Kinitics Automation

Kinitics Automation Limited is a Vancouver, Canada-based developer and manufacturer of motion control products built on shape memory alloy (SMA) materials and the company's proprietary Bundled Wire technology. Its product line comprises the KVA38 valve actuator, KLA linear actuators and KPP piston pumps. The KVA38 is a spring-loaded, all-electric valve actuator aimed at the energy and process control industries; it is certified for hazardous locations in the United States and Canada, uses a mechanical spring design for fail-closed operation on power loss, runs on 24VDC or 120VAC, and supports analog and serial control interfaces. Stated applications include vertical separators, injection gas, blanket gas, heater treaters, plunger lifts and dehydrators.

The KLA linear actuator is described as delivering high force in a compact package with no moving parts, configurable for pushing or pulling force, with position control available via a linear sensor and force control via a strain gauge; company pages cite force figures of up to 650 N in some places and up to 2,600 N in others. The KPP piston pump is rated to pressures of up to 100 bar (1,450 psi), with displacement and flow control through a linear sensor and pressure control through a pressure sensor. Alongside its own catalogue products, Kinitics works with original equipment manufacturers to develop SMA actuators for specific applications, including aerospace work such as a high-torque SMA rotary actuator for a ram air door developed in collaboration with Boeing.

The company frames its market around replacing methane-venting pneumatic devices: it states that more than one million such devices operate at North American natural gas well sites, emitting over fifty million tonnes of CO2e per year, and that more than 261,000 devices in Canada require replacement by 2030.