Pressure Relief Valve Selection

Pressure relief valve is one of the most important devices used on the security of pipelines, since it is responsible to guarantee the integrity of the installations. Generally, the response and behavior of a relief valve during its transient is unknown by users, who employ simplified and static analysis to design the pipeline, further, the information provided by manufactures is limited. The flow-pressure, displacement -time and pressure –time relationships are an important external characteristic of the pressure relief valve and the hydraulic circuit. So, many engineers have been put an effort on this topic for its significant impact on the overall hydraulic system. Most of them are focused on the influences of the pressure relief valves, their selections and applications. It is very important to select, size, locate properly and maintain the pressure relief systems to prevent or minimize the losses from major incidents. Detail of selection and sizing of pressure relief valve is shown the following sections of this study. In order to help the circuit operators, a few flow charts are also included. Pressure relief system is used to protect piping and equipment against excessive overpressure for equipment and personnel safety.