Relief and Safety Valves Relief and safety valves prevent equipment damage by relieving accidental over-pressurization of fluid systems. The main difference between a relief valve and a safety valve is the extent of opening at the set point pressure. A relief valve gradually opens as the inlet pressure increases above the set point. A relief valve opens only as necessary to relieve the over-pressure condition. A safety valve, illustrated in Figure 29, rapidly pops fully open as soon as the pressure setting is reached. A safety valve will stay fully open until the pressure drops below a reset pressure. The reset pressure is lower than the actuating pressure set point. The difference between the actuating pressure set point and the pressure at which the safety valve resets is called blowdown .Blowdown is expressed as a percentage of the actuating pressure set point. Relief valves are typically used for incompressible fluids such as water or oil. Safety valves are typically used for ...