Turbine bypass valves are some of the difficult functions in an influence plant. Keeping these valves working efficiently and avoiding unexpected failures is crucial for plant operation.
When engineers are requested to list the most tough management valve functions, turbine bypass valves are invariably mentioned. Frequent thermal cycles, excessive pressure drops, and the necessity for tight shutoff push these valves to the restrict. Unfortunately, many plants tend to ignore these valves until they fail, creating unplanned outages, lost manufacturing, and high costs for reactive upkeep. This article offers suggested methods of inspection to anticipate and mitigate issues beforehand, and it offers improve options should a valve must be repaired or changed.
Strictly Severe Service
Severe service management valves are used in essentially the most troublesome installations within process vegetation. These installations commonly embrace cavitating, erosive, corrosive, noisy, excessive strain, excessive temperature, high pressure drop, or high velocity media. Turbine bypass valves are exposed to many of these process situations; yet, they have to respond flawlessly and stay leak free when closed.
As their name suggests, turbine bypass valves are used to bypass steam turbines throughout plant startup and shutdown, as well as when a turbine journeys off-line (Figure 1). In regular operation the valves are completely closed, forcing all of the steam by way of a turbine. During startup, bypass valves divert steam away from the turbine till the properties and conditions of the steam are acceptable for sending it to the turbine. This course of occurs in reverse at shutdown. Using bypass valves at startup and shutdown helps to protect the turbine by diverting potentially wet steam, and by making certain only acceptable steam circumstances and flows make their way to the turbine itself.
1. Depending on the ability plant design, a number of turbine bypass valves may be employed to immediately shunt steam round a turbine ought to it journey offline. Courtesy: Emerson
Should a turbine journey, the steam must continue flowing to avoid gear harm as a outcome of overpressure and excessive temperature, so the turbine bypass valve instantly opens to maintain up move by way of the system.
As it operates, a turbine uses steam to perform work, lowering outlet steam temperature and strain. When a turbine bypass valve opens, it’ll drop the strain, but the exit steam will stay quite superheated, doubtlessly destroying downstream equipment. To avoid that scenario, turbine bypass valves both incorporate a water injection system within the valve body, or make use of a separate water injection desuperheater just downstream, in either case to decrease the exit steam temperature.
As a end result, turbine bypass valves face an ideal storm of extreme service circumstances. While the plant is in operation, these valves should remain tightly closed to keep away from losing energy. When a turbine journey happens, the bypass valves should reply instantly, exposing them to speedy temperature adjustments and requiring them to cross very excessive flows at excessive pressure drops, creating excessive noise and probably extreme vibration.
Getting Ahead of the Game
Given the punishing service, the reality is that virtually every turbine bypass valve will finally fail indirectly. Unfortunately, many of those valves are put in in difficult-to-access locations, are sometimes welded in place, and are typically closely insulated. As a end result, they are typically ignored till issues start to floor. Steam leakage through the valve is normally the primary symptom seen, but much more vital and probably dangerous injury can occur.
The extreme stress drops invariably generate high noise and high vibration. Over time these vibrations, coupled with frequent temperature modifications, fatigue the metallic in the valve, water connections, and the piping itself (Figure 2). Such metallic fatigue can end result in catastrophic failure underneath pressure.
2. Over time, the excessive vibrations and thermal shock experienced by turbine bypass valves will fatigue the metallic and create cracks in each the valve itself and the surrounding piping. Courtesy: Emerson
To keep away from this downside, each turbine bypass valve and its related piping should be routinely inspected. Some sort of non-destructive examination should be periodically employed to detect metal fatigue issues that might be developing but usually are not but visually obvious. If a plant lacks the data or tools to carry out these inspections, the valve vendor or approved consultant could additionally be utilized to perform turbine bypass well being check companies (Figure 3).
3. A routine turbine bypass valve health check and full inspection is strongly advised. Metal fatigue can develop in varied welds located on the valve itself, and in the inlet, outlet, and water provide piping (circled areas). Courtesy: Emerson
Fabrication welds on the body and water manifold, buyer connection welds, diffuser welds, and surrounding piping may be inspected to identify any creating problems before the tools is compromised. Water injection nozzles and desuperheaters have to be appropriately inspected and maintained to keep away from problems related to quenching and cracking.
There are also threats to trim components, corresponding to seat floor erosion. One frequent expression of such erosion, specifically on the plug, is often referred to as “gear toothing.” This happens more generally in circulate down valves, where the steam accelerates by way of the cage holes and then strikes the trim/seat space immediately, causing excessive wear and decreasing service life. Over time, this high-velocity steam, which might include water during startup situations and magnetite during any situation, will erode and damage the valve seat and trim (Figure 4).
