Effects of Pressure Relief Valve Behavior on 2-Phase Energy Storage in a Pressure Vessel Exposed to Fire

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-252
Author(s):  
A. J. Pierorazio ◽  
A. M. Birk
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Pressure Relief Valve ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Stored Energy ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Relief Valve ◽  
Pressure Relief ◽  
Queen's University

Recent studies have shown that the hazards associated with loss of containment and BLEVEs (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions) are strongly tied to the energy stored in the liquid phase of a pressure vessel. This stored energy is affected by heat transfer with the surroundings (e.g., fire exposure) and pressure relief valve (PRV) action. Since it would be desirable to minimize this stored energy to reduce hazards, a study was initiated by Transport Canada and Queen’s University to quantify the effect of various PRV parameters on the thermal energy storage of a pressure vessel. A fully automated state-of-the-art test facility has been constructed to perform 2-phase blowdown tests using steam and water. This paper describes the Queen’s University/Transport Canada PRV Test Program and the test procedures and facilities used. It goes on to show some preliminary results from 2-phase testing currently underway to determine the optimal PRV operating characteristics from a hazard mitigation standpoint. The results of this study may be useful for standards-writing bodies to set experimentally determined optimal behavior criteria for PRVs and acceptable tolerances for deviation from this.

State-of-the-Art Review of Pressure Relief Valve Design, Testing and Modeling

1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Petherick ◽  
A. M. Birk
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Characteristics ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Literature Search ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Pressure Relief Valve ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Relief Valve ◽  
Pressure Relief

It is well known that the response of a rail tank car to exterior heating (e.g., fire engulfment) is significantly affected by the operating characteristics of the pressure relief valve (PRV). If the valve jams or fails in some way, it can lead to a violent vessel rupture; therefore, PRV failure modes and mechanisms must be understood. This paper investigates the studies which have been conducted in the area of PRV technology. The original focus of the paper was to conduct a literature search to find the state-of-the-art for the PRV’s which are presently installed on railway tank cars, highway tankers, and stationary LPG storage vessels. When few papers were found which had concentrated on this particular topic, the authors continued the search by considering both the nuclear power and chemical processing industries, where similar technologies are found. The results of the literature search suggest that the PRV’s currently installed on tank cars and highway tankers are based on designs more than 30 yr old. Controlled fire tests and industry’s maintenance programs suggest that PRV’s could be improved. Most experimental studies of PRV’s have concentrated on flow visualization techniques and have not considered PRV dynamic characteristics. The lack of understanding of valve dynamic characteristics has slowed the development of improved PRV dynamic computer models.

Reliability Analysis of Spring Operated Pressure Relief Valve

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiyi Bao ◽  
Zhibin Li ◽  
Lijia Luo ◽  
Zengliang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Reliability Analysis ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
General System ◽  
Process Industry ◽  
Stochastic Petri Nets ◽  
Pressure Relief Valve ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Relief Valve ◽  
Pressure Relief ◽  
Process Industries

Pressure relief valve (PRV) is an important automatic overpressure protection system in the process industry. Because of the operating characteristics, the performance of PRV is supposed to be proved by the proof test. However, it’s difficult to determine the proof test intervals and the availability of the PRV between two proof tests. Based on stochastic Petri nets (SPN), the reliability modeling and analysis procedure of spring operated full lift pressure relief valve which is the most widely used PRV is depicted in this paper. Firstly, the FMECA method is used to analyze the causes and effects of the typical six failure modes of the PRV, such as vibration, leakage, frequency hopping, unable to open, open before the settings and the low back seat pressure. Second, the corresponding fault tree (FT) models of the PRV are built through the multi-component failure analysis. Third, the SPN models of the PRV are established by employing the logical relations in the FT models. Based on the collected failure data of the PRVs, the steady state and transient reliability index are calculated by Monte Carlo simulation based on the SPN software SPN@. Last, the idea about PRV reliability data collection in domestic process industries is proposed. The result of the reliability analysis can provide the basis for determination the proof test intervals of the PRV, and the proposed procedure also bears significance in its application in the reliability analysis of general system in process industry.

