The recently qualified Oliver Valves ½” bore topside manual gate valve has provided the company’s client and end user 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 topside umbilical termination assembly (TUTA), boarding valves and production Manifold. Process operating pressures were expected to be around 16,500psi. A fully rated API 20k valve was required by the customers 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.
The valve expert’s challenge
As the supplier chosen for this project, Oliver Valves was required to design and build a valve very quickly to meet the stringent application and also the project time-line.
A large range of considerations had to be met, including: conceptual design and engineering calculations; arrangement drawings; and size & weight considerations. The firm was tasked with providing a detailed bill of materials, FEA analysis, and a prototype. Oliver Valves was also responsible for procurement of materials, machining, assembly and development, Finally, the company also delivered testing, including PR2 testing, fire testing and third-party witness testing.
Only a complete, fully tested and qualified valve would allow production to begin. Any miscalculation could delay delivery of the valves and causes serious project impacts. This was roughly 12-months from start to finish.
Solution
The Oliver Valves team was 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 is supplying multiple ½” manual gate valve DBBs to the 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 the firm’s clients and end users alike to access other high pressure resource opportunities across the industry.
