High Pressure, High Flow Rig Meets Challenging Valve Test Parameters

Published: 17th November 2016 | Issue 39 Share article:

BHR Group has a history of conducting independent third party testing on a wide range of fluid related equipment, including valves and actuators. With both standard test facilities and the expertise to design and build bespoke test rigs, BHR is able to test equipment under extreme and hazardous conditions that many manufacturers and third party test houses cannot achieve.

A recent example was for a safety-critical valve system, with a qualification programme that required testing with air at very high pressures (up to 400 bar) and flow rates (up to 8 kg/s, 23,500 Nm3/h, 14,000 scfm). BHR Group designed and built a cost-effective and safe test facility capable of delivering the required pressures and flow rates. The resulting blow down test facility comprised a compressor system capable of charging 375 kgs of air to 414 bar in air receivers with a total volume of 915 ltrs. Pipework and manifolds were appropriately sized to enable sufficient air mass flow rate down to a line pressure of a few tens of bar. During blow down this enabled the required maximum flow rate to be achieved for a period of approximately 45 seconds, facilitating the tests.

Instrumentation on the system measured flow rate, pressures and temperatures - the most challenging of these being flow measurement, due to the rapidly changing pressures and resulting temperature change. Various types of flow measurement devices have been used, including ultrasonic and vortex flow meters, although turbine meters were found to perform the best and respond quickly to the variation in pressure and flow.

With design, build and commissioning of the test facility complete, BHR Group was able to successfully complete all the qualification tests required for the client to be able to bring their product to market.

Since completing the initial client test programme, the capabilities of the facility have been further developed to satisfy a range of requirements and enable its use to be expanded to other clients. Notably, water flows up to 100 lts/second and 35 bar can now be achieved using the pressurised air as the motive force. This enables us to study the response characteristics of a DN32 valve when rapidly shut in an emergency situation with a water flow velocity of 100 meters/second through it. The test facility has been used to test a variety of client products - pressure regulators, relief valves, valve manifolds and large flow surge relief valves - demonstrating the adaptability and usefulness of the facility.

If you would like further information on BHR Group’s valve tests facilities and services, please contact us on the below details.

Tel: +44 (0)1234 750422
Email: info@bhrgroup.co.uk
Web: www.bhrgroup.com

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