Air Tests of Commercially Available Transport Vessel PRVs

1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-209
Author(s):  
A. J. Pierorazio ◽  
A. M. Birk
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Test Bench ◽  
Initial Step ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Relief Valve ◽  
Pressure Relief ◽  
Vapor Explosions ◽  
Transport Vessel ◽  
And Storage

An experimental study of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions (BLEVE) was recently completed at Queen’s University in Canada. The results clearly showed that the severity of the BLEVE was directly related to the energy stored in the vessel, and this energy storage was significantly affected by pressure relief valve (PRV) behavior. During the tests, the PRV operating characteristics were highly variable. Since these valves play a large role in the control of energy accumulation and storage in a pressure vessel, it was decided to study their dynamic behavior in detail and quantify their effect on energy storage. As an initial step, 60 small (1-in. NPT) transport vessel PRVs representing equivalent designs from each of three manufacturers were procured through a third party and tested on an air test bench. These tests were conducted in accordance with the certification procedures specified by various agencies (ASME, UL, CSA, CGA). Four characteristic pressures were measured: simmer (start-to-discharge), pop (full open), reseat, and reseal (bubble-tight reclosure). After initial testing, the valves were stored for various periods of time and retested. This paper details the equipment, procedures, and results of this testing and contains a significant discussion about the expected and observed operation of relief valves. [S0094-9930(00)00702-2]

Optimization of Operation Parameters for Direct Spring Loaded Pressure Relief Valve in a Pipeline System

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunjun Kim ◽  
Sanghyun Kim ◽  
Youngman Kim ◽  
Jonghwan Kim
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Relief Valve ◽  
Pipeline System ◽  
Relief Valve ◽  
Pressure Relief ◽  
Computational Costs ◽  
Constant Degree ◽  
System A ◽  
Disk Mass ◽  
Analysis Scheme ◽  
Surge Control

A direct spring loaded pressure relief valve (DSLPRV) is an efficient hydraulic structure used to control a potential water hammer in pipeline systems. The optimization of a DSLPRV was explored to consider the instability issue of a valve disk and the surge control for a pipeline system. A surge analysis scheme, named the method of characteristics, was implemented into a multiple-objective genetic algorithm to determine the adjustable factors in the operation of the DSLPRV. The forward transient analysis and multi-objective optimization of adjustable factors, such as the spring constant, degree of precompression, and disk mass, showed substantial relaxation in the surge pressure and oscillation of valve disk in a hypothetical pipeline system. The results of the regression analysis of surge were compared with the optimization results to demonstrate the potential of the developed method to substantially reduce computational costs.

Dynamic Behavior of Transportation Pressure Relief Valves Under Simulated Fire Impingement Conditions

1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Pierorazio ◽  
A. M. Birk
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Testing ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Relief Valve ◽  
Pressure Relief ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Pressure Relief Valves ◽  
Accident Conditions ◽  
Insight Into

This paper presents the results of the first full test series of commercial pressure relief valves using the newly constructed Queen’s University/Transport Canada dynamic valve test facility (VTF) in Maitland, Ontario. This facility is unique among those reported in the literature in its ability to cycle the valves repeatedly and to measure the time-varying flow rates during operation. This dynamic testing provides much more insight into valve behavior than the single-pop or continuous flow tests commonly reported. The facility is additionally unique in its simulation of accident conditions as a means of measuring valve performance. Specimen valves for this series represent 20 each of three manufacturers’ design for a semi-internal 1-in. 312 psi LPG relief valve. The purpose of this paper is to present the procedure and results of these tests. No effort is made to perform in-depth analysis into the causes of the various behaviors, nor is any assessment made of the risk presented by any of the valves. [S0094-9930(00)01201-4]

The Effect of Pressure Relief Valve Blowdown and Fire Conditions on the Thermo-Hydraulics Within a Pressure Vessel

2006 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Birk ◽  
J. D. J. VanderSteen
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Pressure Relief Valve ◽  
Relief Valve ◽  
Pressure Relief ◽  
Pressure Transducers ◽  
Hydrocarbon Pool ◽  
Computer Controlled ◽  
C 50 ◽  
Fire Conditions

In the summers of 2000 and 2001, a series of controlled fire tests were conducted on horizontal 1890liter (500 US gallon) propane pressure vessels. The test vessels were instrumented with pressure transducers, liquid space, vapor space, and wall thermocouples, and an instrumented flow nozzle in place of a pressure relief valve (PRV). A computer controlled PRV was used to control pressure. The vessels were heated using high momentum, liquid propane utility torches. Open pool fires were not used for the testing because they are strongly affected by wind. These wind effects make it almost impossible to have repeatable test conditions. The fire conditions used were calibrated to give heat inputs similar to a luminous hydrocarbon pool fire with an effective blackbody temperature in the range of 850°C±50°C. PRV blowdown (i.e., blowdown=poppressure−reclosepressure) and fire conditions were varied in this test series while all other input parameters were held constant. The fire conditions were varied by changing the number of burners applied to the vessel wall areas wetted by liquid and vapor. It was found that the vessel content’s response and energy storage varied according to the fire conditions and the PRV operation. The location and quantity of the burners affected the thermal stratification within the liquid, and the liquid swelling (due to vapor generation in the liquid) at the liquid∕vapor interface. The blowdown of the PRV affected the average vessel pressure, average liquid temperature, and time to temperature destratification in the liquid. Large blowdown also delayed thermal rupture.

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