Modification and Analysis of Globe Valve Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine and analyze the flow characteristic through CFD for Globe valve and to decrease losses inside the present valve and increase mass flow rate. To this aim, the flow path inside the valve is modeled and flow is analyzed to determine the flow characteristic which is quite accurate and reliable. The analysis results thus obtained could be used design the shape of the physical path of flow, which could improve the flow characteristic and optimize the valve design. A control valve could also be outlined as a valve with a battery-powered mechanism that responds to associate degree external. In addition to dominant the flow, a control valve may be used to shut off flow. A control valve may be defined as a valve with a powered actuator that responds to an external signal. Valves are used in the pipeline for isolating and controlling the flow. Selection of these valves for a particular application is based on the flow performance or characteristics and maximum flow capacity at specific operating conditions. It is very common to express flow capacity in terms of flow coefficient (Kv). A piping engineer would select the type of valve and determine the size based on the Kv value to meet the flow and pressure drop characteristics of the valve. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools are evaluated for use in industrial design applications by predicting primary control valve performance characteristics. The performance parameter of primary interest to the manufacturer is that the flow coefficient Kv. In the present study, CFD analysis of a specific SPIRAX-TROL fully opened globe Valve LE 31 DN50 design has been carried out to understand its performance and reliability during the high pressure flow of steam. The control valve mass flow rate or Kv was experimentally measured and numerically predicted. The equal percentage (E) Globe valve was represented in the study. The numerical (simulation) study presented in this showed that the valve Kv and the inherent valve characteristic could be accurately predicted using symmetric flow model. In addition, the study demonstrates the usefulness of simplified CFD analysis for relatively complex 3-D flows. The analyses have been performed by applying the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, CFX, to obtain the solution of the flow field through a globe valve.