Pressure Relief Valve

Pressure Relief Valve (PRV) is a system safety device that has been designed to function
in accordance with specific country codes to prevent and protect the operation of systems
and vessels above allowable safe levels.

Pressure Relief Valve conform to the American Standard Safety Code for Mechanical
Refrigeration (ANSI/ASHRAE 15), and are designed and manufactured in accordance with
ASME Section VIII Division 1, certifying specific capacities and identified by the ASME and
National Board NB stamps on each valve. These Pressure Relief Valve are also compliant
with European Union Pressure Equipment Directive (PED 97/23/EC), and exhibit the
appropriate EC marking and identification number.

Pressure Relief Valve operate automatically when the system pressure exceeds the valve
set pressure and exerts a force on the valve disc that overcomes the opposing internal
spring force. By code, valves may open with allowable tolerances within a +/- 3% range of
stamped set pressure, with full discharge capacity realized at 10% above the actual
opening pressure.

Selection of a Pressure Relief Valve should be based on the discharge capacity required for
the system or vessel, based on the size of the equipment and the refrigerant being used.
Minimum settings for Pressure Relief Valve should be at least 25% above the designed
Maximum Operating Pressure, while additional consideration must be given if the valve
location may experience high ambient temperatures such as an equipment room or rooftop.
Sizing valves to the maximum allowable setting will minimize the possibility of seepage or
early discharge.
While Pressure Relief Valve are designed to reseat after discharge, it is advisable that they
are replaced, since system impurities such as piping debris, solder, and metal shavings can
accumulate under the valve disc and inhibit the proper resealing of the valve.

Pressure Relief Valve (PRV) Inspection

Pressure Relief Valve (PRV) Inspection

A Pressure Relief Valve (PRV) discharges when some extraordinary circumstance causes
an over pressure condition in the container. If a pressure relief valve is known to have
discharged, the relief valve, as well as the entire system, should be immediately and
thoroughly inspected to determine the reason for the discharge. In the case of discharge
due to fire, the valve should be removed from service and replaced.

Relief valves should be inspected each time the container is filled but no less than once a
year. If there is any doubt about the condition of the valve, it must be replaced.

Eye protection must be worn when performing inspection on relief valves under pressure.
Never look directly into a relief valve under pressure or place any part of your body where
the relief valve discharge could impact it. In some cases a flashlight and a small mirror are
suggested to assist when making visual inspections.

To Properly Inspect A Pressure Relief Valve, Check For:

1. A rain cap. Check protective cap located in valve or at end of pipeaway for a secure
fit. Protective caps help protect the relief valve against possible malfunction caused
by rain, sleet, snow, ice, sand, dirt , pebbles, insects, other debris and
contamination. REPLACE DAMAGED OR MISSING CAPS AT ONCE AND KEEP A
CAP IN PLACE AT ALL TIMES

2. Open weep holes. Dirt, ice, paint and other foreign particles can prevent proper
drainage from the valve body. IF THE WEEP HOLES CANNOT BE CLEARED,
REPLACE THE VALVE.
What is a weep hole on a valve?
Weep holes allow the water to escape, minimizing the risk of frost-related damage.
Reducing hydrostatic pressure: Water pressure can be quite powerful, especially when it
accumulates behind a retaining wall. The force generated by this pressure can exert a
tremendous load on the wall, leading to structural failure

3. Deterioration and corrosion on relief valve spring. Exposure to high concentrations of

water, salt, industrial pollutants, chemicals and roadway contaminants could cause
metal parts to fail. IF THE COATING ON THE RELIEF VALVE SPRING IS
CRACKED OR CHIPPED, REPLACE THE VALVE.

4. Physical damage. Ice accumulations and improper installation could cause

mechanical damage. IF THERE ARE ANY INDICATIONS OF DAMAGE, REPLACE
THE VALVE.

5. Tampering or readjustment. Pressure relief valves are factory set to discharge at

specified pressures. IF THERE ARE ANY INDICATIONS OF TAMPERING OR
READJUSTMENT, REPLACE THE VALVE.

6. Seat leakage. Check for leaks in the seating area using a noncorrosive leak
detection solution. REPLACE THE VALVE IF THERE IS ANY INDICATION OF
LEAKAGE. Never force a relief valve closed and continue to leave it in service. This
could result in damage to the valve and possible rupture of the container or piping on
which the valve is installed.

