FLUID POWER- WHY

RELIEF VALVES HEAT- UP

Published on Dec 24, 2019

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chanda kunda Following

Mechanical Engineer, CQI
and IRCA Certified…
Published Dec 24, 2019

I was once asked by a technician that when the

hydraulic system heats up and temperature
goes past a certain acceptable working fluid
temperature limit, what should be the first part
or component of the hydraulic system to be
checked.

The relief valve is the first component of the

hydraulic system to be checked when the
temperature gets past the maximum
acceptable working point. ‘Really, how do you
explain this?’ He further quizzed.

A relief valve essentially serves as a pressure

limiter in the system and so, if the system’s
pressure goes past a certain threshold, the
relief valve kicks in to protect the system from
self-destruction by rerouting the working fluid
back to the oil reservoir. The way positive
displacement pumps operate is that they will
keep on pumping out or creating flow
(remember a positive displacement pump does
not create pressure but flow) unless there is a
deliberate system is place to regulate it. If the
system is devoid of a pressure limiter (Relief
valve, Load-sensing system, etc) the weakest
component or part in the system will fail thanks
to over-pressure. In short, positive
displacement pumps are not intelligent enough
to know that if they continue pumping and
oozing out flow into the system unmonitored
and against a dead end, the system pressure
may rise to a level where failure would be the
ultimate product and so, to fend off any failures
due to over pressure, pressure limiters are
inherently designed into the hydraulic system.

As alluded to, a relief valve’s prime function is

to ensure that the system’s pressure does not
go past a certain point, commonly referred to
as maximum working pressure, by diverting
excess working fluid back to the tank. The relief
valve is normally set at about 10% above the
system working pressure. As I was about to
delve further into explaining the working
principles governing relief valves, he
interrupted me and asked, ‘sir, you have not
explained why the valve heats up, where does
the heat come from?’ I said well, bid you time
sooner than later you will be enlightened.
Without much ado, I went straight into
explaining where and how the heat comes
about as follows:

Whenever a valve opens due to high pressure

encountered in the system, it is accompanied
by a pressure drop and this pressure drop is
what manifests as heat resulting in the system’s
temperature rise as the heat is dissipated and
carried along partly by the valve body itself and
partly by the working fluid. So, when you touch
valve body it feels hot. Pressure is a form of
energy which can neither be created nor
destroyed but can be converted from one form
to the other. In this case, this excess pressure,
a form of energy, is what appears as heat.

The introduction of the term ‘Pressure Drop’

seems to have pushed the technician into
further confusion. He then asked me if I could
paraphrase and make it simpler for him to
understand. I asked him to look at it from this
perceptive; when the valve first cracks open,
the opening is so small that as the fluid
particles (molecules) attempt to pass through it
to cycle back to the oil reservoir, chaos ensues;
the particles struggle, pull each other from side
to side, toss each other about and rub against
each other and against the walls of the valve in
a bid to go past the minute valve opening.
Consequently, part of the energy the particles
had when they arrived at the relief valve
entrance gets transformed into another form
due to this chaos. Then after I dropped this
explanation, I asked him to tell me where he
thinks the heat comes from. Without hesitation
he exclaimed, ‘eureka! The heat comes from
the frictional forces resulting from the particles
rubbing against each other and against the
walls of the valve as they attempt to pass
through the valve’

Before I could conclude another technician

popped up and asked, ‘Sir, are we able to tell
what might have induced shaft failure by
merely analyzing the broken surfaces, what is
this animal called fatigue and its associated
phenomenal terminologies; striations, bench
marks, river marks?’ This is the next matter we
shall address in a few weeks’ time.

Add a comment...

Victor Chileshe 4y
ENGINEERING AND TRAINING MANAGER at Harryden …

Brilliant explanation!

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keith nkhata chipasha 4y

Heavy Equipment Repair specialist

Well said, kudos

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LLOYD Simwanza 4y
Supervisor- Mechanical at JCHX Mining Management …

Pressure and heat are brothers who follow each

other at all times. When pressure is 'relieved', at
this valve, it comes with it the rise in temperature
felt as heat

Like · Reply

stephen mbewe 4y
First Quantum Minerals - Kansanshi Copper Smelter. S…

I like it. It's a good one.

Like · Reply 1 Reaction

chanda kunda 4y
Mechanical Engineer, CQI and IRCA Certified Auditor in…

Bring it on Weddy!

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