Year: 2021

Six years ago Oliver Valvetek changed its method of cleanliness inspection of hydraulic actuators and has not looked back.

Flush cleaning of actuators involves passing clean hydraulic fluid through an actuator at a sufficient flow rate to ensure turbulent flow is achieved.  Turbulent flow is when the Reynolds number exceeds 4000, the Reynolds number is calculated using the flow and the physical properties of the hydraulic fluid.

Originally during flushing of gate valve actuators with hydraulic fluid, in-line particle analysers were used to monitor the number and size of particles against a the NAS 1638 standard.  However, the analysers were poor at differentiating air bubbles and could give no indication as to the type of particles.

The NAS standard was superseded by ISO 4406 and SAE AS 4059F all of which clearly list the maximum contamination limits for cumulative particle counts.

For comparison and understanding of particle sizes, the analysis process and acceptable limits of SAE AS 4059F look at particulates in the process which are approximately 1/10^th of the thickness of a human hair or 6um and bigger !!

In 2015, Oliver changed from in-line analysers to the far more sensitive optical analyser method.  The Pamas Fast Patch 2 Go system was chosen and provides the level of detail needed to ensure the cleanliness levels called for by our customers is met.  Since its installation over 6000 patches have been analysed.

The Customer was using a combination of several valves and fittings to achieve the hook-up as per below picture on a Christmas tree. Oliver’s Middle East Sales Team worked hard with the End User, Christmas Tree Manufacturer, Integrator and in house Engineering to provide a value engineered product over a period of several months. Design reviews included Orientation of Valve Handles, ports, Pressure gauges and Clash Analysis of valves, handles and Pressure Gauges in a very confined space and of course weight reductions needed by the client.

This finally ended up in a Bespoke designed Double Block and Bleed with extra Test Port to give a much smaller, safer installation, avoiding extra leak paths, significant reduction in Weight (over 50%) thus reducing cost and eliminating vibrations and frequent replacements.

The complete supply is in 6Mo material, 10,000 psi rated with Handle Locking, Anti tamper vent facility, maintaining the minimum bore of 5mm. Supplied with fully traceable 3.1B materials for all wetted components.

So far we have supplied over 300 of these valves and this will now become the standard Hook Up for the future.

Traditionally the actuation of subsea valves is through the use of either manual operation, i.e. divers and remote operating vehicles (ROV) or hydraulic actuators.  Hydraulic actuators, as the name suggests, utilises pressurised hydraulic fluid acting on pistons to force the valve to either open or close.  Frequently using a spring to reverse the operation.  The supply of the pressurised hydraulic fluid can involve lengthy and costly umbilicals.  One alternative approach which is gaining more and more acceptance is for the use of subsea electrical actuators.

Over the past 3 years, Oliver Valvetek has supplied a number of 1” subsea multi-turn gate valves for operation by a particular client’s subsea electric actuators.  In a recent discussion between our client and their end user, a question was raised concerning increasing the rotational speed of the actuator to 40RPM and its effects on the Oliver gate valve.

To address this, our client performed a series of endurance tests on one of the production Oliver 1” gate valves.  The test program included a series of opening cycles with the valve under differential pressure, followed by 200 opening and closing cycles and finally a repeat of the opening cycles with the valve under differential pressure.  The objective being to review the torque to operate the valve through all the cycles noting any changes in torque profiles.

The 200 opening and closing cycles would be performed with no pressure in the valve in order to minimise resistance to the momentum of the rotational movement.

Overall the valve passed the test with consistent torques throughout all the cycles all being well within the design limits of the product.

The discovery that existing Oliver Valves technology had been successfully deployed by key customers into the Hydrogen and Carbon Capture markets sparked the interest of Chairman Michael Oliver. Seeking to develop this potentially lucrative market further, Oliver Hydcovalves Ltd was incorporated as the vehicle for this exciting diversification.

The UK is setting the pace as a world leader in developing a zero-carbon economy. In order to achieve this ambitious objective, many of our traditional hydrocarbon reliant industries will need to transition to green energy sources such as Hydrogen or clean up their CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through the use of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies.

The rest of the world is following closely, driven by the 2015 Paris Agreement, which set a limit on global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the mid-century.

Oliver Hydcovalves, a ‘‘green’ company has been set-up to pursue our interests in supplying valves into the hydrogen and carbon capture markets.

Nick Howard, Tony Goodwin and  Rob Porter are taking the responsibility to move this new Company forward with new product designs to meet the requirements for hydrogen and carbon capture applications. This is part of worldwide efforts on climate change and, most significantly, achieve zero emissions by 2050.