7. Corrosion and contamination. REPLACE THE VALVE IF THERE ARE ANY SIGNS
OF CORROSION OR CONTAMINATION ON THE VALVE.

8. Moisture, foreign particles or contaminants in the valve.Foreign material such as

paint, tar or ice in relief valve parts can impair the proper functioning of the valves.
Grease placed in the valve body may harden over time or collect contaminants,
thereby impairing the proper operation of the relief valve. DO NOT PLACE GREASE
IN THE VALVE BODY, REPLACE THE VALVE IF THERE ARE ANY INDICATIONS
OF MOISTURE OR FOREIGN MATTER IN THE VALVE.

9. Corrosion or leakage at container connection. Check container to valve connection

with a non-corrosive leak detection solution. REPLACE THE VALVE IF THERE IS
ANY INDICATION OF CORROSION OR LEAKAGE AT THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE VALVE AND CONTAINER.

Valve Management Services include:

 Commissioning Support and Assistance
 Offshore repair and recertification
 Onshore shutdown and maintenance support
 Maintenance strategy development
 Technical Support
 Valve Stock Management
 Valve Procurement
PIPING ELEMENTS
Pressure relief valve and pressure safety valve-Types and working
PIPING ELEMENTS
Steam trap & Drip leg piping arrangement with drawing
PIPING ELEMENTS
Steam trap function & applications where it is used

When pressure inside an equipment or pipeline increase beyond an anticipated value, the excess
pressure may result in a catastrophic failure. To avoid these a pressure relief device is used, which
releases the excess pressure automatically when it reaches a certain set pressure.
What is a pressure relief device?
As per API RP 520- These devices are actuated by inlet static pressure and designed to open during
emergency or abnormal conditions to prevent a rise of internal fluid pressure in excess of a
specified design value. The device also may be designed to prevent excessive internal vacuum. The
device may be a pressure relief valve, a non-reclosing pressure relief device, or a vacuum relief
valve. These can be classified into below categories.

Fig-1:Types of pressure relief valve

below image shows internal parts of a typical relief/safety valve.
 Fig-2

Jump ahead to hide

1 Relief valve:
1.1 How a Relief valve works-
2 Safety valve:
2.1 How a Safety valve works:
3 Safety Relief valve:
3.1 Conventional Safety Relief valve-
3.1.1 How a conventional safety relief valve works:
3.2 Balanced pressure safety relief valve-
3.2.1 How a Balanced bellow type safety relief valve works:
3.2.2 How a Balanced piston type safety relief valve works:
3.3 Pilot operated pressure safety relief valve:
3.3.1 How a piston type pilot operated valve work-
3.3.2 How a diaphragm type pilot operated valve work-
3.4 Power-Actuated safety Relief Valve.
3.5 T&P safety relief valves

Relief valve:

Relief valves are basically a type of spring-loaded pressure relief valve actuated by static pressure upstream
of valve and characterized by gradual opening or closing, generally proportional to the increase and decrease
in pressure. It is normally used for incompressible fluid (liquids).

How a Relief valve works-

In relief valves the springs were set to a certain pressure as per design requirement, it is called the set
pressure. The springs hold down the disc at that pressure. The pressure of the line will always be acting on
the disk. Whenever the pressure of line increases beyond set pressure the disc overcomes the spring force
and begins to lift.

Fig-3: Relief valve working

However, this will compress the spring and the spring force will increase; this means the line pressure would
have to rise more for any further disc lift. For this reason, some over pressure allowance usually 10% is
provided.

“Safety valve over pressure is the increase of pressure over its set pressure, expressed as a percentage of the
set pressure. Pop-acting relief valves do not immediately open completely to100% lift and usually sufficient
overpressure is needed for full lift.”

Fig-3b: relief valve huddling chamber

But in addition to this overpressure allowance some kind of assistance will be needed for 100% lift. This
assistance is provided usually by the design of the secondary control chamber which is also called a huddling
chamber. See FIG-3B. The skirt area of the disc is shaped in a contour such that it allows the liquid to direct
downward as the flow begin. As the liquid flow downwards, an increasing reactive force upwards acts on the
disc which assist the disc lifting further. Flow of the liquid increases with gradual lift of the disk and this again
adds to the increasing upward reaction force on the disc till it reaches 100%lift.

As a larger disc area is exposed to system pressure now, the valve will not close until the system pressure will
reduce below the set pressure.

“The difference between the set pressure and the valve closing pressure is called blowdown and usually
expressed as a percentage of set pressure.”

Safety valve:

Safety valves are basically a type of spring-loaded pressure relief valve actuated by static pressure upstream
of valve and characterized by rapid opening or closing. It is normally used for compressible fluid (gases).

