Water Transmission and Distribution

By American Water Works Association

Relief valve
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Pressure relief valve)

For other uses, see Relief valve (disambiguation).

A relief valve

Schematic diagram of a conventional spring-loaded pressure relief valve.

The relief valve (RV) is a type of valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system or vessel which can build up by a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, or fire. The pressure is relieved by allowing the pressurised fluid to flow from an auxiliary passage out of the system. The relief valve is designed or set to open at a predetermined set pressure to protect pressure vessels and other equipment from being subjected to pressures that exceed their design limits. When the set pressure is exceeded, the relief valve becomes the "path of least resistance" as the valve is forced open and a portion of the fluid is diverted through the auxiliary route. The diverted fluid (liquid, gas or liquidgas mixture) is usually routed through a piping system known as a flare header or relief header to a central, elevated gas flare where it is usually burned and the resulting combustion gases are released to the atmosphere.[1] As the fluid is diverted, the pressure inside the vessel will drop. Once it reaches the valve's reseating pressure, the valve will close. The blowdown is usually stated as a percentage of set pressure and refers to how much the pressure needs to drop before the valve reseats. The blowdown can vary from roughly 220%, and some valves have adjustable blowdowns. In high-pressure gas systems, it is recommended that the outlet of the relief valve is in the open air. In systems where the outlet is connected to piping, the opening of a relief valve will give a pressure build up in the piping system downstream of the relief valve. This often means that the relief valve will not re-seat once the set pressure is reached. For these systems often so called "differential" relief valves are used. This means that the pressure is only working on an area that is much smaller than the openings area of the

valve. If the valve is opened the pressure has to decrease enormously before the valve closes and also the outlet pressure of the valve can easily keep the valve open. Another consideration is that if other relief valves are connected to the outlet pipe system, they may open as the pressure in exhaust pipe system increases. This may cause undesired operation. In some cases, a so-called bypass valve acts as a relief valve by being used to return all or part of the fluid discharged by a pump or gas compressor back to either a storage reservoir or the inlet of the pump or gas compressor. This is done to protect the pump or gas compressor and any associated equipment from excessive pressure. The bypass valve and bypass path can be internal (an integral part of the pump or compressor) or external (installed as a component in the fluid path). Many fire engines have such relief valves to prevent the overpressurization of fire hoses. In other cases, equipment must be protected against being subjected to an internal vacuum (i.e., low pressure) that is lower than the equipment can withstand. In such cases, vacuum relief valves are used to open at a predetermined low pressure limit and to admit air or an inert gas into the equipment so as control the amount of vacuum.
Contents
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1 Technical terms 2 Legal and code requirements in industry 3 DIERS 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Technical terms[edit]
In the petroleum refining, petrochemical and chemical manufacturing, natural gas processing and power generation industries, the term relief valve is associated with the terms pressure relief valve (PRV),pressure safety valve (PSV) and safety valve:

Pressure relief valve (PRV) or pressure safety valve (PSV): The difference is that PSVs have a manual lever to activate the valve in case of emergency. Most PRVs are spring operated. At lower pressures some use a diaphragm in place of a spring. The oldest PRV designs use a weight to seal the valve.

Set pressure: When the system pressure increases to this value, the PRV opens. The accuracy of the set pressure often follows guidelines set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Relief valve (RV): A valve used on a liquid service, which opens proportionally as the increasing pressure overcomes the spring pressure.

Safety valve (SV): Used in gas service. Most SVs are full lift or snap acting, in that they pop completely open.

Safety relief valve (SRV): A relief valve that can be used for gas or liquid service. However, the set pressure will usually only be accurate for one type of fluid at a time.

Pilot-operated relief valve (POSRV, PORV, POPRV): A device that relieves by remote command from a pilot valve which is connected to the upstream system pressure.

Low-pressure safety valve (LPSV): An automatic system that relieves by the static pressure of a gas. The relieving pressure is small and near the atmospheric pressure.

Vacuum pressure safety valve (VPSV): An automatic system that relieves by the static pressure of a gas. The relieving pressure is small, negative and near the atmospheric pressure.

Low and vacuum pressure safety valve (LVPSV): An automatic system that relieves by the static pressure of a gas. The relieving pressure is small, negative or positive, and near the atmospheric pressure.

Pressure vacuum release valve (PVRV): A combination of a vacuum pressure and a relief valve in one housing. Used on storage tanks for liquids to prevent implosion or over pressure.

Snap acting: The opposite of modulating, refers to a valve that "pops" open. It snaps into full lift in milliseconds. Usually accomplished with a skirt on the disc so that the fluid passing the seat suddenly affects a larger area and creates more lifting force.

Modulating: Opens in proportion to the overpressure.

Gas flare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flare stack at the Shell Haven refinery in England.

A gas flare, alternatively known as a flare stack, is a gas combustion device used in industrial plants such as petroleum refineries, chemical plants, natural gas processing plants as well as at oil or gas production sites having oil wells, gas wells, offshore oil and gas rigs and landfills.

