Spanish manufacturer FHT Valves have supplied Emergency Shut-Down valves (ESDV) for a major nuclear thermal plant in Europe in order to generate electricity from thermal energy produced by fission reactions.
The main component of a Power Plant is the reactor, which is the facility where the nuclear fuel is housed, and which has systems that enable nuclear fission reactions to be initiated, maintained and stopped in a controlled manner, which release enormous amounts of thermal energy.
The thermal energy released is used to heat water into steam at high pressure and temperature. This steam rotates a turbine that is connected to a generator that transforms the mechanical energy of the turbine turn into electrical energy, ready for industrial use.
FHT emergency shut-down ball valves are manufactured according to European Standard EN-161, which specifies the safety, construction and operation requirements of automatic shut-down valves for gas burners, gas appliances and the like.
Applies to valves with a declared maximum operating pressure not exceeding 500 kPa (5 bar) of a nominal connection diameter not exceeding DN 250 for use with one or more gaseous fuels in accordance with Standard EN 437.
This standard is used for electrically actuated valves and fluid-actuated valves if the control valves for these fluids are electrically actuated, but does not apply to external electrical devices intended to activate the control signal or control motive energy.