How a Safety valve works:

 Fig-4A: safety valve working

The working of a safety valve is same as the relief valve as described above. See Fig-4a,which shows the disc
held in closed position by the spring. When line pressure increases beyond set pressure the disc overcomes
the spring load and begins to lift allowing fluid to flow out. As the spring moves upward and compress there
will be a increase in spring force. In order to achieve further lift the disc will need some assistance. This is
provided by the design of the secondary chamber which is called huddling chamber.

The geometry of the huddling chamber used in case of a safety valve is different from that of a relief valve,
see fig.4b.

Fig-4b: Difference in contour safety valve vs relief valve

Now, as the disc begin to lift fluid enters the huddling chamber exposing a larger area to the gas or vapor
pressure. This causes an incremental change in force, sometimes called the expansive force, which over
compensates for the increase in downward spring force and allows the valve to open at a rapid rate. This
effect allows the valve to achieve maximum lift.
Because of the larger disk area A2 exposed to the system pressure after the valve achieves lift, the valve will
not close until system pressure has been reduced to some level below the set pressure.

Safety Relief valve:

This is a type of spring-loaded pressure relief valve that may be used either as a safety valve or a relief valve
depending upon application. As the name suggests it is characterized by both rapid opening or gradual
opening. Safety relief valve can be classified into below categories.

Conventional Safety Relief valve-

A conventional pressure relief valve is a spring-loaded pressure relief valve whose operational characteristics
are directly affected by changes in the back pressure.

How a conventional safety relief valve works:

A safety valve may experience following two types of back pressure.

Super imposed back pressure- The static pressure that exists on the outlet side of a closed valve.

Built up back pressure- The additional pressure generated on the outlet side when the valve is discharging.

In these the spring housing can be vented either to the discharge side of valve or atmosphere. As you can see
in the Fig-5A, when the spring housing is vented to the discharge side of the valve the required force to open
disk is

Fig-5A: (Image courtesy-spirax sarco)

PV AN = FS + PB AD – PB (AD – AN)

PV AN = FS + PB AN …………..Equation 9.2.1

Where

PV= Fluid inlet pressure

AN= Nozzle area

FS= Spring force

PB= back pressure

Therefore, any superimposed backpressure will tend to increase the closing force and the inlet pressure
required to lift the disc is greater

In the case of a valve whose spring housing is vented to the atmosphere, the required opening force is:

PV AN = FS – PB (AD – AN) …………..Equation 9.2.1

Thus, the superimposed backpressure acts with the vessel pressure to overcome the spring force, and the
opening pressure will be less than expected. In both cases, if a significant superimposed backpressure exists,
its effects on the set pressure need to be considered when designing a safety valve system.

Once the valve starts to open, the effects of built-up backpressure also have to be taken into account. For a
conventional safety valve with the spring housing vented to the discharge side of the valve, see FIG-5A, the
effect of built-up backpressure can be determined by considering Equation 9.2.1 and by noting that once the
valve starts to open, the inlet pressure is the sum of the set pressure, PS, and the overpressure, PO.

(PS + PO) AN = FS + PB AN which simplifies to

PS AN = FS + AN ( PB- PO) ………..Equation 9.2.3

Therefore, if the backpressure is greater than the overpressure, the valve will tend to close, reducing the
flow. This can lead to instability within the system and can result in flutter or chatter of the valve.

In general, if conventional safety valves are used in applications, where there is an excessive built-up
backpressure, they will not perform as expected. According to the API 520 Recommended
Practice Guidelines:

A conventional pressure relief valve should typically not be used when the built-up backpressure is greater
than 10% of the set pressure at 10% overpressure. A higher maximum allowable built-up backpressure may
be used for overpressure greater than 10%.

Balanced pressure safety relief valve-

A balanced pressure relief valve is a spring-loaded pressure relief valve that incorporates a bellows or other
means for minimizing the effect of back pressure on the operational characteristics of the valve.

These can be of two types 1. balanced bellow type or 2. balanced piston type

How a Balanced bellow type safety relief valve works:

Balance pressure relief valve uses a bellow to neutralize the effect of back pressure. Here the top of the disc
holder area that is exposed to the back pressure is made equal to the bottom area that is exposed to the
back pressure by adding a bellow. The surface area covered by the bellow at top is equal to the surface area
covered by the nozzle inside diameter from bottom. This effectively make the super imposed back pressure
exposed to the same area at top and bottom of the disc holder, cancelling each other.
Fig-6: Balanced bellow type safety relief valve

The bellows vent allows air to flow freely in and out of bellows when it expands and contracts. All balanced
valves will have a vented bonnet to provide a release port in case any down stream media that might leak
past the bellows.

