Direct Steam Converting Valves

Model DSCV-SA
Introduction

The Copes Vulcan large capacity combined pressure

reducing and desuperheating valve, which is known as
the DSCV, is of angle style construction with the
steam inlet through the branch connection and the
steam outlet through the in-line connection. The
connections can either be flanged or butt-welded
depending upon customer preference. The units are
manufactured in 2 parts to allow for greater customer
flexibility. The High-pressure side of the unit is of cast
construction with the lower pressure outlet connection
being of fabricated construction.

The valve is provided with a bolted bonnet closure for

pressure ratings up to and including ANSI 900# and
either a pressure seal closure pressure ratings ANSI
1500# upto and including ANSI 4500# rating. The
valve can be fitted with single stage Hush, Multi stage
Hush or Copes-Vulcan RAVEN trim technology
depending upon the pressure drop required in the
steam to be desuperheated, and the requirements to
meet specific noise levels. The valve is provided with
balanced single seat trim construction utilising a
tandem trim pilot operated concept allowing class V
leakage rates per ANSI/FCI 70-2 to be achieved.

Brief History

The requirements dictated by the increasing use of

turbine bypass systems is creating greater demand on
the suppliers of the basic hardware making up the
system, particularly the valves and desuperheaters
used for this application. The use of turbine By-pass
systems is increasing as plant operators seek to gain
more flexibility in their operating practices and to
reduce the times between shutdowns.
There is an increasing requirement for this type of
equipment which involves the use of large and small
combined pressure reducing and desuperheating
valves, after coolers, fast acting dual speed valve
actuators and fairly complex control schemes.
Originally, turbine by-pass systems were provided as a
means of disposing of steam produced by the boiler in
the event of a turbine trip. A simple system would
monitor the boiler pressure and when this rose above
a predetermined level, the control loop would cause
the by-pass system to open dumping steam produced
by the boiler straight into the condenser. An alternative
control philosophy would be to tie this into the turbine
trip signal such that when the signal was given to trip
the turbine, an initiating signal would be passed to the The job of the turbine by-pass system in this set up is to
bypass system, which would open and dump the supplement and maintain the pass out steam from the
steam. In Industrial plants the pass out steam from turbine at all times and to ensure the continuation of supply
turbines was a convenient means of producing under all conditions whether the turbine is in operation or
process steam at varying conditions. The use of this not.
approach meant the steam could be generated at one
pressure and temperature in a plant and the The basic function of a turbine bypass system, regardless
requirements for differing pressures and temperatures of what method of control is used, is to reduce the pressure
for process could be met by various pass out stages of steam to a level acceptable by the downstream system
from the turbine. This requirement imposed an and to reduce the temperature of the steam to an equally
additional demand on the system in that the supply of acceptable level.
process steam became the main concern and
continuity of supply was all-important.
Description

Operating within the balancing cylinder and cage assembly is the main plug, which incorporates a tandem pilot
plug that is connected to the valve stem. The main plug is provided with a single seat that contacts the seat in the
cage when in the closed position shutting off all flow into the bore. When the pilot valve is closed, the build up of
pressure on top of the plug, up to the inlet pressure conditions, will provide additional seating force thus assisting
the actuator to achieve class V shutoff.

The balancing cylinder is provided with large capacity ports or similar capacity ports are provided in the main plug
immediately below the seating surface. These ports are provided to feed steam into the bore of the cage and are
not intended to be throttling ports. Control of the flow through the valve is through drilled holes in the cage, in the
case of single stage hush trim; through the overlap of drilled holes in successive sleeves in the case of multi-
stage hush trims or through the tortuous flow paths of the RAVEN trim design. These flow paths are uncovered by
movement of the main plug which allows steam to pass from the inlet to the outlet side of the valve which allows a
pressure drop to be taken across these holes. Movement of the main plug is initiated by the valve actuator
responding to a signal from the control instrumentation.

