Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16K—VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING
  • F16K5/00—Plug valves; Taps or cocks comprising only cut-off apparatus having at least one of the sealing faces shaped as a more or less complete surface of a solid of revolution, the opening and closing movement being predominantly rotary
  • F16K5/02—Plug valves; Taps or cocks comprising only cut-off apparatus having at least one of the sealing faces shaped as a more or less complete surface of a solid of revolution, the opening and closing movement being predominantly rotary with plugs having conical surfaces; Packings therefor
  • F16K5/0257—Packings
  • F16K5/0278—Packings on the plug
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16K—VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING
  • F16K5/00—Plug valves; Taps or cocks comprising only cut-off apparatus having at least one of the sealing faces shaped as a more or less complete surface of a solid of revolution, the opening and closing movement being predominantly rotary
  • F16K5/04—Plug valves; Taps or cocks comprising only cut-off apparatus having at least one of the sealing faces shaped as a more or less complete surface of a solid of revolution, the opening and closing movement being predominantly rotary with plugs having cylindrical surfaces; Packings therefor
  • F16K5/0457—Packings
  • F16K5/0478—Packings on the plug
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16K—VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING
  • F16K5/00—Plug valves; Taps or cocks comprising only cut-off apparatus having at least one of the sealing faces shaped as a more or less complete surface of a solid of revolution, the opening and closing movement being predominantly rotary
  • F16K5/06—Plug valves; Taps or cocks comprising only cut-off apparatus having at least one of the sealing faces shaped as a more or less complete surface of a solid of revolution, the opening and closing movement being predominantly rotary with plugs having spherical surfaces; Packings therefor
  • F16K5/0663—Packings
  • F16K5/0684—Packings on the plug
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N2203/00—Investigating strength properties of solid materials by application of mechanical stress
  • G01N2203/02—Details not specific for a particular testing method
  • G01N2203/022—Environment of the test
  • G01N2203/0244—Tests performed "in situ" or after "in situ" use
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N2203/00—Investigating strength properties of solid materials by application of mechanical stress
  • G01N2203/02—Details not specific for a particular testing method
  • G01N2203/06—Indicating or recording means; Sensing means
  • G01N2203/0664—Indicating or recording means; Sensing means using witness specimens

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to the field of plug valves used to control the flow of fluids, and more specifically to an apparatus for verifying the material properties of a sealing element used in non-lubricated, double block and bleed plug valves.
• Double block and bleed plug valves are well known in the art as exemplified by U S Patent No 3,011 ,513 issued to Heinen in 1961 Their positive sealing and superior flow characteristics are highly advantageous for controlling the flow of fluids
• Plug-type valves are generally the type in which a valve body is provide with a pair of axially aligned ports which are connected to incoming and outgoing fluid lines for movement of the fluid under pressure therethrough
• a plug is adapted to selectively rotate within the main chamber of the valve to either provide a continuous channel between the incoming and outgoing coaxial ports when the valve is in the open position or a fluid-tight seal in one or both of the coaxial interconnecting ports when the valve is in the closed position
• plug-type valves are implemented with slips and seals in a seat and reseat configuration
• the slips and seals provide means for blocking the flow through the valve at both the inlet and outlet ports when the valve is in the closed position This permits maintenance personnel to bleed the valve body with the valve in its closed position with a minimum expenditure of time and labor costs
• the plug slips are interconnected so that in opening the valve from its fully closed position, (beginning with the valve in the seated/closed position) the first motion of the plug is upward vertical in one direction which has the effect of retracting the slips from the inside surface of the valve body in order to prevent scoring of the valve seals in the subsequent motion when the valve is turned to place the flow passage to be in line with the inlet and outlet
• conventional plug-type valves which employ slips and seals as described above, after the flow passage has been partially aligned with the inlet and outlet vertical motion of the plug is then again required in a direction opposite to that of the initial vertical motion (downward) which retracted the slips This second oppositely
• Seal quality needs to be verified in some manner.
• Various test coupons are used for chemical and physical verification of steel. Much like such steel properties verification, there is a need to develop seal properties verification techniques.
• test coupon or sample in a separate specimen would work to some degree, but one cannot be sure that it was processed equally with the production batch. This is the present state of the art, namely, manufacture another slip and then pull test that slip's seal.
• the present invention relates to a unique way to test a plug valve seal by embedding a test coupon into the face of the slip By doing so, all variables are controlled Even the heat energy is averaged by placing the test coupon at the mid- section of the slip
• the seal cross-section is the same as the test section of the seal test coupon
• the flash is removed simultaneously
• the post cure is next completed equally on seal and test coupon
• the test coupon test tab (which was prevented from adhering mechanically or chemically earlier) is released and placed into a pull tab fixture and a varying known load is applied
• the elongation is monitored and a stress/strain curve can be generated, verifying material properties Further pulled to failure, the seal groove adhesion is verified
• the removed test tab can then be compression set tested and a variety of other tests can be performed
• Material and performance certifications can be generated for each slip seal
• FIG 1 is a three-dimensional view of a plug valve slip having an integral test coupon for assessing seal integrity thereof
• FIG 2 is a plan view of the slip of FIG 1 ,
• FIG 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG 2,
• FIG 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG 2,
• FIG 5 is a cross-sectional, enlarge partial view of the area "(See FIG 5)" encircled
• FIG 6 is a cross-sectional, enlarged partial view of the area "(See FIG 6)" encircled in FIG 3
• a valve slip 10 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, comprises a slip body 16 having a sealing face 12 and a plug interface 14
• Sealing face 12 comprises a seal 18 of generally circular shape which extends around the entire face 12 near its perimeter
• Plug interface 14 has a dove tail cross-section which mates with a complimentary interface on the plug (not shown) permitting vertical translation of the slip relative to the plug in the manner described above in regard to the prior art
• test coupon 20 which is preferably located on a central platform 19 on sealing face 12
• test coupon 20 has a base portion 23 adhesively positioned in a recess 24
• Recess 24 is substantially identical in cross-sectional dimensions to the recess 22 in which seal 18 is adhesively secured
• the test coupon 20 and seal 18 are preferably made from the same batch of material at the same time and adhesively secured in their respective recesses 22 and 24 using the same adhesive and curing time and temperature
• the remainder of test coupon 20, namely, tab 21 is not secured by adhesive so that it may be easily gripped for test purposes to exert a pulling force on the base portion 23 In this manner, the seal 18 is effectively tested in the most accurate way

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Sliding Valves (AREA)
• Examining Or Testing Airtightness (AREA)
• Details Of Valves (AREA)
• Taps Or Cocks (AREA)
• Sampling And Sample Adjustment (AREA)
• Investigating Strength Of Materials By Application Of Mechanical Stress (AREA)

Priority Applications (7)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=23661705

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (10)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (5)

• 2000
  • 2000-10-16 DE DE60010648T patent/DE60010648T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-10-16 ES ES00982670T patent/ES2219422T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-10-16 CN CN 00803085 patent/CN1345403A/zh active Pending
  • 2000-10-16 CA CA002355303A patent/CA2355303A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-10-16 JP JP2001532015A patent/JP2003512585A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-10-16 WO PCT/US2000/041206 patent/WO2001029459A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-10-16 MX MXPA01006249A patent/MXPA01006249A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2000-10-16 BR BR0008244-9A patent/BR0008244A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-10-16 EP EP00982670A patent/EP1141599B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-10-16 KR KR1020017007672A patent/KR20010101301A/ko not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (5)

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