Author(s)

Jiehong Peng^1*, Chongho Youn¹, Tomoaki Takeuchi², Toshiharu Kagawa¹

¹Department of Mechano-Micro Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
²Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.

In a gas governor unit, gas pressure vibration often occurs in the tube that connects the diaphragm chamber of the pilot valve to the downstream pipeline. Generally, placing a restriction such as an orifice in the tube can curb the vibration. However, because of the nonlinear flow rate characteristics of an orifice, the gain of the pressure response changes with changing amplitude of the pressure vibration. This paper proposes a method that employs porous materials for improving the characteristics of the gas pressure control system on account of their linear flow rate characteristics. A static flow rate characteristics experiment was performed and the linear flow rate characteristics of the porous materials were confirmed. Then, a series of dynamic pressure response experiments, in which an isothermal chamber replaced the diaphragm chamber, were performed to examine the dynamic characteristics of the porous materials and an orifice. The experimental results revealed that the gain of the pressure response in the isothermal chamber with the porous materials remained unchanged irrespective of changes in the pressure vibration amplitude, and they were in close agreement with the simulation results. They also indicated that the pressure gain of porous materials is smaller than that of an orifice when the amplitude of pressure vibration is small. These results demonstrate that porous materials can be employed instead of an orifice in the gas governor unit in order to improve the unit’s stability.

Porous Materials, Pilot Valve, Linear, P-Q Characteristics, Dynamic Response

Peng, J. , Youn, C. , Takeuchi, T. and Kagawa, T. (2015) Improvement of Characteristics of Gas Pressure Control System Using Porous Materials. Journal of Flow Control, Measurement & Visualization, 3, 161-171. doi: 10.4236/jfcmv.2015.34016.