ADVANCEMENTS IN VALVE TECHNOLOGY & INDUSTRY LESSONSLEAD TO IMPROVED PLANT RELIABILITY & COST SAVINGS

摘要

Plant reliability and safety hinges on the properfunctioning of several valves. Recent advancementsin valve technology have resulted in new analyticaland test methods for evaluating and improving valveand actuator reliability. This is especially significantin critical service applications in which the economicimpact of a valve failure on production, outageschedules and consequential damages far surpassesthe initial equipment purchase price. This paperpresents an overview of recent advances in valvetechnology driven by reliability concerns and costsavings objectives without comprising safety in theNuclear Power Industry. This overview is based onover 27 years of experience in supporting US andInternational nuclear power utilities, and contributingto EPRI, and NSSS Owners' Groups in developinggeneric models/methodologies to address industry-wideissues; performing design basis reviews; andimplementing plant-wide valve reliabilityimprovement programs.Various analytical prediction software andhardware solutions and training seminars are nowavailable to implement valve programs coveringpower plants' lifecycle from the construction phasethrough life extension and power uprate. These toolsand methodologies can enhance valve-engineeringactivities including the selection, sizing, properapplication, condition monitoring, failure analysis,and condition based maintenance optimization with afocus on potential bad actors. This paper offers twosuch examples, the Kalsi Valve and ActuatorProgram (KVAP) and Check Valve Analysis andPrioritization (CVAP) [1-3, 8, 9, 11-13]. Theadvanced, validated torque prediction modelsincorporated into KVAP software for AOVs andMOVs have improved reliability of marginpredictions and enabled cost savings through elimination of unwarranted equipment modifications.CVAP models provides a basis to prioritize thepopulation of valves recommended for preventivemaintenance, inspection and/or modification,allowing effort to be focused on those valves that aremore likely to degrade prematurely [8]. Leveragingstate-of-the-art valve technologies such as these canenable nuclear power plants to improve safety andreliability, and reduce costs associated withmaintenance and operation of the plants.