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Vibration of Valves and Piping

WhatWouldCauseVibrationinaGasService,andWhatProtectionCanBeAppliedIfItOccurs?
ByBelaLiptak
Dec29,2013

ThiscolumnismoderatedbyBlaLiptk(http://belaliptakpe.com/),automationandsafetyconsultant,who
isalsotheeditoroftheInstrumentandAutomationEngineers'Handbook(IAEH).Ifyouwouldliketo
becomeacontributingauthorofthe5theditionorifyouhaveanautomationrelatedquestionforthis
column,writetoliptakbela@aol.com

Q:Iamaninstrumentationdesignengineerintheoilandgasindustry,andIhaveaquestionaboutvalve
noiseandvibration.Iknowthatonliquidservice,cavitationandflashingcancausevibration.Whataboutgas
service?Whatwouldcausevibration,andwhatprotectioncanweapplyifitoccurs?

M.Ulaganathan
vgnathan2009@gmail.com

A:Flashingandcavitationdoesnotoccuringases,butvibration,causedbychokedflow,candevelopasthe
gasreachessonicvelocity.Thisvelocityisusuallyreachedwhenthevalvepressuredroprisesto50%ofthe
upstreampressure.Vibrationoflongpipelinescanalsooccurduetomechanicaldamage,anytypeofshock,
earthquakes,etc.,andmonitoringitisnecessaryinordertotriggersafetyinterlocksifitgetsexcessive.

Vibrationcanbemonitoredbydetectingthedisplacementitcauses,thevelocity(ratetime)bywhich
displacementoccurs,orbyaccelerometers,whichdetecttherateatwhichthisvelocitychanges.Ifthe
oscillationcausedbyvibrationisdetectedbyvelocity,thatoscillationhasaphaseshiftrelativetothatof
displacement,andaccelerationhasaphaseshiftrelativetovelocity(Figure1).

Phases on shift
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Figure1:Thephaseshiftsbetweenthe
vibrationcauseoscillationindisplacement
(D),invelocity(V)andinacceleration(A).

Theoperatingprinciplesofthesensorscanbe:1)seismic(inertial),2)piezoelectric,3)piezoresistiveand
straingauges,4)electromechanical,5)capacitiveandelectrostatic,6)microandnanosensors,7)velocity,
8)noncontactproximity,9)mechanicalswitchesor10)optical.Themostcommonarethepiezoelectric
sensors(Figure2),whichinremotelocationssuchasoilorgaspipelines,canbeprovidedwithwireless
transmission.

Thelongerandlargeranaturalgaspipelineis,themoredamagevibrationcancausetoit.Asmoreandmore
longpipelinesarebuilt,themoreimportantvibrationdetectorswillbecomeforpurposesofdetectingtheir
integrityforbothsafetyandsecurity.

BelaLiptak
liptakbela@aol.com

A:Ingasservice,youneedtoworryaboutthepressuredrop.Whenyoudropthepressuredownby50%or
more(formostgases),thevalvewilllikelybechoked,andaccompaniedbythepresenceofaverythin
invisiblelayerimmediatelydownstreamofthevalveexitknownasshockwaves.Ifyouhavesafetyvalves
upstreamofthevalves,theymaypop,sincethevalvecan'tpassmoreflowthanthecriticalmassflowrateat
thecriticalpressureratio,andbeaccompaniedbyshockwavesandloudnoise.Thepipingwillvibrate.

Ifyouhaveapipeelbowdownstreamofthevalve,e.g.at10D,thevibrationproblemcanbemoresevere.In
thiscase,thewholepipingandvalveassemblycanswingwithamplitudesthatcouldbevisibletonakedeye.
Donotopenthevalvequickly.Sometimesitmayberequiredtoopenthevalve10%in10minutestobesafe.
Checkpipingvibrationsandthemechanicalintegrityofthevalveanchor.Undernocircumstancesshould
valvestemorbonnetvibrationsexceed0.5inchespersecondrmstotal,whichisthedangerouslimit.Should
vibrationsbecontinuousinnormaloperationsandexceed0.1inchespersecondrmstotalatalltimes,check
thelinkageofthepositionernolessthanonceeverythreemonths.Thevalveshouldbe
replacedunderforcedshutdownifautomaticcontrolofthevalvefailsduetobreakingofthepositionerlinkage
(owingtovibrations).

