Utilisation of universal test rigs for the valve industry Customised evaluation of valve specific properties - Research on flow control devices and systems

Description

Valves and shut-off devices are system relevant and important for various industries. Depending on the risk potential, the verification of valve-typical parameters such as flow coefficient (cv, kv), adjustment torques, forces or closing times are of importance. For some industries (heavy process engineering, refinery), 1:1 experimental investigations are necessary, for other industries, experiments on a scaled model or CFD calculations are suitable (hydro, power plant technology). Other sectors (process engineering, water supply) work with enormous safety margins, others again ty to comply with the specifications as accurately as possible and minimize component weight and space as possible (automotive). All of these examples have one thing in common: They require different test environments that meet the specific requirements, standards and flexibility in a tailor-made manner. Based on several examples, all carried out at the Institute of Hydraulic Turbomachinery in recent years, special features are discussed.

Check valve - cv, torque, different cavitation conditions
This is a special application for the check valve which should also be flowed upside down for special load points. It was originally never designed for this application, but since the hydro power plant is to take on additional system network task, it must be upgraded to this. For this purpose, the original flap in model size is examined on the test bench and subjected to a comprehensive test program, which was measured under different cavitation conditions.

Tandem butterfly valve - cv, torque, forces
Since failure of the flaps would have catastrophic effects on a whole populated valley there are special requirements for the proof of the functionality of the flaps, carried out as a tandem arrangement. Cross comparison of numerical results with exact test rig data.

Other examples
• Torque measurement on ball valves for different flow rates and system pressures (torque and cv-measurement).
• Support in the development of safety valves with the most accurate flow coefficient determination (cv-measurement).
• Measurement of valves for HVAC systems including acoustic assessment and detection of cavitation conditions (cv, noise in dBA).
• Electrically actuated valves in the automotive sector, CFD based optimization of the flow rate (cv)

Keywords: Test rig, control valve, check valve, butterfly valve, CFD,

Period	28 Nov 2018
Held at	Valveworld 2018
Event type	Conference
Conference number	2018
Location	Düsseldorf, Germany
Degree of Recognition	International