What are ARV or ARC valves? When to use Automatic Recirculation Valve?

ARV valve stands for Automatic Recirculation Valve.

An automatic recirculation valve is a multifunctional valve whose primary purpose is to ensure that a
pre-determined minimum flow is assured through a centrifugal pump at all times. This is important as
centrifugal pumps suffer from overheating and cavitation and can be permanently damaged if they run
dry.

How the Automatic Recirculation Valve Operates

The heart of the automatic recirculation valve is a check valve disk that is used to sense the fluid’s flow
rate. The valve disk is not pressure sensitive but rather flow sensitive. It controls the flow to ensure that
a specified volume of the fluid passes through. The controlling characteristics result in a stable and
consistent flow over a wide range of pressure.

When the valve disk is at full capacity, the bypass closes. When the flow decreases, the action is
reversed and there is an increase in the flow rate. The fluid then gets into the bypass system which is
controlled by the orifices and is found at the bottom of the disk.

The fluid then flows through an annulus which directs it to an outlet.

The increase in the flow of the fluid causes the disk to lift; as a result, the element of the bypass which is
important for the functioning of the bypass closes to limit the recirculation. This ensures that
the recirculation flow remains higher than the lowest volume of the fluid flowing through the pump.

Automatic Recirculation Valve Applications

A common application is to protect pumps which handle hot water for boiler feeding or cooling water
plants, where partial evaporation of the water content might otherwise cause the pump to run dry. Even
when the flow rate through the main valve to the boiler is completely shut off, a minimum flow is
maintained.

Another application is to protect high performance pumps during a start up phase. In this scenario,
several pumps are used in parallel with one in stand-by. The pump recirculation valve enables the
swap to occur without damage to the pumps. SchuF's unique design is widely used in the Power, Paper
and Pulp, Maritime, Refining and Chemical industries.

When the disk closes, the bypass opens fully and there is no fluid flow. This helps to protect the pump
from damage that would result if the pump continued to operate and there was no fluid.

Advantages of the Automatic Recirculation Valve

• Unique design
• Combines both check and bypass features
• Proprietary Cv calculation system
• Minimum flow protection
• No external actuation required
• 3 Phase Slurry and High pressure variants available
Centrifugal Pump Protection Scenarios

Centrifugal pumps transform mechanical energy into pressure energy by means of centrifugal force
resulting from impeller rotation acting on the fl uid within the pump. The pump requires a minimum
liquid fl ow in order to avoid overheating. If a predefi ned minimum fl ow is not maintained, the pump
can be permanently damaged. A number of different pump protection scenarios are reviewed below.

1) Non return scenario

The pump has no back-flow prevention and therefore product will flow back through it once it has
stopped. A non return valve (NRV) is therefore usually placed after the outlet of the pump. A reservoir is
used to take the pumps output when there is no process demand.

2) Continuous fl ow scenario

A manual bypass or leakage path can be added to allow the required minimum flow back to the pump
inlet. This system is simple and effective, but is in constant operation and therefore is inefficient and
costly (energy costs).
3) Control valve scenario

This comprehensive control valve solution is highly effective. In this scenario, a flow control valve is
connected to a flow meter and allows the main line flow to be metered. As main line flow decreases the
control valve opens to allow the correct minimum flow required. However, it is a highly capital intensive
solution that requires flow metering equipment, control and non return valves. No reservoir is required.

4) ARV solution
The previous approach stands and falls with the integrity of the control system and its associated cost. A
safer system is to combine the non return valve, the bypass valve and the control valve into an
interconnected unit, the so called “automatic recirculation valve”. This valve closes when there is no fl
ow, automatically opening the bypass line, which is sized for minimum flow. When the main line takes fl
ow but less than minimum, the bypass line and the main line are both partially open.