Control valve having pressure boundary integrity diagnostic capabilities, method of making the control valve, and method of using the control valve

A method of manufacturing a control valve having pressure boundary integrity diagnostic capabilities, the method comprising:

• choosing a control valve having a valve body;
• determining a velocity profile within the control valve;
• choosing an area of the velocity profile;
• choosing a point on an exterior of the valve body at or adjacent to the area;
• forming a pad on the surface of the exterior of the valve body overlying the point, wherein a testing device can be applied to the pad to measure a sample thickness of a wall of the valve body through the pad;
• and
• wherein the pad is parallel to an internal surface of the valve body located at or adjacent to the area, within a range of about 0° to about 15°.

A control valve having pressure boundary integrity diagnostic capabilities, comprising:

• a valve body including an exterior surface, a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a connecting valve body passageway, the valve body having an identified velocity profile;
• a valve seat mounted in the valve body passageway;
• a valve operating member adapted to cooperate with the valve seat to control the flow of fluid through the valve body passageway;
• a pad formed on the exterior surface of the valve body at or adjacent to a chosen area of the identified velocity profile, wherein the pad is adapted to receive a testing device to measure a sample thickness of a wall of the valve body through the pad;
• and
• a boss formed on an internal surface of the valve body overlying at least a portion of the pad.

A control valve having pressure boundary integrity diagnostic capabilities, comprising:

• a valve body including an exterior surface, a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a connecting valve body passageway, the valve body having an identified velocity profile;
• a valve seat mounted in the valve body passageway;
• a valve operating member adapted to cooperate with the valve seat to control the flow of fluid through the valve body passageway;
• a pad formed on the exterior surface of the valve body at or adjacent to a chosen area of the identified velocity profile, wherein the pad is adapted to receive a testing device to measure a sample thickness of a wall of the valve body through the pad;
• and
• wherein the pad has a flat external surface.

A method of diagnosing pressure boundary integrity of a control valve, the method comprising:

• providing a control valve having a valve body;
• determining a velocity profile within the control valve;
• choosing an area of the velocity profile;
• choosing a point on an exterior of the valve body at or adjacent to the area;
• forming a pad on the exterior surface overlying the point;
• measuring a sample thickness of a valve body wall through the pad using a testing device;
• measuring a first thickness of the valve body wall through the pad at a time subsequent to the measurement of the sample thickness using the testing device;
• and
• comparing the sample thickness to the first thickness to determine the pressure boundary integrity of the control valve.