1 History and Basic Function

Contents
1.1
History of Safety Valves .....................................................................................................1.1-1
1.1.1 History of Codes and Standards....................................................................................1.1-2
1.2
LESERs History and First Safety Valve.............................................................................1.2-1
1.2.1 Continuous Product Development and Innovation .........................................................1.2-1
1.3
Purpose of a Safety Valve..................................................................................................1.3-1
1.4
Reasons for Excess Pressure in a Vessel..........................................................................1.4-1
1.5
Basic Function of a Spring Loaded Safety Valve................................................................1.5-1
1.5.1 Valve Closed .................................................................................................................1.5-1
1.5.2 Valve Opening...............................................................................................................1.5-2
1.5.3 Valve Reclosing.............................................................................................................1.5-3
1.5.4 Functional Diagram .......................................................................................................1.5-3

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1 History and Basic Function

1.1 History of Safety Valves
In 1679 Denis Papin developed a pressure cooker using pressurized steam. During the first
demonstration in front of the Royal Society this pressure cooker exploded. Only after Papin invented
the first safety valve his pressure cooker operated safely and in 1681 he achieved a patent on this
design.

Figure 1.1-1:
Early Safety Valve
by Denis Papin

Figure 1.1-2:
Former LESER Weight loaded
Safety Valve Type 421

Figure 1.1-3:
LESER Spring loaded Safety
Valve Type 526

The invention of the steam engine and the growing use of steam boilers for steam supply during
industrialization lead to the necessity to protect life and property from explosions.
The early and simple safety valves used a weight to hold the pressure of the steam, however, they
were easily tampered with or accidentally released. In 1856 John Ramsbottom invented a tamperproof spring loaded safety valve which became universal on railways and later on stationary
installations.
Only 30 years later in 1885 LESER presented its first safety valve and since then remains the safety
valve manufacturer with the longest history.
Spring loaded safety valves are still the most commonly used type of safety valve. Pilot operated
safety valves and controlled safety valves were developed in the second half of the last century
mainly to increase the operating pressure and improve the efficiency of the protected equipment.
Then followed designs for specific applications, like aggressive chemicals or pharmaceuticals.

Figure 1.1-4:
Pilot Operated
Safety Valve

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Figure 1.1-5:
Controlled Safety
Valve

Figure 1.1-6:
Critical Service Safety
Valve Type 447

Figure 1.1-7:
Clean Service Safety
Valve Type 483

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1 History and Basic Function

1.1.1 History of Codes and Standards
In 1880 the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) was founded in response to
numerous failures of steam boiler pressure vessels. Today the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel
Code (BPVC) regulates the certification of pressure relief devices and is probably the most frequently
applied code for safety valves worldwide.
In 1919, The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors (NB) was founded and since
1921 the NB provides assurance that a pressure-retaining item is constructed in accordance with an
acceptable standard and that it was inspected by a qualified National Board commissioned inspector.
In Germany, the Dampfkessel-Revisions-Verein (Steam Boiler Inspection Society), later to become
the TV, was founded in 1866 with the same purpose, to avoid accidents by setting up rules for the
design and inspection of pressure vessels. Other European Countries followed with their own
regulations and authorities and, finally, in 1997 the Pressure Equipment Directive PED 97/23 was
published in order to harmonize the different European standards for pressure vessels.

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1 History and Basic Function

1.2 LESERs History and First Safety Valve
LESER was founded in 1818 as a brass foundry in Hamburg, Germany. In 1885 LESER designed
and produced its first safety valve. Since the 1970s LESER has specialized in this product. LESER is
now a fifth generation family-owned business and the market leader for industrial safety valves
throughout Germany and Europe.
1885

1957

Complete range
of steam fittings,
incl. safety valves

First test lab for

safety valves

1980s

1994

Leading supplier
for safety valves in
Europe

Test lab receives

ASME certification
(first and only
outside of the USA)

1818

1943

1970s

1990

2010

Founded as a
brass foundry in
Hamburg

Destruction of the
plant, relocation
and founding of
new factory in
Hohenwestedt,
Germany

Specialization in
safety valves

First ASME
approval

7 subsidiaries
partners in over 78
countries worldwide

Figure 1.2-1: LESER's history

1.2.1

Continuous Product Development and Innovation

Product Quality is key to LESERs success. By continuously improving and re-designing its product
lines, LESER constantly delivers state of the art technology to the customer and is well-placed to
meet the challenges of the future. This is shown below.

Figure 1.2.1-1: Product development and innovation at LESER

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1 History and Basic Function

1.3 Purpose of a Safety Valve
The primary purpose of a safety valve is the protection of life, property and environment. A safety
valve is designed to open and relieve excess pressure from vessels or equipment and to reclose and
prevent the further release of fluid after normal conditions have been restored.
A safety valve is a safety device and in many cases the last line of defense. It is important to ensure
that the safety valve is capable to operate at all times and under all circumstances.
A safety valve is not a process valve or pressure regulator and should not be misused as such.
It should have to operate for one purpose only: overpressure protection.