In addition to reducing the effects of backpressure, the bellows also serve to isolate the spindle guide and
the spring from the process fluid, this is important when the fluid is corrosive. Since balanced pressure relief
valves are typically more expensive than their unbalanced counterparts, they are commonly only used where
high-pressure manifolds are unavoidable, or in critical applications where a very precise set pressure or
blowdown is required.

How a Balanced piston type safety relief valve works:

In these types the disk holder is made of sealed piston or spindle component that effectively prevent any
service fluid to escape into the spring bonnet during normal operation. The diameter of spindle seal is equal
to the inside diameter of the nozzle. This means that the effective area of both the top and bottom surfaces
of the disc exposed to the backpressure are equal, and therefore any additional forces are balanced. In
addition, the spring bonnet is vented such that the top face of the piston is subjected to atmospheric
pressure.
Fig-7: Balanced piston type safety relief valve

An advantage of balanced piston or balanced spindle type is that it can accommodate higher back pressure
as there is no bellows to burst.

Pilot operated pressure safety relief valve:

A pilot operated pressure relief valve is a pressure relief valve in which the major relieving device or main
valve is combined with and controlled by a self-actuated auxiliary pressure relief valve (pilot).

This type of safety valve uses the flowing medium itself, through a pilot valve, to apply the closing force on
the safety valve disc. The pilot valve is itself a small safety valve.

There are two types of pilot operated valve safety valve – piston type and diaphragm type.

How a piston type pilot operated valve work-

Piston type valve consists of a main valve, a piston type disc, an external pilot valve. Here the inlet pressure is
directed through a tube to a small safety valve and then the same pressure acts upon the top area of piston.
As you can see in fig the area at top of the piston is greater than the area at bottom of the piston. So for the
same inlet pressure the net resultant pressure from above will be higher and this will hold the piston firmly
on seat.
Fig-7A: Piston type pilot operated valve

When the inlet pressure rises the net resultant pressure from above also rises and the tight shutoff is
continually maintained. But When the pressure rises above the set pressure the pilot valve pops open
releasing the fluid pressure above the piston. With much less fluid pressure acting on the upper surface of
the piston, the inlet pressure generates a net upwards force and the piston will leave its seat. This causes the
main valve to pop open, allowing the process fluid to be discharged.

When the inlet pressure reduces below set pressure, the pilot valve recloses and the pressure above piston
rises gradually until the net resultant force from above increases and the piston reseats.

How a diaphragm type pilot operated valve work-

 Fig-7b: Diaphragm type pilot operated valve

These types are used in low pressure applications or vacuum pressure application. The working is same as
piston type but instead of piston a diaphragm is used. The volume above the diaphragm is called dome. As
can be seen in fig the pressure above the diaphragm is more than the pressure from below due to larger
exposed area at top. And this makes the diaphragm seal the inlet properly. When the inlet pressure rises
above the set pressure, the pilot valve opens and this eventually reduces the pressure in the dome. This
makes the inlet pressure from bottom of diaphragm higher than above and the diaphragm moves up
releasing fluid and relieving pressure.

When the inlet pressure reduces below the set pressure, the pilot valve closes and pressure above the
diaphragm increases shutting the exit.

Power-Actuated safety Relief Valve.

A power actuated pressure relief valve is a pressure relief valve in which the major relieving device is
combined with and controlled by a device requiring an external source of energy.

These valves are generally controlled by electrical signal resulting from high system pressure or manually
from control room. The electrical signal initiates the relief action by activating the valve actuator, either
electrically (electronically relief valve) or pneumatically.

Fi
g-8: Power actuated safety relief valves

The use of power-actuated pressure relief valves can be used in some circumstances for a forced flow steam
generator.
 Fig-9: Temp & pressure safety relief valves

T&P safety relief valves

Temperature and pressure relief valves are designed to prevent the temperature/pressure inside the vessel
from rising beyond a specified limit. The valve incorporates two primary controlling elements, a spring and a
thermal probe. These are generally used in vessel or tanks containing hot fluid.

References:

The difference between PRV and PSV?

While the term PRV is sometimes used interchangeably with PSV, there is a difference between the
two. A PRV opens gradually in relation to the pressure, while a PSV is opened suddenly once the
pressure hits a certain level in order to avoid over pressurization and a potential process safety
incident.