Maintenance

For these kind of safety devices, pv-valves and flame arrestors, it is clear that maintenance done, can not, in general be repair type or casualty maintenance, but should rather be scheduled and preventative. This is also outlined in the rules and regulations.  As a minimum they demand a 6 month maintenance schedule, however also here giving a general rule is difficult, as different cargoes demand different schedules. The operation and maintenance manual should be consulted with respect to this for all specific cases.

The valve has a single test lever, to test both the vacuum and pressure side of the valve. Before all loading and discharging operations, both the pressure side and the vacuum side of the valve should be tested for unobstructed operation.

The maintenance on our VQHV-ISO valve is one of these valves unique features, in that opening the valve body, one is allowed access to both the pressure side and the vacuum side of the valve. Hence the operation is not very labour intensive.

Maintenance for an VQHV-ISO is normally a cleaining operation. With only a few moving parts, wear and tear is normally not an issue. Depending upon the cargo being carried, it might be necessary to experiment with different cleaning agents, to clean the internal parts. All internal parts are in stainless steel 316 execution, hence tolerable to most cleaning solutions.

The sealing surfaces of the valve, is a metal to metal sealing, so one should be careful with using scratching abrasive powders or liquids, as tightness can be affected by the use of these cleaning agents.