KKI - Optimising product performance, reducing long-term maintenance

KKI Schematic Of Test Equipment

During the last 18 months, engineers and experts at KOSO Kent Introl (KKI) have developed an innovative new range of rubber diaphragms that optimise product performance. The new spring return diaphragm actuators supplied in our G series valves massively improve product lifecycles and reduce downtime for our customers.

We can now announce that the high-performance actuators will be provided as standard within our range of G series actuators (in standard conditions). The performance impact is incredible, with actuators successfully completing over 1 million full travel operating cycles, at full design pressure and when working against an opposing load of up to 75% of the maximum output for the actuator. 

The new actuator design and development was inspired by a customer question, explains Matthew Charlton, KKI’s Technical Director. “A customer asked us about the expected failure rates of our diaphragms for their reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) data that they were putting together. We’re committed to delivering the highest quality components, and our aim to was either pass a minimum of 100K cycles at these load conditions or induce failure.” 

Matthew and his team put the new actuator through its paces, documenting their findings during the demanding test regime. “All size diaphragms passed our initial expectations, and none suffered any fundamental failure over the duration of the tests. There was only minor visible wear, even at 1m cycles,” Matthew said. “The results exceeded our best expectations and that of our customer.” 

“The data should provide confidence for all customers on the quality of the actuators and their component,” said Matthew. “We hope this data can help other customers in their own predictive maintenance schedules and provide assurance to our valued customers of KKI’s commitment to quality.” 

Optimising product performance reduces long-term maintenance. Lower failure rates mean more consistent performance over a longer term, which means less downtime. 

At KKI, we’re committed to improving our product performance for our customers and strive to deliver best-in-class results to provide reliability for extended service intervals. We’re always searching for new projects and are building partnerships with established businesses in the market, and the most exciting start-ups, providing them with the high-quality valves they need.

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