MOTOR-OPERATED VALVE ANALYSIS PROGRAM

TO ADDRESS
THE DESIGN BASIS REVIEW REQUIREMENTS
OF
THE US NRC's GENERIC LETTER 89-10
M. Recinella and F. Isaac
(Westinghouse Energy Systems International, Brusssels)
T. Matty
(Westinghouse Nuclear and Advanced Technology Division, Pittsburgh)
1.0

INTRODUCTION
The EPRI sponsored PORV block valve testing conducted at the Marshall Steam
Station in 1980 following the Three Mile Island accident provided the first
indications of a potential motor-operated valve (MOV) problem in the nuclear
industry. A three inch 1500 class Westinghouse Electromechanical Division (EMD)
MOV failed to fully close against high pressure and high temperature steam flow.
Shortly thereafter, valves of the same size were tested against high pressure, low
temperature water flow in the safety injection system of a european nuclear power
plant and some of these valves also failed to close completely.
In November 1980 Westinhgouse initiated a MOV flow testing program to investigate
the required operating loads and the critical parameters! 1).
On June 9,1985, a loss-of-feedwater event occured at the Davis-Besse nuclear
power plant. The MOVs in the Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW) system could not be
reopened electrically from the control room after having them inadvertently
closed. It was later found that the MOVs failed to open because of inadequate
torque switch bypass.
As a consequence of these and other related events the NRC staff issued in
November 1985 Bulletin 85-03 (2) and in April 1988 a Supplement 1 to Bulletin
85-03 to ensure that switch settings on all safety-related MOVs and on the MOVs
that could be inadvertently mispositioned in the High-Pressure Coolant Injection
(HPCI) and Emergency Feedwater Systems (EFS) were selected, set, and maintained
properly.
Tests performed as part of the RES (NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research)
effort to resolve Generic Issue 87 (3) have reinforced concerns for the
operability of MOVs under design-basis conditions.
Generic Issue 87 (GI-87) issued in December 1985 covers three Boiling Water
Reactor (BWR) process lines: the HPCI turbine steam supply line, the reactor core
isolation cooling (RCIC) turbine steam supply line, and the reactor Water Cleanup
(RWCU) process line. All three of the BWR process lines communicate with the
primary system, pass through containment, and normally have open isolation valves.
The concern with the isolation valves is whether they will close in the event of a
pipe break outside of the containment.

Motor-Operated Valve Analysis Program to address the Design Basis Review

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The NRC-sponsored testing of MOVs has been conducted in two phases by the Idaho
National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). Phase I was performed in 1988 at the Wyle
Laboratory fatifty. Hot water bbwdown tests were performed on two flexible wedge
gate valves typical of those used for containment isolation in the supply line to
the RWCU. The results are documented in NUREG/CR-54O6 (4). The phase II was
performed in 1989 at the Kraftwerk Union facility, iix valves, were tested typical
of those used in RWCU and HPCI applications. One of the valves was also tested at
RCIC test conditions. The test results are documented in NUREG/CR-5558 (5).
The tests revealed that more thrust was required to operate the valves under
design-basis conditions than would have been predicted from standard industry
calculations and typical friction factors.
In June 1989 the NRC issued Generic Letter 89-10 (6). By this letter the NRC
extends the scope of the program outlined in Bulletin 85-03 and Supplement 1 of
Bulletin 8 5 - 0 3 to include all safety-related MOVs as well as all
position-changeable MOVs. Later supplements to Generic Letter 89-10 changed the
position-changeable MOVs to only those valves that can be controlled from the
control room; and fbrBWRs the mispositioning of MOVs don't need to be considered.
Generic Letter 89-10 requires mainly that each licensee develop a program that
provide a review of the MOV design basis, methods for correct switch settings,
field testing at design-basis conditions, procedures to ensure switch setting is
maintained, ...
The present paper describes the elements and the methodologies used by
Westinghouse to address the MOV Design Basis Review requirements of the NRC
Generic Letter 8 9 - 1 0 .

2.0

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

2.1

Data collection
Gathering data is time consuming and the related effort is often underestimated.
However this is the first and probably the most important step in the MOV design
basis review program and therefore major attention should be given to this task.
The information which is needed in a first place are the pressure and temperature
conditions which the valve must stroke against for all modes of operation. This
data is the result of a fluid system evaluation.
Since the amount of MOV's in a Nuclear Power Plant is considerable it is wise to
review the valve inventory and to group MOVs in order to reduce duplication of
analysis.
Further in order to bs able to perform thrust and torque calculations and valve
weak link analysis, drawings of the valve internals and valve design reports are
necessary. However in most cases this information, except a MOV general assembly
drawing, is not in the possession of the utilities and will have to be requested

from the valve manufacturer.

Motor-Operated Valve Analysis Program to address the Design Basis Review

Requirements of the US NRC's Generic Letter 89-10

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especially for older plants, the general assembly drawing may be the only piece of
existing information. In such cases an approach of measuring on available valve
spare parts or a disassembly of the valve itself may be required.
To assess the operator capabilities a series of operator characteristics are
needed. These are listed in paragraph 2.4 of this paper.
2.2

Thrust and torque calculation

The second element in the analysis involves the calculation of the required thrust
and/or torque to open and close the valve at the defined pressure conditions.
In the thrust and torque calculation equations there are, where applicable
depending on the type of valve and operator, three variables which are of
importance because they are difficult to define and which can only be determined
by testing.
The first is the Valve Factor defined by the seat friction coefficient. The second
is the Stem Factor which contains the stem/stem nut friction coefficient as a
variable; and the last one is the Packing Load.
Westinghouse has performed extensive flow testing (1) to determine the critical
parameters that effect the required operating toads for the Westinghouse gate
valves. The results of the testing performed in the early 1980's recognized that
the calculations could be under predictive of the actual required thrusts because
the valve factors may be greater than the standard valve factors. In addition the
test program included, amoung others, investigation of the stem/stem nut friction
coefficient and packing drag loads.

