A Facility and Approach to Performance Test of Check Valves

The important time for a check valve is the short period during which flow decelerates. The characteristics of this period are not well defined. The investigation suggests the use of deceleration (g) as a parameter, describes a test facility that provides a range of deceleration rates and presents results of tests at various g’s. This method couples the estimation of a system’s deceleration with the performance of the valve so that provisions can be made for the expected behavior and surge in a new installation or an improvement can be predicted for an existing problem situation.