Manufacturing capacity, engineering excellence and client required product qualifications were the key drivers to securing the order, and it was placed on an expedited delivery with the first shipments due to leave the UK at the end of January 2024.
The order that includes a mix of ½” Hydraulic, ½”Manual and 1″ hydraulic Gate Valves which required extremely demanding and specialist client driven qualification testing. This was successfully completed by Oliver Valvetek engineers at our state-of-the-art Research and Development facility in Knutsford, England.
A total of 480 Gate Valves will be manufactured in Inconel 625 and Super Duplex materials and shipped directly to a tree manufacturer in Brazil where final assembly into twenty Subsea Christmas Trees will take place.
The Murlach offshore redevelopment oil field was previously known as Skua and is located in the North Sea, 203km off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland. The project, jointly operated by BP Exploration Operating Company (BPEOC) and NEO Energy Central North Sea is due to commence production in June 2025.
To support the project, Oliver Valvetek is to supply a number of specialist subsea valves. Scope of supply includes 2 1/16″ API6A 10K rated Flanged valves with a 3/8″ bore Double Block and Bleed Needle valve bolted to the flange.
Oliver Valvetek Gate Valve Painted & Ready for Shipping. Last week we reported on the hybrid Gate Valves with the Actuator on extension pieces used in operation on the Total Moho Infill Subsea Project.
This week, we managed to get pictures of the valves after final painting and as you”ll agree they look pretty smart!
Oliver Valvetek’s unique approach to Subsea valve design and manufacturing is exemplary and world-leading. Engineering teams often take-on, sometimes, very complex and difficult to manufacture valve concepts and specifications required by customers, and to see them on the production line is truly remarkable.
One recent example is a Subsea Gate Valve that was designed with the Actuator on an extension piece, and used in operation on a Total Moho Infill Subsea Project. This hybrid design allowed the valve to be fully covered by Christmas Tree insulation with the actuator on the outside of the insulation process.
Oliver Valvetek’s unique approach to Subsea valve design and manufacturing is exemplary and world-leading. They partner with one of the leading Subsea Tree and Subsea Distribution Units manufacturers in the world and is supplying valves to the Exxon Mobil Guyana Futures field.
For the past 5 years, Oliver Valvetek has provided more than 3000 pieces of ½” 10,000psi rated Subsea Trunnion style Ball Valves for the full field development. Due to changes in production, control system requirements, and an operation pressure increase, Exxon Mobil also required a 15,000psi rated valve.
Oliver Valvetek successfully qualified a valve to API6A PR2F and API17D 3rd Ed and included specialist testing and materials that were specific to the pressure and process media application.
Oliver Valvetek’s unique approach to Subsea valve design and manufacturing is exemplary and world-leading. They partner with one of the leading Subsea Tree and Subsea Distribution Units manufacturers in the world and is supplying valves to the Exxon Mobil Guyana Futures field.
For the past 5 years, Oliver Valvetek has provided more than 3000 pieces of ½” 10,000psi rated Subsea Trunnion style Ball Valves for the full field development. Due to changes in production, control system requirements, and an operation pressure increase, Exxon Mobil also required a 15,000psi rated valve.
Oliver Valvetek successfully qualified a valve to API6A PR2F and API17D 3rd Ed and included specialist testing and materials that were specific to the pressure and process media application.
Working in close collaboration with Oliver’s Research and Development Centre, Oliver Valvetek has successfully designed, qualified and manufactured a range of 3/8” Trunnion mounted small bore valves in 316 Stainless Steel tested to temperatures of +121 Deg C.
The use of 316 Stainless Steel material isn’t normally selected for operating temperatures above +60 Deg C due to NACE requirements, however, our engineering team have developed valves in both 2-way and 3-way configurations that can be used specifically on Hydraulic lines and not in contact with well bore fluid (H2S contact). This valve offers a commercial cost saving over the use of other materials such as Super Duplex, which would be typically used for such applications.
For more information on Subsea Ball valves, contact Oliver Valvetek on +44 (0)1565 632 636 or email sales@valves.co.uk | www.valves.co.uk
Oliver Twinsafe Trunnion Mounted valves and Floating Ball Valves have successfully been SIL certified at level 3. This new and important milestone provides operators with safety assurances at the highest level and has resulted from many months of engineering design, QA reviews, and audits.
A SIL (Safety Integrity Level) is a measure of safety system performance, in terms of probability of failure on demand (PFD). The higher the SIL level, the higher the associated safety level, and the lower probability that a system will fail to perform properly. SIL 3 is the highest rating that can be given to a valve.
High Integrity Pressure Protection Systems (HIPPS) and remotely located well-head manifolds are normally associated with SIL certification. Operators are to gain additional safety assurances from installing our ball valves, in that, when the valve is required to perform its fail-safe function, the probability of it not performing is extremely low.
SIL 3 certification has been awarded by Exida, a third-party safety assessment organisation. The certification covers our range of Single Isolate valves, and Double Block and Bleed valves comprising two separate isolates within the assembly. Bore sizes for Trunnion Mounted valves range from 1” – 16” and 1” – 3” on Floating Ball valves.
Oliver Valvetek has manufactured a number of 1” Double Block Subsea Gate Valves with manual and hydraulic actuation destined for the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
This dual functioning valve consists of a 1” hydraulic gate valve and a 1” multi-turn manual Gate valve both positioned on a single unitary forged valve block for dual redundancy and functionality. This unique and customised design brings additional benefits to subsea tree engineers in that it now provides flexibility to be used as stand-alone and fully functioning valves on other applications of the tree due to its standardised valve footprint.
