Reliability Performance Indicators - Pressure Safety Valves

Materials Science, Metallurgy, Welding, NDTs, Reliability Assessment, Failure Analysis, etc.
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novice123
Posts: 140
Joined: 24 Jul 2010, 18:32
Area of interest: Petroleum Engineering

Reliability Performance Indicators - Pressure Safety Valves

Post by novice123 »

What should be the reliability performance indicators for pressure safety valves?
How the testing data should be assessed to get meaningful indicators which should further be analyzed?
One valve failing in pop, other in reseat, another with backpressure test failed.
octane
Posts: 171
Joined: 08 Oct 2010, 15:38
Area of interest: Mechanical Engineering

Re: Reliability Performance Indicators - Pressure Safety Valves

Post by octane »

Failing safety valves should be investigated on case to case basis and no failed case should ideally be missed as that becomes an opportunity to avoid any process upset before it happens. Every failed safety valve calibration test is an indication that in case of an actual pressure demand, there would not be having a lift as per design leading to incidents with consequences.
Pressure safety valves failures vary typically from their popping to their seat leak performance, and during the tests, there are the indicators which are recorded on the calibration certificates. Further, depending on the type of pressure safety valve, backpressure test, pressure vacuum relief valve, another vacuum relief testing comes in.
I would suggest you to have a working data on the management of PSVs based upon their type and the tests performed. Digitize the inputs to know any failing tests, their repeat cases, common contributing causes /factors, and then run analysis on Quarterly basis supported with a report and a list of bad actors. Those bad actors are then worked upon to perform root cause analysis.
tuan
Posts: 130
Joined: 27 May 2025, 14:07
Area of interest: Chemical Engineering

Re: Reliability Performance Indicators - Pressure Safety Valves

Post by tuan »

This is one area which needs closer focus than usually it gets.
Any PSV found failed in the bench test should be reported as a near miss. And that particular near miss, as related to plant integrity, should be investigated.
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