Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has produced an innovative seal for a valve designed by Schoolhill Hydraulic Engineering for BP’s Shah Deniz (SEN 32/9) field.

The high-flow, high-integrity, safety critical subsea quick exhaust valve (QEV), believed to be the first of its kind, has been created for a subsea high integrity pressure protection system at the South Caspian Sea site.

Trelleborg created a bespoke version of its Captive Glyd Ring in its low friction Zurcon Z43 high modulus thermoplastic to feature in the QEV, which was selected as the seal was required to slide across mating surfaces that had dimensional changes.

The seal is retained in a split groove, which prevents the sealing surface from getting damaged by a counter part with variable diameter or when passing holes.

The QEV has a 30-year design life with a valve qualification water depth range of 3,000 m.

3sun Group’s subsea division has installed its first Time Delay Block Valve (TDBV) for use on hydrocarbon producing wells.

The valve was designed and manufactured by Bifold Group, and the prototype TDBV was installed in June 2015 on a North Sea platform.

CEO Graham Hacon said, “TDBV allows absolute control of the downhole safety valve. By blocking the hydraulic control line, it prevents migration of gaseous and fluid hydrocarbons into working areas, which in general are not hazardous area classified for such ingress, until the DHSV [downhole safety valve] is to be reopened to resume recovery of hydrocarbons, at which point the time-delayed blocking valve reopens to allow hydraulic communication. The TDBV is the only valve type suitable for this requirement, for which the valve concept was designed.”

Teledyne Oil & Gas said it has transformed the usually passive flying lead into an adaptable platform that can extend step-out lengths, convert power or media, or add other project-specific functions within the jumper assembly itself.

It said the Active Flying Lead (AFL) technology platform can result in simplified field layouts, the ability to upgrade existing fields with newer technology and greater levels of equipment compatibility.

AFL technology consists of functional electronics housed within a qualified atmospheric chamber that can be placed within a pressure-balanced, oil-filled hose.

Teledyne DGO’s glass-to-metal sealed penetrators provide fail-safe pressure barriers within the chamber for reliable performance under the extreme pressures found in deepwater subsea fields.

Flexlife has been awarded flexible riser annulus testing projects on six installations for three different operators in the North Sea and two on two installations for two different operators in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The company said a key factor to these successes comes from Flexlife’s differentiating method of annulus testing using mass flow technology to assess the condition of a flexible riser, a method of flowing a fluid into the flexible’s annulus through a laminar flow device.

Flexlife’s CEO Garry Millard said, “Our focused investment in new differentiating technology continues to pay dividends in the current environment, where the focus is on improved services and results, executed in an efficient and cost-effective way.”

Offshore