The primary purpose of a safety valve is the protection of life, property and environment. A safety valve is designed to open and relieve excess pressure from vessels or equipment and to reclose and prevent the further release of fluid after normal conditions have been restored. 

A safety valve is a safety device and in many cases the last line of defence. It is important to ensure that the safety valve is capable to operate at all times and under all circumstances. A safety valve is not a process valve or pressure regulator and should not be misused as such. It should have to operate for one purpose only: overpressure protection.

Reasons for excess pressure in a vessel
There is a number of reasons why the pressure in a vessel or system can exceed a predetermined limit. API Standard 521/ISO 23251 Sect. 4 provides a detailed guideline about causes of overpressure. The most common are:

• Blocked discharge
• Exposure to external fire, often referred to as “Fire Case”
• Thermal expansion
• Chemical reaction
• Heat exchanger tube rupture
• Cooling system failure

Each of the above listed events may occur individually and separately from the other. They may also take place simultaneously. Each cause of overpressure also will create a different mass or volume flow to be discharged, e.g. small mass flow for thermal expansion and large mass flow in case of a chemical reaction. It is the user’s responsibility to determine a worst case scenario for the sizing and selection of a suitable pressure relief device.

Main types of safety valves and their function

There are two main types of safety valves. Spring loaded safety valves and pilot operated safety valves.