Fluids Handling

How smarter valve automation can help older plants waste less energy

Phil Black - PII Editor 5 hours ago

45 4 minutes read

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For UK process plants, efficiency is an immediate operating pressure.

Manufacturers are still contending with stubborn energy-cost concerns, and the wider direction of travel on decarbonisation is set by the UK’s legally binding 2050 Net Zero target. Now, older sites are being forced to reconsider how they operate.

The vast majority of our industrial output still relies on infrastructure that was designed in a very different economic era. Increasingly, attention is being given to the role that smarter valve automation can play in improving efficiency without forcing a full-site overhaul.

1. Older plants are under pressure to run more efficiently

In 2026, the mandate across the process industry is clear: do more with less. Older plants are under growing pressure to run more efficiently, being squeezed from both sides.

On the one hand, there’s the relentless drive to lower energy consumption (in line with the UK’s Net Zero 2050 goals), and on the other, manufacturers are dealing with high industrial energy costs.

For many plant managers, the most direct path to closing this efficiency gap is moving away from imprecise manual overrides in favour of modern actuated valves.

With energy costs continuing to bite and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) targets becoming increasingly more stringent, the business case for optimisation is now driven by the need to stay competitive.

That pressure falls particularly hard on older facilities. Many brownfield sites weren’t built around today’s efficiency expectations, yet they’re still expected to deliver better performance from ageing assets.

2. Manual systems can lead to wasted time, wasted energy, or small leaks going unnoticed

The biggest source of waste in an older plant isn’t a catastrophic pipe burst. When a plant depends heavily on manual valve checks and adjustments, small delays can turn into a bigger efficiency problem.

The reality of operator lag is that someone has to notice that pressure or flow has shifted, walk to the valve, decide what to do, and then make the adjustment.

By the time they arrive at the valve, the process has already spent ten minutes drifting away from its optimal state, burning unnecessary energy the entire time.

Across a busy site, that lag can mean more settings being adjusted by feel, and less consistency from one shift to the next. What makes this even more expensive are utilities.

According to the Carbon Trust, industrial sites often suffer from compressed air leakage rates of up to 30%.

To put that in perspective, a single 3mm hole in a compressed air line could cost a UK business more than £1,000 a year in wasted energy alone. For these reasons, more consistent valve control is becoming essential for plants cutting waste.

3. Upgrading some points to actuated valves can make control more consistent

A common misconception in the process industry is that moving toward automation is an ‘all or nothing’ proposition. In reality, for most UK brownfield sites, the most effective approach is to focus on the points that are adjusted most often.

Replacing high-frequency manual points with actuated valves can bring older pipework closer to modern expectations. But the primary technical benefit here is repeatability.

While even the most experienced operator might get a manual valve close to the desired position, an actuator ensures it returns to the same percentage of openness every single time.

4. Better responsiveness, less waste, and manual intervention

The payoff of a targeted upgrade can be measured in three wins: quicker response times, reduced product loss, and a major decrease in routine manual checks.

Once the right manual points are automated, the benefits are usually felt quite quickly. The system can respond much more quickly to shifts rather than waiting for someone to notice a change and make an adjustment.

This real-time feedback (or, in other words, getting clearer information sooner) makes it easier to catch problems early. There’s also the human benefit for increased safety.

Many of the most critical valves in UK processing sites are located in challenging environments, such as high-heat steam loops or hazardous ATEX zones. In some cases, automation can reduce the need for operators to enter difficult areas.

5. Older sites are harder to upgrade, so plants need to choose the right places first

Upgrading an older plant is rarely straightforward.

A complete ‘rip out and replace’ approach is usually too expensive and difficult to justify while production still needs to continue. The most sensible route for brownfield sites is to implement a series of smart, targeted retrofits.

In practice, that means starting with the valves that are adjusted most often. If an operator is forced to intervene manually multiple times a shift, that’s a prime candidate for automation.

Then, there are valves located in hard-to-reach areas (any that require ladders, scaffolding, or entry into confined spaces) – an instant win for safety.

The new era of control

Improving efficiency in a way that is commercially realistic is the new challenge for process plants. With energy costs still a live concern for manufacturers in 2026 and the UK’s net zero direction fixed in law, standing still is becoming the riskier option.

In fact, Make UK’s 2026 executive survey says energy costs remain a concern for manufacturers, with 66% expecting prices to rise.

Smarter valve automation is gaining ground on brownfield sites, not because it promises a dramatic overnight transformation. What it does offer is a practical route to tighter control and more manageable upgrades.