A valve room is a separate facility that houses valves connected to inverters in a plant. It maintains ideal temperature and humidity for efficient valve use and is built to withstand severe weather conditions. It includes electrical systems and may have heating and cooling equipment in an adjacent facility.
Valve room is a term used to describe the plant portion of the plant that is used to house the valves connected to the inverters involved in the operation of the plant itself. Typically, these valves are located in a valve box that is in close proximity to the main plant, but it is a separate facility. The nature of the valves housed in the system will vary based on the operating age of the system.
The function of the valve room is to provide a location for the valves which can be closely monitored and controlled in terms of maintaining the ideal temperature and humidity. This is often necessary due to the configuration of the valves themselves. Since some types of valves will use mercury in the design, climate control is essential to efficient use of the valves. Attempting to locate valves in anything other than an environmentally controlled valve room could seriously affect the ability of the plant to function properly.
Typically, a valve house is built to be able to withstand a wide range of severe weather conditions. The narrow structure of the room allows for the best possible control of system heating and cooling to maintain the ideal internal temperature for the valves, while also preventing anything happening outside from adversely affecting temperature and humidity control. At the same time, a valve house is often designed to withstand severe weather conditions, including tornadoes, hurricanes, and even events such as mudslides. While not indestructible, a valve box is built to protect the valves housed in the structure in all but the most extreme situations.
Another aspect of the valve room design is the inclusion of comprehensive electrical systems that provide a secure connection between the interior of the room and the forecourt that connects the room to the main plant structure. Typically, this system will include bushings capable of handling high voltage levels which in turn work with transformers to allow easy movement of current between the plant and other buildings that are part of the plant site. The heating and cooling equipment for the valve room is sometimes located in one chamber of the valve room, but may also be located in an adjacent facility, depending on the overall operating layout of the plant. Factors such as the amount of square footage for the plant site itself, the nature of the operation, and the number of valves that need to be housed in the room will also impact the exact layout of the building.
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