Systems and Methods for Determining Set Pressure and Lift of a Spring-Operated Relief Valve

A spring-operated relief valve comprising:

• a valve housing
• a valve seat;
• a disc assembly configured to seal against the valve seat to close the spring-operated relief valve;
• a spindle that extends from the disc assembly to guide movement of the disc assembly relative to the valve seat;
• a main spring arranged to bias the disc assembly towards the valve seat to define a set pressure of the spring-operated relief valve;
• and
• a load cell that, during operation of the spring-operated relief valve, is one of immovably secured within the valve housing or immovably secured outside the valve housing;
• wherein the load cell is in mechanical communication with the main spring directly or via a rigid intervening component, the load cell being thereby configured to measure a force exerted by the main spring on the disc assembly as the disc assembly and the spindle move relative to the valve seat and the load cell.

A method of installing or calibrating a spring-operated relief valve, the method comprising:

• using a load cell to directly measure a force applied by a main spring of the spring-operated relief valve, the main spring being arranged to bias a disc assembly of the spring-operated relief valve towards a valve seat of the spring-operated relief valve to define a set pressure and a crack pressure of the spring-operated relief valve;
• and
• one or more of:
• determining a valve lift for the spring-operated relief valve based on the measured force;
• monitoring a current set pressure or crack pressure of the spring-operated relief valve based on the measured force;
• or
• setting a desired set pressure or crack pressure of the spring-operated relief valve by:
• determining a target load on a main spring of the spring-operated relief valve, the target load corresponding to the desired set pressure or crack pressure;
• and
• adjusting a bias of the main spring of the spring-operated relief valve until the force measured by the load cell corresponds to the target load.