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Types of Valves used in the Oil and Gas Industry

Types of Valves used in the Oil and Gas industry

Valves are a vital part of any piping system, which means that they play a key role in the oil and gas industry. They can be used to control flow rates, isolate, protect equipment, and operate in the refining process of Oil, Gas, Hydrogen and other such media.

This makes them integral in the many different kinds of functions and applications. At Oliver Valves, we are a leading manufacturer of Valves used in the various Industries, specialising in Oil & Gas applications. Utilising our vast experience and knowledge, we can implement cutting-edge technologies to provide solutions to challenging applications. No media is beyond our expertise and we are able to supply a varying number of valves to suit liquids, gasses, viscous materials, and corrosive mediums. Our expertise lies in the production of Valves that can be used to isolate or regulate the flow according to the pressure and velocity requirements.

What Types of Valves are used in the Oil and Gas Industry?

Several different processes take place inside the oil and gas industry. Each of those processes requires different kinds of materials to be taken to and from machinery and equipment, meaning many different valves are needed for a single process to be completed.

Ball Valves

Ball valves are designed to isolate the flow of high-pressure liquids and gases with minimal pressure drop. They are quick to open and close and have a tight seal with low torque, with ease of operation, repair, and versatility lend the ability to be used in various locations.

Needle Valves

Needle Valves are again designed to isolate and regulate the flow of various medias and pressures from an instrument. They utilise Oliver’s unique non-rotating tip and valve seat, providing the end-user with a positive, guaranteed shut-off.

Manifold Valves

Manifolds, being similar to Needle Valves, again utilise Oliver’s unique non-rotating tip and valve seat. Ultimately allowing the customer to isolate and vent a cavity for safe removal of the instrument, typically for calibration.

Double Block & Bleed Valves

Double Block & Bleed Valves integrate three valves into one block allowing the customer to securely isolate the flow with two independent obturators, whilst being able to safely control the pressurised vent. These valves are widely used in a number of applications including flow Isolation, Vent Valves, Chemical Injection and Sampling.

What are the Applications of Valves in the Oil and Gas Industry?

Oil and gas exploration and operations have become more complex over the ages. As explorers need to dig deeper to extract crude oil and natural gas, they have to face extremely high temperatures (greater than 1,500F or 816 C) and high pressures (greater than 25,000 PSIG) and extremely low temperatures like cryogenic (-150 F or -101 C). Since exploration and production operations usually have to work in extreme conditions, the valves used in this stage need to be strong, durable, non-corrosive, and fully leak-proof. These conditions mean that the valves needed for these piping systems have to be durable, strong, resilient, and most of all, reliable. For example, they should handle the low temperatures and high-pressure flow of materials while protecting both the machinery and the medium flowing inside from any contamination.

If you would like more information about the types of Valves we supply in the Oil and Gas Industry, please contact Oliver Valves today.

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Understanding Valve Manifolds

Understanding valve manifolds

At Oliver Valves, we are an industry leader when it comes to Valve Manifolds and our team’s expertise and reputation for quality is unrivalled. Oliver’s Manifolds are used in many fluid power applications. According to the usage of the manifold valves, it comes with various kinds of configurations.

A manifold, however, is a device that connects one or more blocks or isolates valves in any form of the system; this can include a ball or needle valve. From Isolating Instruments, controlling high-pressure fluid flow to regulating the pressure, manifold valves perform a variety of functions.

In the case of a block and bleed manifold, the purpose is to safely isolate and remove an instrument from its application. Oliver’s design guarantees secure isolation via the Non-Rotating Tip Needle Valve. As a secondary action the operator vents the excess media that remains in the cavity, between the instrument and manifold. Once these steps are complete the end-user can safely remove the instrument for calibration.

Manifolds are instruments that come in various forms, single isolates, block & bleed or block, equalise bleed, which can be connected to a transmitter directly or via a remote mount method. Valve Manifolds are mostly made of stainless steel, carbon steel, or alloys; they help measure static, variable, gauge, and differential pressures.

Manifolds are widely used in sectors such as oil, gas, chemicals, wastewater, power, and so on. At Oliver Valves, we offer a variety of precision-engineered valves and valve Manifolds to meet most flow, pressure and level measurement application requirements.

Advantages of a manifold valve

Manifold valves are used in a number of different applications, ranging from mobile machinery to heavy industrial equipment. At Oliver Valves, our customers have benefitted from Needle Valve Manifolds being supplied with mounting bolts and seal rings.

