Riser-Mounted Pipeline Valve Assembly for No-Excavation Servicing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pipeline valves, especially subterranean ones, require extensive excavation for maintenance, which is time-consuming, costly, and disruptive to traffic, as they cannot be serviced from the ground level due to their deep underground location and narrow access points.
Innovation Solution
A pipeline apparatus with a housing and riser system that allows for the mounting of devices such as sensors or valves, featuring a locking mechanism and seal pack assembly, enabling servicing and monitoring without excavation, through a riser and pipeline connector configuration that includes a shaft and seal pack assembly for secure fluid control and easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If valves are located deep underground in pipelines, then traffic disruption and excavation costs are reduced, but maintenance accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The valve assembly is segmented into separable components: the valve body remaining in the pipeline and the bonnet/closing mechanism that can be extracted through the riser. This allows maintenance of the closing mechanism without excavating the pipeline, resolving the contradiction between underground location and maintenance accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The bonnet and closing mechanism are designed to nest within the valve body during operation, then be extracted through the same riser opening used for operation. This nested configuration enables maintenance access without additional excavation, addressing both traffic disruption and maintenance accessibility concerns.
2Ease of repair
If the bonnet is made removable for maintenance, then ease of repair improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bonnet is pre-configured with extraction features and sealing mechanisms that enable straightforward removal and reinstallation. The sealing surfaces and locking mechanisms are designed in advance to simplify the maintenance process, improving ease of repair without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Strength
If a cover plate is made small to withstand traffic loads, then strength is improved, but maintenance access deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The maintenance function is segmented from the cover plate by providing a separate riser opening. The cover plate remains small and strong for traffic loads, while the riser provides the necessary access diameter for service engineers to reach the valve spindle, resolving the contradiction between strength and access.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of enlarging the cover plate opening horizontally, access is provided through a vertical dimension via the riser. This allows the cover plate to remain small and strong while the riser provides sufficient clearance for maintenance operations, addressing both strength and accessibility requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Pipeline apparatus comprising a housing including a riser and a pipeline connector and a device configured to interact with fluid flowing through the pipeline connector, a mounting means for releasably mounting the device in the riser and seal means situated between an inner surface of the riser and an outer surface of the mounting means, the seal means configured to seal against egress of fluid from the apparatus, the mounting means and the riser each including a part of a locking means for releasably locking the device in the riser, the device situated in the pipeline connector.