Check Valve Research Articles

Comprehensive Approach Tackles Systemic Failures in Gas-Lift Valves in Presalt Wells

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper OTC 30943, “Comprehensive Approach To Tackle Systemic Failure in Gas-Lift Valves in Presalt Wells,” by Elaine Daniele M.P.C. Real, Thiago Geraldo Silva, and Otavio Borges Ciribelli, Petrobras, et al., prepared for the 2021 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 16–19 August. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2021 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. This work describes a comprehensive approach to tackle systemic failure in gas-lift valves (GLVs) in presalt wells. Failure analyses in GLVs were performed after unexpected early failures leading to tubing/annulus communication. Understanding the root causes of this problem generates value for assets by increasing equipment life, preventing unnecessary workover, and reducing costs. Equipment and Processes Historically, the operator used conventional orifice GLVs. The complete paper provides a history of the development of the first GLVs, with a flat seat, into a model having a seat in the venturi shape. While GLV designs have evolved since the adoption of the venturi-shaped valves, a cause of failure was identified as blocking of the injection orifices as a result of the displacement of the venturi caused by the rupture of the elastic ring lock. Failure analyses also brought to light important information on the flow of liquid through the valve that is common in workover operations and ramp up of production in oil wells. For high liquid flow rates, the erosion of the internal parts of the valve causes failure. Thus, it was necessary to develop a new GLV that supported higher liquid flow rates. As a result, high-reliability GLV designs emerged. The maximum liquid flow rate through these valves was increased to 2 bbl/min because of improvements in metallurgy and a new geometric design inverting the position of the check valve (CV) and the venturi. An example of this high-reliability GLV, called the “alpha model” by the authors, is presented in Fig. 1. The CV of this model, considered to be of high reliability, has five parts, two more than the CV of the conventional venturi GLV. These two new parts are the ring (elastomer) and the nozzle retainer (metal). This design change eliminated the elastic ring lock that was thinner and made of a more-fragile material than the metal ring. Additionally, this new design uses a double-sealing system of elastomer/metal and metal/metal. The operating mechanism of the high-reliability valve is characterized by the fact that only the dart and the CV’s compression spring are mobile. A second type of high-reliability GLV is called the “beta model” by the authors. The CV of this GLV is comprised only of the spring and dart. When the tubing pressure is greater than that of the annulus pressure, the spring is relaxed and the valve is in the closed position. When the annulus pressure is greater than the tubing pressure, however, the spring is compressed and the CV seat is pushed in the direction of the nose of the valve. At that point, the dart holes line up with the nose holes and the valve is in an open position. The beta model GLV features only metal/metal sealing, which causes small leaks caused by poorly executed polishing or dirt deposition between the seal area and the dart.

On the Experimental Dynamic Force Performance of a Squeeze Film Damper Supplied Through a Check Valve and Sealed With O-Rings

Abstract In rotor-bearing systems, squeeze film dampers (SFDs) assist to reduce vibration amplitudes while traversing a critical speed and also offer a means to suppress rotor instabilities. Along with an elastic support element, SFDs are effective means to isolate a rotor from its casing. O-rings (ORs), piston rings (PRs), and side plates as end seals reduce leakage and air ingestion while amplifying the viscous damping in configurations with limited physical space. ORs also add a centering stiffness and damping to a SFD. The paper presents experiments to quantify the dynamic forced response of an O-rings sealed ends SFD (OR-SFD) lubricated with ISO VG2 oil supplied at a low pressure (0.7 bar(g)). The damper is 127 mm in diameter (D), short in axial length L = 0.2D, and the film clearance c = 0.279 mm. The lubricant flows into the film land through a mechanical check valve and exits through a single port. Upstream of the check valve, a large plenum filled with oil serves to attenuate dynamic pressure disturbances. Multiple sets of single-frequency dynamic loads, 10 Hz to 120 Hz, produce circular centered orbits with amplitudes r =0.1c, 0.15c, and 0.2c. The experimental results identify the test rig structure, ORs, and SFD force coefficients, namely, stiffness (K), mass (M), and viscous damping (C). The ORs' coefficients are frequency independent and show a sizeable direct stiffness, KOR ∼ 50% of the test rig structure stiffness, along with a quadrature stiffness, K0 ∼ 0.26KOR, demonstrative of material damping. The lubricated system damping coefficient equals CL = (CSFD + COR); the ORs contributing 10% to the total. The experimental SFD damping and inertia coefficients are large in physical magnitude; CSFD slightly grows with orbit size, whereas MSFD is relatively constant. The added mass (MSFD) is approximately fourfold the bearing cartridge (BC) mass; hence, the test rig natural frequency drops by ∼50% once lubricated. A computational physics model predicts force coefficients that are just 10% lower than those estimated from experiments. The amplitude of measured dynamic pressures upstream of the plenum increases with excitation frequency. Unsuspectedly, during dynamic load operation, the check valve did allow for lubricant backflow into the plenum. Post-tests verification demonstrates that, under static pressure conditions, the check valve does work since it allows fluid flow in just one direction.

