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EDWartens UK

Free course · Instrumentation

Control Valves and Flow Measurement: Sizing and Selection

Choose and size the right control valve, actuator and positioner, and the right flowmeter: valve types and characteristics, Cv and the installed characteristic, liquid sizing with flashing and cavitation, gas and steam sizing and noise, fail action and spring sizing, the valve datasheet, orifice plates to ISO 5167, magnetic, vortex, ultrasonic, Coriolis and thermal meters, installation and loop troubleshooting.

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Free to learn. Verifiable certificate £19 when you pass the final exam (optional, VAT included).

Level
Intermediate
Modules
13
Video
14 hours
Price
Free

Outcome

What you will be able to do

Choose a control valve body and trim for a duty; calculate Cv and Kv and the installed characteristic from valve authority; size liquid valves to IEC 60534-2-1 and check for choked flow, flashing and cavitation; size gas and steam valves with the expansion factor and check outlet velocity and noise; choose fail action and size an actuator spring; specify positioners, boosters, solenoids and limit switches; fill in a control valve datasheet; size an orifice plate to ISO 5167 and check its limits; choose between DP, magnetic, vortex, ultrasonic, Coriolis and thermal meters; install meters with the right straight runs, impulse lines and grounding; and diagnose stiction, hunting and drift.

  • Choose globe, ball, butterfly or eccentric plug valves and the right trim characteristic
  • Calculate Cv and Kv, valve authority and the installed characteristic
  • Size liquid valves to IEC 60534-2-1 and check choked flow, flashing and cavitation
  • Size gas and steam valves with the expansion factor, and check noise and outlet velocity
  • Choose fail action, size the actuator spring and specify positioners and accessories
  • Fill a control valve datasheet and check travel at maximum, normal and minimum flow
  • Size an orifice plate to ISO 5167-2 and choose between DP, magnetic, vortex, ultrasonic, Coriolis and thermal meters
  • Install meters correctly and diagnose stiction, hunting and drift in flow loops

Software

A spreadsheet for the sizing calculations (LibreOffice Calc is free). Vendor sizing tools such as Fisher Specification Manager and the free online sizing tools from valve and flowmeter makers are used to check hand calculations; none is required.

Hardware

None.

Syllabus

13 modules

Each module has video lessons, notes and a short quiz. The final exam closes the course.

  1. 1Control valve types and what the trim does3 lessonsLab
  2. 2Cv, pressure drop and the installed characteristic5 lessons
  3. 3Liquid sizing to IEC 60534 and ISA-75: flashing and cavitation4 lessons
  4. 4Gas and steam sizing, and valve noise5 lessons
  5. 5Actuators, fail action and spring sizing3 lessonsLab
  6. 6Positioners, boosters, solenoids and limit switches4 lessonsLab
  7. 7The control valve datasheet and specification2 lessons
  8. 8Flow measurement principles: accuracy, turndown and selection3 lessons
  9. 9Differential pressure flow: orifice plates to ISO 5167, and venturis4 lessons
  10. 10Magnetic, vortex, ultrasonic, Coriolis and thermal: a selection table5 lessons
  11. 11Installation: straight runs, impulse lines and magmeter grounding5 lessons
  12. 12Troubleshooting valve and flow loops: stiction, hunting and drift1 lessonLab
  13. 13Final Assessment1 lesson

How it works

How this course works

  1. Watch the video lessonsOne module at a time, at your own pace.
  2. Take the module quizA short quiz at the end of each module shows what stuck.
  3. Keep your notesWrite in My notes beside each module and ask the trainer if you are stuck.
  4. Practise in the labOptionalTry a task from the module in the EDWartens Lab, in your browser.
  5. Sit the final examPass it once you have been through the modules.
  6. Certificate, if you want oneOptionalPaid, and only after you pass. Anyone can check it online.

EDWartens Lab

Practise this in the EDWartens Lab

Calibrate a 4 to 20 mA transmitter, tune a level or flow loop and read the trend in the Lab's process simulator.

Works alongside Control Valves and Flow Measurement: Sizing and Selection. The Lab is process control practice in your browser: no install, no hardware, free to use. Sign in as a learner and it opens with your account.

Open the free lab See the Lab
Process control: Tune a real process loop.

Levels to try with this course

Optional. Skip it whenever you like: it never blocks your progress or your certificate.

Why practise in a lab

Technical work is judged on what you can do: wiring, commissioning, finding a fault. Doing a task yourself teaches more than watching it a second time, and a lab lets you try it safely before you meet real equipment. It does not replace working on real hardware.

  • Practise safely, so a mistake costs nothing.
  • The lab checks your work like a site test, so you know when it is right.
  • Free, in your browser, with nothing to install.

Certificate

An optional certificate when you pass

Learning is free. Pass the final exam and you can have a certificate for £19, including VAT, with a number employers can check online. It records that you completed a free online course; it is not a regulated qualification or a CPD certificate.

