KR20230027800A - Control valve integrated with leakage detecting means - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control valve integrated with leakage detection means, which comprises: a connection pipe having an inflow passage on one side and a discharge passage on the other side; an opening and closing means disposed in the middle of the connection pipe and having an opening and closing member installed to open or close the inflow passage and the discharge passage; and leakage detection means comprising a pressure pipe installed by connecting the inflow passage and the discharge passage, a fluid contained in the pressure pipe, a first lifting member housed in the inflow passage side of the pressure pipe, a second lifting member housed in the discharge passage side of the pressure pipe, a sensor unit equipped with a first position detection sensor and a second position detection sensor detecting a change in the height of the first and second lifting members when the connection pipe is opened or closed, and a control unit receiving, from the first and second detection sensors, height information of the first and second lifting members when opening or closing and height change information of the first and second lifting members during closing, and determining whether there is leakage in a leakage determination unit. Therefore, the present invention detects the change in height of the first and second lifting members due to the pressure difference between the inflow and discharge passages in cases of leakage and non-leakage to determine whether there is leakage and calculate the amount of leakage.

Description

Control valve integrated with leakage detecting means}

The present invention relates to a control valve, and more particularly, to a control valve incorporating a leak detection means for detecting whether fluid is leaked by integrally integrating a detection sensor into the valve.

In general, numerous control valves are used in industrial facilities such as power plants and chemical plants. When leakage occurs in these control valves, enormous losses and accidents occur in the operation of industrial facilities, such as loss of enormous energy, loss of function of facilities, or emission of toxic and radioactive materials.

In order to diagnose the leakage of the minute fluid that occurs inside the control valve, conventionally, it is directly installed on the valve to reduce the flow rate, the inlet and outlet pressure difference using a pressure gauge, the temperature and humidity measurement method, the pressurization and decompression test, and the acoustic sound using a highly sensitive acoustic sensor. Emission non-destructive testing methods are used.

However, the above-described conventional leakage diagnosis methods have many difficulties, such as complicated installation and problems with the reliability of the measurement results. For this reason, there is a demand for a new method for rapid leak diagnosis, high reliability of diagnosis results, and precise diagnosis.

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-0449779 (Announced on September 22, 2004) Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-1648429 (Announced on August 17, 2016)

An object of the present invention, which was made to solve the above problems, is to install a connection pipe connecting the inflow passage and the discharge passage of the connection pipe, and to raise and lower the elevation valves installed on both sides of the connection pipe due to the pressure difference between the inflow passage and the discharge passage. By measuring the height, it is to provide a control valve incorporating a leak detection means configured to measure a leak amount as well as a leak detection.

In order to achieve the above object, a control valve incorporating a leak detection means according to the present invention includes a connection pipe having an inlet passage on one side and a discharge passage on the other side; an opening/closing means provided with an opening/closing member disposed in the middle of the connecting pipe to open or close the inlet passage and the outlet passage; The pressure pipe installed connecting the inflow passage and the discharge passage, the fluid accommodated in the pressure pipe, the first elevating member accommodated on the inflow passage side of the pressure pipe, the second elevating member accommodated on the discharge passage side of the pressure pipe, when opening or closing the connecting pipe A sensor unit having a first position detection sensor and a second position detection sensor for detecting height changes of the first and second elevation members, and the first and second elevation members when opened or closed from the first and second detection sensors A leak detection means having a; control unit for receiving the height change information of the first and second elevating members during closing and determining whether or not there is leakage in a leak determination unit; may be made including.

Here, if the height of the first and second lifting members changes based on the height at which the first lifting member descends and the second lifting member rises due to the pressure difference between the inflow passage and the discharge passage in a state where the leakage determining unit is opened and closed and is in normal operation, It may be made to determine that it has been leaked.

Also, in the pressure tube, the diameter of the inflow passage side may be the same as or different from the diameter of the discharge passage side. In conjunction with this, the cross-sectional area of the first elevating member may be the same as or different from the cross-sectional area of the second elevating member.

In addition, the leak detection means may further include electromagnets installed on the outer surfaces of the inflow passage and the discharge passage of the pressure pipe. At this time, when electricity is applied when the connecting pipe is opened, the electromagnet can attract the first and second lifting members so that the upper surfaces of the first and second lifting members are positioned flat with the bottom surface of the connecting pipe.

