Analysis of pressure regulating characteristics of safety valve in hydraulic system of offshore oil production equipment

Abstract

The hydraulic system is used to control the oil production equipment in China ' s seabed oil exploitation. When the oil production equipment is subjected to a small impact, the safety valve may not open for unloading, resulting in damage to the oil production equipment. In this study, a two-stage safety valve that combines a direct acting valve and a differential valve is designed and tested. First a simulation model of the valve is developed using MATLAB/Simulink modules. The impact resistance characteristics of the safety valve under the impact are simulated and analysed. Then, a hydraulic circuit of the oil production equipment is created. Finally, an impact test system is built to perform an impact test on the developed hydraulic circuit. The simulation results are similar to the experimental results. When the pressure of the hydraulic system of the oil production equipment increases, the two-stage safety valve exhibits the favourable dynamic response characteristics of opening, unloading, overflowing and closing and effectively adjusts to ensure the pressure stability of the hydraulic system. This study provides a theoretical basis and experimental reference for the design of offshore oil production equipment safety valves.