Patent ID: 7806235

Claim:
A natural gas compressor lubrication system, comprising: a positive displacement lubricant pump; a pressure relief valve assembly having an inlet exposed to the lubricant under pressure from the pump and, including: a housing having an opening to the fluid distribution system and having a relief passage; a conduit connected from the relief passage to a fluid reservoir; a pressure relief valve having an open position in which fluid from the fluid distribution system can enter the relief passage and a closed position in which fluid from the fluid distribution system is prevented from entering the relief passage; a biasing element for maintaining a biasing force on the pressure relief valve, the pressure relief valve being maintained in the closed position when the biasing force exceeds the fluid force on the pressure relief valve, and the pressure relief valve moving into the open position when the fluid force on the pressure relief valve exceeds the biasing force on the pressure relief valve; a catch including a ball that is trapped in a first position under system pressure insufficient to open the valve and that is displaced to a second position by a system pressure sufficient to open the valve, the sufficient system pressure forcing the ball into the second position and the ball remaining in the second position until a force other than the biasing force is applied to return the ball to the first position; and a visible indicator to indicate when the pressure relief valve is in the open position; and a divider block for distributing the lubricant from the pump to multiple lubrication points associated with one or more compressors.