Month: February 2022

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Oliver Hydcovalves Ltd wins significant European order for Hydrogen DBBs

Rockfin are a world-leading engineering company specializing in the design, manufacture, testing and servicing of oil and fuel systems for gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, compressors and high-pressure drives and control systems. Working very closely with MAN Energy Solutions Schweiz AG, Rockfin recently secured an order to supply two skid packages to the Lysekil Refinery in Sweden.

Rockfin already had close relationships with Oliver Valves from previous projects, but with the application demanding products suitable for use with hydrogen as the process media, the enquiry was quickly diverted to Oliver Hydcovalves; the latest addition to the Oliver family of companies dedicated to new energy applications.

We were able to present Oliver Hydcovalves to the Rockfin team, exploring the technical challenges driven by hydrogen valves applications and showing how we have developed valve technology specifically to meet these challenges head on.

Rockfin’s confidence in our new brand and knowledge of hydrogen valve technology convinced them to place a significant order for a number of isolation manifold block valves in both DB and DBB configuration.

Rob Porter, Area Sales Manager for Oliver Hydcovalves states, “Once we were engaged with the team at Rockfin, we quickly worked through their requirements and matched our hydrogen compatible products to their specific needs. We are really excited by the opportunity to work with a highly professional and technically capable company like Rockfin on sustainable energy projects such as this.”

These valves will utilise fully hydrogen compatible materials, including the latest polymer seal technology design specifically to meet the demands of hydrogen applications. Both stem and seat seal arrangements have been tested at Oliver’s in-house R&D facility to ensure long service life, reliability and safety.

Oliver Hydcovalves continues to develop valve technology for the emerging hydrogen energy sector, including valves for hydrogen production, storage and transportation. We are dedicated to supporting customers that strive to deliver a more sustainable future, helping them meet their net zero ambitions.

For further information contact Rob Porter at rporter@valves.co.uk or simply call us on +44 (0)1565 632636. Or visit us at https://www.valves.co.uk/hydcovalves/

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A completely New Seal Design was the Only Answer!

The Fife LNG plant at Mossmorran, operated by SHELL, can provide a challenging environment for any high-pressure valve, but when a need arose for a number of ANSI class 300 DBB valves with a high operating temperature range, few manufacturers could meet the requirements.

The requirement for ANSI 300 class, 2” DBB valves suitable for a temperature range from -50°C up to +350°C would force the designers at Oliver Twinsafe to completely rethink the sealing technology used in their double block and bleed ball valves.

An additional layer of complexity, on top of this already challenging application, came with the requirement to meet the demanding MESC 77/300 design validation test that includes fugitive emission testing

The actual ball sealing was readily achieved as Oliver Twinsafe already manufactures a wide range of metal seated valves, dispensing with any elastomeric seals completely. But even here special attention was needed in relation to the ball and seat materials, especially the tungsten carbide coating required to ensure long service life. For zero and low through seat leakage requirements, such as this application, porosity control of the Tungsten Carbide coating is of paramount importance. Other sealing sites throughout the valve would prove more challenging, especially the dynamic sealing requirements for the operating stem used to rotate the ball.

Industry standard stem seals, for more challenging applications usually made from Graphite, PTFE or PEEK, see a rapid degradation in their mechanical and physical properties at temperatures above 180°C. Searching for seals that can function across the required temperature range, Oliver’s R&D team turned to one of the world’s leading elastomer manufacturers who suggested a high-performance specialist polymer solution usually associated with jet engine technology.

Although now armed with a suitable material, turning this into an effect seal still remained elusive. The Oliver Twinsafe designers and R&D team worked through many traditional configurations, with limited success; the only answer was to design a completely new stem seal arrangement in house.

The decades of knowhow in the Oliver team and a rigorous testing led development process, eventually came up with, a now patented, stem seal design that delivered fugitive emission leak rate B across the full temperature range required also passing the MESC 77/300 design validation test.

A combination of experience, innovative design, class leading R&D, and the drive to meet the most challenging applications makes Oliver Twinsafe one of the world’s leading valve manufacturers.

For further information contact Rob Porter at rporter@valves.co.uk or simply call us on +44 1565 632636. Or visit us at https://www.valves.co.uk/twinsafe/