JohnPritchard
Electrical
- Jul 22, 2003
- 2
Has anyone had experience using control valves in a helium environment? If so, I am interested in understanding what the issues are around using standard control valves for this application. People have mentioned to me that "cold welding" is an issue in a helium environment and for this reason state that "sliding" type valves (e.g. gate valves) are unsuitable. Is this true? Also, do I need to worry about valve stem packing etc.? The kind of application we have in mind is at inlet pressures of around 90 bars, flow rates of the order of 20kg/s, outlet pressures of around 30 bars (pressure drop across valve is 60 bars) and inlet temperatures of between 100 to 200 degrees C.