Advance slurry valves promote efficiency and productivity ......India to open up natural gas sector India wants to split its biggest gas marketing and trading firm, state-run GAIL

The insiders guide to flow control in India, Iran, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, UAE, Bangladesh

HIGHLIGHTS JUNE/JULY2018 - ISSUE 3

valve-world-india.com

SPOTLIGHT ON:Piping materials in piping design 6Advance slurry valves promote efficiency and productivity 8Effective SIS solutions 10Superior valves at inferior cost 18

Technical Insights:Selecting high-temperature sealing and polymer solutions for the oil & gas industry 17The DIB-2 cryogenic trunnion mounted valve 20Understanding and preventing causes of down time 22

News throughout the Region:2, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24

J.D. Jones: a world class solu-tion provider for fluid sealing productsStarting out as a small trading

house in 1923 dealing in packings

and minerals imported from the

UK, J.D. Jones is today very much

on its way to becoming a globally

reputed manufacturer and supplier

of fluid sealing products. Located

in, and near to, the city of Kolkata

in India, its success and growth

can be attributed to its product

diversity, its entrepreneurial spirit,

and the vast knowledge and

experience that it has gained from

its domestic and global business

partners. This knowledge has then

been rechanneled back into new

products and services. Valve World

India Journal spoke to Company

Director, Mr. Ashish Bajoria, about

the company’s success, its role as a

solution provider for customers, and

its vision for the future.

NEWSNuclear will account for 6% of India’s energy mix by 2030“The nuclear energy mix in India is about 3% at the moment”, says NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat. “By 2010 the mix will be 6%.” How does he see this being achieved? Read more on page 2.

India to open up natural gas sectorIndia wants to split its biggest gas marketing and trading firm, state-run GAIL (India) Ltd. into two separate companies by the end of March 2019. In a bid to open up its gas sector to industrial end-users and attract billions of dollars in invest-ments, GAIL will be split into a gas marketing company and a company operating pipelines. Read more on page 2.

Iran to build new refinery for Sri LankaIran has agreed to build a new oil refinery for Sri Lanka in ad-dition to upgrading its aging 50,000 barrels a day state-owned refinery, Cabinet Spokesman, Rajitha Senaratne recently stated. This refinery accounts for roughly 30% of Sri Lanka’s fuel re-quirements. Read more on page 7.

Tata Power Delhi distribution appoints new CEOSanjay Banga has been appointed as the new CEO and will take over from Praveer Sinha who has been elevated to the position of CEO and MD of Tata Power. Read more on page 12.

Qatar Petroleum on build huge petrochemical complexA group of leading companies with experience in the petrochemical industry has been invited to submit proposals for partnering Qatar Petroleum in the development and operation of a world scale com-plex to be built at Ras Laffan Industrial City. Read more on page 21.

Kutch Chemicals to set up caustic soda plant in GujaratThe company is about to set up a caustic soda plant in the Kachchh district of Gujarat. With a capacity of 12.6 lakh tpa. The project will entail investments of Rs 1,000 crore on a site spread over 74 acres of land. Read more on page 11.

Russia planning to expand its presence in India

IOC to invest on infra projects in AP & Telangana

Gazprom and oil major Rosneft are looking to expand their pres-ence in India as the two countries – Russia and India – step up their efforts to strengthen their liaison on energy cooperation.Strengthening their bilateral ties through the energy sector figured prominently in talks held between the Indian Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin recently at an infor-mal summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. “There are serious plans for further cooperation between our oil corporations on a number of fronts,” said Russian Foreign

Minister Sergey Lavrov. “Rosneft has gained a stronghold on the Indian market and Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of the gas giant, has interesting plans that it would like to accomplish in India.”The two countries are also aggres-sively pursuing plans to build nu-clear power projects in other coun-tries. “The fact that oil exports from Russia to India went up by tenfold in 2017 was something that Russia certainly made a special note of,” said the Russian diplomat.The energy cooperation was a ‘Work in Progress’ and New Delhi was looking to broaden the basis

for India’s oil imports. Strategic tie-ups between Russia and India would therefore boost the effort.Both two leaders were, as such, looking forward to the

first consignment of LNG that would arrive in India in June 2018 as part of an agreement between Gazprom and GAIL.

