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Surge control is the use of different techniques and equipment in a hydraulic system to prevent any excessive gain in pressure (also known as a pressure surge) that would cause the hydraulic process pressure to exceed the maximum working pressure of the mechanical equipment used in the system.
Hydraulic surges are created when the velocity of a fluid suddenly changes and becomes unsteady or transient. Fluctuations in the fluid's velocity are generated by restrictions like a pump starting/stopping, a valve opening/closing, or a reduction in line size. Hydraulic surges can be generated within a matter of seconds anywhere that the fluid velocity changes and can travel through a pipeline at very high speed, damaging equipment or causing piping failures from over-pressurizing. Surge relief systems absorb and limit high-pressure surges, preventing the pressure surge from traveling through the hydraulic system. Methods for controlling hydraulic surges include utilizing a gas-loaded surge relief valve, spring-loaded pressure safety valves, pilot-operated valves, surge suppressors, and rupture disks.
Surge control products have been used in many industries to protect the maximum working pressure of hydraulic system for decades. Typical applications for surge relief equipment is in pipelines at pump stations, receiving manifolds at storage facilities, back pressure control, marine loading/off loading, site specific applications where pressure surges are generated by the automation system, or any location deemed critical by an engineering firm performing a surge analysis.
Surge suppressors perform surge relief by acting as a pulsation dampener. Most suppressors have a metal tank with an internal elastic bladder in it. Within the tank they pressurize the top of the bladder with a compressed gas while the product comes in the bottom of the pressure vessel. The gas in the bladder is supplying the system with its set point. During normal operation, as the process conditions begins to build pressure; the internal bladder contracts from the pressure gain allowing liquid to move into the surge suppressor pressure vessel adding volume to the location. This increase in physical volume prevents the pressure from rising to dangerous levels.
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A rupture disc, also known as a burst disc, bursting disc, or burst diaphragm, is a onetime use, non-resealing pressure relief device that, in most uses, protects a pressure vessel, equipment or system from over pressurization or potentially damaging vacuum conditions. A rupture disc is a sacrificial part because it has a one-time-use membrane that fails at a predetermined differential pressure, either positive or vacuum. The membrane is usually made out of metal, but nearly any material can be used to suit a particular application. Rupture discs provide instant response (within milliseconds) to an increase or decrease in system pressure, but once the disc has ruptured it will not reseal. Due to the one time usage of this disc it requires someone to replace the plate once it has ruptured. One time usage devices are initially cost-effective, but can become time-consuming and labor-intensive to repeatedly change out.
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Spring-loaded pressure safety valves use a compressed spring to hold the valve closed. The valve will remain closed until the process pressure exceeds the set point of the spring pressure. The valve will open 100% when the set point is reached and will remain open until a certain blow down factor is reached. Oftentimes the blow down is a percentage of the set point, such as 20% of the set point. That means that the valve will remain open until the process pressure decreases to 20% below the set point of the spring-loaded relief valve.
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Surge relief valves are known for their quick speed of response, excellent flow characteristics, and durability in high pressure applications. Surge relief valves are designed to have an adjustable set point that is directly related to the max pressure of the pipeline/system. When the product on the inlet of the valve exceeds the set point it forces the valve to open and allows the excess surge to be bled out in to a breakout tank or recirculated into a different pipeline. So in the event of the surge, the majority of the pressure is absorbed in the liquid and pipe, and just that quantity of liquid which is necessary to relieve pressures of unsafe proportions is discharged to the surge relief tank. Some valve manufactures use the piston style with a nitrogen control system and external plenums, while others use elastomeric tubes, external pilots, or internal chambers.
Pilot operated surge relief valves are typically used to protect pipelines that move low viscosity products like gasoline or diesel. This style of valve is installed downstream of the pump/valve that creates the surge. The valve is controlled by an external, normally closed pilot valve. The pilot will be set to the desired set point of the system, with a sense line that runs up stream of the valve. When the upstream process conditions start to exceed the pilot set point, the valve begins to open and relieve the excess pressure until the correct pressure is met causing the valve to close.
