20161024 Introduction - Safe isolation with leaking valves[2322]

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Safe isolation with leaking valvesSafe isolation with leaking valvesSafe isolation with leaking valvesSafe isolation with leaking valves

Safeguarding “safe work areas” for maintenance by isolation with valves

Depending on the conditions, single or DB&B valve configurations are installed

When valves are leaking, and valve repair results in too long outage, what are your options?

1. Isolation barrier & depressurization further upstream, resulting in a more extensive outage

2. Postpone the maintenance

3. Inject grease: leakage will inevitably reappear suddenly without prior notice. Valves will be

further damaged during future operation by sticking dirt on grease on sealing surfaces

4. Inject sealants: in case of emergency only, rendering valves unfit for future operation

5. Accept the leakage and continue with the planned maintenance , where possible with

additional measures or supervision to minimize the increased risk

Dilemma:

None of the above options are optimal. There is always a trade-off between safety and operational

targets.

To prevent the same problems happening again on a next occasion , the leaking isolation valves will

need to be repaired/replaced in the future, which involves further depressurization of systems,

resulting in an even more extensive or total plant outage.

• Keeping downtime due to valve repair to a minimum requires considerable investment in a

diverse set of spares

• Root cause of leakage is often not remedied by repair only. Often, new or repaired valves will

fail again soon (e.g. due to dirt in system, or design related problems and corrosion).


Solution: the DBB-SAVER:

Working principle based on fully automatically creating, maintaining and monitoring of a vacuum lock

between either

1) Two valves of a conventional double block & bleed configuration, and/or

2) two sealing surfaces of a single (!) valve (e.g. ball valve, double acting plug or gate valve, etc.)

The vacuum lock makes any leakage from the pressurized side to the safe working side physically

impossible!

Advantages of the DBB-SAVER:

With the DBB-SAVER, there are four major advantages when isolating installation parts:

1. Safety enhancement by added Layers of Protection as hazard barriers, reducing remaining

risk to ALARP (as low as reasonably practible) conditions by:

o 100% guaranteed mitigation of any leakage through the single or DBB isolation

valve configuration

o being able to monitor the bleed connection online

o relaying any alarms to the central control room and/or the safe work area

o reducing potential for human failure to a minimum

which surpasses the safest way of working behind valves known until now. Leaking or not (!)

2. The remaining plant can stay in operation (plant availability)

3. Execution of the maintenance work according to plan, without any delays (cost saving)

4. No necessity for expensive valve repairs or extensive spare inventory (cost saving)


PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

• Skid mounted solution

• Easily commissioned during maintenance and decommissioned and stored afterwards

• No valve modifications necessary and valve is not physically affected

• Capacity rated to customers request

• Fully automated design

• Fail safe functionality

• Over-pressure safety protection device

• Skid mounted, mobile platform for use on location when and where necessary

• Local and remote online alarm functionality

• Relay alarm to CCR and isolated safe work area location

• Training on site for operations and maintenance personnel

• Fully compliant with international guidelines (e.g. German BGR 500, British HSG 253, etc.)

• Product CE Certification for use inside EU

• For use outside EU, full compliance with local legislation available

• Explosion Safe (Atex) versions available

• Offshore versions available

• Euro pallet size for easy transportation and storage

• Patent protected


20161024 Introduction - Safe isolation with leaking valves[2322]

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