IOC Executive Director Rahul Bhardwaj told the Valve World India journal: “In Andhra Pradesh, we have plans to invest Rs. 827 crore, and in Telangana, we have plans to invest Rs. 560 crore in the next two-to-three years. The total investment will be Rs 1,387 crore.”“We propose to invest Rs. 500 crore in setting up of a state-of-the-art oil terminal in Nalgonda for which 67.33 acres of land has already been acquired and we are in the process of acquir-ing 10 more acres,” he said, adding “a Rs. 60

crore investment will be made for the enhance-ment of the LPG capacity at the Cherlapalli and Thimmapur bottling plants. For the Greenfield projects in Andhra Pradesh, 60 acres of land has been acquired for the construction of a new terminal near Visakhapatnam and a pro-jected estimation of Rs. 320 crore.”He further stated that for the construction of a new oil terminal in Guntakal, around 83 acres of land had been acquired and this project had already started at a cost of

Rs. 350 crore. Apart from these projects, an augmentation project in connection with the Vijayawada oil terminal and a revamp of the Vizag oil terminal were already being taken up under brownfield projects. Furthermore, land acquisition for the Paradip-Hyderabad Pipeline Project, with a capacity of 4.55 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa), was already ongoing and that progress was on target to commission the Paradip–Vizag–Vijayawada–Suryapet–Hyderabad pipeline for 2020.

June/July 20182 Valve World India valve-world-india.com

INDIAN NEWS

The Emerson logo is a trademark and a service mark of Emerson Electric Co. © 2017 Emerson Electric Co.

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Voith announces expansion at Vadodara

Kochi industrial gas complex inaugurated

ADNOC to pick-up stake in Ratnagiri refinery

Voith is a technology group with a wide portfolio of systems, products, ser-vices and digital applications, and sets standards in the fields of energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials, transport & automotive and digital solutions.It has invested in manu-facturing hydro power equipment at its factory at Vadodara, India since 2010 and has already supplied from this plant, hydro power equipment com-plying with international quality norms to all parts of the world. In order to expand its product range and market coverage, Voith Hydro has made further investments in this factory last year.The inauguration cer-emony of the new facility attended by Dr. Tobias Keitel, Executive VP Opera-tions & Member of Board of Management of Voith Hydro Holding GmbH & Co. KG, reinforced the commitment to invest further in line with ‘Make in India’ initiative of GOI. The factory at Vadodara has been laid out and equipped with machines similar to their German establishments in keeping

with highest standards of technology. On the occasion of the inauguration, Mr. Ravi Kalra, Managing Director and CEO of Voith Hydro India, also highlighted that transfer of technology from Germany has helped

the Indian company to build the most modern hydro power equipment locally and to develop necessary skills, thus bringing down costs of manufacture as per expectations of customers.

K T Jaleel, minister for local administration inaugurated the Rs. 2,690 crore Kochi Industrial Gas Complex established by Air Products and Chemicals on the BPCL Kochi Refinery premises. Minister for food and civil supplies P Thilothaman presided over the function. The gas complex, which generates hydro-gen, nitrogen, oxygen and steam will enable BPCL to increase its refining capacity by two-thirds and produce cleaner fuels, Air Products Industrial Gases (Middle East, India Egypt and Turkey) president Richard Boocock said.The refining capacity of BPCL will increase from 1,90,000 bar-rels to 3,10,000 barrels per day, and the auto fuels will comply with Euro IV, Euro V specifications. The facility has been estab-lished on Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model and it will provide jobs to around 50 people, he said. “As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, we are proud to invest in India and want to continue growing our presence and strong relationships in the region as the safest and most innovative industrial gas company.

The Kochi Industrial Gas Complex houses one of the most effi-cient and flex-ible Hydrogen/Carbon mon-oxide plants in Air Products global plant fleet. This is a technologically advanced plant built using our proprietary technology, incorporating state-of-the-art safety features,” said Boo-cock. The project has been built on 15 acres leased from BPCL. The two companies had signed a long-term agree-ment in January 2018, to build own and operate a new syngas production facility, which will be located alongside the gas complex. It will supply syngas to BPCL’s Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP).

