RHPS Series of Swagelok Regulators - European Craftsmanship in Canada

RHPS Series debuted at Global Petroleum Show June, 2012

Over the years, Swagelok has expanded its line of products both through its own research and development and by acquiring other companies. The latter is how we are now able to offer the RHPS line of pressure regulators. Thousands of people got to see them in person in mid-June at Swagelok’s booth at the Global Petroleum Show in Calgary. If you didn’t get to attend the show, or if you’d like a second look, you can see at them in detail by downloading the RHPS Series catalogue.

Until now RHPS has not been a familiar name on this side of the Atlantic, but the Dutch company that developed them spent more than 20 years engineering them for applications in the chemical/petrochemical, oil and gas, power, biopharmaceutical, semiconductor, and alternative fuels industries. The series includes pressure-reducing regulators, back-pressure regulators and specialty regulators for applications such as tank blanketing.

Swagelok wanted to add high flow regulators to its line and the RHPS series comes in flange sizes up to 4 inches. The RHPS series also adds the option of using dome-loaded regulators rather than spring-loaded. Dome-loaded regulators use pressurized gas instead of a spring in the regulator’s dome chamber. Dome loading gives better performance when you need to maintain consistent downstream pressures at high flows. They are also less susceptible to droop, the point on the flow curve where pressure drops steeply.

High-quality materials

The RHPS series is made of 316L stainless steel, making them more structurally sound than the cast designs and carbon steel used by some competitors. Regulators are more complex than ordinary valves, and typically need a little more maintenance. The RHPS cartridge design allows you to change the seat -- a high-wear component -- without taking the whole regulator off the line.

Stainless steel is also much easier to maintain. (The RHPS line is almost always installed outside, so you want something that can stand up to snow, ice and other stresses of weather.)

While it’s impossible to get a perfectly flat flow curve over an infinite flow range, a good dome-loaded regulator used with other components such as an upstream pilot regulator and downstream pressure feedback systems can produce some great results.

If you’d like to learn more about the RHPS series, please get in touch so that we can help you find the components that are right for your application.