Page 46 - VAK_Broschuere_II_18.indd

Technical Papers
Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
Fire safe valves withstand explosions and blazes – Demand is growing.
Danger lurks everywhere. Fires are a daily risk in the oil and gas industry. Valves must cope with extremes in the case of emer- gency. Components thus need to be re safe if they are to withstand threatening situations. Everything else would be playing with re. No wonder demand is increasing for re safe valves.
Losses can be devastating in a case of emergency; therefore, safety is just as high a priority for valves as high quality, and a long life cycle. “Fire safe valves are mainly used in the oil and gas industry, as risk of re is high,” explains product manager Stefan Keller, AS Schneider. Fire hazards lurk in each step of the process – ranging from oil and gas pro- duction to transport, as well as in re neries and storage. The conse- quences could “understandably be substantial,” emphasises Keller.
Danger for man and material
Explosions in re neries or on oil rigs are a threat to man and mate-
rial. A defective blowout preventer with safety valves played a major role in the devastating catastro- phe on the oil rig “Deepwater Horizon”, in the Gulf of Mexico. The valves malfunctioned, 780 million litres of crude oil owed uncontrolled into the ocean, and caused several billion dollars in damages. Even more, eleven men died and 600,000 birds perished.
Other sectors also place their trust in re safe valves. Petrochemistry, for instance, where “ lling pro- cesses of in ammable substances in tank farms” are usual, explains Vetec Ventiltechnik. In a critical situation, re safe valves have to stand the test in real conditions, particularly in view of having to handle fast lling times. Vetec developed a rotary plug valve with a double excentric plug design, which ensures that there is no contact between plug and seat while rotating. No particles can adhere in between. “The housing is basically free of dead space, so no troublesome soot deposits can occur,” states Vetec.
Operating with highly amma- ble materials
Fire safe valves also provide the chemical industry with much needed security. Ethylene oxide becomes highly ammable in contact with oxygen, reports Vetec. In an emergency, re safe valves go through hell to keep the plant safe. Valves should not only have a re safe design, but also be certi ed as re safe. Here, re safe testing facilities come into play.
Specialised testing facilities leave nothing to chance and put valves through their paces. Take Amtec, for example. The company devel- oped a new re safe test rig to test valves according to DIN EN ISO 10497, API 607, API 6FA or API 6FB. “With this test rig, all impor- tant type acceptance tests for re resistance can be conducted,” says Manfred Schaaf, Amtec Advanced Measurement. Not only that: if needed, client-de ned testing procedures can also be performed. This allows individual applications to be tested.
Automated ignition process
Amtec’s test rig allows automated test procedures without manual intervention during ring and pressurising – for instance for regulating temperature and pres- sure. Ignition is automated, as well as the burner shutdown after the end of the ring period. Valve manufacturers are promised an improved repeat accuracy, a lower variation of temperature curves between tests and full compliance with norms. User-de ned proce- dures are con gured. And all of this with an increased level of safety, states Amtec: housing and burning chamber with window are closed, the ame is controlled, a pressure relief valve adds a further levelofsecurity.Thehousingtem- perature is controlled, including the automatic cooling system. The test rig is equipped with an emer- gency shut off function, turning off the burner and pump.
Under re for 30 minutes
The stresses a valve must with-
ITAtube Journal No2/July 2018
46