11/19/2015

Control Valves and Cavitation

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Control Valves and Cavitation

Control valves and cavitation, application ratio and multi stage control valves
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According the Bernoulli equation - when a fluid pass a valve seat and the fluid velocity increase - the fluid pressure decrease.

Cavitation
If the speed through the valve is increases enough, the pressure in the fluid drops to a level where the fluid m ay start to boil, bubble or flash. And when the pressure recovers sufficiently the
bubbles will collapse upon them selves. T his collapse causes cavitation.

Cavitation m ay be noisy but is usually of low intensity and low frequency. T his situation is extrem ely destructive and m ay wear out the trim and body parts of a valve in short tim e.
T he Cavitation Num ber - introduction to and a definition of the Cavitation Num ber
Cavitation - an Introduction

Application Ratio
A com m on way to characterize potential cavitation condition is the "applications ratio" (or "the incipient cavitation index") which can be expressed as
AR = p i - p o / (p i - p v)

(1)

w here
AR = Application Ratio
p i = inlet pressure, absolute
p o = outlet pressure, absolute
p v = vapor pressure of the fluid, absolute
For application ratios above 1 - the fluid flashes. T his is not the sam e as cavitation, but the closer the ratio is to 1, the higher is the potential for cavitation.
Note! - possibility for cavitation increases with fluid tem perature.
Example - Flashing Water
If we know the boiling point and the absolute pressure of a fluid (Steam T able with saturated steam properties) the m inim um outlet pressure from a valve to avoid flashing can be calculated.
For an application ratio like one (AR = 1), equation (1) can m odified to
AR = 1
= p i - p o / (p i - p v)
or transformed to
po = pv
Using "Steam T able" with saturated steam properties we can conclude that
for a water tem perature of 17.51 oC and absolute inlet pressure of 1 bar - the m inim um outlet pressure is 0.02 bar to avoid flashing
for a water tem perature of 81.35 oC and absolute inlet pressure of 1 bar - the m inim um outlet pressure is 0.5 bar to avoid flashing
For a water tem perature of 99.63 oC and absolute inlet pressure of 1 bar - the m inim um outlet pressure is 1 bar to avoid flashing
Note! Flashing is not the sam e as cavitation. Due to local conditions in a valve cavitation m ay start on m uch higher outlet pressures.

Multi Stage Control Valves

Cavitation can be avoided by using m ore than one control valve or m ore convenient - a m ultistage control valve.

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11/19/2015

Control Valves and Cavitation

As illustrated above the "vena contracta" is m uch lower in a single stage valve than in a m ulti stage valve. Depending on the pressure drop and the tem perature of the fluid its possible to
avoid cavitation conditions using m ore than one stage in a valve.
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Related Topics
Control Valv es - Control Valve term inology, bodies, trim , flow characteristics, Cv and Kv sizing, noise, actuators and positioners

Related Documents
Properties of Saturated Steam - Pressure in Bar - Saturated Steam T able with properties like boiling point, specific volum e, density, specific enthalpy, specific heat and latent
heat of vaporization
Cav itation Number - An introduction to and a definition of the Cavitation Num ber
Valv e Authority - Valve authority express the ratio between pressure drop across the control valve com pared to the total pressure drop across the whole circuit
Cav itation - an Introduction - Cavitation occurs in fluid flow system s where the local static pressure is below vapor pressure
Valv es - Types - Classifications of valves
Critical Pressure Ratios - Critical pressure ratios for water and other liquids

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