What Are Internal Valve Leaks?

Valves used in factories and plants have broadly two types of leaks. One is external leakage, where fluid escapes through the valve's packing or seal areas. This can be easily found through visual inspection or touch, enabling relatively early response.

The other is internal leakage. This refers to fluid passing through gaps between the valve disc and seat even when the valve is closed. Since no signs of leakage are visible from outside, detection is extremely difficult. Steam, gas, and other fluids continue to pass through valves that should be closed, wasting energy — yet many facilities continue operating without even being aware of the problem.

Internal valve leaks occur from various causes including disc wear, corrosion, foreign object entrapment, and thermal deformation. The risk increases with valve age, but even new valves can develop leaks due to minor manufacturing defects or mismatched operating conditions.

Impact of Internal Leaks — The Scale of Invisible Losses

The losses caused by internal valve leaks often exceed expectations. For example, in a steam piping system, even a gap of just approximately 2 mm at the valve seat can result in annual steam losses potentially reaching approximately 476,616 yen.

While such amounts may be overlooked for a single valve, considering that dozens to hundreds of valves operate throughout an entire plant, the losses can be enormous when internal leaks occur at multiple locations. With various fluids including steam, compressed air, nitrogen, and water involved, this becomes a serious issue directly affecting the entire factory's utility costs.

Furthermore, internal leaks cause not just energy losses but also quality risks such as unintended fluid contamination of downstream processes and temperature management anomalies. From a safety perspective, leakage of flammable gases or toxic fluids can lead to serious accidents, making early detection extremely important.

What Is VALVE SENSE? — Visualizing Internal Leaks with Acoustic Technology

"VALVE SENSE" is a groundbreaking portable measurement device developed by an Austrian startup that can diagnose internal valve leaks non-destructively. It employs a measurement method centered on Acoustic Emission (AE) technology, using high-sensitivity sensors to detect the minute ultrasonic signals generated when fluid leaks through the valve interior.

Usage is very simple. Just place the sensor against the valve's outer surface, and within seconds to tens of seconds, the presence and degree of internal leakage is displayed numerically. No piping disassembly or line shutdown is required, enabling diagnosis on operating plants as-is.

Measurement data can be digitally recorded and stored, enabling tracking of changes over time through regular diagnostics. This allows advance understanding of valve degradation trends and planning of maintenance at optimal timing.

Benefits — Achieving Data-Driven Preventive Maintenance

The greatest advantage of VALVE SENSE is the ability to quantitatively assess invisible internal leaks. Where previously only experience-based judgments of "it's probably leaking" were possible, VALVE SENSE enables objective priority ranking based on numerical data.

Early leak detection prevents loss escalation. Addressing small leaks early keeps repair costs minimal and avoids escalation into major equipment failures. Planned repairs also prevent production losses from unexpected line shutdowns.

  • Diagnose valve health without stopping production lines
  • Quantify internal leak severity for objective repair prioritization
  • Optimize preventive maintenance plans through accumulated periodic measurement data
  • Cost reduction and CO2 emission reduction through energy loss elimination
  • Early detection of safety risks for accident prevention

VALVE SENSE is a tool that enables the shift from traditional "fix it when it breaks" reactive maintenance to preventive maintenance based on data-driven optimal timing. It is a product that fundamentally changes the approach to valve diagnostics, simultaneously improving factory energy efficiency and safety.