Image: Electric actuators (source: AUMA)

China's electric control-valve actuators started late. In the mid-1950s the industry mainly copied Soviet designs, building contact-type actuators; contactless designs followed from the 1960s. After two decades, many specialised manufacturers produced the contactless DKZ linear-stroke and DKJ quarter-turn actuator families.

In the following 20 years the DDZ-Ⅱ and DDZ-Ⅲ series were developed. But as electronics advanced and reliability leapt forward in the 1990s, foreign actuators made a qualitative jump, and Sino-foreign ventures in China began producing products at the same level. The hallmarks:

· Extremely high reliability — maintenance-free for 5–10 years;
· Greatly reduced weight — 70–80% lighter than the old DKZ/DKJ types;
· Much improved appearance;
· Better performance, simpler adjustment — easier and simpler to use.

Meanwhile the DDZ-Ⅱ/Ⅲ generation reached the end of its life: large dead band, narrow temperature range (−10 to +55 °C), weak torque and performance protection, low insulation class. Domestic manufacturers therefore committed to innovation — the historical path that led to today's mainstream intelligent, non-intrusive, fieldbus-capable products.

We supply actuators of every generation — from conventional to intelligent — together with spare parts; contact us for selection advice.

Source: compiled from public industry references by this site.