaptor brackets, plus two umbilical looms. This direct drive capability with umbilical looms delivers the ideal solution for Thames Water.”

Thames Water’s project specification required the replacement of two actuators with gearbox and shaft arrangements. AUMA’s innovative solution comprised units directly mounted with umbilical cable systems from actuator gearcases through to remote mounted AC control heads, and heads mounted onto redundant pedestals with adaptor brackets.

AUMA's range of SA actuators is used for open-close duty and positioning duty and can be combined with various controls from simple OPEN-CLOSE control to the micro-controlled version with logging of operating data or fieldbus interface. Design features include torque range from 10 Nm to 32,000 Nm; output speeds from 4 to 180 rpm; limit and torque sensing; available with 3-ph AC, 1-ph AC and DC motors. Handwheel for manual operation.