Control the AP on the PRV Inlet Line The pilot-operated pressure relief valve is often the hest solution to excessive pressure drop the inlet side of a pressure-relief lve are so stringent that many plant installations are not in compli- ance, API RP 520 Part I [1] has a re- quirement that inlet piping to the pres- surerelief device should satisfy for proper system performance. It requires that the total non-recoverable pressure loss between the protected equipment and the pressure-rlief valve (PRV) should not exceed 3% of the set pres- sure of the valve, Piot-operated pres- sure relief valves (POPRVs) equipped with a remote sensor can be used where the inlot-line pressure los is excessive. ‘Their usage is one solution to the prob- Jem, as we discuss later. ‘There is a sound technical basis for the restriction, Excessive pressure lose in the inlet line can cause rapid ‘opening and closing of the valve (also ‘known as chattoring). Another conse- quence of excessive inlet-line losses is a reduced relieving eapacity Many installations use 4, 6 or 8-in. pipe on the basic inlet manifold. We will point out below that itis aimast impos sible to comply with the 8% rule with ‘these sizes. Be prepared’ to check your plant for lack ofcompliance. Tis article resents a detailed explanation of the problem and points out sotutions. Gests fr pressure drop an Derivation of equations A simple manifold in vapor service serves as the model for more-complex systems. Figure 1 shows a 3-f-long straight-pipe inlet line, The CSO (ear- sealed open) gate valve is optional, but very common. Lines shorter than 3 f are not practical, and longer lines have a greater pressure drop. Gritieal-low conditions are assumed {for PRVs in gas or vapor service. Equa- tion 1) is the API equation for ealeulat- ing the required relieving area: deg Me fZ CHAR, VM a Wing Y. Wong WYWong Engineering ‘The rated capacity of a PRV, used to caleulate inlet line loss, can be ob- tained by rearranging Equation (1), which is based upon the actual orifice area. Because the actual orifice area is, always larger than the required re- lieving area, the result is a rated ca- pacity larger than the required capac- ity of the same PRV. Use the actual area and flowrate in Equation (2). We AcKeAss @ API RP 521 [3] requires that the cal- ‘culations of allowable inlet and outlet | line fdssea be based on the rated re- lieving capacity. Provided that this rule is followed, the PRV should be ad- equate for any future potential process changes. Equation (8) shows Crane Equation 3-20 (2 for calculat- ing the inlet-line loss of a relief valvo. Wes ne @ Equation (4) combines Equations (2) and (2), sinee both equal the flowrate: pt [BP sane (Eescnnn ‘Equation (5) solves for pressure drop ACKAK, o (Gee) © Use the ideal gas law to calculate the specific volume of the reliving vapor (Bquation6). Since discharge is to a low pressure, this assumption is rea- sonable. The compressibility (Z) in all the following equations will be assumed a8 10, scording to the ideal gas law. vB © Plug Equation (6) into Equation (5) to ‘obtain Equation (7) (Bley @ For non-fire contingency cases, the rele vate a Pie SO 3A, ‘nance ali rau, 4 This model ofa simplified PRV manifold iustrates: thediscussion NOMENCLATURE A Actual oifce orea ofa PRY, in? A, Required efcive discharge oreo ofa PRY, in B Defined in Equation (11) Cocficint incorporating the ratio of he Specific heats condiions, dimensiones, Defined in Figuee 2 Gp Heat eopacty of constant pressure, Biu/{medoN 8) G, Heat capacity a constant volume, Bu/tmclal®) 4 terelciomoar ofthe inlet pipe in Constr cfd n Egan Rate, G/C, dimension K Row odaons ofc dress i, Back pressure capacity-corection factor toy or bolonetbehows was, d= mensions Fr conventional peng leaded voles, Ky = 1.0 Ka Efectve coeflcin’ of discharge, wse 0.975 in Equation (7), 1M Molecular weight of he gos, to/b-ol Py, Upsream rloving presse = Lat 47 e Pay Sat esse ofa PRY, in psi 4 ted gecosan 210.73 (psicf91/Nbmole/°@ T Rekeving temperate of inlt gas, °R V Specific volume of uid, measured atthe] ‘elieving conditions, 18/lb W Ried relieving capacity ofthe selected relief vote, o/h Rai eg opacity trgh e Net expansién fa6r for compresible | flow through the inlet pipe of the raliag woke, dimensionless 2 Compre foro davioion cf ‘actual gas from perfec gos, evalu ‘ted a inlet condifons ap Fras fretl Gein he > toced equiomant ond the int of the PRY. Ths ithe atalino oF selected PRY, Ibfin.2 general practice isto add an allowable overpressure to the set pressure and atmospheric pressure (normally 14.7 psia). The upstream relieving pres- sure is thus: Py = LAP ye, + 147 ® Now, substitute this into Equation (7) ‘0 produce Equation (9): CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WHMW.CHECOM