Tips For Selecting The Most Energy Efficient Valves & Valve Terminals

Valves are the switching and control elements in pneumatics. Only if they are correctly sized and actuated is it possible to operate the connected drives efficiently.

• Correctly arrange the valve sizes on the valve terminal.
• Use reversible operation: pressure regulators upstream of the valves enable the exhaust air of the cylinder to escape without resistance. It does not have to be exhausted by the regulator.
• Create different pressure zones on valve terminals and use them to save energy.
• Keep the number of connections/fittings to a minimum: valves on manifolds blocks or valve terminals in general reduce potential leakages.
• Favor a decentralized installation: lower compressed air consumption due to reduced tubing lengths.
• Use valves whose electro-magnetic activation has a reduction of the holding current.
• Use modern proportional valves for controlling pressures and flow rates whose pilot control is based on piezo valve technology. This reduces the energy consumption considerably

Tools For Valves and Valve Terminals

Select the appropriate valves with the Festo sizing software and the product configurator. Festo’s clever selection and calculation tools unerringly find the suitable product for you – ranging from drives and valves, fittings and circuit diagrams up to parts lists.

Pneumatic sizing with the Festo sizing software:

Perfect simulations replace expensive reality tests. Our engineering tool helps you select, configure and size the entire pneumatic control sequence. If a parameter is edited, the program automatically adapts all the others. When configuring a pneumatic control sequence, the program makes sure all system components are of ideal size.

Start the program and enter, calculate and select the application data: finished

The following are output after the simulation:

• Total positioning time
• Average speed
• Impact velocity (shock absorbers)
• Maximum speed
• Average air consumption
• Minimum air consumption
• Converted energy

Making the correct selection with the product configurator

The range of valves and valve terminals is huge. To be on the safe side when planning systems, the product configurator finds the suitable valve or the correct valve terminal. This will also ensure they are suitable in terms of energy efficiency and compressed air consumption.