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SHUTTING
Background
Figure 1. ESD ball valve, 16 in. reduced bore, pressure class 2500, with
hub end-connections and completed with a pneumatic SY actuator
equipped with hydraulic damper and several quick exhaust valves for
very fast closing operation. Control panel includes two redundant SOVs,
pilot valves and smart PST device ensuring a SIL 3 certification of the
whole system.
Valves
The main standards for offshore valves are API 6D and API 6A, even
if EPCs and/or operators integrate these norms with their own
specifications. Furthermore, valves could be in accordance with
the NORSOK standards developed by the Norwegian petroleum
industry, with the aims of providing equipment suitable for the
extreme North Sea weather conditions. Commonly, even though
EPCs/operators specifications are influenced by experience and
procurement policies, nevertheless a design agreement with the
valve manufacturer has to be reached.
The most common ESD valve is the trunnion ball valve. Valves
can be either reduced or full bore, although all the valves installed
to protect risers and exported oil and gas systems have to be full
bore since they must be piggable. This pipe cleaning has to be done
carefully and demands a perfect valve bore alignment, otherwise the
pig can damage seats and ball surfaces, especially during the first
commissioning when the line could contain dirty debris remaining
from the piping assembly.
Two major risks of dangerous failures negatively affect the target
by closing the line with a quarter turn rotation of the ball: this can
result in seized seats and a jammed stem. The process fluid and the
external environment also play a big role in determining the probability
of the valve failing. The operating fluid can be a single clean phase of
crude oil, gas, condensates, or a mixture of them, but especially at
the beginning of the process the fluid is dirty and strongly abrasive.
A ball valve fixed in the same position for a long period also faces the
risk that sand and debris could be pushed by the flow in the upstream
ring cavity, creating a consolidated mass that can act as a wedge at
the bottom of the seat ring and increasing the valves torque or, in the
worst case scenario, causing the upstream seat to seize. To deal with
this, the valve design should include emergency sealing injection on its
seats, whereby the injection of a lubricant or a flushing fluid can act as
a hydraulic push lifting the seat ring off the ball face.
Figure 3. ESD ball valve, 18 in. full bore, pressure class 2500 with Inconel
overlay on all the internal wetted parts, completed with hydraulic
SY actuator spring return and manual PST device. External painting
suitable for offshore severe service.
Actuation
The most common actuator for ESD systems is the pneumatic scotch
yoke (SY) spring return, even though the hydraulic version could be a
Control panels
Testing
The only way to completely verify the status of an inline ESD valve
is by a proof test that strokes the valve from a fully open to a fully
closed position. This operation often requires the total shut down
of the process, which can only be done during a scheduled plant
shutdown. The installation of a smart partialstroking test (PST)
device in the control panel is the common practice to perform
online diagnostic testing that finds at least a percentage of the
total failures.
The PST moves the ESD valve 10 20% of the stroke, receiving
feedback about valve travel position and actuator pneumatic
pressure. This data supports the diagnostic analysis of the
valve performance and, in case of difficulties, the test will be
automatically aborted, alerting the operator with a signal. Even
though PST does not eliminate the need for fullstroke testing
(since, for example, tight shutoff capacity cannot be detected),
its frequent use increases the reliability and the availability of the
whole system.
Conclusion
References
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