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will pick up stake in the planned $44-bn refinery-cum-petrochemical project in Maharashtra. An initial agreement for ADNOC taking stake will be signed in UAE. Saudi Aramco had last month signed an agreement to take up 50% stake in the Ratnagiri refin-ery project. The remaining 50% stake will be owned by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL).Aramco had, at the agree-ment signing event, stated that it will at a later date dilute some of its 50%

equity stake in the 60M tonne-a-year refinery project in favour of another strategic investor. Now, the Saudi national oil com-pany is diluting some of that stake to ADNOC.UAE Minister and ADNOC Group CEO Sultan Al Jaber, Aramco CEO Amin H Nasser and Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will be present during the agreement signing in UAE.As per the April agree-ment, Aramco is to sup-ply half of the crude oil required for processing at

the refinery that will be commissioned by 2025.Like other major pro-ducers, Aramco and ADNOC are looking to lock in customers in the world’s third-largest oil consumer through the investment. Kuwait too is looking to invest in projects in return for get-ting an assured off-take of their crude oil.

Nuclear will account for 6%

of India’s energy mix by 2030

India is far ahead in terms of potential nuclear power generation facilities, according to NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat. He also said “Nuclear power is about 3% of the overall energy mix. I think we will be close to 5-6% by 2030. India has the largest number of nuclear power plants either under construc-tion or being planned. No other country is manufacturing so many nuclear power plants.” The sector will see stiff competition between American and Russian companies wanting to build the nuclear reac-tors. While the US side suffered a setback with Westinghouse facing bankruptcy, “the main support available was the Russian route”, he said. “If Westinghouse starts coming in, I think we will do 6-7 of the 14 reactors with them. This way we will have two sources to help us,” he added.In response to a query on French interest in building nuclear power projects, he said: “Initially it was on, but we had an issue with a lia-bility clause with France that was not resolved in the last visit. Some insurance issue is still pending. But I think they are coming around.” But this does not mean the French will be given the same offer as the Americans, he said. “We are very choosy on the technology and will go by who wants to have a long-term association with us.” “Except with Russia, where it is government-to-government, all the deals like the ones with the US are between companies. From the Indian side it is Nuclear Power Corporation of India. Even in the Russian deal, although the agree-ment is signed between the two countries, the detailed contract is signed between NPCIL and the Rus-sian company,” he added.

India to open up natural gas sectorIndia wants to split its biggest gas mar-keting and trading firm, state-run GAIL (India) Ltd, into two separate compa-nies by the end of March 2019, in a bid to open up its gas sector to industrial end-users and attract billions of dollars in investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. GAIL, which currently owns most of India’s gas pipelines, is planned to be split into one gas marketing company and one company operating pipelines.The split, expected to be completed by the end of March 2019, could allow small industrial users of gas to buy the fuel from pipelines without hav-ing to pass through GAIL. The plan is ultimately aimed at encouraging gas use instead of dirtier fuels such as diesel and naphtha. India targets to more than double the share of gas in its energy mix, from 6.2% to 15% within the next 12 years.

June/July 2018 3Valve World Indiavalve-world-india.com

EDITORS PAGE / COLOPHON

Publishing DirectorsRobert-Jan à [email protected].: +31 575 585 275

Ladan [email protected].: +31 575 585 292

Director India OperationsKay [email protected].: 0031 683 671 708

Editorial TeamSarah [email protected]

John [email protected]

Gillian [email protected]

David [email protected]

Advertising contact (print & online)Kay [email protected].: 0031 683 671 708

Subscriptions (print & online)Erica [email protected].: +31 575 585 271

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The publishers and the authors state that this magazine has been compiled meticulously and to the best of their knowledge, however, the publisher and the authors can in no way guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information. The publisher and authors therefore do not accept any liability for any damage resulting from actions or decision based on the information in question. Users of this magazine are strongly advised not to use this informa-tion solely, but to rely on their professional knowledge and experience, and to check the information to be used. KCI Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of information provided by participating companies and authorities. The publisher reserves the right to combine, delete and change

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©2018 All rights reserved.