The control unit may further include a leakage amount calculation unit that calculates an instantaneous leak amount based on the degree of height change of the first and second lifting members when leaking occurs, and calculates a cumulative leak amount by calculating a leakage duration time based on the instantaneous leak amount.

As described above, according to the present invention, the connecting pipe is installed by connecting the inlet passage and the discharge passage of the connecting pipe, and the first lifting member and the second lifting member are installed at both ends of the connecting pipe located in the inlet passage and the discharge passage, respectively. Based on the data on the height of the first and second lifting members when the opening and closing member installed in the middle of the connecting pipe is opened and closed and the leakage is normal, the height of the first and second lifting members in the case of abnormal leakage By comparing the changed height, there is an effect of detecting whether or not the control valve leaks and guiding prompt replacement.

And when leakage occurs, by measuring the time at which the height of the first and second lifting members and the changed height are measured and the accumulated leakage in real time, replacing the safety valve within the limit of the leakage is induced, and accidents are prevented or It has the effect of guiding the contrast.

The following drawings attached to this specification illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the invention serve to further understand the technical idea of the present invention, the present invention is limited only to those described in the drawings. and should not be interpreted.
1 is a cross-sectional side view showing an open state of a control valve incorporating a leak detection means according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing an open and closed state of the control valve in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view showing the changed heights of the first and second lifting valves in FIG. 2 .
4 is a block diagram of a control unit for leak detection of the control valve shown in FIG. 1;

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily practice the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Also, among components mentioned in various embodiments, similar components and related components in each embodiment may be replaced, replaced, or added. However, in the detailed description of the operating principle of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

<Configuration>

The control valve in the following embodiment is described as an example of a ball valve, but may be applied to various valves.

As shown in FIG. 1, a control valve incorporating a leak detection means according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention may include a connection pipe 100, an opening/closing means 200 and a leakage detection means 300.

First, the connection pipe 100 may be installed by connecting a flow pipe through which a fluid or the like flows. The connection pipe 100 may be divided into an inflow passage 110 connected to one flow pipe and through which fluid flows, and an outlet passage 120 connected to the other flow pipe and through which fluid is discharged.

Next, the opening/closing means 200 is disposed in the middle of the connection pipe 100 and may be installed to open or close the inlet passage 110 and the outlet passage 120 so as to communicate with each other. The opening/closing means 200 includes an opening/closing member 210 installed to open or close the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 by rotating inside the connection pipe 100, and the opening/closing member 210 from the outside. It may have a handle 220 installed to rotate. In addition, the handle 220 may be excluded, or the opening and closing member 210 may be installed to operate wirelessly or wired.

Here, the opening and closing member 210 may have a hole in the body as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example. Therefore, when the opening/closing member 210 rotates and the hole passes through the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120, the fluid flows, and when the hole blocks the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120, the flow of the fluid Movement can be opened and closed.

Finally, the leak detection means 300 measures the pressure difference between the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 of the connection pipe 100 to detect leakage of the connection pipe 100 and also measures the amount of leakage. It can be. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the leak detection means 300 includes a pressure pipe 310, a first lifting member 320, a second lifting member 330, a sealing ring 340, an electromagnet 350, and a sensor unit. 360 and a controller 370 may be provided.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the pressure pipe 310 may be installed in a substantially “U” shape to communicate while connecting the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 of the connection pipe 100 . The diameters of both sides of the pressure tube 310 may be the same or either side may be wider. For example, a diameter of a portion of the pressure pipe 310 on the inlet passage 110 side may be wider than a diameter of a portion of the discharge passage 120 side. This difference in diameter is linked to the difference in cross-sectional areas of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330, which is caused by the pressure difference between the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120. When the height of ) changes, the height of the second elevating member 330 may change in proportion to the change in height of the first elevating member 320 . In addition, in some cases, the diameter of the pressure pipe 310 on the inflow passage 110 side may be narrower than the diameter of the discharge passage 120 side.

In addition, a fluid 311 is accommodated inside the pressure pipe 310, and the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 can be moved up and down by the fluid 311 in connection with each other.

The first elevating member 320 may be installed to be accommodated at one end of the connection pipe 100 on the inlet passage 110 side and move up and down. One or more sealing rings 340 may be installed in the first elevating member 320 to prevent leakage through a gap between the inner surface of the pressure pipe 310 and the inner surface of the pressure pipe 310 . For example, the cross-sectional area of the first elevating member 320 may be larger than that of the second elevating member 330 . The first elevating member 320 may descend due to the pressure of the inflow passage 110 and may ascend due to the pressure of the discharge passage 120 .