Water is introduced via a side branch on the DSCV-

SA body directly into the steam atomising head. HP
Steam at P1 conditions is fed into the atomising head
via a converging nozzle once the main valve plug lifts
off its seat. Water is introduced via a combining tube
directly after the nozzle where it is atomised and then
passed through a converging – diverging venturi
throat section. The hot atomised water exits the
atomising head and is rapidly evaporated, cooling the
main steam flow. This method of water introduction
does not rely on surrounding steam velocity or
turbulence for effective mixing and thus gives very
high turndowns, generally in excess of 100:1.

In the valve outlet, a diffuser plate or multiple diffuser

plates are provided. The purpose of diffuser plates is
two-fold; firstly, they take some of the pressure drop
away from the trim; secondly, they create a back
pressure in the valve outlet which reduces the volume
of steam and enables the velocity to be maintained at
an acceptable level in order to control the noise
generated within the valve.
Principle of Operation

The DSCV-SA valve here is in the closed position.

The main plug is fully seated

and the pilot tandem plug is closed

The DSCV-SA valve has a very tight shut off in the
closed position, as a minimum ANSI FCI 70-2 class V. It
achieves this tight shut off by utilising a pilot plug design
so that in the closed position the main plug is
unbalanced with the full steam pressure acting on the
top of the plug, this load combined with the actuator
thrust resulting in very high seat contact loads, which
ensures a very tight shut off.

Not only is tight shut off required for plant thermal

efficiency it also prevents leak induced ‘wire drawing’
damage across the seat which would otherwise result in
frequent maintenance to repair or replace the seat.

When an open command signal is received, the

actuator retracts and the pilot plug is the first to open.
This allows P1 steam to flood through the large pilot
plug port to the underside of the main plug. The main
plug is now balanced reducing the actuation thrusts
required.

As can be seen, the CV or capacity of the pilot port is

several times greater than the atomising nozzle and
designed leak paths of the cage guiding system
ensuring equal inlet pressure on the underside and top
side of the main plug
High pressure balancing or P1 balancing is a key
design feature of the DSCV-SA for reliable smooth
operation. Some other designs employ low pressure or
P2 balancing however these low pressure balancing
systems rely on auxiliary balancing seals such as piston
rings and close tolerance sealing surfaces to prevent
the high pressure steam unbalancing the trim. In
operation if these seals or surfaces ware or become
damaged the trim quickly becomes unbalanced stem
loads dramatically increase and fluctuate which can
result in the valve oscillating violently or even unable to
open on command.

Now with the pilot plug open, high pressure inlet steam
has flooded the underside of the main plug and the
steam atomising unit is now operating in preparation to
receive the incoming cooling water from the water
control valve

The pilot plug shoulder has now engaged with the

underside of the tandem cap of the main plug. The main
plug now starts to lift and the main seat opens
This heavy duty distribution spacer has been
specifically designed to negate any upstream pipework
induced flow disturbance being communicated to the
main plug. Therefore long radius bends or isolation
valves can be fitted directly to the valve inlet to
minimise installation space. The main plug is fully
guided by the cage and spacer to ensure complete plug
stability through full travel.

As the main plug opens, steam first enters the valve via
a heavy duty distribution spacer. The steam passes
through the spacer by means of numerous holes evenly
positioned around the full diameter

The main plug is fully and securely guided throughout.

The upper section of the main plug is guided in a
specially hardened and extremely robust guide ring with
an integral anti-rotation key.

The lower section is securely cage guided through its

entire length.

The combination of the heavy duty inlet distribution

spacer and full cage guiding ensure total plug stability
even in the most arduous installations.

After the inlet steam has passed through the distribution

spacer it now travels through the main seat area to the
underside of the main plug via large feed ports

With the main plug now lifted the pressure reducing

ports of the cage are now open to allow the steam to be
pressure reduced in a controlled manner. As the
command signal increases and the actuator further
opens the main plug further pressure reducing ports are
exposed and the steam flow rate increases. Copes-
Vulcan can supply the DSCV-SA steam turbine bypass
valve with its industry proven active noise attenuation
trim styles, Single and Multi stage HUSH or the multi
labyrinth, multi disk RAVEN.
The pressure reduced steam exits the cage into the
outlet section of the steam bypass valve. The steam
pressure in this area is slightly higher than the final
downstream pressure. This final pressure drop is taken
across the outlet diffuser. The outlet diffuser has
several functions; it aligns the steam that has exited the
pressure reducing cage providing a perfect mixing zone
for the introduction of the cooling water. It also provides
a very secure anchor point for the steam atomising
head. The diffuser forging can also be used as a
material transition point to eliminate on-site dissimilar
welding, as the bypass valve is an ideal point which
piping engineers can utilise to change piping class and
material.