Valve World India is the insider’s guide to flow control in India, Iran, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, UAE, Bangladesh

Jasper Fforde the British novelist once said that: “Oil and water are like love and magic – they just don’t mix.”

Whilst we at Valve World (India) don’t plan on mixing oil and water, I do predict that they will be two of the most talked about topics over the coming months.

As Oil prices rebound to over $75 US a barrel, we see many new projects coming online across the globe, a welcomed boost for the valve industry. On a less joyful note the steep increase in oil prices will affect all our wallets with more expensive gas at the petrol pumps, rising airfares, shipping costs, etc.

On the Water front, the latest Monsoon predictions from the National Weather Forecast Office are that India will get a normal monsoon this year, with rainfall expected at 97% of the average, boding bountiful crops, which will raise the farmers’ incomes and boost rural incomes and consumption. This will be good for the country’s economy ..... I say, let it rain!

As usual we have put together a very diverse mixture of content and news to support both manufacturers and valve users in their daily jobs and businesses. On page 6 Nikhill Hasurkar from Petrofac Engineering India Ltd., has written an insightful article for young engineers entering into the field of piping design. Amongst other things it covers the importance of piping materials specifications and the role of valves in piping systems, etc. On page 8 Metso Flow Control, has written a short article looking at the sound reasoning for using advanced slurry valves in a number of industries where targeted efficiencies and productivity require process parameters that may seem totally intolerable for materials and construction – namely nonstop exposure to abrasive and erosive solids that often move at very high velocities. On page 20, Microfinish Valves puts forward the advantages of using DIB-2 seat design for cryogenic trunnion mounted valves compared to single piston- and double piston-effect seat trunnion mounted valves.

Don’t miss this month’s Spotlight featured article on pages 4 and 5 on J. D.Jones, the Kolkata based manufacturer and supplier of fluid sealing products. JD Jones opened its doors more than ninety years ago as a trading company in minerals and gland packings. Today, J.D. Jones’ products include Compression packings, Expanded PTFE products, Industrial polymer products, Insulation, Graphite sealing products, Low emission packings, and Specialty lubricants. The company furthermore supplies to a wide range of industries including breweries, bottling and distillery plants, cement plants, chemical plants, fertilizers, food production industries, mines, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, point manufacturing plants, power plants, pulp & paper plants, steel plants, and sugar plants. As well as serving the Indian market, the company’s export regions include North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Australia.

The next issue of Valve World India Journal will be the August/September issue. Until then I wish you an enjoyable and informative reading and last but not least a long and rainy Monsoon season.

With warm greetings and thanks.Kay T. CreedonDirector Valve World [email protected]

Oil & water – incompatible spirits

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX CONTENTS

Advance Valves 9

Aira Euro Automation 1

Arflu Industrial Valves 14

Asahi Yukizai Corporation 17

AUMA India 11

Bell-O-Seal Valves 15

Bernard Controls 12

Castech Foundries 10

CRI Pumps & Valves 9

DMG Events 8

Dinesh Plastic Products 6

Dipflon Engineering 13

DL Valve 22

Emerson Automation Solutions 2

Emrise Engineering 23

Fugitive Emissions Summit China 2018 7

GM Engineering 18

Hi-Tech Applicator 1

Horizon Polymer Eng. 1

J.D. Jones 19

L&T Valves – Larsen & Toubro 1

L&T Valves – Larsen & Toubro 14

Langley Alloys 16

Microfinish Valves 21

Overseas Consulting & International Coordinator 2

Panam Engineers 20

Rotork 7

Super Industrial Linings 24

Velan Valves India 23

India News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

J.D. Jones: a world class solution provider for fluid sealing products . . . . . 4

Piping materials in piping design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Country Focus: Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Advanced slurry valves promote efficiency and productivity . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Regional News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Effective SIS solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Plants & Project News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

People & Product News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Cryogenic valves: Why are they tested with a gas? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

