Vibration Analysis Steam By-Pass valve Case Study

Problem

A major refinery had a contract to process sour crude, which required stainless steel piping. The existing pipe in the operation was carbon steel. KHE was contracted to perform a rush analysis of the piping system within only five days. A routine schedule would be four weeks.

Solution

KHE conducted a field survey with data acquisition equipment that included accelerometers, pulsation sensors and acoustic sensors. KHE also performed calculations to evaluate the performance of the valve. The calcuations indicated that the valve experienced destructive shock waves that could cause damage under some operating conditions. KHE's recommendations were two-fold. First, we recommended replacing and/or upgrading the valve. Second, we recommended process charges that would relieve the load until the valve could be replaced or modified.

Results

The evaluation indicated that the plant should reduce load on the valve during the by-pass operation until the valve could be replaced or modified. The plant was able to complete the by-pass operation under reduced operating conditions.