The second elevating member 330 may be installed at the other end of the connection pipe 100 on the discharge passage 120 side to elevate. At least one sealing ring 340 may be installed in the second elevating member 330 to prevent leakage through a gap between the inner surface of the pressure pipe 310 and the inner surface of the pressure pipe 310 . For example, the cross-sectional area of the second elevating member 330 may be smaller than that of the first elevating member 320 . The second elevating member 330 may descend due to the pressure of the discharge passage 120 and may rise due to the pressure of the inflow passage 110 . At this time, the difference between the cross-sectional areas of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 and the difference in the height change of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 may be proportional to each other. For example, the cross-sectional area of the first elevating member 320 is greater than the cross-sectional area of the first elevating member 320, and the second elevating member 330 is proportional to the height to which the first elevating member 320 descends. so you can rise. Due to this, it is possible to more accurately measure minute height changes of the second lifting member 330 .

Here, the second elevating member 330 rises in proportion to the height to which the first elevating member 320 descends due to the high pressure of the inflow passage 110, as shown in FIG. 2, and at this time, the bottom of the discharge passage 120 It may be raised and positioned higher than that. For example, the cross-sectional area of the first elevating member: the cross-sectional area of the second elevating member = 2:1, the lowering height of the first elevating member: the rising height of the second elevating member = 1:2. In addition, the entire pressure tube 310 may have the same diameter, and the cross-sectional areas of the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 may also be the same.

The sealing ring 340 is a member that opens and closes a gap between the outer surfaces of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 and the inner surface of the pressure pipe 310, and allows fluid or gas flowing through the connection pipe 100 to flow. . One or more sealing rings 340 may be installed including upper ends of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 . Therefore, when the upper surfaces of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 are at the same height as the bottom surface of the connecting pipe 100 when the connecting pipe 100 is opened, the first lifting member ( 320), and since the sealing ring 340 opens and closes the gap between the second elevating member 330 and the inner surface of the pressure pipe 310, smooth flow of the fluid can be guaranteed.

The electromagnet 350 is a member for returning the first elevating member 320 and the second elevating member 330 to a designated position, and may be installed on the outer surface of the pressure pipe 310 and adjacent to the connection pipe 100. When electricity is applied to the electromagnet 350, attractive force acts on the electromagnet 350, and can attract the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 to be positioned at a designated height. To this end, the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 may be made of a material that responds to the electromagnet 350 . For example, right before the connector 100 is opened, electricity is applied to the electromagnet 350, and the upper surfaces of the first elevating member 320 and the second elevating member 330 are formed by the attractive force of the electromagnet 350. It returns to the same height as the inner surfaces of the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120, and the gap between the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 and the inner surface of the pressure pipe 310 can be opened and closed by the sealing ring 340. . Therefore, the flow of the fluid flowing through the connecting pipe 100 is blocked by the first lifting member 320 or the second lifting member 330, as well as the inner surface of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 and the pressure pipe 310. Obstruction by interstitial gaps can be prevented.

The sensor unit 360 is a position detection sensor, and a first position detection sensor 361 and a second position detection sensor are attached to the pressure pipe 310 to detect the positions of the first elevation member 320 and the second elevation member 330, respectively. A sensor 362 may be installed. The first and second position sensors 361 and 362 have, for example, heights at which the upper surfaces of the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 are at the same level as the inner surface of the bottom of the connecting pipe 100 when the connecting pipe 100 is open. is detected firstly, and the changed height of the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 is secondarily sensed in a state in which the connecting pipe 100 is opened and closed, and the height of the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 in a leaked state although opened and closed The changed height can be sensed tertiarily. Of course, the first position sensor 361 can detect the height of the first elevating member 320 and the second position sensor 362 can detect the height of the second elevating member 330 . In this case, the sensor unit 360 may continuously detect changes in the first elevating member 320 and the second elevating member 330 from the state in which the connection pipe 100 is opened or closed until just before the opening. That is, it is possible to detect leakage in the discharge passage 120 through a change in height of the first elevating member 320 and the second elevating member 330 .

The control unit 370 receives the height information of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 detected by the sensor unit 360 and calculates the amount of leakage by calculating the change in these heights. can To this end, the control unit 370 may include a leakage determining unit 371 and a leakage amount calculating unit 372 .

