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IMI’s revolutionary valve packing system helps plant owners address fugitive emissions
Mary Loftus
November 29, 2023
Plant managers face the challenge of balancing sustainability and performance on a daily basis. Valves are a central piece in this puzzle, playing a critical role in production environments. Yet, at the same time, they account for 60% of fugitive emissions and loss of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in industrial plants.
Many valves are used constantly, but since they represent a relatively small part of a plant’s total investment, they tend to be overlooked in areas where fugitive emissions are common. As such, it’s become increasingly clear that a more robust and practical solution is necessary to tackle what has been labelled a ‘blind spot in the fight against climate change.’[1]
Why fugitive emissions matter
Fugitive emissions often occur in plants due to equipment leaks, flaring, evaporation, and spills. With respect to valves, the extent of a leak normally depends on the type of valve used during production. For processes requiring control valves, leakages are usually more severe due to constant modulation. By contrast, standard on/off valves tend to suffer fewer leaks as they are not used at all times.
Keeping on top of valve systems requires intensive manual maintenance and regular checks, usually involving staff physically tightening the packing bolts when traditional v-ring packing sets are installed. This increases costs and can introduce additional health and safety risks for maintenance engineers.
Control valve leakage is a serious issue, especially when considering that commonly occurring organic compounds such as CO2 and methane are released as a result of incorrectly maintained valves, which may not have fugitive emission packing installed. These leaks contribute to the release of greenhouse gases that could otherwise be avoided.
Alongside these gases are more deadly by-products, such as hydrogen sulphide, which present a major safety hazard if allowed to leak in significant quantities. These threats have pushed those working in heavy industry to seek a better solution – one that not only tackles emissions but also makes sites safer and more productive. This is the driving force behind IMI’s innovative valve packing system – EEEasy-Seal™.
Rethinking packing design
Designed for use in plants and refineries working with oil and gas, IMI’s effective and efficient valve packing system solves the inherent maintenance and reliability issues associated with standard valve packing systems.
EEEasy-Seal™ is made up of a proprietary combination of seals which are spring and pressure energized and installed in a fixed packing cavity. The valve packing does not need to have force applied externally, for example, through tightening of the packing bolts, to be effective. Compared to other packing solutions which require such regular maintenance, the EEEasy-Seal™ packing set is virtually maintenance free.
EEEasy-Seal technology applied to a 100DPC valve trim
Further developments of this novel fugitive emission packing system have resulted in a solution for dirty service choke valve applications which are required to be fire safe. IMI conducted fugitive emission testing with secondary graphite seals which were installed in series with the EEEasy-Seal™ packing set. This overall packing system design includes wiper rings on each side of the packing set, which prevent the ingress of dirt from the atmosphere or particles from the process fluid from entering the packing cavity. In addition to being fugitive emission certified, this solution has also been certified as fire safe through extensive testing.
Putting it to the test
Manufacturing valves for critical service involves stringent testing and certification. This is an area where IMI’s EEEasy-Seal™ fugitive emission packing system has demonstrated clear advantages over other systems available on the market. The EEEasy-Seal™ system is particularly well suited for oil and gas applications, and IMI was consistently able to reach class AM certification (virtually no measured leakage) when testing the EEEasy-Seal™ packing for different test pressures and temperatures with methane gas. For example, EEEasy-Seal™ has ISO-15848-1 class AM certification for ASME 2500 pressure rating, 60,000 cycles, 200°C temperature. ISO 15848-1 standard fugitive emission test cycles of 20,000 and 60,000 cycles are intended to mimic the constant modulation seen by control valves. In comparison the number of cycles required for an on-off valve certification is 205.
In addition to methane certifications, EEEasy-Seal™ has been extensively tested with helium. Different challenges exist when testing with helium vs. methane gas. Hydrogen and helium, for instance, share a small molecular size, making it especially difficult for a packing system to achieve the tightest/best certification when handling these gases. Permeation of the small molecule through the seal material is a phenomenon that needs to be accounted for during the design of a fugitive emission packing system. Yet even for this challenging test fluid, IMI’s EEEasy-Seal™ proved effective in preventing leakage after intensive testing. For example, the system achieved a BH certification for helium, 60,000 cycles for 2500 ASME pressure class and -70°C temperature.
IMI’s EEEasy-Seal™ valve packing system has already been fitted in over 1,500 valves across the world in a variety of plants and applications, including anti-surge and production choke, and the benefits for plant managers have been clear.
The extensive testing required for control valve fugitive emission packing certification reflects the seriousness of the issue. While fugitive emissions cannot be completely eliminated for all equipment leaks, novel packing systems like the EEEasy-Seal™ bring industry closer to more sustainable production without impacting the bottom line.
For more information about the EEEasy-Seal fugitive emission packing system, click here.
*EEEasy-Seal™ is a trademark owned by CCI Valve Technology GmbH, part of IMI.
By Mary Loftus
Mary is a senior engineer in research and development at IMI CCI in Vienna, who has dedicated 20 years to the company. With a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from San Diego State University, she uses her expertise to solve process flow problems and optimise plant performance across various sectors.
Product
EEEasy-Seal™ Fugitive Emission Packing Solution
Explore IMI CCI’s industry-leading fugitive emission packing solution. ISO certified, our solutions offer efficient and compact leakage protection, safeguarding both the environment and workplace. Upgrade options and fire-safe variants are available for our product lines.
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