The cooling water enters the DSCV-SA directly into the

steam atomising head. The cooling water is forced into
an annular chamber which is created by a multi holed
combining tube. The combining tube uniformly directs
the cooling water into the atomising zone. The energy
available in the high pressure steam is efficiently
converted into a high velocity expanding jet of steam.
The cooling water is instantaneously atomised and
travels forward into the venturi section of the atomising
head. Here the steam and finely atomised cooling water
decelerate and expand as heat is transferred from the
atomising steam into the cooling water.

This intimately mixed fluid exits the venturi section with

the consistency of a ‘hot fog. As the cooling water is
finely atomised and pre-heated the final desuperheating
takes place directly after the outlet diffuser section.

With the outlet diffuser aligning the main steam flow to

create an excellent mixing zone the final stage of
desuperheating occurs rapidly and evenly without
danger of thermal shock or water drop out in the
downstream pipe work. As final evaporation occurs very
quickly then the required downstream straight line
lengths are kept to an absolute minimum.”
The DSCV-SA valve must be capable of controlling
the maximum steam loads but equally important is
accurate control and temperature stability at low loads
and transition phases. Therefore Turndown or
rangeability is an extremely important consideration
that plant designers and power generators must
consider.

The DSCV-SA was specifically design to achieve

extremely high turndowns and wide performance
envelopes. This is realised by numerous trim options
and the method of cooling water introduction
employed, steam atomisation. The trim options of
HUSH or RAVEN are characterisable and all have
very low minimum controllable CVs. Steam
atomisation has several benefits over mechanically
spraying the cooling water via nozzles. Mechanical
spray nozzles, even spring loaded types are limited in
their turndown as the water atomisation and spray
pattern degraded as the water flow rate and available
pressure differential reduces. As the water demand
reduces the spray water control valve closes and the
spray valve trim absorbs the water pressure
differential leaving little pressure differential for the
spray nozzles. This lack of pressure differential at the
spray nozzles does not allow them to atomise the
spray water, leading to the water pouring into the
steam rather than a fine atomised mist. Mechanical
spray nozzles also rely on the surrounding steam
velocity to provide adequate mixing. When the steam
load reduces so does the steam velocity and the ability
of mechanical spray nozzles equally reduce. This
effect manifests itself with poor downstream steam
temperature control and water ‘drop-out’. Water drop-
out can be very damaging as cold water will track
along the bottom of the inside wall of the downstream
pipe whilst un-cooled superheated steam travels along
the top and sides. This produces high thermal shocks
which can lead to steam header fracture.

The DSCV-SA employing steam atomisation for the

cooling water introduction has several major benefits.
The atomising steam pre-heats the cooling water a
significant accelerating the evaporation and
desuperheating process. Equally important is to finely
atomise the incoming cooling water. Very fine
atomisation produces extremely small water droplet
sizes with a massively increased surface area to
promote rapid heat transfer. The atomised, pre-heated
water in introduced into the centre of the steam flow
with the finely atomised cooling water being carried by
the atomising steam itself and therefore has no
dependency on the main steam velocity. Therefore for
turndown the DSCV-SA is unrivalled.”
When a closing signal is received the main plug
smoothly extends back into the cage which
proportionately decreases the steam flow rate.

The main plug continues to close until the main seat is

engaged. At this point virtually all the steam flow has
ceased.