Here, the leakage determining unit 371 receives height information of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 from the sensor unit 360 in a wired or wireless manner, and the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 Depending on the change in height, leakage can be determined. For example, in a situation where the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 are completely opened and closed by the opening and closing member 210, the heights of the first elevating member 320 and the second elevating member 330 are based on , When a change in height between the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 is sensed, it may be determined that leakage occurs. Conversely, the heights of the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 when completely sealed and the heights of the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 when leaked are inevitably different. Based on the change in height of the first and second elevating members 320 and 330, the leakage determining unit 371 may determine whether there is leakage.

In addition, the leakage amount calculation unit 372 measures the height of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330, the change in height of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 per hour, and time at the time when the leakage determining unit 371 determines that there is leakage. The leakage amount may be calculated by recording and calculating the height change of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 and the duration of the time. For example, if the second lifting member 330 is lowered slightly, the leakage amount is small. Therefore, the total accumulated leakage amount may be calculated by multiplying the leakage amount corresponding to the length of the descent by the duration of the leakage.

As such, the control unit 370 determines whether or not leakage occurs in the leakage determination unit 371 and transmits the leakage amount calculated by the leakage amount calculation unit 372 to the server to be stored, and transmits a warning to the manager's portable terminal or PC. and subsequent actions including the replacement of the control valve can be output.

<action>

First, as shown in FIG. 1, in a state in which the connection pipe 100 is opened and the fluid introduced through the inlet passage 110 passes through the opening and closing member 210 and is discharged to the discharge passage 120, the leak detection means 300 Let's explain the operation.

As shown in FIG. 1 , electricity is applied to the electromagnet 350 so that the upper surfaces of the first elevating member 320 and the second elevating member 330 may be positioned at the same height as the bottom surface of the connector 100 . At this time, gaps between the first and second elevating members 320 and 330 and the pressure pipe 310 may be opened and closed by the sealing ring 340 . Therefore, gas and fluid passing through the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 can proceed smoothly.

Here, the first position detection sensor 261 and the second position detection sensor 362 detect the height of the first elevation member 320 and the height of the second elevation member 330, and transmit the sensed information to the control unit 370. ) can be transmitted. As such, when the connection pipe 100 is opened, the heights of the first position sensor 361 and the second position sensor 362 may serve as standards for height changes during opening and closing.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation of the leak detection means 300 will be described in a state where the connection pipe 100 is opened and closed and the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 are opened and closed by the opening and closing member 210. do.

As shown in FIG. 2, when electricity applied to the electromagnet 350 is opened and closed, the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 rise by the pressure of the inflow passage 110 or the discharge passage 120, respectively. Or it can go down. To explain in detail, the inlet passage 110 is filled with fluid and becomes a state of higher pressure than the discharge passage 120, and the first elevating member 320 may descend due to the high pressure. In addition, since the discharge passage 120 becomes an empty space, the pressure is lower than that of the inlet passage 110, so when the first lifting member 320 descends, the second lifting member 330 moves with the fluid 311 as a medium. can rise At this time, the rising height of the second lifting member 330 may be inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area of the narrow second lifting member 330 and the wide cross-sectional area of the first lifting member 320 with respect to the lowering height of the first lifting member 320. . For example, as in FIG. 2, the connector ( )

At this time, the first position detection sensor 361 and the second position detection sensor 362 detect the height change of the first elevation member 320 and the second elevation member 330, and transmit the detected information to the control unit 370. ) can be transmitted to the leakage determination unit 371. The change in the height of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 occurs immediately before electricity is applied to the electromagnet 350 in the state in which the connector 100 is opened or closed, or when the first lifting member 320 And until the upper surface of the second elevating member 330 is positioned at the same height as the bottom surface of the connector 100, it can be continuously sensed.

On the other hand, when the fluid in the inflow passage 110 leaks into the discharge passage 120 while the connection pipe 100 is opened and closed, the pressure in the discharge passage 120 rises, and the second lifting member 330 rises by the increased pressure. ) may fall. At this time, the second position sensor 362 detects a change in height of the second lifting member 330 and transmits it to the leakage determination unit 371 of the control unit 370 . Of course, the descent of the second elevating member 330 is interlocked with the elevation of the first elevating member 320, and the first position sensor 361 detects the change in height of the first elevating member 320, , It can be transmitted to the leakage determination unit 371 of the control unit 370. Here, the control unit 370 may store information on the heights of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 under various conditions, including when they are opened or opened, when they are opened or closed, when they are normal or leaked, and the like. there is.