4. Flow down valve body designs are vulnerable to trim damage as the moist, erosive steam passes by way of the cage and impacts the seat. Courtesy: Emerson
Common upkeep gadgets like soft items and spray nozzles can usually be replaced relatively simply and at minimal cost. Trim elements that need to be changed as a end result of heavy wear, similar to gear toothing, may be fairly pricey, especially if their delivery needs to be expedited. The worst-case situation for a turbine bypass valve is metal fatigue developing in the valve body or diffuser, with excessive restore procedures, or maybe a full valve replacement, required.
เกจ์วัดแรงดันลม of the turbine bypass valves presently in service had been installed in the course of the heyday of mixed cycle plant development from 1998 to 2004. Most of these valves and piping methods are displaying their age and often have vital indicators of metallic fatigue. Others have loads of life left in them however may achieve advantage from upgrades in expertise. Technology and practices have improved, and upgrading to the latest sealing expertise could inject new life into the valve.
Another instance of a know-how improve is when there have been repeated failures with a welded diffuser. In this occasion, a removable two-in-one seat diffuser will scale back required upkeep.
If a turbine bypass valve have to be changed, plant personnel are strongly inspired to look beyond a direct replacement and evaluate potential enhancements. A particularly important item to assume about when looking at substitute and enchancment opportunities is valve orientation.
Downward Flowing Valves with Horizontal Actuators. Historically, most turbine bypass valves employed a move down trim design paired with a horizontal actuator (Figure 5, left). This arrangement is good for areas with low overhead clearance, and it locations the actuator nearer to the deck or ground for easy entry, nevertheless it creates a selection of long-term operational problems. Gravity tends to lead to elevated and uneven wear on trim elements, and the side-mounted actuator is vulnerable to response issues.
5. Downward flowing เกจวัดแรงดันปั๊มลม with horizontal actuators (left) were the main choice a few many years in the past for turbine bypass valves. New circulate up valve designs (right) could also be installed without piping modifications in most situations, providing extended service life and improved efficiency. Courtesy: Emerson
Downward Flowing Valves with Vertical Actuators. A superior option for circulate down is vertical mounting of the actuator. This association results in lowered and extra even put on, longer runs between maintenance outages, and improved actuator response. The challenge with this orientation is that replacement opportunities are typically for horizontally mounted actuators, and the 2 designs are not readily interchangeable without important piping modifications.
Upward Flowing Turbine Bypass Valves. When enough overhead area is on the market with present horizontal actuator move down designs, a circulate up design can simply meet the prevailing face-to-face requirements of the previous valve, while reducing some of the put on widespread to flow down designs with a horizontal actuator, similar to gear toothing. Because the trim simply switches from circulate all the way down to flow up, this alteration may be made with out modifications to current piping.
Flow up valves (Figure 5, right) considerably extend seat and trim service life because the steam is moving relatively slowly as it passes over the plug and seat (Figure 6). As the steam moves through the small holes of the cage, it accelerates considerably, but that vitality dissipates into the large body cavity of the valve as a substitute of striking the seating floor.
6. Downward flowing valves subject the seat to erosive high-velocity steam. Upward flowing steam velocities are a lot decrease as a outcome of they cross over the seat and speed up later because the steam strikes by way of the small trim holes, significantly extending trim service life. Courtesy: Emerson
Notice how the flow up trim (Figure 7) is certainly exhibiting erosion, but when in comparability with the flow down trim proven above (Figure 4 right), the seating surface on the seat ring and plug stay comparatively undamaged, allowing the valve to close off utterly, the required mode in regular operation.
7. These photos of flow up trim clearly show the erosive impression of high-velocity steam, but unlike the circulate down trim injury shown previously, this valve has no damage to the seating floor and might still shut off tightly. Courtesy: Emerson
The flow up valve fashion design nonetheless provides the identical management responsiveness and flow capacity, however the brand new move association dramatically extends the working lifetime of the seals, seat, and valve internals.
Consult an Expert
Turbine bypass valves are highly specialized items of engineered gear that must be rigorously specified, installed, and maintained. It is therefore clever to be proactive by reaching out to trusted consultants prior to purchase as they can assist with valve sizing and specs based on particular operating conditions.
For present installations the place unplanned turbine bypass valve failures are bedeviling your facility, or if it has been a while for the rationale that plant turbine bypass valves have been totally inspected, it will be sensible to consult your turbine bypass valve vendor for help and assist.
Many of these distributors offer full inspection and well being check companies to establish areas where metal fatigue and stress cracking are growing. Ideally the valve may be repaired, but when a valve alternative is warranted, the vendor can even present steering in evaluating bypass valve design types and choosing the best option for the specific utility.
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