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valve leakage

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Valve Leakage

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174
Types of Leakage
There are two types of leakage from a valve, namely; fugitive emissions
from the valve to atmosphere, and leakage through the valve but contained
within the piping system.
Fugitive emissions can both be detrimental to the environment and a
potential safety hazard. Valves are considered to be the major contributors
to fugitive emission losses.
Leakage through the valve can also be a safety hazard, and can be
detrimental to the process.

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Valve Handbook.
3rd Edition

Reasons that Valves Leak

Common causes of valve leakage include:
- Valve is not fully closed. This can be due to various reasons, including;
- Valve seat is prevented from closing fully due to dirt, rust, or line
debris
- Insufficient actuator travel
- The seat is damaged, e.g. scored
- The seal is damaged
Standards for Acceptable Rates of Valve Leakage
There are many standards for leakage rates e.g. DIN EN 917 covers
Thermoplastics valves, BS 6364 covers cryogenic valves, however the three
standards used most in the oil and gas, and petrochemical industry are API
598, ANSI FCI 70-2 and MSS-SP-61. Seee below for further details.
American Petroleum Institute
The Americam Petroleum Institute standard 598 covers the testing and
inspection requirements for gate, globe, check, ball, plug & butterfly valves.
It has acceptable leakage rates for liquid as well as gas testing. All valves
built to the various API standards are required to meet API-598 leakage
criteria prior to shipment from the manufacturer or supplier.
API598 states for shell and backseat tests, no visible leakage is permitted. If
the fluid is a liquid, there shall be no visible evidence of drops or wetting of
the external surfaces (no visible leakage through the body, body liner, if
any, and body-to-bonnet joint and no structural damage). If the test fluid is
air or gas, no leakage shall be revealed by the established detection method.
For both the low-pressure closure test and the high-pressure closure test,
visual evidence of leakage through the disk, behind the seat rings, or past
the shaft seals (of valves that have this feature) is not permitted (Plastic
deformation of resilient seats and seals is not considered structural damage).
The allowable rate for leakage of test fluid past the seats, for the duration of
the tests, is listed in the following table:
All Metal-Seated Valves
Metal-Seated
All
(except Check Valves)
Check Valves
Valve Resilient
Size Seated

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Valve Selection
Handbook:
Engineering
Fundamentals for
Selecting the
Right Valve
Design for Every
Industrial Flow
Application

Piping and Valves:

Fundamentals for
the Water and
Wastewater
Maintenance
Operator

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valve leakage

Valves

Liquid Test Gas Test

Liquid Test Gas Test
(drops/min.) (bubbles/min.) (drops/min.) (bubbles/min.)

<= 2" 0
0 (b)
0 (b)
(c)
(d)
2.5&0
12
24
(c)
(d)
6"
8" 0
20
40
(c)
(d)
12"
>=
0
28
56
(c)
(d)
14"
where
(a) 1 milliliter is considered equivalent to 16 drops
(b) There shall be no leakage for the minimum specified test duration. For
liquid test, 0 drop means no visible leakage per minimum specified test
duration. For gas test, 0 bubble means less then 1 bubble per minimum
specified test duration.
(c) The maximum permissible leakage rate shall be 0.18 cubic inch (3 cubic
centimeters) per minute per inch of nominal pipe size.
(d) The maximum permissible leakage rates shall be 1.5 standard cubic feet
(0.042 cubic meter) of gas per hour per inch of nominal pipe size.
(e) For check valves larger than NPS 24, the allowable leakage rate shall be
per agreement between purchaser and manufacturer.
Manufacturer's Standardisation Society
The US based Manufacturers Standardization Society (MSS) of the Valve
and Fittings Industry is a non-profit technical association organised for
development and improvement of industry, national and international codes
and standards for, amongst other things, valves.
Section 5 of their Pressure Testing of Steel Valves, MSS-SP-61 1999 relates
to seat closure tests, and defines the following leakage rates:
- GATE, GLOBE, BALL VALVES: 10 cc/hr per inch of nominal pipe
diameter. (Example: A 6" globe valve is allowed to leak 60 cc/hr in a test)
- CHECK VALVES: 40 cc/hr per inch of nominal pipe diameter
All shutoff or isolation valves specified to MSS-SP-61 must pass the above
standards. The seat closure test must be performed at a fluid (liquid or gas)
pressure no less than 1.1 times the 1000F (380C) rating rounded to the
next 5 psi (0.5 bar).
American National Standards Institute
ANSI FCI 70-2 supercedes ANSI B16.104 and specifies six different seat
leakage classifications; class 1 to class VI.
Class I is also know as dust tight and can refer to metal or resilient seated
valves.
Class IV is also known as metal to metal. It is the kind of leakage rate you
can expect from a valve with a metal shut-off disc and metal seat.
Class Vl is known as a soft seat classification. Soft Seat Valves are those
where the seat or shut-off disc or both are made from some kind of resilient
material such as Teflon.
Maximum
Leakage
Test
Test
Leakage
Test Procedure
Class
Medium Pressure
Allowable
No test required,
I
------as long as purchaser and
vendor both agree.
45-60 psig Pressure applied to valve
Air or
or max.
inlet with outlet open to
0.5% of
water at operating atmosphere or connected to a
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Valve Handbook

Control Valves: A
User's Guide

Valve Selection
Handbook:
Engineering
Fundamentals for
Selecting Manual
Valves, Check
Valves, Pressure
Relief Valves, and
Rupture Discs

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valve leakage

II

III

IV

VI

rated
capacity

50-125F differential low head loss measuring

(10-52) whichever device full normal closing
is lower thrust provided by actuator.

0.1% of
rated
As above As above
capacity
0.01% of
rated
As above As above
capacity
Max
service
0.0005 ml
pressure
per minute
drop
of water Water at
across
per inch of
50 to
valve plug,
port
125F (10
not to
diameter to 52C)
exceed
per psi
ANSI
differential
body
rating.
Not to
50 psig or
exceed
max rated
Air or
amounts
differential
nitrogen
shown in
pressure
at 50 to
following
across
125 F
table based
valve plug
(10to52C)
on port
whichever
diameter.
is lower.

As above

As above
Pressure applied to valve
inlet after filling entire body
cavity and connected piping
with water and stroking valve
plug closed. Use net
specified max actuator thrust,
but no more, even if
available during test. Allow
time for leakage flow to
stabilize.
Actuator should be adjusted
to operating conditions
specified with full normal
closing thrust applied to
valve plug seat. Allow time
for leakage flow to stabilize
and use suitable measuring
device.

CONTROL VALVE SEAT LEAKAGE CLASSIFICATIONS

Nominal Port Diameter Nominal Port Diameter Leak Rate Leak Rate
Inches
mm
ml/min
bubbles/min
3
4
6

76
102
152

0.9
1.7
4

6
11
27

8
203
6.75
45
10
254
9
63
12
305
11.5
81
Bubbles per minute as tabulated are a suggested alternative based on a
suitable calibrated measuring device, in this case a 0.25-inch OD X 0.032inch wall tube submerged in water to a depth of from 1/8 to 1/4 inch. The
tube end shall be cut square and smooth with no chamfers or burrs. The tube
axis shall be perpendicular to the surface of the water. Other measuring
devices may be constructed and the number of bubbles per minute may
differ from those shown as long as they correctly indicate the flow in
milliliters per minute.

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