Prior to selecting a control valve for an application, the buyer must provide the valve supplier with information on how the valve will operate in the system.  This information is typically supplied in paper form.  Now with the availability of a Piping System View file, control valve buyers can provide their valve sellers with a PSV file that provides all the information needed to specify a control valve.  This information includes, but is not limited to the following:

Pipe properties – inlet and outlet pipe nominal sizes, materials, schedules, and inside diameters

Fluid properties – the process fluids name, temperature, viscosity, density, vapor pressure, and critical pressure.

System Operation – provide the valve inlet pressure, differential pressure, and flow rate for the design case along with the various expected operating conditions.

Specification Details – a buyer supplied specification document outlining the valves detailed requirements.

With this information the control valve supplier can select a valve from their product line that meets the buyers needs.  The more information the buyer provides the easier it is for the valve supplier to select the best valve.  

The most difficult and time-consuming information for the buyer is to compile the various conditions the valve may be called on to perform.  Using the PIPE-FLO program the buyer has a clear picture of how a control valve needs to operate under a variety of expected operating conditions.

By creating a Piping System View (PSV) file using PIPE-FLO, the buyer can provide the seller with all the information needed to properly select a control valve.  Since the PIPE-FLO Viewer program can be downloaded free of charge there is no cost to the seller, and no additional cost to the buyer.

We will demonstrate how to get the information using a sample PSV file that can be downloaded from this article.  You will also need to download the free PIPE-FLO Viewer program to open the PSV file.

Downloading and Installing the PIPE-FLO Viewer:
If you don't have a copy of the PIPE-FLO Viewer installed on your computer you will have to perform the following steps.

1. Click on this link to download the Free_PIPE-FLO_Viewer.
2. Click on Download PIPE-FLO Viewer link
3. Select the "Save this program to disk" option and click on OK.
4. In the Save As dialog select a directory to download the file to and click on Save.
5. A file called pf_viewer.exe is downloaded to your computer.
6. Once the file is download go to the download directory and double click on the pf_viewer.exe icon, and follow the instructions on the screen.
7. The installation files are expanded on your computer then click on the Setup.exe program icon to complete the installation process
   

Downloading and Opening the Control Valve Viewer PSV File
To open the Control Valve Viewer PSV file downloaded from this Knowledge Base article.

1. Click on the "Control_Valve_Viewer.psv" file link located at the bottom of this Knowledge Base article
2. The PIPE-FLO Viewer starts and opens the Control Valve Viewer project.
   

Displaying the Pipeline Properties
To display the pipeline properties for the inlet pipeline for DI-FCV-001:

1. Double click on the pipeline named Path 1 on the FLO-Sheet to display the Pipeline Dialog box.  
2. Click on the Specifications tab to view the pipe material and schedule.
3. Click on the Fluids tab to view the fluid properties.
4. Click on the Pipe tab then click on the Graph button next to the name box to display the pipelines Graph Window.
5. On the displayed Graph Window select the File / Print Report menu item.  The pipeline report is sent to your printer documenting the selected pipeline.
6. Close the Pipeline dialog box.
   

Viewing the Control Valve Requirements
To get the information about a selected control valve:

1. Move the mouse pointer over the control valve symbol DI-FCV-001.  The design case conditions of the valve are displayed in the fly-by viewer located at the bottom of the PIPE-FLO Viewer window.
2. To get a tabular listing of the valve requirements click on the List Window button located on the button bar.
3. All the control valves in the system are displayed in the List Window showing the design point values for each control valve.   (Note:  If the control valve list is not displayed, click on DI-FCV-001 on the piping schematic.)
4. Click on the List Window button again to clear the list window.
   

Viewing the Valve Specifications
PIPE-FLO can insert hypertext links to documents that are stored on a network or the Internet.  In this example we have created FLO-Links to a General Project Control Valve Specification document, along with the specific requirments for the control valve DI-FCV-001.  This information is located on the Engineered Software Website, and is immediately available from with the PIPE-FLO Viewer.

To display the General Control Valve Specification Documents

1. Click on the System / Setting menu item on the PIPE-FLO Viewer menu bar
2. Click on the Links tab, to display the available project links.
3. Highlight the General Valve Specification link and click the Open button.
4. The viewer displays the selected document and loads the viewer program.  NOTE:  You will need a copy of the Adobe Acrobat reader installed on your computer to view the document.
5. Close the document and close the System Setting & Properties dialog.
   

To display the Valve Specification for valve DI-FCV-001:

1. Click on the small black triangle next to the DI-FCV-001 text on the FLO-Sheet.  Select the Specification link.
2. The viewer establishes connection to the selected Web page and displays the document.
   

Since the valve specifications are electronic documents they can be printed to get the remaining information about the selected valve.

Viewing the Valves Alternate Operating Conditions
The valve must be specified to meet the design conditions, but it is also must operate under a variety of expected system operating conditions.  In PIPE-FLO we call these lineups, and the viewer show how the system operates under a variety of lineups.

To display a different lineup

1. Click on the Lineup drop down list located on the button bar, and select the "Normal Ops" lineup.
2. The FLO-Sheet shows how the piping system operates under this operating scenario.
3. To find a description of this lineup select the System /Lineup menu item and click on the Notes tab.  Here you see the buyer's notes on how the system is to operate.
4. View the remaining lineups and notes.
   

Using the information in the supplied PSV file the control valve supplier has all the information needed to select a control valve for the system.