Failure analysis and numerical simulation of the regulating valve with particle erosion and cavitation erosion in the black-water treatment system

The black-water regulating valve is very easy to be damaged due to the erosion of the key components, such as valve spool and valve seat. This work presents the failure analysis of the spool and seat of regulating valve in the black-water treatment system. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometer were used to detect the morphology and chemical compositions of failure valve samples. The computational fluid dynamics method was also adopted to simulate the medium flow characteristics in black-water regulating valve. The results show that most erosion areas of the valve occur at the spool-seat throttle zone. The erosion profile is mainly manifested in plastic deformation pits, cutting abrasions, furrows, pinhole pits and impact pits. The particles and cavitation bubbles move toward the throttle zone driven by black-water medium, causing particles impact and bubbles collapse. The particle flow velocity in the throttle zone of the valve is between 50 and 175 m/s, while the maximum velocity can reach 175 m/s. The valve suffered severe particle erosion and cavitation erosion under the particle impact and bubble collapse, finally resulting in its failure.