Simulation of Unsteady Flow Characteristics of the Reciprocating Pump Check Valve for High Pressure and High Flow Water Medium

Abstract The distribution efficiency of the check valve directly affects the performance of the reciprocating pump. The flow coefficient is an important evaluation criterion for the flow capacity of the valve port, and it is of great significance to the design of the valve structure and even the control of cavitation. The traditional design uses flow coefficient as a fixed value, however, the flow state and flow coefficient will change during valve movement. In this study, a three-dimensional transient computational fluid dynamic model for high-pressure and large-flow reciprocating pump valve is established. The dynamic grid simulation method of coupling for the valves and plunger is innovatively proposed, and experimental verification was carried out. The flow state and pressure characteristics for the suction valve under high outlet pressure are analyzed, and the change rule of the suction coefficient is found. The research results show that the initial pressure of the plunger cavity prolongs the negative pressure duration of the plunger cavity when the valve is opened and increases the risk of cavitation of the valve. During the process from valve opening to maximum lift, the suction coefficient first increases and then decreases, and finally remains between 0.5 and 0.6. When the valve lift is large, two-stage throttling occurs, and the flow state will change from cylindrical jet on the lower surface of the valve disk to annular jet, which is beneficial to improve the suction coefficient.

Start-up and heat transfer characteristics of oscillating heat pipe with different check valve layouts

An Oscillating Heat Pipe with Check Valves (CVOHP) is one of the desired thermal control devices for future spacecraft with considerable heat dissipation. On-orbit CVOHP operation was conducted during an on-orbit experiment by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). However, some start-up difficulty was observed. For practical use, the start-up characteristics must be improved. In this study, the effects of check valve layout on the start-up and heat transfer characteristics were experimentally investigated to improve the start-up characteristics while maintaining high steady-state thermal performance. Both start-up and steady-state thermal performance were evaluated using a CVOHP, which can visualize internal flow for three different check valve layouts: all check valves located near the evaporator, all check valves located near the condenser, and check valves in an alternate arrangement. The results showed that locating all the check valves near the condenser or locating check valves in an alternate arrangement could improve the start-up characteristics. There was no significant difference (less than 10%) in steady-state thermal performance depending on the check valve layout. Those results suggest that the optimal check valve layout could help the CVOHP achieve both high start-up reliability and high steady-state thermal performance.

Analysis of Instantaneous Collision Process of Axial Flow Check Valve Closing

When the pump stops suddenly, the axial flow check valve will shut down suddenly under the action of the medium pressure differential force, and the impact load between the disc and the valve seat will produce when the valve closes, which will have a certain impact on the structural strength and life of the check valve. In this paper, the display dynamics is used to simulate the impact process of the disc and the valve seat when the valve is completely closed. The dynamic response of the disc and the seat, the velocity of the disc and the energy change during the collision are obtained. The research has certain guiding significance for the practical application of axial flow check valve.

Research on Damping Characteristics of Interconnected Hydropneumatic Suspension considering the Effects of Hose and Check Valve

The interconnected hydropneumatic suspension (ICHPS) has not only the nonlinear stiffness and damping of the independent hydropneumatic suspension (IDHPS) but also antiroll and antipitch functions. The existing analysis of hydropneumatic suspension damping mainly focuses on the orifice and check valve in the suspension cylinder. In this study, the calculation formula of the damping force of ICHPS is established, and the numerical simulation results show that the damping characteristics of the hydraulic hose cannot be ignored. The influence of check valve and hose on the damping characteristics is analyzed. Through the equivalent energy method, the equivalent compression damping ratio and the equivalent recovery damping ratio of the ICHPS are established. It is pointed out that when designing the damping characteristics of the ICHPS, it is necessary to select the orifices, check valves, and hose damping reasonably to make the damping characteristics get the best match.

Numerical Study on the Closing Characteristics of a Check Valve with Built-in Damping System

When check valve works in long distance or high lift liquid pipeline system, it is often subjected to water hammer. In this study, the UDF program was used to simulate the closing process of an axial flow check valve at the moment of pump shutdown, and the porous media model was applied to simulate the complete closing of the valve disc. It was found that there was local vacuum at the end of the valve disc at the moment when the valve was completely closed. The water hammer and characteristics of the force acting on the valve disc in the whole closing process were also obtained. In order to reduce the pressure surges on the valve disc and seat, a built-in critical damping was designed and added to the to the valve disc drive system. Since the spring force is directly proportional to the movement displacement of the valve disc, the elastic force and the speed of the valve disc reach the peak value when the valve is fully closed, while the damping force is directly proportional to the speed of the valve disc, therefore, the damping force increases gradually with the speed of the valve disc, which only produces the maximum damping force at the moment of fully closing, so as to reduce the slam shut, but has little effect on the closing time, thus adding damping is more effective than reducing the elastic force of spring. The current study provides a possible approach to protect the valve disc and seat of check valves in liquid supply and drainage systems.