Figure 1.3-1: Relieving safety valve

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1 History and Basic Function

1.4 Reasons for Excess Pressure in a Vessel
There are a number of reasons why the pressure in a vessel or system can exceeds a predetermined
limit. API Standard 521/ISO 23251 Sect. 4, provides a detailed guideline about causes of
overpressure. The most common are:
Blocked discharge
Exposure to external fire, often referred to as Fire Case
Thermal expansion
Chemical reaction
Heat exchanger tube rupture
Cooling system failure
Each of the above listed events may occur individually and separately from the other. They may also
take place simultaneously. Each cause of overpressure also will create a different mass- or volume
flow to be discharged, e.g. small mass flow for thermal expansion and large mass flow in case of a
chemical reaction. It is the users responsibility to determine a worst case scenario for the sizing and
selection of a suitable pressure relief device.

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1 History and Basic Function

1.5 Basic Function of a Spring Loaded Safety Valve
In this section the opening and closing of a safety valve is explained using the basic terminology for
the opening characteristic of a safety valve.

1.5.1 Valve Closed

Adjusting screw

Spring

Spindle

In a direct spring loaded safety valve the closing force

or spring force is applied by a helical spring which is
compressed by an adjusting screw.
The spring force is transferred via the spindle onto the
disc.
The disc seals against the nozzle as long as the
spring force is larger than the force created by the
pressure at the inlet of the valve.
Figure 1-5.1-2 shows the enlarged nozzle and disc
area of a safety valve with the forces acting on the
disc.

Disc
Nozzle

Figure 1.5.1-1: Safety valve

Fs
p < pset

Valve Closed (p < pset)

Fp < Fs
Fs = Spring force
Fp = p*As = Force by pressure
where
As = Seat area affected by pressure p

FP
Seat area

Figure 1.5.1-2: Valve closed

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1 History and Basic Function

1.5.2 Valve Opening
In an upset situation a safety valve will open at a predetermined set pressure. The spring force Fs is
acting in closing direction and Fp, the force created by the pressure at the inlet of the safety valve, is
acting in opening direction. At set pressure the forces Fs and Fp are balanced. There is no resulting
force to keep the disc down on the seat or to provide seat tightness. The safety valve will visibly or
hearably start to leak (initial audible discharge).
Note: There are several definitions for the set pressure, which may differ from the above. LESER
uses the definition of initial audible discharge as a standard. See chapter 3 Terminology and 5
Function, Setting and Tightness for details.
Fs
Valve at Set Pressure (p pset)

p pset
Pffffffft!
Pffffft!

Fp = Fs
Fs =
Spring Force
Fp = p*As = Force by pressure

FP

where
As = seat area affected by pressure p

Fp

Seat area

Figure 1.5.2-1: Valve at set pressure

The pressure below the valve must increase above the set pressure before the safety valve reaches
a noticeable lift. As a result of the restriction of flow between the disc and the adjusting ring, pressure
builds up in the so called huddling chamber. The pressure now acts on an enlarged disc area. This
increases the force Fp so that the additional spring force required to further compress the spring is
overcome. The valve will open rapidly with a pop, in most cases to its full lift.
Overpressure is the pressure increase above the set pressure necessary for the safety valve to
achieve full lift and capacity. The overpressure is usually expressed as a percentage of the set
pressure. Codes and standards provide limits for the maximum overpressure. A typical value is 10%,
ranging between 3% and 21% depending on the code and application.

p pset set
pp

FS

Valve Flowing (p > pset)

Fp > Fs
due to enlarged disc
area

Fs
Huddling chamber

Fp
Enlarged disc area

Figure 1.5.2-2: Huddling chamber

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Figure 1.5.2-3: Valve flowing

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1 History and Basic Function

1.5.3 Valve Reclosing
In most applications a properly sized safety valve will decrease the pressure in the vessel when
discharging. The pressure in the vessel will decrease at any subsequent point, but not later than the
end of the upset situation.
A decreasing pressure in the vessel will lower the force Fp. At set pressure however the flow is still
acting on the enlarged disc area, which will keep the valve open. A further reduction in pressure is
required until the spring force Fs is again greater than Fp and the safety valve begins to reclose. At
the so called reseating pressure the disc will touch the nozzle again and the safety valve recloses.
Blowdown is the difference between set pressure and reseating pressure of a safety valve expressed
as a percentage of set pressure. Typical blowdown values as defined in codes and standards are
-7% and -10%, ranging from -4% to -20% depending on the code and service (steam, gas or liquid).

1.5.4 Functional Diagram

The following diagram shows a typical functional diagram of a spring loaded safety valve.
Maximum
Allowable
Accumulation
Pressure
single valve

Maximum
Allowable
Working
Pressure

lift [%]


relieving pressure
&

$

operating
pressure

"

popping pressure


reseating pressure

&

&"

&$

&&

'

'

set pressure

'"

'$

'&

Max. blowdown

Max.
proportional
lift range




"

$

Max. overpressure

&



 

vessel
pressure
[%]

Figure 1.5.4-1: Operation of a Series 526 API safety valve with adjusting ring and initial audible discharge set
pressure definition

It is important to understand that the operating pressure of the protected equipment should remain
below the reseating pressure of the valve. Most manufacturers and codes and standards recommend
a difference of 3 5% between reseating pressure and operating pressure to allow proper reseating
of the valve and achieve good seat tightness again.

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