Continual improvement through the Oliver Research & Development team will ensure our valves continue to meet or exceed the technical challenges presented by these emerging applications; for example, new materials which prevent the action of Hydrogen Embrittlement.

The recently qualified Oliver Valves ½” Bore Topside Manual Gate Valve has provided our client and end-user with a solution for use in an industry-first high-pressure development in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Challenge:

The project required 20ksi DBB Isolation for vents, drains and chemical injection points around the TUTA (Topside Umbilical Termination Assembly), Boarding Valves and Production Manifold.  Process operating pressures were expected to be around 16,500psi.  A fully rated API 20k valve as required by the customer’s specifications. Small-bore instrumentation needle or ball valves were available to the customer at working pressures of 20,000psi but a full through bore gate valve, such as the one above, was a new market requirement:

• Fully rated PR2 Tested API 20,000psi
• Fire Safe & NACE Compliant
• Process Connection – Compact Flanged
• Instrument Connection – Cone & Thread
• High Alloy Construction
• ½” Bore
• Gate Isolation with Needle Vent because ball deflection had been noted as an issue by the customer with high-pressure ball valves.

Our Challenge:

As the supplier of choice, Oliver’s were required to design and build a valve very quickly to meet the strict application and the project timeline. All of the considerations below had to be met:

• Conceptual Design and Engineering Calculations
• Arrangement Drawings
• Size & Weight Considerations
• Detailed Bill of Materials
• FEA Analysis
• PR2 Testing
• Fire Testing
• 3^rd Party Witness testing
• Customer approval of all test documentation, procedures and FEA
• Prototype; Procurement of materials, Machining, Assembly, Development
• Only a complete, fully tested, and the qualified valve would allow production to begin.  Any miscalculation could delay the delivery of the valves and causes serious project impacts.  This was roughly 12-months from start to finish.
• Design that would meet BSEE requirements
• Customer confidence

Solution:

Oliver Valves and their master distributor, AWC Inc, have been a long-time trusted supplier to this customer.  They have demonstrated experience in project execution, quality, and specifically the desired technology to meet the requirements of this project. The Oliver Valves team were able to meet and exceed all of the customers’ requirements.  Collaboration with the customer from an early stage in the project resulted in a mutually beneficial solution.

The Result:

Oliver Valves will be supplying multiple ½” Manual Gate Valve DBB’s to a Gulf of Mexico Project. In this project application, the ½” Gate Valve DBB will be used to drain the 20,000psi rated pipework surrounding the large boarding valves on a semi-submersible floating production unit. First oil is anticipated 2024. The high-pressure rating of this design allows our clients and end-users alike to access other high-pressure resource opportunities across the industry.

• Working Pressure:20,000psi (1379 bar)
• API 6A 21^st Edition Appendix F PR2 Compliant.
• Independently Witnessed and Approved Qualification.
• Qualified Temperature Range -29^oC to 121^oC operable.
• ½ Turn Manual Operation.
• It can be offered in a single isolate or DBB format utilising a 20Ksi OS&Y Vent.
• Qualified in ASTM A182 F55 with UNS N07718 & N06625 Trim.
• Fire Tested Following API 6FA 5^th

Please Contact Oliver Valves Ltd on www.valves.co.uk or sales@valves.co.uk for further information. Our business is trusted globally by all the major Oil & Gas operators for our Reliability Under Pressure and our It CAN Be Done approach to client challenges.

Oliver Valves is proud to announce the launch of its brand-new redesigned website.

The new website features a comprehensive list of visual and technical enhancements, but it also showcases the four companies. One of our aims with the new website is to improve our standing within the valve industry and further portray Oliver’s as the world’s leading manufacturer of valves.

Our new website has been developed by the local website design company Blue Whale Media, with the intentions of offering the ultimate user-friendly experience with improved navigation and functionality while allowing customers to see our full product portfolio.

The brand-new website will allow us to showcase every service we offer across our four companies along with the sectors they work with. The new website will cover a comprehensive list of products and services from Oliver Valves, Oliver Valvetek, Oliver Twinsafe and Oliver Hydcovalves. We also wanted to focus on making it easier for our users to learn and locate valuable information about our valve solutions and the particular application or industry, not only at their desk but on mobile devices.

This is also the opportunity to launch our Customer and Supplier Portals that will be an interactive tool through our website.

We hope our visitors and website audience will be able to stay more engaged and informed with our latest news and industry updates. Our new website includes a blog that will contain richer online content such as technical tips, press releases, featured products and newsletters, so you are always just one click away from useful and pertinent information.