The Description of “Temperature Self-Limiting” in Jordanian Solar Generators with Natural Cooling

This study helps to make the sustainability of the experiential system reg of solar generator device better, particularly the unexpected inactiveness of drainage liquid throughout the solar system which is generating power. Stagnation situations can be disastrous for solar system units. Various methods to mitigating the consequences of the stagnation state have been established and tested. Some suggested approaches are not appropriate for all device designs and implementations. The tested reg generator systems in experiments can continue to work although the collector of the piping system is cut off. furthermore, the absorber layer is a challenge because it absorbs general solar incandesce regardless of cell temperature, causing the piping system to become inactive. This research depicts the experiential data that was tracked and mentioned in dealing with stagnation. The hydrodynamic flowing in the experiential solar generator was simulated using rigid flow. The measuring and processing of the data allowed the identification of excessive heat and stagnation issues in real-world operating environments. Daily, the test logging data of the prototype reg device was monitored to guide the incipience of inactivity and excessive heat. Most items have been utilized in the study; solenoid check valve and the Reflux Pipe in the Check Valves have been utilized as primary control items within the experimental reg unit, while normal cooling was utilized as the subaltern control element. Under stagnation phases, an air path is installed at the rear of the absorber to cool it normally. In general, there are agreement between the experimental and simulation results.

Research on silent steady flow quick closing check valve for rail vehicle

a kind of air valve which can prevent gas backflow is used in the track air supply system. Check valve is the basic component of fluid control engineering, which is widely used. It plays a role in determining the direction of fluid flow, protecting other fluid machinery and pipeline safety by preventing the reverse flow of fluid[1]. For example, drilling tool check valves commonly used in oil fields include arrow type valve, float valve and input type check valve [2-3]. The check valve developed by our company is mainly used for gas medium, suitable for high-pressure gas transmission, and plays the role of preventing gas backflow.

Analysis and Failure Prevention of Nozzle Check Valves Used for Protection of Rotating Equipment Due to Wear and Tear in the Oil and Gas Industry

Analysis and Failure Prevention of Nozzle Check Valves Used for Protection of Rotating Equipment Due to Wear and Tear in the Oil and Gas Industry

Design and Flow Analysis of an Adjustable Check Valve by Means of CFD Method

The article presents results of research on an adjustable check valve. In particular, the article deals with improvement of flow characteristics and reduction in pressure losses of an existing valve design. The subject of the research was the valve body in the form of a steel block intended for mounting a typical cartridge valve insert. Two variants of the valve body were analysed: a standard one, which is currently in production, and the proposed new solution, in which the geometry was modified based on the results of CFD simulations. The main research task was to properly shape and arrange holes and flow channels inside the body, between the cartridge valve and the connecting plate. Using CFD analyses, a solution for minimising the flow resistance was sought and then the method of modifying flow channels geometry was developed. The CFD simulation results showed a significant reduction in pressure loss, up to 40%. The obtained simulation results were verified on a test bench using a prototype of the proposed valve block. A high degree of consistency in the results of CFD simulations and laboratory experiments was achieved. The relative difference between simulation and experimental results in the entire considered range of the flow rate did not exceed 6.0%.

Design of Check Valve System to the New Water Hydraulic Axial Piston Pump Driven by Cross Wobble Plate

Design of Check Valve System to the New Water Hydraulic Axial Piston Pump Driven by Cross Wobble Plate

Experimental Study on Conversion Characteristics of a Hexagonal BBDB System with a Check Valve

Experimental Study on Conversion Characteristics of a Hexagonal BBDB System with a Check Valve

Pipe Networks Analysis Using A New Technique (Dept.C)

This research paper exhibits the use of both Linear Theory Method (LTM) and Extended Linear Graph Theory (ELGT) to derive a new technique which could be used for the analysis of pipe networks. This study differs from other linear theory methods in the system formation of linear equations and solution procedures. The solution algorithm used in this study is independent on initial pipe flows estimation, where a power law equation is used to update the pipe flows in successive iterations. The proposed method has been extended to deal with complex systems including control devices such as pumps, pressure reducing valves (PRVs), pressure sustaining valves (PSVs), and check valves (CVS). A FORTRAN program, named SFLOW, has been written for analyzing pipe networks using this new formation of system of linear equations. To check the reliability of the proposed method, the model has been verified with EPANET algorithm against a hypothetical pipe network.

