Flowserve Corporation, a leading provider of flow control products and services for global infrastructure markets, announced it has shipped the first of several main steam isolation valves (MSIVs) to the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant, located in the Zhejiang Province of China. The MSIVs will be installed in Unit 1 of the plant, the first Westinghouse AP1000® nuclear power plant ever built. The shipment relates to several multi-million dollar valve orders for the China nuclear market that Flowserve has booked since early 2010.
The massive MSIV, the largest of its kind produced by Flowserve, utilizes a Flowserve Edward gas/hydraulic actuator. As part of the secondary system of the pressurized water reactor (PWR), the MSIV isolates the main steam line between the steam generator and the turbine. The total assembly of the valve and actuator together stands more than 6.1m tall and weighs more than 25,900kg. The MSIV is designed to close within 3 to 5 seconds, which can be critical in the event that plant operations need to be shut down quickly.
The AP1000, the Westinghouse advanced passive pressurized water reactor, incorporates a new and innovative design that requires 50% fewer safety-related valves, 80% less safety-related piping and 85% less control cable. This design also utilizes gravity in lieu of mechanical equipment to provide emergency cooling water flow.