2.3

Valve Weak Link Analysis

This analysis consists in determining the valve weakest part or parts which are
subjected to the operating thrust and/or torque.
In general the valve pans, where applicable depending on the type of valve, which
are affected by the thrust and/or torque are :

valve stem
stem nut
valve disc
stem/disc link
valve main seat
back seat
valve yoke
yoke to bonnet bolts
yoke to actuator bolts
valve bonnet
valve body
bonnet/body bolts

Motor-Operated Valve Analysis Program to address the Design Basis Review

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In order to perform the analysis of the above pars some detailed dimensional
information is required as we* as the parts material specification. As mentioned
in the valve data collection task, this information is not always available and
cannot be readily obtained.
However to reduce the impacts of the limited information and so to limit the
amount of calculations, the above valve part list can be reduced based on valve
engineering experience.
The valve weak ink evaluation consists in calculating backwards in the components
stress formulas whereby the material allowables are considered as applied stress.
In this way for each valve part under analysis a maximum allowable thrust and/or
torque is calculated. The lesser of these maximum values w i determine the valve
weakest part (Valve Weak Link Analysis) and so determine the valve capability to
suit for the specified pressure conditions.

2.4

Motor Operator Evaluation

The objective of this evaluation is to summarize relevant operator characteristics
in order to determine operator capabilities to suit for the specified pressure
conditions.
For this evaluation important operator parameters are :
-

Motor size, speed, performance curve, operator unit gear ratio and operator
efficiency in order to estimate the operator torque output capabilities and
to estimate stroke times and to compare to requirements.

Operator rated torque and thrust for a specified number of cycles.

It has been experienced that the output thrust of some operators has
exceeded the operators' nominal thrust ratings because they were set too
high or additional thrust is required to operate the valves. Due to the
overthrust operating conditions, a qualification test program was developed
and rnptememed by Westinghouse in order to increase the present nominal
ttvuftratingsof iheSMBOOO, SMBOO, SMBO, SMB-1, SMB-2, SBOOand SBO
Limitorque operators.

Operator stall torque considering voltage variations. The stall torque is

whether obtained by calculation or from manufacturer shop testing, or from
in situ bench test.

The operator torque switch setting range and torque switch repeatability.

Motor-Operated Valve Analysis Program to address the Design Basis Review

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Inertia of the operator and the increase in thrust due to torque switch
delay times are important parameters because they can be excessive large.
This information can be easily obtained during in situ testing of the MOVs
by measuring thrust, motor current and torque switch close coil current.
"Rate of Loading".
One of the conclusions of the NRC sponsored testing (4) (5) was that stem
factor changes with loading or loading rate resulting in less thrust being
delivered at higher differential pressures (slower load rate) for the same
torque switch setpoint.
While the changes observed were aH attributed to stem factor changes, it
was recognized that some of the changes may be caused by differences in
torque output for a given spring pack displacement. The term "Rate of
Loading" has been used to categorize this variation in output thrust. "Rate
of Loading" effects of about 2 0 % were measured.
The Westinghouse company m-MOVATS has performed testing to study this
pnenomenum (7) and is currently performing further investigation on this
field.
2.5

MOV recommended torque switch setting

Whether the MOV will succesfully operate under the specified pressure and
temperature conditions depends on the relative importance of the required
operating thrust/torque, valve maximum allowable thrust/torque and the operator
thrust/torque capabilities.
It is the purpose of this task to point out the upper and the lower bound of the
thrust and torque setting, to identify the margins to consider; and so to
determine the available thrust and torque setting range. A setting range which
will assure proper and safe functioning of the MOV.
It is evident that the lower bound is determined by the maximum required thrust
and torque under the specified pressure conditions. The upper bound is the lesser
of the maximum allowable valve thrust and torque, the operator rated thrust and
torque; and operator stall torque at reduced voltage conditions.
The margins to consider on the upper and lower bound values are torque switch
repeatability, torque and thrust measurements errors, operator inertia, torque
switch delay times and "Rate of Loading" phenomena.

f,

Motor-Operated Valve Analysis Program to address the Oesign Basis Review

Requirements of the US NRC's Generic Letter 89-10

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3.0

REFERENCES
(1)

Westinghouse BvD report EM 5672 Rev. 1 : Motor Operated Gate Valveaosure

Problem Flow Testing Program, September 2 3 , 1 9 8 2 .

(2)

NRC Buletin85<X3:Mo<a<3peratBdVate common n r ^

transients due to improper switch settings.

(3)

NRC Generic Issue 87 : Failure of HPCI Steam Line Without Isolation.

(4)

NUREG/CR-5406: BWR Reactor WaterCleanup System Flexible Wedge Gate

Isolation Valve Qualification and High Energy Flow Interruption Test,
October 1 9 8 9 .

(5)

NUREG/CR-5558: Generic Issue 87 Flexible Wedge Gate Valve Test Program,

January 1 9 9 1 .

(6)

NRC Generic Letter 89-10: Safety-Related Motor-Operated Valve Testing and

Surveillance.

(7)

mMOVATSEnoneeririg Report B ^ 5 . 0 F ^ 3 : m MOVATS Equipment Accuracy

Summary, October 1 9 9 1 .

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Requirements of the US NRC's Generic Letter 89-10
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