Transient Flow Characteristic of High-Pressure Hydrogen Gas in Check Valve during the Opening Process

In high-pressure hydrogen systems, the check valve is one of the most easy-to-damage components. Generally, the high-pressure hydrogen flow can generate a strong impact on the check valve, which can cause damage and failure. Therefore, it is useful to study the transient flow characteristics of the high-pressure hydrogen flow in check valves. Using dynamic mesh generation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) real hydrogen gas model, a transient-flow model of the high-pressure hydrogen for the check valve is established. First, the flow properties of high-pressure hydrogen during the opening process is investigated, and velocity changes and pressure distribution of hydrogen gas flow are studied. In addition, the fluid force, acceleration, and velocity of the valve spool are analyzed quantitatively. Subsequently, the effect of the hydrogen inlet-pressure on the movement characteristic of the valve spool is investigated. The results of this study can improve both the design and applications of check valves in high-pressure hydrogen systems.

Comparison of Swing and Tilting Check Valves Flowing Compressible Fluids.

Although check valves have attracted a lot of attention, work has rarely been completed done when there is a compressible working fluid. In this paper, the swing check valve and the tilting check valve flowing high-temperature compressible water vapor are compared. The maximum Mach number under small valve openings, the dynamic opening time, and the hydrodynamic moment acting on the valve disc are chosen to evaluate the difference between the two types of check valves. Results show that the maximum Mach number increases with the decrease in the valve opening and the increase in the mass flow rate, and the Mach number and the pressure difference in the tilting check valve are higher. In the swing check valve, the hydrodynamic moment is higher and the valve opening time is shorter. Furthermore, the valve disc is more stable for the swing check valve, and there is a periodical oscillation of the valve disc in the tilting check valve under a small mass flow rate.

Analysis of Operation Rule of Check Valve in High Pressure Tubing Based on Improved Euler Method

When the fuel injection nozzle of the engine works, the actual fuel injection quantity will change due to the pressure change of the high-pressure fuel pipe, which will affect the working efficiency of the engine. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the operation rule of the check valve in the high-pressure fuel pipe so that the pressure is relatively stable at a certain value, the working process of the engine is more reasonable, and the engine loss is reduced. In this paper, the recursive formula of the mathematical model of the check valve and the high-pressure tubing is established, and the improved Euler method is used to solve the problem. It simulates its working condition at stable pressure and pressurization at different speeds, and then analyzes the reasonable operating cycle of the check valve accordingly, so that the pressure in the high-pressure fuel pipe meets the requirements.

CFD analysis of a check valve from SAFRAN Helicopter Engines using a Lattice-Boltzmann solution

Unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers with accurate turbulence modelling are increasingly required to solve real industrial problematics where most applications include complex moving parts, highly turbulent flows and transient phenomena. Most of these industrial requirements are out of reach for the traditional CFD solutions based on steady state or unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence approaches and with limited capabilities to deal with moving parts and Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI). XFlow is the innovative CFD software developed by Next Limit Dynamics to deal with this increasing demand on new industrial applications. XFlow features a particle-based discretization approach that uses a state-of-the-art Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM) to discretize the continuous Boltzmann equation, a time evolution equation for statistical probability distribution functions that describe accurately the behavior of a fluid. This proprietary particle-based kinetic solver implements at collision operator a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) turbulence model fully coupled with a generalized law of the wall (WMLES) in order to solve the transient turbulent effects usually observed on industrial applications. The aim of the work presented in this paper is to demonstrate the capability of the XFlow approach to predict costly instability issues of the Check Valves (CV) integrated inside the fuel circuit in helicopter engines. The results of XFlow will be compared to the experimental measurements provided by SAFRAN Helicopter Engines on one of their CV designs during real working conditions. The CV dynamics will be modelled in XFlow as a rigid body with one degree of freedom along the axis aligned with the flow direction. A spring effort is modelled with a pre-load force and a stiffness. With these two parameters, XFlow computes dynamically the valve position according to the dynamic movement equation based on the hydraulic and spring forces applied on. As preliminary step, different fixed flow-rate boundary conditions will be applied at the inlet of the CV in order to validate the global valve characteristics with the incompressible solver. The CV oscillations are studied considering acoustics with an additional bulk viscosity term inside the flow equations. An increasing inlet volumetric flow law is applied to compute the dynamic response of the valve and to predict the frequency and the flow-rate range at which instabilities appear. This simulation shows a good agreement; the experimental instability range is well predicted as the eigen frequency.

Performance Evaluation of a Drop-type Adsorption Logger with a Check Valve for Whales

Performance Evaluation of a Drop-type Adsorption Logger with a Check Valve for Whales

Research on Flow Regulation Strategy of Reciprocating-type Positive Displacement Pump with Multi-plunger and Check Valve

Research on Flow Regulation Strategy of Reciprocating-type Positive Displacement Pump with Multi-plunger and Check Valve