  • Your name, the course, its study time and your final exam score
  • A unique certificate number and a QR code to its verification page
  • Issued by Wartens Ltd; add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click
  • Pay now or after you pass: it is issued the moment you pass the final

How the certificate works

Sample certificate for Control Valves and Flow Measurement: Sizing and Selection

Credits

Who made the lessons

The video lessons belong to their creators. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, quizzes and the final exam.

  • Fisher Valves & Instruments (Emerson)

    the lessons on the types of control valves, the Control-Disk rotary valve, sizing a control valve for liquid flow and for compressible fluid, the cavitation demonstration, the noise demonstration and treating valve noise with Whisper trim

  • Endress+Hauser

    the electromagnetic, vortex, ultrasonic and Coriolis flow measuring principle animations

  • Rosemount (Emerson)

    how differential pressure flow works, how conditioning orifice plates work, installing the 405 conditioning orifice with a centering ring, grounding procedures for magnetic flowmeters and the plugged impulse line diagnostic

  • Kimray

    the lessons on the three types of control valve trim and on selecting and sizing a control valve

  • Control Station

    the webinar on how stiction disrupts PID control and what to do about it

  • HardHat Engineer

    the lessons on fail open, fail closed and fail lock, and on the types of flowmeters in piping

  • Asad (I&C Engineer)

    the lesson on how a valve positioner works, and the two long webinars on control valve datasheet preparation and control valve knowledge

  • IMI Climate Control

    the webinar on sizing and selection of control valves, including authority

  • Douglas Price

    the lecture on control valve basics

  • Boostrand ChemE

    the lesson on sizing parameters and inherent and installed characteristics

  • Engineering Design & Management

    the lesson on control valve flow characteristics and sizing

  • Simple Science

    the Cv calculation for liquids

  • Instrumentation Tools

    the lesson on cavitation, flashing and choked flow

  • BAS Simplified

    the steam control valve sizing lesson with a worked example

  • Process Simulation

    the walk-through of gas valve sizing in Fisher sizing software

  • Technical Engineering School

    the lesson on how pneumatic actuators work and their types

  • REXA

    the clip on spring fail-safe actuation

  • Smart Automation Solutions

    the DVC6200 positioner installation and stroking clip

  • Instrument Specialties

    the lesson on pneumatic volume boosters on valve systems

  • Process Systems

    the lesson on limit switch boxes for pneumatic actuators

  • JUMO

    the basics of flow measurement

  • 3D DECODE

    the comparison of DP, vortex, magnetic and Coriolis technologies for selection

  • Hibiscus Pink

    the lesson relating Bernoulli's theorem to the ISO 5167 mass flow equation

  • Set-Point

    the orifice plate flow and pressure drop calculation

  • Flow Control Magazine (Sierra Instruments video)

    the Sierra video on how thermal mass flow meter technology works

  • ifm efector USA

    the lesson on installing a magnetic flowmeter

  • Calibration Academy

    the lesson on DP transmitter installation for flow and level

Questions

About this course

Who is this control valve sizing course for?
It is for instrumentation, process and control engineers, instrument technicians and final-year students who specify or maintain control valves and flowmeters, including those working on EPC projects and on Gulf oil, gas and utility plants. You need to know a 4-20 mA loop and a P&ID and be comfortable with a spreadsheet.
Is the course free to learn?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the worked problems, the project and the final assessment are free. Only the certificate is paid, if you want one.
Which standards does it follow?
Valve sizing follows IEC 60534-2-1 (the same equations as ANSI/ISA-75.01.01), noise is introduced through IEC 60534-8-3, seat leakage through ANSI/FCI 70-2, and orifice sizing follows ISO 5167-2 with the Reader-Harris/Gallagher equation. The notes paraphrase the standards; buy the editions your project cites for design work.
Do I need Fisher Specification Manager or other sizing software?
No. Every calculation is done by hand or in a spreadsheet you build, and every worked number was checked. Vendor sizing tools are shown as a way to check your work, not as a requirement.
How long does it take?
About 14 hours of video, notes and practice at your own pace, with about 8 hours of video. The optional project takes about 14 hours more.
What certificate do I get?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the 15-question final at 60 percent, with a number anyone can verify on our site. It is not an ISA certification such as CCST or CAP and not a vendor qualification; the course covers knowledge those exams also test.
How is it different from the Industrial Instrumentation course?
Industrial Instrumentation introduces every kind of measurement and the control valve. This course goes deep on sizing and selection: Cv calculations, cavitation, actuators, datasheets and orifice sizing. Go on to the PID Control course for loop tuning and the Instrument Calibration, Loop Checks and Commissioning course for site work.
What job does it help with?
It covers the sizing and specification work of an instrumentation design engineer at an EPC contractor or consultant, and the troubleshooting a plant instrument or control engineer does on flow loops.

The Professional Module is five live days of Siemens PLC, HMI and SCADA with an instructor, then a resume session and a CPD certificate.

See the Professional Module