One of the most useful and under-appreciated inventions in the world of rotating equipment and valves is most definitely the valve actuator. This is because without an actuator, many industrial processes requiring a valve would become much, much more time-consuming, if even still possible at all. Actuators “control the opening and closing of valves. They can provide either linear or rotary motion and work with different types of valves, including ball and butterfly valves.” 1