TESON SCR

Online valve condition analysis

Test seat conditions - on line
Monitor valve deterioration
Optimise schut down intervals
Maximise plant safety

TESON has lifted online safety valve testing to a higher

level of accuracy and performance. Seetru Ltd., TESON
operators in the UK since 2001, have developed and
patented a method to reliably evaluate the condition of
the valve with a single TESON online test, solving one
of the most important challenges since the introduction
of online valve testing in 1979.

TESON SCRTM Online valve condition analysis

The Challenge
Since its introduction in 1979, online safety valve
testing has enabled plant operators around the world
to significantly reduce shut down times and minimize
valve dismantling costs. Online testing has been most
valuable in identifying the set point of the valve; it
has, however, never been able to deliver a measure
of the overall condition of the valve the most
important information to definitively decide about the
remaining operational time for a valve until the next full
maintenance becomes necessary.

METRUS LS-Mechanik

But, actual sealing surfaces are rough and uneven

(especially as the valve suffers wear) and have to be
pressed together to seal. Pressing seat and disk tight
requires an additional force the so called sealing
force (FSealing). Safety valve designer consider up to 3%
of the total spring force as sealing force in a new safety
valve. The worse the condition of the sealing surfaces,
the more sealing force will be required to seal the valve.
The sealing force can be seen as a hidden force to
compensate for poor seat and disk surface condition.

Valve condition and related risks

The most important issues in the condition of the valve
are the condition of the seat and whether the internal
mechanics of the valve are able to operate freely and
correctly. During maintenance, the seat gets the most
attention with intensive cleaning and lapping. Simply
because it is the seat that basically determines if and
when the valve starts to leak in operation.

The risk of the hidden force

It is a matter of fact that 25% of all safety
valves coming back from maintenance are set
heavy - up to 40% in worst cases !

Sealing force - the hidden force

The safety valves set pressure is defined by the spring
force acting on the disk. Spring force divided by the
effective area of the disk the pressurized medium acts
against, defines the start to lift point the pressure at
which the valve will start to operate.
If the valve seats sealing surfaces are perfectly
smooth and flat then the spring force (FSpring) required
to balance the set pressure (P) will also be sufficient to
keep the valve sealed tight.


Unfortunately the sealing force sets an additional load

on the disk that will have to be overcome by the line
pressure to open the valve. As a consequence, valves
with poor sealing surfaces will start to leak much sooner
than they will start to lift (set point). When adjusting set
pressure on a test bench using the first audible sound
(the common method) the service technician adjusts
the start to leak point, not the start to lift point that is the
actual set point. Sealing force is added until the valve
is tight; thus, unless the sealing surfaces are perfectly
smooth and perfectly flat the technician will set the
valve heavy.
Lift force analysis of many valves tested has shown
that, despite accurate leak point results, lift points can
easily be more than 40% away from the required set
point. Only in the case of perfect seat condition will

METRUS LS-Mechanik

TESON SCRTM Online valve condition analysis

the adjustment by sound or leak correspond to the

necessary lift point. Operators of various types of
plants confirmed 25% of the valves to be set heavy
after maintenance.

SCRTM Rating valve condition

Analysing numerous test bench results (start to leak
point) and related TESON results (start to lift point),
Seetru developed the Condition Rating technology that
is protected under worldwide patent.
Measuring the start to lift point and the start to leak
point, the TESON SCRTM gives a direct measure of
the sealing force and thus the state of calibration or
condition of the safety valve, which defines whether
the valve is in a good condition or not. For a valve
in good condition, the start to lift point determines the
required set point and the start to leak point must not
appear too soon before this (depending on valve type
and standard).

As the condition of the valve deteriorates start to leak

point and start to lift point move further apart. Different
reasons like corrosion or wear could cause the start to
leak point to appear sooner or the start to lift point to
appear too late. In either case, the valve is not in its
required condition and the SCRTM analysis will reveal
this in a single online TESON SCRTM test.
The combination of set point and condition rating
enables plant operators to finally make a solid decision
about whether the valve can remain in operation or
whether it has to be removed for maintenance during
the next shut down.
Using this Lloyds approved technology to monitor the
valves condition over time will allow the plant operator
to establish the perfect maintenance interval for valves
on specific plant sections and specific services.

TESON SCRTM
The implementation of SCRTM into the TESON system
consists of three elements software, hardware and
a licence. METRUS offers ultrasound equipment
designed to be easily used along with the TESON II
system that already has an auxiliary channel to process
the ultrasound signal. For TESON I systems, up grade
packages are available.
The TESON 4 software ships with an additional graph
for the ultrasound signal as well as further functions to
easily carry out the SCRTM analysis. No extra price will
be charged for the software. The licence to unlock the
SCRTM specific functions will be provided by the owner
of the SCRTM patent Seetru Ltd., Bristol, UK. Different
licence models are available for service customers and
end user customers of the TESON system.
SCRTM Seetru Condition Rating will be exclusively
distributed through the TESON SCRTM implementation
and it will not be available with any other online safety
valve testing system on the market.

TESON SCRTM - Diagram with ultrasound (black)

TESON SCR
Technical Requirements
TESON
SCRTM
requires
ultrasound
equipment like TESON Ultrasound VS.
Existing ultrasound equipment might be
used if a tension output signal is available.
TESON II systems are ready for ultrasound
equipment (AUX Channel). TESON I systems
require a hardware upgrade to process the
AUX signal.
TESON SCRTM is licensed through Seetru
Ltd., the owner of the world wide SCRTM
patent. Seetru Ltd. will issue a licence key
to unlock TESON SCRTM features of the
TESON software.
For SCRTM licences please contact:
Seetru Ltd.
Andrew Varga
andrew.varga@seetru.com
www.seetru.com

METRUS LS-Mechanik
Gewerbestr. Sd 43
D-41812 Erkelenz
T. +49 (89) 41 31 27 62
F. +49 (89) 9543 9999 3
www.metrus.de


TESON-SCR-white-paper-04.01.2008