Reducing Helium Consumption in Valve Manufacturing: Alternative Test Fluid for Fugitive Emissions Production Testing

Abstract

Helium gas is used for fugitive emissions testing of industrial components such as valves. Purpose of these tests is to prevent unintentional and undesirable releases of process gas, from industrial sites, into the environment. These fugitive emissions are direct negative contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and local air quality, and therefore linked to environmental and health and safety rules. The valve industry has standards in place to qualify valves for fugitive emissions performance. For instance, ISO 15848-1 (2015, “Industrial Valves – Measurement, Test and Qualification Procedures for Fugitive Emissions Part 1: Classification System and Qualification Procedures for Type Testing of Valves”) classifies valve designs based on emissions, temperature, endurance, and describe the methods for prototype testing. ISO 15848-2 (2015, “Industrial Valves – Measurement, Test and Qualification Procedures for Fugitive Emissions Part 2: Production Acceptance of Test Valves”) defines the criteria for production testing. Test methods in these standards are currently based on Helium gas or Methane gas as the test fluid. With the perspective that governments and the energy industry are setting distinct and increasingly challenging goals to reduce emissions and decarbonize, it is expected that the volume of tests performed will increase in the near future, which, based on a finite resource of helium, may not be sustainable in the future.