Piezoelectric sensors monitor vibration

Figure2.Themaincomponentsofa
piezoelectricdetectorarethebody,the
sensingelementandtheseismicmass.

Theworstdamageinternaltothevalveandtotheinternalpipingcanoccurdownstream.It'scausedby
condensationmovingatthespeedofthegasduringstartup.Suchcondensationcanerodethevalveseat
quicklyandattackthedownstreaminlinesilencerbybreakingitintopieces.Ifyouhaverotaryequipment,
suchasturbinesetc.,downstreamofthevalve,thenthecostofthedamagecanescalate.

Pleasenotethatnowadays,inlinesilencers(pathtreatmentofnoise)canbereplacedbysourcetreatment
types.Theproblemofcondensationcanbepartiallytreatedbyinstallationofabypasslineforthevalveto
preventthevalveinternalfrombeingdamaged,butthiswaytheproblemcanbepassedontodownstream
equipment.Therefore,operationprocedureshouldbereviewedorupdatedtomakesurethatsuch
condensationisdrainedbeforeopeningthevalveduringstartup.

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GeraldLiu
gerald.liu@shaw.ca

A:Controlvalvesmaybeusedingasservicewithoutconcernforflashingandcavitationeffects,sincethese
effectsonlyoccurinliquidflow.Flashingistheconditioninwhichaliquidpassingthroughacontrolvalve
encountersapressuredroptoalowerpressureatwhichtheflowingliquidboils.Theactofboilingisthe
phasechangefromtheliquidstatetothevaporstate,andischaracterizedbytherapidexpansionofgas
bubbles.

Weobservethisstatechangeoccurringexactlyatthemostnarrowpointoftheflowpath,attheseatofthe
controlvalve,asanoisethatwecallcavitation.Theeffectofcavitationistoerodethevalveplugandvalve
seat,actuallyremovingmetalbyacombinationofthephysicalforcesofboilingandthesonicenergysomeof
whichmaybeintheultrasonicrange.

Controlvalvesarenotsubjecttoflashingwhencontrollingtheflowofgasesandvapors.Tocontroltheflowof
liquidsattemperaturesclosetotheirboilingpoint,itisrecommendedtomodulatetheflowbyusingvariable
frequencydrivesonthecentrifugalpumps,andtherebyeliminatetheuseofcontrolvalvescompletely.

RichardH.Caro
RCaro@CMC.us

A:Controlvalvesingasservicehavetheirownlistofissuestoconsider.Someofthemajorissuesare:

1.Choking.Whenthegasvelocitieswithinthevalveapproachsonicvelocity,thenstandingsonicwavesform
thatlimitthetotalflowthroughthevalve.Furtherreductionofthedownstreampressurewillyieldno
increasedflowthroughthevalve.(Acompleteexplanationofthisparticularconditionisalotmoreinvolved,
butyouunderstandthegeneralidea.)
2.Noise.Whenthepressuredropandgasvelocitiesthroughthevalveareveryhigh,thevalvewillgenerate
agreatdealofnoise.Thisisobviouslyaconcernforpersonnelhearingexposure,butitcanalsodamage
thevalveinternalsifthenoiselevelishighenough.(Thenoisecanliterallyvibratethevalveapart.)
3.Wiredrawing.Ifavalveisoperatedinabarelyopenedpositioninsteamserviceforanylengthoftime,the
steamtendstocuttheseat,andresultinincreasingleakratesanddamagedinternals.

I'msurethereareotherissuesaswellbutthesearethemorecommonones.

HunterVegas
hvegas@avidsolutionsinc.com

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