So, what are the advantages of incorporating valve manifolds into your process piping system?

  • Valve manifolds afford more efficient system operations in comparison to opening and closing each valve independently.
  • Since they operate more efficiently, valve manifolds reduce plant energy consumption and associated costs
  • Due to increased efficiency, they reduce downtime when cleaning process lines
  • Increased safety from guaranteed isolation from dangerous medias

When properly designed and laid out, valve manifolds:

  • Allow for shorter fluid paths and smaller footprints, reducing the likelihood of pressure drops and heat fluctuations.
  • Require fewer connections between pipes, lowering chances of leaks
  • Reduce installation costs due to the more straightforward and more compact layout they afford

Oliver Valves works extensively with many clients in customising designs and configured them to meet the system’s specific requirements. If you would like more information about the valve manifolds we supply, please contact Oliver Valves today

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High-Pressure vs. Low-Pressure Ball Valves

High pressure vs low pressure ball valves

Valves are available with a wide variety of valve bodies in various styles, materials, connections and sizes. The most common types are ball valves, which can be of high and low pressure, depending on the application. Utilizing Oliver’s unique design’s we are able to produce these in either full or reduced bore, threaded or flanged, in a range of materials suitable for a wide range of demanding isolation applications and media.

​As opposed to the Oliver low-pressure ball valves, the high-pressure ball valves are typically used to withstand high operating pressures and they keep streams of fluid under control whilst safely isolating or allowing the system fluid to pass through.

At Oliver Valves, we are one of the worlds leading manufacturers of instrumentation valves; we can implement solutions thanks to our history of cutting-edge control technology in the industry. Before looking at the difference between High-Pressure and Low-Pressure Ball Valves, we must ask ourselves, what is a Ball Valve?

Ball Valves

The Oliver Ball valves operate in a quarter turn to action, which provides a quick opening & closing giving whilst providing a zero leakage bubble-tight shutoff; when fully closed. When open a ball valve creates little turbulence or resistance to flow, due to its smooth through bore. The valve stem rotates a ball that contains an opening; the ball opening can be positioned in the fully open or fully closed position. It must not be used to throttle flow as any abrasive wear to the ball will cause leakage when the valve is closed. Ball valves are considered high recovery valves, having a low-pressure drop and relatively high flow capacity. At Oliver Valves, valves are our specialty; here are the advantages of ball valves.

  • Low cost
  • High flow capacity
  • High pressure/temperature capabilities
  • Low leakage and maintenance
  • Tight sealing with low torque
  • Easy quarter-turn operation
  • Fully traceable parts
  • CNC Super Finished screw cut threads
  • Extensive range covering 1,000, 3,000, 6,000 & 10,000 PSI
  • Manual or actuation operation
  • Full or reduced bore

Why Use a Ball Valve?

Oliver’s ball valve is known for its quality, durability, simplicity, and excellent sealing properties and they provide excellent shutoff even after years of service. This makes the Oliver ball valve an excellent choice as a shut-off valve; due to its design, they also provide better resistance to contaminated materials than other valves.

High-Pressure Ball Valve

High-pressure ball valves are designed to operate in a fully open and fully closed position. High-Pressure Ball Valves are suitable for installing piping systems with connections at the same pressure load and corresponding connections or between flanges of the same pressure load and flange connection.

​A high-pressure Ball Valve provides an unrestricted flow of fluids and a way to shut off that flow using the attached handle or actuator. ​High-pressure ball valves are used in systems that demand reliable shut-off power. Some fields of application are:

  • Hydraulics system
  • Chemical and petrochemical industry
  • Off-shore, water, high-pressure cleaning systems.
  • Mining Industry
  • Agricultural machinery
  • Gas pipelines
  • Hydrogen fuelling systems

Low-Pressure Ball Valves

Ball valves take a leading role in the valve industry as the scope of application is enormous. Low-pressure ball valves are mainly used for critical applications with demanding requirements; they are highly used for the smooth working of water, oil and gas systems.

A low-pressure ball valve can be divided into a full bore ball valve and a reduced bore ball valve based on the flow of passage formed.

Low-Pressure ball valves are widely leveraged for water, general oil and gas applications.

If you would like more information about the ball valves we supply, please contact Oliver Valves today.