Valve actuation service demonstrates world class performance at the Winter Olympics

28/06/2010


Valve actuation service demonstrates world class performance at the Winter Olympics
Rotork IQT intelligent electric valve actuators with external fail-safe back-up have played a crucial role in ensuring that the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics met the demanding requirements of elite sliding athletes.

Operating quarter-turn isolation valves, the IQT actuators were installed on the refrigerant circuit responsible for maintaining the ice surface in the Olympic Sliding Center.  Situated at Whistler in British Columbia, the Sliding Center hosted the two and four person Bobsled, Luge and Skeleton events during the Winter Olympics in February 2010.

Norpac Controls Ltd, Rotork’s local representative, was first approached by the refrigerant contractor Cimco Refrigeration in 2006 and asked to submit prices for motorised isolation valves in pipe sizes between 2 and 12 inches.  Norpac’s sales team successfully demonstrated that a high profile project such as this demanded the highest quality and most reliable actuators, backed up by local support.  As a result, Cimco decided to reject cheaper actuator options and selected the Rotork IQT package, together with start-up and commissioning support.

Cimco’s project manager confirmed that the decision to select Norpac and Rotork was an easy one.  The combination of quality and reliability inherent in the actuators, together with Norpac’s proven record of providing local customer support alleviated any concerns regarding the performance of the actuated valves.

Fifteen IQT actuators were installed in September 2007 and commissioned by Norpac’s Rotork trained service technician in the following month, in good time to permit training runs to begin during the winter season.