SEPTEMBER 2001 120SOLVENT RECOVERY VOC EMISSION CONTROL SYSTEMS Design, Engineering Equipment Supply and Installation of turnkey plants using vapor phase activated carbon 6 zeolite adsorption processes. Soler recovery efiencsto 994 THE THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT DELTA IS AFTER YOU INSTALL ONE, YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT IT. lig, pl the eco" era | | ‘rie Osta opece oe ‘teorer oo + rEO0-BUY DELTA 286-3359) 150psig and make the gas ideal (Z =1.00). | ‘This is shown in Figure 2. | Figure 2 lustrates that even with a | short inlet-line manifold, when C in creases, the line-losses of all the three orifices, 4P5, SRB and 8T10, exceed 3%, ‘Most gases in the petroleum industry have a C-range fom 320 to 400 ‘These calculations are verified by test- ing them againstrigorous ones (2). Table 3 shows a comparison between the rigor- ‘ous calculation and the results from the analysis in this article, The table also shows that even if the isolation gate valve is removed, the actual inletline losees still exoced the allowable 3%. All the above manifolds consist of @ 3-ft pipe, with or without an isolation gate valve. The directly mounted man- ifold needs a minimum of 15 to 2 fof inlet piping, even when an isolation gate valve is not used. The Equation G3) calculations are very close to the Reference [2] results. If we use the exact B from Equation (10), the two answers aro even closer. The real prob- Jom is the inability of 3 f of straight piping to comply with the maximum required 9% inlet-tine loss. It appears that users should be very cautious when designing PRVs. Pressure drop an not be taken for granted Change the parameters Let us use Equation (15) to find ways to meet specifications. This equation shows that the inlet-line lcs of a PRV is controlled by: compressibility factor of the relieving vapor, the C,/C, ratio of the relieving vapor, the required set pressure, and the configuration of the inlet line manifold ‘Any of four changes can decrease ‘TABLES. LINE LOSS COMPARISONS, APPROXIMATE VS. RIGOROUS (2) mae sea cotioet 6 FIGURE 2. Oniarge inletlines, keaping Inlettoases below 3% i difficult TABLE 2. KAND FFACTORS: Gries] tine F | K label | dic. in. 476 | 4026 | SIIS7ET| 068 | ee | 6.408 | 6.2aave-7 [059 ‘erie | 7.981 | 5.490867 [0.56 the inletline loss of a PRV. Their rela- tionship is summarized in Figure 3, ‘+ Increase the set presoure + Inorease the compressibility factor of the relieving vapor + Decrease the ratio of the specific heats of the relief vapor + Decrease the inlet-line resistance confficiont With conventional valves, the only coite is to change the controlling fac- tors. However, for 2 defined process, freedom to change these factors is lim- ited. Itis generally impossible to alter the set pressure, the compressibility factor or the ratio ofthe specific heats of the process Quids One controllable factor that may af- fect the inlet-line loss is the K-value, Removal of the isolation block valve can reduce inlet-line loss a bit. Nonetheless, engineers must be very careful with this option. If the relief valve has a history of leakage, it is not good engineering practice to delete the isolation valve. A fairly significant component of inlet-line loss is the entrance to the inlet piping. Most inlet-line entrances are sharp-edged or inward-projecting. input parameters {tle ine sto, Schedule pip, a $ a ‘A, Orifee ores, in 336 W, Rated vapor capaci, yh | 11,800 c 3I7 Pron Bag 00 z 10 ‘niebiine manifold SP PPaap Sefline ond one gate vaive | figorous = £1 “Single Stine without gate valve Directly mounied on the vessel Read fom Figure 2 Single 3-10 without gote valve eee a Diisseldorf Germany 2001 25.10-1.11 hall 9/stand 9 C73 Circle 114 of Reply OnlineSAFETY ALERT: CLOW STUB-SHAFT INDUSTRIAL VALVES Refine, poses gener pas tem plans nd ober vers nds ves ‘onl yew hls process sao dros ey ave inal Clow Tenn eck er baer guippes wah outer Aste ste Thee hee ‘rere manvacaes fr hey 1970 a 98S by {be Enpinert Prout Dvn of Claw Conan, ‘er lose in Reranch Bogner Products Divi as wid C& § Vale fn 18S “Tes aes may pos danger sit ak seputioninng wo «own of besa ‘here sal iced fee ave own. 