Flow characteristics of pressure reducing valve with radial slit structure for low noise

Pressure reducing valves are widely used to maintain the pressure of gas reservoirs to specific values. In a normal valve, supply pressure is decompressed with an orifice structure. When compressed air passes through the orifice structure, considerable noise occurs at the downstream side. In this paper, we have developed a radial slit structure that can reduce pressure without noise. The noise is reduced by changing the orifice structure into the radial slit structure. The radial slit structure valve reduces pressure without noise by suppressing the generation of turbulence and shock wave at the downstream. The analysis of the flow in radial slit structure was achieved by CFD2000 software. The flow rate and pressure distribution were simulated and compared with the experimental result. To confirm the generation of shock wave, the flow of orifice and radial slit structure at the downstream was visualized by Schlieren photography method. A shock wave was generated in the orifice structure, but no shock wave was generated in the radial slit structure. Noise reduction efficiency was investigated by the experiment. The experiment apparatus was set up to JIS standards. The experimental results indicated that the noise level decreased by approximately 40 dB in the slit structure. It is confirmed that the radial slit structure has effectiveness for low noise in the pressure reducing flow. And, it is expected that it can be applied to various kinds of industrial fields.