Showing posts with label valve failure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label valve failure. Show all posts

Kinetrol Fire Fail-Safe Spring Units: An Important Solution for Valve and Damper Control in Fire Events

Kinetrol Fire Fail-Safe Spring Units: An Important Solution for Valve and Damper Control in Fire Events

Providing failsafe mechanisms for valves in industrial process control systems is critical for several reasons, particularly when considering fire safety.

The operation of a failsafe mechanism depends on the specifics of the process and the process media. A valve might need to fail-open (default to the open position when power is lost) or fail-closed (default to the closed position when power is lost), depending on the nature of the process and the potential hazards involved. For example, in a fire situation, a valve in a cooling water system might need to fail-open to ensure continuous cooling to prevent overheating. In contrast, a valve in a fuel line might need to be fail-closed to avoid the release of fuel that could feed the fire. So, the design of failsafe mechanisms must meet each industrial process's specific needs and hazards.

Kinetrol Fire Fail-Safe Spring Units are critical safety components in industrial systems, designed to ensure the automatic opening or closing of a valve or damper in the event of a fire. The inherent capability of these units to initiate a controlled response under fire conditions provides an extra layer of security to the process control landscape.

Central to the functioning of these fail-safe units is a fusible link mechanism. A fusible link is a device used in electrical, mechanical, or process control systems that acts as a failsafe mechanism. Its primary function is to fail or react when exposed to a specific temperature, often associated with fire conditions. They incorporate a material or a combination of materials (usually metal alloys) with low melting points. Under normal conditions, the fusible link will allow the system to function as designed. However, when the ambient temperature around the fusible link reaches a specific threshold (due to a fire or other abnormal condition), the material of the fusible link will melt or break. This action, in turn, triggers the Kinetrol Fire Fail-Safe Spring Unit into operation, and depending on the design and requirement of the system, the spring unit will open or close the valve or damper. The automatic movement restricts or allows the flow of fluids or gases, aiding in fire control by either isolating hazardous substances or allowing the passage of fire suppression agents.

Fusible links are a simple and effective way to add a layer of safety to systems where fire risk is present.

Overall, the Kinetrol Fire Fail-Safe Spring Units, through their incorporation of fusible link mechanisms, offer a reliable and effective method of mitigating the risks associated with fire in industrial environments.

For more information, contact:
Kinetrol USA
https://kinetrolusa.com
972-447-9443

Valve Failure Modes

failsafe spring
Failsafe spring lever on ball valve.
(Kinetrol)
An important design parameter of a control valve is the position it will “fail” to if it loses motive power. For electrically actuated valves, this is typically the last position the valve was in before loss of electric power. For pneumatic and hydraulic actuated valves, the option exists of having a large spring provide a known “fail-safe” position (either open or closed) in the event of fluid pressure (pneumatic air pressure or hydraulic oil pressure) loss.

Available Failure Modes

Valve fail mode may be shown in instrument diagrams by either an arrow pointing in the direction of failure (assuming a direct-acting valve body where stem motion toward the body closes and stem motion away from the body opens the valve trim) and/or the abbreviations “FC” (fail closed) and “FO” (fail open). Other failure modes are possible, as indicated by this set of valve symbols:


In order for a pneumatic or hydraulic valve to fail in the locked state, an external device must trap fluid pressure in the actuator’s diaphragm or piston chamber in the event of supply pressure loss.
Valves that fail in place and drift in a particular direction are usually actuated by double-acting pneumatic piston actuators. These actuators do not use a spring to provide a deļ¬nite fail mode, but rather use air pressure both to open and to close the valve. In the event of an air pressure loss, the actuator will neither be able to open nor close the valve, and so it will tend to remain in position. If the valve is of the globe design with unbalanced trim, forces exerted on the valve plug will move it in one direction (causing drift).


Reprinted from "Lessons In Industrial Instrumentation" by Tony R. Kuphaldt – under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.