Early Selection of Check Valve Type Considering the "Slam" Phenomenon

Pipeline systems with two or more centrifugal pumps running in parallel with check valves at their discharges are exposed to the occurrence of check valve "slam" and its undesired consequences. At early phases of engineering, detailed information about the system is typically unavailable and there are also limited resources (job hours and short schedule) to carry out an adequate assessment of the "slam" phenomenon. A good understanding of this problem requires running a number of advanced hydraulic transient simulations, which is a time-consuming activity. Therefore, it happens that the problem is simply disregarded or, in the best case, a conservative selection of check valve type is made. The result is that eventually the choice could be underestimating or overestimating the real needs of the system, with the corresponding impact in costs. Besides, it could happen that in further engineering phases the choice made before could be considered definitive and no additional analyses are carried out, leading to real problems later during operations. This work offers a simplified and practical criterion to help engineers in selecting adequate types of check valves during early phases of engineering, so they can indirectly address the check valve slam phenomenon and simultaneously be able to present a more realistic cost estimation of these items.