Case Study #02 - Control Valve Maintenance
APPLICATION: Gas Seperators
SERVICE CONDITIONS: scaling deposits, saline (<80 ppm chlorides), acids, H2S, sand and debris
LOCATION: Fairview, Alberta
Zero maintenance for the Sur-Flo SF10V. Billy Gaugler is an electrician and instrumentation specialist at CNRL. In 2016, frustrated with breakdowns on conventional control valves, Billy installed Sur-Flo SF10V valves. He hasn’t had to do a thing with them since.
Challenge: Low Gas Volume
On a well site, the separator receives process fluids from a wellhead and then divides that emulsion into gas, oil and produced water. To do that, the separator needs to be outfitted with a control valve that can maintain consistent pressure inside the vessel. Not every valve is up to the task.
Before 2016, Billy, an electrician and instrumentation specialist at CNRL answered frequent repair calls for control valves on his company’s satellite wells near Fairview, Alta. The spring and diaphragm valves were filling with emulsion and failing to hold back-pressure. Each time, he had to depressurize the line, shut down the separator and clean the valve. It was a costly hassle. A colleague suggested they try Sur-Flo valves.
Sur-Flo's Solution:
The unique axial flow design of the Sur-Flo SF10V valve is engineered to maintain pressure under liquid, gas, or mixed process conditions. Perforations in the cone assembly allow fluids to pass through the valve without affecting performance.
It’s a design advantage that has made Billy’s job easier. He’s had no maintenance issues on these valves since he installed them in 2016. “I literally installed them and walked away,” he says. “I never hear anything about them except that they work well.”
Unlike the design of conventional control valves, the sleeve and perforated cone assembly of the SF10V can maintain consistent pressure while letting process fluids from the separator pass through the valve.
