News
M&J Valve Surge Relief System Provides Constant Protection from Pressure Surges
02/13/20
Our portfolio offers a wide variety of flow control solutions that can keep oil and gas facilities both productive and safe. For example, M&J Valve Surge Relief Valves and skids are designed and manufactured in Houston, Texas, USA, for critical protection against dangerous system pressure spikes and pipeline surges. These solutions are being showcased at ADIPEC 2019.
Surge pressure is defined as the rapid change in pipeline pressure caused by a change of flow rate in the liquid pipeline. Pressure surges travel at sonic velocities through the pipeline, at speeds of up to 1000 m/s and can cause severe infrastructure damage, loss of product and environmental harm, as well as a significant threat to personnel safety.
For dirty service such as crude, sea water pipelines, M&J Valve offers nitrogen loaded Surge Relief Valves which means they can operate independent of fluid properties. For clean service, they offer pilot-operated Surge Relief Valves. The company has also evolved a patented rate-of-rise surge relief system that not only assists in providing pipeline safety protection, but also overall pipeline system stability: minimizing possible downtime and allowing operations to continue without interruption.
Mohammed Umair Siddiqui, Regional Sales Manager, Middle East and North Africa says: “As a specialist manufacturer of fluid control systems, We are focussed on developing technologies that meet both current and future customer needs. The M&J Valve patented surge relief system provides a proactive response to pressure change, as well as being secure from cyber-attack and reliable in remote locations.”
The solution combines a traditional surge pressure relief valve with a predictive pressure rate-of-rise system to allow pre-emptive action against a developing surge event. This patented solution utilizes a spring-biased reference chamber which imparts a pressure differential across a fixed orifice. The fixed orifice pressure differential is constantly monitored and, upon reaching a preset limit, will trigger the main surge relief valve to open.
As the surge dissipates, the valve closes without slamming shut, preventing ‘chatter’. It is then ready to act again on any subsequent surge. So, the line is constantly protected from build-up of pressure surges.
Because it uses no electronic devices, the M&J Valve surge relief system is not affected by power loss, communication disruption, or cyber-attacks: making it far less vulnerable to external factors. The complete circuit is mechanical and provides a reliable hydraulic safety barrier against transient pressure surges. The system not only reacts to high pressure surge waves to prevent the process from exceeding the maximum allowable operating pressure, but more importantly it continuously detects the rate of pressure rise in the system and will react before a surge event can occur. It therefore supports condition monitoring and preventative maintenance regimes.
In addition, its high flow capacities mean that smaller and/or fewer valves are used, which saves on installation costs and weight. A set-pressure test port makes it easy to comply with regulatory testing requirements (such as D.O.T.), and an additional reserve flow capacity means the system can even cope with unexpectedly large surge transients.