Here, the change in height of the first lifting member ( ) and the second lifting member ( ) during normal operation and leakage when opening and closing the connection pipe 100 will be described as an example. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, if the heights of the first lifting member ( ) and the second lifting member ( ) are h1 and h2 during normal operation that do not leak when opening and closing the connection pipe 100, when leakage occurs, the first lifting member The heights of the member ( ) and the second elevating member ( ) may be H1 and H2, and in this case, the height of H1 may be higher than h1 and the height of H2 may be lower than h2.

Finally, the operation of the controller 370 will be described.

First, the leakage determining unit 371 determines the heights of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 when the connection pipe 100 is opened and closed and normally operated, and the first lifting member 320 when the connection pipe 100 is opened and closed but leaks. The change can be calculated by comparing the height of the second lifting member 330 and the height of the second lifting member 330 . Based on this calculated value, it is determined whether there is leakage, the result is stored in the server, and the result can be output to the manager's portable terminal or PC.

In addition, the leakage amount calculation unit 372 calculates the change in height of the first lifting member 320 and the second lifting member 330 between normal and leaky times when the leakage determination unit 371 determines that there is leakage, and the leakage time. Thus, the amount of leakage can be calculated. In addition, the leakage amount calculating unit 372 may continuously calculate the accumulated leakage amount by continuously calculating the current time from the time of leakage, and calculate the total accumulated leakage amount until replacement. The leakage amount information calculated in this way can be stored in a server and output to a manager's portable terminal and PC.

As described above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to understand that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without changing its technical spirit or essential features. Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not limiting. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the patent claims to be described later rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

100: connector
110: inflow passage 120: discharge passage.
200: opening and closing means
210: opening and closing member 220: handle.
300: leak detection means.
310: pressure pipe 311: fluid
320: first lifting member 330: second lifting member
340: sealing ring 350: electromagnet
360: sensor unit 361: first position detection sensor
362: second position sensor 370: control unit
371: leakage determination unit 372: leakage amount calculation unit.

Claims (4)

A connection pipe 100 having an inlet passage 110 on one side and an outlet passage 120 on the other side;
an opening/closing means 200 having an opening/closing member 210 disposed in the middle of the connection pipe 100 to allow the inflow passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 to pass through or to open/close the opening/closing member 210;
The pressure pipe 310 installed by connecting the inlet passage 110 and the discharge passage 120, the fluid 311 accommodated in the pressure pipe 310, and the first lift accommodated in the inflow passage 110 side of the pressure pipe 310. When the member 320, the second elevating member 330 accommodated in the discharge passage 120 side of the pressure pipe 310, and the connection pipe 100 are opened or closed, the first elevating member 320 and the second elevating member ( 330) is opened or opened from the sensor unit 360 having a first position sensor 361 and a second position sensor 362 that detect a change in height, and the first and second position sensors 361 and 362. A control unit 370 that receives the height of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 and height change information of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 during closing and determines whether or not leakage is caused by the leakage determining unit 371; Including; leak detection means 300;
When the leakage determination unit 371 is opened and closed, and the pressure difference between the inlet passage 110 and the discharge passage 120 causes the first elevating member 320 to descend and the second elevating member 330 to rise, Based on the height, a control valve incorporating a leak detection means configured to determine that leakage occurs when the height of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 changes.
In claim 1,
In the pressure pipe 310, the diameter of the inlet passage 110 side is the same as or different from the diameter of the outlet passage 120 side,
A control valve incorporating a leakage detection means in which the cross-sectional area of the first elevating member (320) is the same as or different from that of the second elevating member (330).
In claim 1,
The leak detection means 300 further includes an electromagnet 350 installed on the outer surface of the inflow passage 110 side and the discharge passage 120 side of the pressure pipe 310,
When electricity is applied when the connection tube 100 is opened, the electromagnet 350 attracts the first and second elevation members 320 and 330 so that the upper surfaces of the first and second elevation members 320 and 330 are the bottom surfaces of the connection tube 100. A control valve incorporating a leak detection means to be positioned flush with the
In claim 1,
The control unit 370 calculates an instantaneous leak amount based on the degree of change in height of the first and second lifting members 320 and 330 when leaking occurs, and calculates the accumulated leak amount by calculating the leakage duration based on the instantaneous leak amount. A control valve incorporating a leak detection means further comprising a.

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