We have a 900mm pipeline with pressure at around 1400 kPa at the gate valve under flowing conditions with valve fully open.
If the valve starts to close and the pump is still operating, the pressure drop across the valve increases.
This differential pressure relates to a differential force and I assume the thrust blocks would have to take the load to prevent the high forces being transferred to the gate valve flanges.
Are there any fairly straight-forward calculations to determine the loads etc? Any other issues I need to consider?
The gate valves are slow closing of course. Some control philosophy will have to address pump shut down procedures etc.
Regards
John