The actuator continues to extend until the pilot plug

engages with its seat. At this point full inlet steam
pressure is applied to the top of the main cage and the
underside of the cage decays to downstream pressure.
Effectively the trim is now unbalanced. This unbalanced
force significantly augments the seat contact load
resulting in a very tight and repeatable shut off.
Some systems such as steam turbine bypass must be
able to react and modulate very quickly under
emergency conditions such as a turbine trip. Stroking
speeds of less than one second may be required. The
DSCV-SA can be supplied with either pneumatic or
hydraulic actuation to meet this critical requirement.
With extremely rapid stroking speeds and large
actuation forces it is vital that the actuator and its
interface with the steam turbine bypass valve is
sufficiently robust to handle these extreme sudden
loads. The actuator is connected to the valve by a
specially designed actuator load stool

The stool safely transfers and spreads the actuation

loads into the heavy section body of the DSCV-SA and
NOT into the valve bonnet thus not compromising the
bonnet joint integrity or alignment. The stool is spigoted
onto the DSCV-SA body and held in place with high
tensile, high temperature bolting.
 The DSCV-SA can be mounted in the steam
header in any orientation allowing full flexibility to
the plant piping engineers. All actuators supplied
with DSCV-SA steam turbine bypass valves are
designed to be self supporting in a horizontal
orientation. Therefore no additional supports are
required.

As demonstrated earlier upstream and downstream

straight line lengths are kept to a minimum with this
world leading design.

The DSCV-SA is not a high maintenance valve.

However the Copes-Vulcan engineering team were
tasked with ‘easy maintenance’ within their design
brief. The complete trim is a ‘Quick-Change’ style with
no welded in components or large internal threaded
parts. The whole trim assembly is held in compression
by either a compression ring or the bonnet. By simply
removing the compression ring or bonnet the whole
trim simply slides out of the top of the valve. Therefore
in-situ maintenance, should it be required, is both
expeditious and uncomplicated with no need for any
specialised tooling or training
 Design Trims

The pressure retaining parts of the DSCV are Three types of trims are provided in this valve: Single stage
designed in accordance with the requirements of ANSI Hush, Multi stage Hush and RAVEN. The selection of the
B16.34 for cast construction and ASME Section VIII appropriate trim is determined by the application and will
for forged fabricated construction. Other applicable reflect the need for single or multi step pressure reduction
standards are ANSI B16.5 and ANSI B16.25. in order to utilise pressure profiling to achieve an
acceptable noise level.
Standard body-to-bonnet joint, up to 2500# standard,
is bolted and incorporates a fully enclosed spiral
wound gasket made from 300 stainless steel with
graphite filler. The standard body-to-bonnet joint for
pressure ratings above 2500# is a pressure seal
closure, which utilises a graphite-sealing ring.

DSCV-SA fitted with Single Stage Hush Trim

design. An integral exit diffuser Plate is also
fitted to the valve for further noise attenuation.
Valve shown incorporates a bolted bonnet
design

DSCV-SA fitted with Multi-Stage Hush pressure

Profiling Trim design. Valve shown incorporates a
bolted bonnet design
Pressure Ratings Sizes

The DSCV-SA Valve is of the split rated design and The DSCV-SA is available in an almost infinite range of
available in standard and special class. Standard class sizes as each valve is tailored to suit a particular customers
in available upto and including ANSI 4500 rating, requests and requirements. Additional Noise Attenuation
special class designs can be accommodated if can be performed by utilising a specifically engineered
required. Because the DSCV has a split rated design RAVEN multi-labyrinth trim design utilising upon 18 stages
this provides the customer with a convenient point for of pressure reduction.
pipe transition for size, rating and material. As the
DSCV-SA is of 2 part construction virtually any End Connections
configuration can be met to satisfy any client
requirements. The DSCV-SA can be provided with either flanged or butt-
welded ends – or indeed any combination of the 2. Butt
Materials of Construction weld ends can be provided to match both size and material
of the client’s pipework to minimize on site welding and
The valve can be manufactured from any material to ease the fitment and commissioning of the valves.
meet specific design requirements. Standard Materials
are as shown below: - Packing Material

