An experimental study of the effective parameters on automatic line-break control valves action in natural gas pipelines

The automatic line-break control valve (LBV) is a robust self-contained pipeline monitoring system which is widely used to prevent gas releasing upon rupture or large leakage event in the oil and gas pipelines. The differential pressure set point (DPS) at each valve location is the main criteria for value setting in LBV action. If the DPS is not properly adjusted, the LBV may mistakenly close or it may not take any action at proper time. In this study, the effect of characteristic parameters such as orifice diameter (OD), pipeline operational pressure (POP) and pipeline pressure drop rate (ROD) due to rupture or major leak was experimentally investigated on DPS. 100 different conditions with triple set of typical mentioned characteristic parameters were chosen. For each condition, the differential pressure (DP) was measured over 180 s by statistically analyzing the experimental results. Therefore, 100 maximum DP values (DPSs) were obtained. The attainable time to DPS depends only on OD and is independent of the POP and ROD and decreases by increasing the OD. The DPS increases by increase in ROD or decreasing OD or POP parameters. Because of using nitrogen gas instead of natural gas due to safety reasons and the uncertainties, the DPS results can be practically applied by adding a safety factor of 10%-15%. Finally, the diagram of DPS with respect to ROD was provided for different POPs and ODs. The diagram can be used as a basis for designing and regulating of LBVs installed on gas transportation pipelines.