Effect of noise generated by pressure control valves in natural gas distribution networks

Piped natural gas is commonly distributed by regional gas distribution companies, which have pipelines that are responsible for distributing this fluid to final consumers. These meshes operate with maximum pressures in the order of 40 bar (4.0 MPa), however, there are other pressure levels involved, either for operational or safety reasons. The reduction of these working pressures is carried out in devices commonly called pressure reducing stations (EPRs), which have interconnected valves and accessories that enable the referred pressure reductions as necessary. These stations, therefore, include pressure control valves or simply pressure regulators, which produce aerodynamic noise when in operation due to their physical configuration, local flow conditions and their own functionality. This paper presents a proposal for the determination of aerodynamic noise present in pressure regulating valves of piped natural gas distribution networks, based on the resulting mathematical formulation, predicted and recommended in IEC 60534-8-4 “Prediction of noise generated by hydrodynamic flow” code. From these assumptions a computational code was developed in Matlab environment that allows the operations engineer to simulate and evaluate the noise level present in a certain operating condition, favoring his decision making.