Body & Bonnet Standard Packing is Compressed graphite die formed rings
with braided graphite end rings to prevent extrusion of the
Carbon Steel to ASTM A216 WCB / ASTM A105 packing. The packing is used in a bolted compression type
Alloy Steel to ASTM A217 WC6 / ASTM A182 F11 gland arrangement
Alloy Steel to ASTM A217 WC9 / ASTM A182 F22
Alloy Steel to ASTM A217 C12A / ASTM A182 F91 Trim Material

Bonnet Studs and Nuts This will vary depending on the application for which the
valve is being used, but the standard materials
The standard body-to-bonnet studs and nut materials
for bolted bonnets are: - Plunger – ASTM A217 WC6
Cage Assembly – ASTM A217 WC6
For applications up through 454°C (850°F): Distribution Spacer – ASTM A217 WC6
Pilot Plug – BS970 420 S37
Studs: ASTM A193 Grade B7 Atomiser Nozzle – BS970 316 S31
Nuts: ASTM A194 Grade 2H
The trim components are given additional heat treatment to
For applications over 454°C (850°F) to 565°C (1050°F) give increased hardness at elevated temperatures. This
in low alloy steel: additional treatment is also used to ensure superior
performance in high-pressure drop applications.
Studs: ASTM A193 Grade B16
Nuts: ASTM A194 Grade 4 Live Loaded Packing

Stem Materials This packing arrangement provides a more constant force

on the packing, which minimises packing leakage over
Stems are made from 17/4 ph grade ASTM A564 time. This feature is often used when the valve is to be
GR630. located in an area where it is difficult to perform
maintenance on the valves.
Other Options

Double Packed Bonnet

When packing leakage is to be minimised, a double

packed bonnet may be used. The lower packing set
provides primary sealing between the internal Valve
fluid and the leak off tube while the back up prevents
leakage to the atmosphere.

Lubricator
Stem packing lubricators can be provided on the
bonnet assembly but are not considered necessary
with graphoil packing.
 Actuation

Due to the flexible design of the DSCV-SA any actuation

can be accommodated. The options pneumatic (either
Piston or diaphragm), Hydraulic or Electric. If required
Copes Vulcan can provide the valve with not only actuation,
but also logical actuation via a custom designed control
panel assembly – giving the customer any mode of
operation required and covering every eventuality.

Pictures show Explosion Proof (Eex-d) HPU and control

system provided by Copes Vulcan on a recent contract.
Fast Acting Pneumatic Actuators

Recognising the need for fast and reliable pneumatic

actuation solution Copes-Vulcan has developed, tested
and proved that modulation of a DSCV-SA valve from
fully closed to fully Open is possible within less than 2
seconds just by using the system 4-20mA command
signal. The diagram below indicates a typical
equipment arrangement.
Fast Opening Test Report
Plot of command signal, actuator position and cylinder
pressure on a time base.

The actuator test begins at rest with the lower cylinder pressure fully evacuated and the upper pressure
saturated out to the supply value of 6.2 barg (100%). The command signal takes some 0.05s to ramp to 100%,
the boosters become active after 0.19s and 0.21s and start to vent air from the top of the piston and supply air
to the underside. Actuator movement begins at 0.66s and full stroke is achieved at 1.55s, an elapsed time of
0.89s. This compares favorably with the time indicated by the Siemens positioner during auto calibration of 0.8s
up and down. When in auto stroke mode the stroke time is taken as a dynamic condition without waiting for
pressure saturation to occur.
 Hysteresis Test

The hysteresis test again begins with the actuator in a saturated condition, as the command signal starts to build the
device takes some time to de-saturate before movement takes place. Once the actuator is dynamically balanced
there is no further hesitation as the actuator ramps up and down scale. On the approach to the zero position the
actuator is dynamically balanced and does not therefore see the saturation evident at lift off. The second chart,
4.b.i.b shows the hysteresis throughout the stroke, with the exception of the start point referred to above the unit is
generally within +/- 0.25%
  
 

 
 
Copes‐Vulcan 
SPX Flow Technology 
Road Two, Industrial Estate, 
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construction and dimensional data, as described in this bulletin, are provided for your information only and should not be relied upon unless confirmed 
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