Update | Upgrade for the Hamburg test lab

Upgrade for the Hamburg test lab

New software increases precision, efficiency and flexibility of safety valve tests at LESER.

Why is there a test lab at LESER ?

A valve test lab examines the behavior of a safety valve by simulating its function as part of a plant. To meet increasingly complex customer requirements for LESER safety valves, LESER operates its own, fully equipped test lab.
From geometry changes on flow-related components inside a valve to the development of entirely new valve types, the test lab enables LESER to re-create different trial scenarios in-house. Our machine workshop plays a major part in this. It can precision-build custom flow-related parts such as lifting aids or discs precisely to specification on short notice.
What is more, the LESER test lab, working closely with the EOM-DC (Engineered Order Management-Design Center) department, carries out custom trials that enable LESER to offer customers solutions outside our normal series and standards.

The history

LESER built its first safety valve test bench as early as 1957. It was improved steadily over the years. In 2014, at its new building in Wendenstrasse, LESER commissioned an allnew test lab for air and water valves. The air test bench has an 83 m³, 100 bar pressure tank and allows flow rates of up to 190 t/h. The water test bench has a storage capacity of 30 m³ and can generate pressures of up to 40 bar or flow rates of up to 430 t/h.

The benefits

The LESER test lab can deliver water and air as media across a number of different test arrangements. By combining the media with various pressure and volumetric or mass flow specifications, the lab can simulate a wide array of real-life plant situations.
Orifice test stations are used to determine the flow rate by measuring the pressure drop across a restriction plate. There are several restriction plates available at the test lab to support a wide range of applications and allow highprecision flow rate measurements on safety valves. Furthermore, a variety of installation arrangements can be simulated, such as horizontal or suspended installation, installation of a change-over valve, or operation against back pressure with a blow-off pipe attached.

Upgrade in 2020/2021

Over the last few years, increasingly stringent requirements for the test procedure as well as the efficiency, accuracy and frequency of measurements have made it necessary to implement a number of upgrades at the test lab. The switch from DIAdem to LabVIEW as the measuring software was a key step. The measuring software was entirely redesigned, programmed, and completed in late 2020. During the current fiscal year, this was followed by comprehensive validation of the measuring application and its integration with the existing ASME and TÜV test lab certifications. LESER developed and coded the new software in-house. Having this expertise available on-site allows the company to respond rapidly to special customer requests or changing software requirements. The concept underlying the software is modular, and its coding is simple enough to allow for module modifications or add-ons without causing major overhead. An additional benefit of the new software is its
user-friendly front end which provides the tester with precisely the information she or he needs. For example, there is a special software module that integrates the safety valve functional limits from all the relevant regulations and displays the relevant values on-screen during the test (refer to
figure 1). Another module enables automated documentation of the opening and closing pressure values via Wi-Fi at the push of a button. The tester stands next to the valve where he or she captures all readings (refer to figure 2). A number of smart ideas were incorporated into the software to support and accelerate the testing or calibration process while saving time and costs. Replacing the pressure sensors used in flow rate measurements with differential pressure measuring devices, combined with the new measurement software, has significantly reduced measurement uncertainties and errors. All these upgrades enable LESER to perform measurements more efficiently and with even higher precision, gather more information and knowledge, accommodate more special customer requests, and save costs.

LESER YouTube channel

Here you will find the exclusive LESER YouTube series on the topic of "Safety Valve Testing".

to the Videos