To date, Oliver Valvetek has manufactured more than 150 double gate valves with the hydraulic gate valve being a coil spring design as specified by the end-user.
Interestingly, a continental shelf is a shallow and relatively flat stretch of seabed that extends from the shoreline to water depths of around 200 metres, before dropping off to deeper waters in what’s called the continental slope.
The importance of the continental shelf to Norway is that it holds huge natural resources such as oil and gas, but also fishing. The best-known fishing areas are found on the Shelf and at the edges where it meets the deep sea. Under international law, coastal states are entitled to their continental shelf up to 200 nautical miles from their shores with some exceptions made to lengthen this, with NCS being one.
For information on how Oliver Valvetek can provide subsea valve solutions for your project, telephone +44(0)1565 632 636 or visit our website at www.valves.co.uk
Oliver Valvetek identifies new and emerging opportunities to supply higher pressure small-bore subsea valves, and recognises the technical barriers that hinder most other valve suppliers.
The subsea oil and gas industry has been rapidly developing new technology to allow the development of ‘challenging fields’. These challenges are usually associated with high pressure, high temperature (HP/HT), and operation at great depths.
Fields with pressures of 15,000psi (1034bar) were generally considered high pressure, however, new fields are now being discovered and developed for well bore production with working pressures of 20,000 psi (1380 bar).
Oliver Valvetek had already successfully designed and qualified a 3/8” Nominal Bore 20,000 CWP needle valve for a High Pressure / High Temperature field development in the Gulf of Mexico.
Utilising this specialist and field-proven history with Shell Appomattox, Oliver Valvetek successfully developed and tested a Dual and Tripe Gate valve assembly in accordance with API6A PR2F, API 17D and API 17G.
The journey started early in 2021, Oliver Valvetek scoped out opportunities to supply other small-bore High Pressure / High Temperature valves to these new and technically challenging fields. Working closely with Trendsetter Engineering based in Houston on their modular Trident 20K Intervention System, Trendsetter and Oliver Valvetek engineers began work on designing valves that would meet these new high pressure, high temperature requirements.
Subsea small-bore valves have to conform to the same rigorous standards for design, qualification and manufacture as the much larger bore valves. Rapid demand for smaller compact HP/HT valves has mainly been due to increased numbers of 20,000psi fields being reviewed for development.
Clearly, the technical challenge for our engineering team, was how to achieve subsea qualification testing on much smaller and compact valves at much higher pressures and temperatures, and in rapid time. Importantly not compromising on Safety, which remains critical for valves being installed in these applications.
Work began in March 2021 to develop two valve types that were required for critical application of flow control and monitoring on the Trident 20K Intervention System – ½” Double Gate Valve and ½” Triple Gate Valve, both manufactured using Nickel Alloy 718 material.
Project technical specification requirement:
High Pressure 20,000 psi
High Temperature +150°C / +302°F
Operating Depth 3:048m / 10,000 ft
Small bore gate valves are often used for chemical injection, venting flowlines and bypass lines, and these valves can be required in single isolate arrangements but also in double and triple or 3 valve assemblies.
Weight is a crucial factor for equipment being lifted and installed on the subsea. Using the very latest in elastic-plastic finite element software, valve designs have been optimised to produce the most compact small-bore valve to operate subsea at 20,000 psi high pressure.
API technical reports provided the necessary guidance to our engineering team, and client, on analysis tools and design processes for HP/HT subsea equipment.
This resulted in a Double Gate Valve comprising of 2 x manual Gate Valves in one block, and a Triple Gate valve with a combination of both manual and hydraulic functions. The full valve designs were subject to numerous technical assessments as part of the API qualification, followed by strict design evaluations including; FMECA, Elastic-plastic analysis, Ratcheting Assessment, and Fatigue Assessment, all of which were reviewed and verified by nominated I3P’s such as the Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
Prototype testing takes many weeks to simulate valve operation at varying pressures, temperatures and working depths. Hydraulic actuated valves require separate testing on the hydraulic operation and the override operation.
Steve Williams explains the extent of the testing process, “Close client collaboration and extensive technical evaluations were instrumental to the success, as too, were the independent design and process validation by Third-Party and client Regulatory bodies evaluating all aspects of the design for Safety, Quality and long-term reliability.
“Enhanced QC & QA procedures at each stage of production of both valves were implemented, including body integrity pressure testing up to 30,000 psi. Even before the order could proceed, the ½” gate valve was subject to extensive in-house qualification procedures that simulated the intervention system, in an extreme pressure and temperature environment deployed subsea – all conducted in our own state of the art R&D facility.”
He continues “Valves operating in such extreme environments require extensive and arduous qualification testing to meet API standards. This project was the most technically reviewed and evaluated one we’ve ever undertaken, and by far, the most rewarding for our engineers and designers. Everyone involved in the project is acutely aware of the leaps we’ve made in terms of research & development, engineering design, and manufacturing processes. We’re all very proud of this achievement and very much look forward to future developments with our clients.”
For more information on how Oliver Valvetek can supply your subsea project with the very best valve solutions, contact us on +44 (0)1565 632 636 or email sales@valves.co.uk
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