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Piston-style gas-loaded surge relief valves operate on the balanced piston design and can be used in a variety of applications because it can handle high and low viscosity products while maintaining a fast speed of response. An inert gas, most commonly nitrogen, is loaded on the back side of the piston forcing the valve closed. The nitrogen pressure on the back side of the piston is actually what determines the valves set point. These valves will remain closed until the inlet pressure exceeds the set point/nitrogen pressure, at which time the valve will open from the high pressure and remain open as long as the process pressure is above the nitrogen pressure. Once the process pressure starts to decay, the valve will start to close. Once the process pressure is below the nitrogen pressure, the valve will go closed again.
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Rubber boot-style gas-loaded relief valves operate by using nitrogen pressure loaded on the outside diameter of a rubber boot that is covering the flow path through the relief valve. As long as the process pressure is below the nitrogen pressure, the valve is closed. As soon as the process pressure raises above the nitrogen pressure, the product in the line forces the rubber boot away from the barrier and allows product to pass through the valve. When the process pressure decreases below the nitrogen pressure, the valve goes closed again.
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There are many different approaches to controlling surge relief equipment. It all starts with the technology used in the specific application. Spring-loaded pressure safety valves and pilot-operated valves are controlled mechanically using the pressure from a compressed spring. Typically there is an adjustment stem that allows for minor adjustments on the set point by compressing or decompressing the spring. This design is limited by the pressure that can be generated by the spring in the valve.
Gas-loaded relief valves are controlled by the nitrogen pressure loaded into the relief valve. If there is no control on the nitrogen pressure, then the nitrogen gas will expand and contract with the changing ambient temperature. As the nitrogen pressure drifts with the temperature so does the set point of the relief valve.
The nitrogen pressure has traditionally been controlled using mechanical regulators. Regulators are designed to operate under flowing conditions. When used in the closed end plenum system of a surge relief valve, it must also perform an on/off function to correct for thermal expansion and contraction. Being a pressure control device designed for use under flowing conditions, it is not well suited to perform the on/off function needed in a closed-end system such as a surge relief valve plenum.
Another common issue is that regulators are required to operate outside of their design limits when making the corrections needed for thermal expansion and contraction. The volume of gas required to be added or vented from the system is so small that the regulator is required to operate below the minimum threshold of its performance curve. As a result, inconsistent corrections are made to the system pressure which impact the gas-loaded relief valve's set point.
A highly accurate and reliable approach to controlling the nitrogen pressure on a gas-loaded surge relief valve is to use an electronic control system to add and vent nitrogen pressure from the gas-loaded surge relief valve. This technique assures the required set point accuracy and repeatability needed in this critical application.
A pump is a device that moves fluids, or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they use to move the fluid: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps.
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category. In an open valve, fluid flows in a direction from higher pressure to lower pressure. The word is derived from the Latin valva, the moving part of a door, in turn from volvere, to turn, roll.
A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy which is then dissipated. Most shock absorbers are a form of dashpot.
A safety valve is a valve that acts as a fail-safe. An example of safety valve is a pressure relief valve (PRV), which automatically releases a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or other system, when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits. Pilot-operated relief valves are a specialized type of pressure safety valve. A leak tight, lower cost, single emergency use option would be a rupture disk.
Hydraulic shock is a pressure surge or wave caused when a fluid in motion, usually a liquid but sometimes also a gas is forced to stop or change direction suddenly; a momentum change. This phenomenon commonly occurs when a valve closes suddenly at an end of a pipeline system, and a pressure wave propagates in the pipe.
A check valve, non-return valve, reflux valve, retention valve, foot valve, or one-way valve is a valve that normally allows fluid to flow through it in only one direction.
A diving regulator is a pressure regulator that controls the pressure of breathing gas for diving. The most commonly recognised application is to reduce pressurized breathing gas to ambient pressure and deliver it to the diver, but there are also other types of gas pressure regulator used for diving applications. The gas may be air or one of a variety of specially blended breathing gases. The gas may be supplied from a scuba cylinder carried by the diver or via a hose from a compressor or high-pressure storage cylinders at the surface in surface-supplied diving. A gas pressure regulator has one or more valves in series which reduce pressure from the source, and use the downstream pressure as feedback to control the delivered pressure, or the upstream pressure as feedback to prevent excessive flow rates, lowering the pressure at each stage.
Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, designed by Paul Magès, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers, notably Rolls-Royce, Maserati and Peugeot. It was also used on Berliet trucks and has more recently been used on Mercedes-Benz cars, where it is known as Active Body Control. The Toyota Soarer UZZ32 "Limited" was fitted with a fully integrated four-wheel steering and a complex, computer-controlled hydraulic Toyota Active Control Suspension in 1991. Similar systems are also widely used on modern tanks and other large military vehicles. The suspension was referred to as oléopneumatique in early literature, pointing to oil and air as its main components.
A flow control valve regulates the flow or pressure of a fluid. Control valves normally respond to signals generated by independent devices such as flow meters or temperature gauges.
A relief valve or pressure relief valve (PRV) is a type of safety valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system; pressure might otherwise build up and create a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, or fire. The pressure is relieved by allowing the pressurized 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. In systems containing flammable fluids, the diverted fluid 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. In non-hazardous systems, the fluid is often discharged to the atmosphere by a suitable discharge pipework designed to prevent rainwater ingress which can affect the set lift pressure, and positioned not to cause a hazard to personnel. As the fluid is diverted, the pressure inside the vessel will stop rising. 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 roughly 2–20%, and some valves have adjustable blowdowns.
Hydraulic machines use liquid fluid power to perform work. Heavy construction vehicles are a common example. In this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is pumped to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders throughout the machine and becomes pressurized according to the resistance present. The fluid is controlled directly or automatically by control valves and distributed through hoses, tubes, or pipes.
In pipeline transportation, pigging is the practice of using pipeline inspection gauges or gadgets, devices generally referred to as pigs or scrapers, to perform various maintenance operations. This is done without stopping the flow of the product in the pipeline.
In petroleum and natural gas extraction, a Christmas tree, or "tree", is an assembly of valves, casing spools, and fittings used to regulate the flow of pipes in an oil well, gas well, water injection well, water disposal well, gas injection well, condensate well, and other types of well.
A control valve is a valve used to control fluid flow by varying the size of the flow passage as directed by a signal from a controller. This enables the direct control of flow rate and the consequential control of process quantities such as pressure, temperature, and liquid level.
Tank blanketing, also referred to as tank padding, is the process of applying a gas to the empty space in a storage container. The term storage container here refers to any container that is used to store products, regardless of its size. Though tank blanketing is used for a variety of reasons, it typically involves using a buffer gas to protect products inside the storage container. A few of the benefits of blanketing include a longer life of the product in the container, reduced hazards, and longer equipment life cycles.
A valve actuator is the mechanism for opening and closing a valve. Manually operated valves require someone in attendance to adjust them using a direct or geared mechanism attached to the valve stem. Power-operated actuators, using gas pressure, hydraulic pressure or electricity, allow a valve to be adjusted remotely, or allow rapid operation of large valves. Power-operated valve actuators may be the final elements of an automatic control loop which automatically regulates some flow, level or other process. Actuators may be only to open and close the valve, or may allow intermediate positioning; some valve actuators include switches or other ways to remotely indicate the position of the valve.
A rupture disk, also known as a pressure safety disc, burst disc, bursting disc, or burst diaphragm, is a non-reclosing pressure relief safety device that, in most uses, protects a pressure vessel, equipment or system from overpressurization or potentially damaging vacuum conditions.
Instrumentation is used to monitor and control the process plant in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Instrumentation ensures that the plant operates within defined parameters to produce materials of consistent quality and within the required specifications. It also ensures that the plant is operated safely and acts to correct out of tolerance operation and to automatically shut down the plant to prevent hazardous conditions from occurring. Instrumentation comprises sensor elements, signal transmitters, controllers, indicators and alarms, actuated valves, logic circuits and operator interfaces.
This is a glossary of technical terms, jargon, diver slang and acronyms used in underwater diving. The definitions listed are in the context of underwater diving. There may be other meanings in other contexts.