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The esi bales the vale body alowed yr sas oka nd {ate wpe nach pie em mss a Dio ones aa ny ma aie sane ftom ti peso, be ptt eed conserve Sinase You aul inmesily ree your ‘ocessyaums ip asemine whee Yo ty hipped it» abate valve tty pes hi er. soa Sed bazar analy sol be nceaen ciate th ak of sale fale, leh ‘nay nee epcenen be verte ee ‘opprny Operon ca wich my heey Met cate eecnar of hese aver meng eh ‘alike, onseady ow concn, ng ne ‘Brien muta ed npeton of he onnecing yeh ening pn hgh press ave {ng se wit hyrogenich a ore even Treplceent space, fer ald ono smoding eaves te pee shal lew 1215 {THE RESPONSIBLITY OF THE USER TO TAKE ALLNECESSARY MEASURES TO ENSURE THAT ‘THIS POTENTIAL HAZARD HAS BEEN ARATED ‘ib dees apply aves smnafscued by Cw Valve Company er ar ‘rere epson, ‘Az eles wits heck cr baer waves tare oped in prose Sonos invabg Maman explesve asarSoe or oes degeoar subse hal oan 2a copy of the EPACOSEA ‘Asia ivesigatn Rear ear te 1987 ili tee Pa Ts Sa Chena Pa tunes ovsereppap cham A bard copy fhe repr can te Sane y exacting te Nats Serice Comer for Eien Potion 1300 oon Girele 115 oF Reply Online ‘Therefore, using rounded pipe en- trances could greatly reduce the pres- sure drop. It is possible to desiga this into a vessel before itis manufactured. ‘Another choice isto use larger sizes of inlet piping than the PVs inlet size. For many existing vessel, these op- tions are not feasible. Therefore, chang- ing the conventional valve to a POPRV right be the only option. Actually, POPRYs exhibit superior operational performances when compared ‘0 con- ‘ventional PRVs. ‘A POPRY with a remote pressure- sensor can avoid the 8% inlet-line lose | imitation, For a POPRV with pop ac- tion, the remote pressure sensing eliminates uncontrollable valve cy- cling and the chattering phenomenon. Also for e POPRY with modulating ec- tion, remote pressure sensing aliows the valve to open fully at the required overpressure, and then reclose with limited loss of provess fds. ‘Recommendations For all systems, the inlet piping size should be no smaller than the size of the PRV-inlot lange. For applications vwith multiple valves, the cross-sec- tional areas of the inlet-pipe lines should be equel to or greater than the sum of the total cross-sectional areas of the PRV inlet anges. Here are ways to meet the allowable 3%binlet ine loss limitation: 1 Raise the set pressure, to reduce the inletline loss. This can help if the vessel design-pressure is higher than its set pressure, and also ifthe pres- sure profile ofthe operating unit per- mits use of the higher set pressure. 2, Use a fall bore fo the isolation block valve, to avoid unnecessary pres- sure loss, 8. Consider omitting (or removing) the isolation valve ifall these conditions ‘are met: process fluid is lean, with- cout, solids, and non-corrosive; PRV- maintenance history shows that the PRV needs very litle care (no leak- age problem) during normal opera- tion periods; the PRY does have regu- Jar shutdown maintenance; and the ‘process design and control strategies hhave no problem without the isola- tion valve. However, keep in mind that the lack of an isolation valve 132 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHECOM SEPTEMBER 2001 FIGURE 3. To lower nietline pressure oss, change parameters, raise Zor Pq oF reduce Cor K risks the shutdown of the process ‘unit when the PRV needs immedi- ate maintenance 4.Use a piping entrance with a well- rounded edge. 5.Use enlarged inlet piping to reduce the pressure loss. 6.Use two smaller PRVs to replace @ required large-orifice PRV with the same or larger total relief areas. But Go not combine the inlet piping of the two smaller PRVs; and make sure that the cross-section aren of ‘the combined inlet piping is larger than the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the individuel inlet lines 7. Unequivocally, the best choioe isto re- place large, conventional PRVs with POPRVs whenever the application can use POPRVs. POPRVs equippei with @ remote pressure sensor need not follow the 3% rae (7). Along with the advancement of new technology, the vost of purchasing POPRVs with sizes larger than 10 in, are currently lower than those of conventional ‘RVs and are much lower than those for belanced-bellows PRVs, POPRVs ‘weigh much less than spring-loaded conventional PRVs or belanced-bel- lows types. Finally, « POPRY is the Dest. choice fora large valve with alow set pressure. . Baited by Peter M. Silverberg References 1 American Petrleum Ineiate, API RP 520, "Beleeian, ane Installation of Pree eying Devices Retineres Phe, Sieg and Secon nt Part tet et, Washington, D.C Marah 198, 2 Case ay Sof Fs Thong Ye Big ah pe Gee real aan ov, Chapior®,Jobet, I 108 Retna Felon, tin APT-RP 8, iy Fresorefulinng eo, Suene! del Wahnpes BO Author z 7] Hing 3. Wong, of Wong Eee iGumend, B.C. Canads WAG, Phone and te Ge PID BIGS, Emel wyweng ‘ering @norae com) & mr Gependent"onasane” He | provides services for the pe: leu, “natural pas" and Petrochem) industries ie Bg ness of process design, nt inulaion egret ‘ising and pressurerliet systems, Wong hab ‘writen many ards go pressurcreiel ym Xpand Sevelped several a copes BEAE"m sheries! mpineerng from the Uni eral of Albert (Canada), ahd «BS. rom EGE Galen of Chemie! cing ele regetere gga) engines in She iran Columbia.