VORTEX PILOT GAS HEATER (VPGH)
The Vortex Pilot Gas Heater (VPGH) prevents pilot gas freezing at natural gas transmission and distribution pressure regulation stations.
The core of the VPGH is a Vortex Heater, which operates under the station's available gas pressure differential and converts internal energy of the decompressing gas flow into highly intensive heat flux. The released thermal energy is then applied to the pilot gas as it travels through a heat exchanger set up on the Vortex Heater's walls.
A portion of the generated heat flux is also applied to warm up the VT's pressure reducing inlet nozzles (Non Freeze provision).
The main features of the VPGH are:
- Adds up to 90°F to the pilot supply gas
- Heats pilot gas as an outcome of routine gas pressure reduction in the VT
- Not sensitive to wet gas.
- No lost gas.
- No moving parts.
- No chance of overheating.
- No maintenance, EVER.
- Easy to install or retrofit in new or existing facilities.
The VPGH has proven to perform efficiently over a broad range of operational parameters, even handling a single pressure cut of over 1,000 psi pressre differential and operating outdoors under ambient temperatures as low as minus 44F. It is not sensitive to wet gas and can operate submerged into water (pit installations). While working with sulfur-containing flow the VPGH maintains sulfur in the vapor phase thus preventing sulfur deposition in the pilot orifice.
The VPGH was awarded the First Prize At the EXPOGAZ 2001 (Paris, France) for the best innovation among presented gas transmission/gas distribution newly developed products. 
UVI's Technical Director, Dr.Lev Tunkel (at right).
The Vortex Pilot Gas Heater is available in two designs: Single Path(VPGH-SP) to serve one pilot at a time, and the Dual Path (VPGH-DP) to simultaneously serve two pilots. Both VPGH-SP and VPGH-DP can work with any currently available pilot gas pressure regulators (PR) and in fact are complimentary products to those regulators, since the VPGH reduces the PR's maintenance at the low flow conditions.
See Pictures of the VPGH-SP Field Installations .
See Pictures of the VPGH-DP Field Installations.
The VPGH Brochure (both SP and DP) (3.2MB)
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Universal Vortex has manufactured the VPGH since 1999 and the VPGH-DP since 2002. As of June 2008 there are more than 950 units installed in the USA, Canada, China, France, Spain, Argentina and Australia. No VPGH performance failure has ever been reported.