TECHNICAL REVISION

April 2018

Process Control

PIP PCECV002
Pressure Regulators Selection Guidelines
 PURPOSE AND USE OF PROCESS INDUSTRY PRACTICES

In an effort to minimize the cost of process industry facilities, this Practice has
been prepared from the technical requirements in the existing standards of major industrial
users, contractors, or standards organizations. By harmonizing these technical requirements
into a single set of Practices, administrative, application, and engineering costs to both the
purchaser and the manufacturer should be reduced. While this Practice is expected to
incorporate the majority of requirements of most users, individual applications may
involve requirements that will be appended to and take precedence over this Practice.
Determinations concerning fitness for purpose and particular matters or application of the
Practice to particular project or engineering situations should not be made solely on
information contained in these materials. The use of trade names from time to time should
not be viewed as an expression of preference but rather recognized as normal usage in the
trade. Other brands having the same specifications are equally correct and may be
substituted for those named. All Practices or guidelines are intended to be consistent with
applicable laws and regulations including OSHA requirements. To the extent these
Practices or guidelines should conflict with OSHA or other applicable laws or regulations,
such laws or regulations must be followed. Consult an appropriate professional before
applying or acting on any material contained in or suggested by the Practice.

This Practice is subject to revision at any time.

© Process Industry Practices (PIP), Construction Industry Institute, The University of Texas
at Austin, 3925 West Braker Lane (R4500), Austin, Texas 78759. PIP Member Companies
and Subscribers may copy this Practice for their internal use. Changes or modifications of any
kind are not permitted within any PIP Practice without the express written authorization of
PIP. Authorized Users may attach addenda or overlays to clearly indicate modifications or
exceptions to specific sections of PIP Practices. Authorized Users may provide their clients,
suppliers and contractors with copies of the Practice solely for Authorized Users’ purposes.
These purposes include but are not limited to the procurement process (e.g., as attachments to
requests for quotation/ purchase orders or requests for proposals/contracts) and preparation
and issue of design engineering deliverables for use on a specific project by Authorized
User’s client. PIP’s copyright notices must be clearly indicated and unequivocally
incorporated in documents where an Authorized User desires to provide any third party with
copies of the Practice.

PUBLISHING HISTORY
May 1999 Issued as PCECR001
June 2007 Complete Revision & Renumbering
March 2014 Complete Revision
April 2018 Technical Revision

Not printed with State funds

 TECHNICAL REVISION
April 2018

Process Control

PIP PCECV002
Pressure Regulators Selection Guidelines
Table of Contents

1. Scope ...........................................2

2. References ..................................2
Process Industry Practices .......................2

3. Applications ................................2

4. Sizing and Selection ...................3

5. Noise Reduction..........................3

Process Industry Practices Page 1 of 3

PIP PCECV002 TECHNICAL REVISION
Pressure Regulators Selection Guidelines April 2018

1. Scope
This Practice describes the recommended guidelines for proper application, sizing, selection, and
noise reduction of pressure regulators.

2. References
Applicable parts of the following Practices shall be considered an integral part of this Practice.
The edition in effect on the date of contract award shall be used, except as otherwise noted. Short
titles will be used herein where appropriate.

Process Industry Practices (PIP)

– PIP PCCCV002 - Pressure Regulators Selection Criteria
– PIP PCECV001 - Guidelines for the Application of Control Valves

3. Applications
3.1 Typically pressure regulators are used to regulate utilities such as air, nitrogen, fuel gas,
blanket gas, steam, water, lube oil, and fuel oil.
3.2 Regulators can be used to control downstream pressure, upstream pressure, or
differential pressure.
3.2.1 Regulators that control upstream pressure are typically referred to as
backpressure regulators.
3.2.2 Regulators in differential pressure service monitor both upstream and
downstream pressure and hold a constant pressure differential.
3.3 Pressure regulators can be used for the following reasons:
3.3.1 Regulators are generally less expensive than a control valve and controller to
purchase and install.
3.3.2 Remote monitoring is not required.
3.3.3 Frequent setpoint adjustment is not required.
3.3.4 No control medium is available (i.e., instrument air, nitrogen, electricity, etc.).
3.3.5 Tight shutoff is not required.
3.3.6 The processes can tolerate some offset (droop) between the manipulated variable
and desired setpoint.
3.4 There are two types of pressure regulators; self-contained and pilot-operated. Self-
contained regulators are mounted in-line and do not have any external connections to the
process. A pilot-operated regulator is mounted in-line and has a sensing line connected
(either upstream, or upstream and downstream) to the process.
3.5 Pilot-operated regulators can offer more accurate regulation and higher capacity than
self-contained types but are more expensive.

Process Industry Practices Page 2 of 3

PIP PCECV002 TECHNICAL REVISION
Pressure Regulators Selection Guidelines April 2018

3.5.1 Typically the pilot is close coupled with the regulator, but can be located
remotely from the main valve to mitigate the effects of shock and vibration.
3.5.2 The small passages of the pilot are subject to plugging, so pilot-operated
regulators should be specified for clean services only.
3.5.3 Venting regulators, whether spring operated or pilot-valve operated, can vent the
process gas to the atmosphere and should not be used for gases that are
flammable, toxic or otherwise dangerous.
3.6 Regulators should not be used for toxic service because a diaphragm rupture or internal
pressure relief could allow the process to vent to the environment.
3.7 Cast aluminum should only be permitted in dry instrument air or nitrogen services.
3.8 Regulators are not recommended for cavitating or flashing liquids (for a discussion of
cavitation and flashing, see PIP PCECV001.)
Comment: Special considerations should be given for material selection for cryogenic
services.

4. Sizing and Selection

4.1 The manufacturer’s formulas and tables should be used to size and select pressure
regulators. This information is needed to size the regulator, inlet pressure spring range,
outlet pressure and flow rates.
4.2 The regulator should be sized to be 50-60% open at normal flow.
4.3 Generally the droop should be less than 10% at the point of maximum flow. Droop is the
deviation of the controlled pressure from the set pressure which occurs because
regulators are proportional-only controllers.

5. Noise Reduction
5.1 Noise produced by regulators should be considered and should stay within established
noise exposure limits (typically less than 85 dBa).
5.2 Generally, a control valve with noise-abatement trim would be a better choice if noise is
a concern (for further discussion, see PIP PCECV001.).
5.3 The aerodynamic noise can be reduced by limiting the flow velocity below the sonic level.
This can be accomplished using multistage regulators or regulators in series to keep the
pressure ratio less than 2:1 (i.e., less than the critical pressure ratio) across each stage.

Process Industry Practices Page 3 of 3