Emergency Test Control Panel for Partial Stroke Valve Testing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional partial stroke tests for emergency shutdown systems in process plants suffer from significant time delays between test initiation and visible indication, leading to user confusion and potential repeated attempts to initiate the test, which can inadvertently cancel the test.
Innovation Solution
A test control panel system that includes a test input device, timer, verification device, transmitter, receiver, and output indicator to provide immediate feedback through a test response signal, ensuring the user knows the test has been successfully initiated, and includes a digital valve controller to manage the partial stroke test.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional partial stroke test is initiated, then the valve can be tested to a certain percentage toward full closure, but there is a significant time delay before the user receives visible indication that the test has been initiated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements immediate visual feedback through an LED indicator that illuminates as soon as the test initiation signal is received by the valve controller. This feedback mechanism eliminates the time delay problem by providing real-time confirmation to the user that the test has been successfully initiated, allowing them to observe the valve's movement in real-time without uncertainty.
2Ease of operation
If the user repeatedly hits the start test button due to lack of immediate indication, then the user may inadvertently turn the test on and off without awareness, but implementing immediate feedback requires additional system components
Solution Approach 1:
The LED indicator provides simple, immediate visual feedback that confirms test initiation status. This straightforward feedback mechanism prevents user confusion and inadvertent test cancellation without requiring complex additional components, thereby improving ease of operation with minimal increase in system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses color-changing LED indicators to provide intuitive visual status information. Different colors indicate different test states (e.g., green for test in progress, red for test complete or error), enabling users to quickly understand system status without complex displays or interfaces, thus improving ease of operation with simple visual cues.
3Reliability
If a full stroke test is performed to ensure proper valve operation, then complete valve closure can be verified, but this causes large disturbance in process plant operation and is costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a partial stroke test that moves the valve only a predetermined distance (e.g., 10-20% of full stroke) rather than completing full closure. This partial action is sufficient to verify valve operability and detect sticking issues while minimizing disruption to process plant operations, thereby maintaining productivity while ensuring reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary testing through partial stroke tests during scheduled maintenance periods to identify potential valve issues before they cause problems during actual emergency operations. This preliminary verification ensures valve readiness without requiring full shutdown tests that would disrupt plant productivity.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
Embodiments disclosed herein include a test control panel device, system, computer program product, and method for receiving a test input signal; reading a duration of the test input signal; verifying that the signal duration is a valid duration to initiate the test; initiating the test by sending a start test signal to a valve controller device; receiving signals from the valve controller device; indicating that the test control panel device has received a valve controller device signal from the valve controller device; wherein the valve controller device signal is a test acknowledgement signal.