North Dakota Flaring of Gas

In industrial plants, flare stacks are primarily used for burning off flammable gas released by pressure relief valves during unplanned over-pressuring of plant equipment.[1][2][3][4][5] During plant or partial plant startups and shutdowns, flare stacks are also often used for the planned combustion of gases over relatively short periods. A great deal of gas flaring at many oil and gas production sites has nothing to do with protection against the dangers of over-pressuring industrial plant equipment. When petroleum crude oil is extracted and produced from onshore or offshore oil wells, raw natural gas associated with the oil is produced to the surface as well. Especially in areas of the world lacking pipelines and other gas transportation infrastructure, vast amounts of such associated gas are commonly flared as waste or unusable gas. The flaring of associated gas may occur at the top of a vertical flare stack (as in the adjacent photo) or it may occur in a ground-level flare in an earthen pit.
Contents
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1 Overall flare system in industrial plants 2 Impacts of waste flaring associated gas from oil drilling sites and other facilities 3 See also 4 References 5 External links 6 Media

Overall flare system in industrial plants[edit]

Schematic flow diagram of an overall vertical, elevated flare stack system in an industrial plant.

Whenever industrial plant equipment items are over-pressured, the pressure relief valves provided as essential safety devices on the equipment automatically release gases and sometimes liquids as well. Those pressure relief valves are required by industrial design codes and standards as well as by law. The released gases and liquids are routed through large piping systems called flare headers to a vertical elevated flare. The released gases are burned as they exit the flare stacks. The size and brightness of the resulting flame depends upon the flammable material's flow rate in terms of joules per hour (or btu per hour).[4] Most industrial plant flares have a vapor-liquid separator (also known as a knockout drum) upstream of the flare to remove any large amounts of liquid that may accompany the relieved gases. Steam is very often injected into the flame to reduce the formation of black smoke. When too much steam is added to the flame, a condition known as "over steaming" can occur resulting in reduced combustion efficiency and higher emissions. In order to keep the flare system functional, a small amount of gas is continuously burned, like a pilot light, so that the system is always ready for its primary purpose as an overpressure safety system. The adjacent flow diagram depicts the typical components of an overall industrial flare stack system: [1][2][3]

A knockout drum to remove any oil and/or water from the relieved gases. A water seal drum to prevent any flashback of the flame from the top of the flare stack.

An alternative gas recovery system for use during partial plant startups and/or shutdowns as well as other times when required. The recovered gas is routed into the fuel gas system of the overall industrial plant.

A steam injection system to provide an external momentum force used for efficient mixing of air with the relieved gas, which promotes smokeless burning.

A pilot flame (with its ignition system) that burns all the time so that it is available to ignite relieved gases whenever needed.[6]

The flare stack, including a flashback prevention section at the upper part of the flare stack.

Impacts of waste flaring associated gas from oil drilling sites and other facilities[edit]

Flaring of associated gas from an oil well site in Nigeria.

Flaring gases from an oil platform in the North Sea.

Flaring is a contributor to the worldwide anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. Improperly operated flares may emit methane and other volatile organic compounds as well as sulfur dioxide and other sulfur compounds, which are known to exacerbate asthma and other respiratory problems. Other emissions from improperly operated flares may include, aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylenes) and benzapyrene, which are known to be carcinogenic.

Flaring can impact wildlife by attracting birds and insects to the flame. Approximately 7,500 migrating songbirds were attracted to and killed by the flare at the liquefied natural gas terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on September 13, 2013.[7] Similar incidents have occurred at flares on offshore oil and gas installations.[8] Moths are known to be attracted to lights. A brochure published by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity describing the Global Taxonomy Initiative describes a situation where " a taxonomist working in a tropical forest noticed that a gas flare at an oil refinery was attracting and killing hundreds of these [hawk or sphinx] moths. Over the course of the months and years that the refinery was running a a vast number of moths must have been killed, suggesting that plants could not be pollinated over a large area of forest".[9] As of the end of 2011, 150 109 cubic meters (5.3 1012 cubic feet) of associated gas are flared annually. That is equivalent to about 25 per cent of the annual natural gas consumption in the United States or about 30 per cent of the annual gas consumption in the European Union.[10] If it were to reach market, this quantity of gas (at a nominal value of $5.62 per 1000 cubic feet) would be worth $29.8 billion USD. [11] Also as of the end of 2011, 10 countries accounted for 72 per cent of the flaring, and twenty for 86 per cent. The top ten leading contributors to world gas flaring at the end of 2011, were (in declining order): Russia (27%), Nigeria (11%), Iran (8%), Iraq (7%), USA (5%), Algeria (4%), Kazakhstan (3%), Ango la (3%), Saudi Arabia (3%) and Venezuela (3%).[12] That amount of flaring and burning of associated gas from oil drilling sites is a significant source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Some 400 106 tons of carbon dioxide are emitted annually in this way and it amounts to about 1.2 per cent of the worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide. That may seem to be insignificant, but in perspective it is more than half of the Certified Emissions Reductions (a type of carbon credits) that have been issued under the rules and mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol as of June 2011. [10][13] Satellite data show that from 2005 to 2010, global gas flaring decreased by about 20%. The most significant reductions in terms of volume were made in Russia and Nigeria.[