June 2017, Vol. 244, No. 6

Features

Measuring Through Valve Gas Losses Using Acoustic Emission

The detection of leaks by acoustic methods was used well before the technology of acoustic emission (AE) was applied elsewhere. However, the equipment available was susceptible to noise from sources other than leaks, such as that from normal plant operation and the surrounding environment. As the AE industry grew in other areas, technology became available that largely overcame the problems of environmental noise. Soon, a trials program carried out by BP from 1982-84 deemed the AE method the most promising way to quantify leakage through valves. The field development program lasted six years and involved removing over 800 leaking valves from service and retesting them in the laboratory in