How to reduce fugitive emissions to protect the environment and improve plant safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Are you using drone inspection yet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Company News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Selecting high-temperature sealing and polymer solutions for oil & gas and aerospace applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Superior valves at inferior cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Project News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The DIB-2 cryogenic trunnion mounted valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Plants & Project News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Understanding and preventing causes of downtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Regional News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

India News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

April/May edition 2018 – Issue 2http://www.valve-world-india.com


SPOTLIGHT ON

A brief history“My grandfather bought the company

from the British in the 1950s when it

was basically a trading company in

minerals and gland packings,” be-

gins Mr. Bajoria. “He set up a gland

packing facility on a piece of land

that he had bought. Later on my

father took over the business. He was

responsible for venturing outside the

boundaries of gland packings, devel-

oping a broad range of new products,

which included PTFE components,

specialized asbestos free gland pack-

ings, as well as some allied products

like specialty lubricants and ceram-

ic, silica and glass fiber insulation

materials. Although we developed a

wide diversification of products over

the years, our specialization in gland

packings continued and became even

stronger.”

Up to the 1980s J.D. Jones’ main mar-

ket lay in India but around this time

the company began exporting abroad.

Their entrepreneurial spirit is such

that it has led them to make inroads

into a number of markets outside

India. Today the company’s export

regions include North and South

America, Europe, Africa, the Middle

East, Asia Pacific, and Australia.

“The world has suddenly shrunk,”

says Mr. Bajoria “and any company

aiming to become larger has to think

in global terms. It is our company

goal to become a global leader in

gland packings for low emissions,

whilst at the same time continuing

to be a global leader in the supply

of sealing components to the valve

industry.”

Looking back over the company’s

ninety years, their industrial pathway

shows some decisive management

choices as they have continued to

develop and grow.

Products and applications

Today, J.D. Jones’ products include

Compression packings, Expanded

PTFE products, Industrial polymer

products, Insulation, Graphite sealing

products, Low emission packings, and

Specialty lubricants. The company

furthermore supplies to a veritable

array of industries including brew-

eries, bottling and distillery plants,

cement plants, chemical plants, fer-

tilizers, food production industries,

mines, oil refineries, petrochemical

plants, point manufacturing plants,

power plants, pulp & paper plants,

steel plants, and sugar plants.

Success as a solution provider and testerIn recent years the company has

been rapidly heading down the road

to achieve its goals since it is already

doing a lot of ‘backend and front

end’ testing and solution provision

work’ – almost becoming a partner

for backend testing and providing

reliable support systems to numerous

valve manufactures. In this respect

J.D. Jones is no longer limited to the

supply of solely gland packing.

“Today we are also perceived, and

think of ourselves, as engineering

solution providers in the ever chang-

ing and demanding market of fugitive

emissions. “For example, when we

go into a power plant, a paper mill,

a refinery, or an OEM, we are able to

talk through the client’s challenges,

examine the application, and sug-

gest the appropriate gland packing

or sealing solution. We can do this

because of our groundwork in the

industry and also because of the vast

amount of experience we have built

up over the last two decades. Our

solutions are, moreover, backed up

by performance-related data. These

capabilities have led us to develop a

large range of standard and fugitive

emission products and have driven

us to become involved in testing. We

have invested in the backend testing

of low-emission gland packings that

comply with ISO 15848, API 622, API

624, and API 641 requirements stand-

ards, and beyond. We also carry out

low-emission testing on gate, globe,

and trunnion mounted ball valves,”

remarks Mr. Bajoria.

J.D. Jones’ further emission testing

capabilities includes: ADIXEN ASM 310

and 142 leak detectors, a MAXIMATOR

gas booster, remote operated high

pressure testing, cryogenic, temper-

ature (–196 to +538oC) and pressure

(up to 2500#) testing.

“All the testing we do is translated

into a solid program, which our cus-

tomers have come to rely on. If for

instance, if one of our clients has to

meet a certain low-emission standard

for gland packing, then it might take

us a short while but we guarantee

that we will send them away with a

product that is capable of meeting

the needs they have to comply to.

In fact, a lot of our clients, including

companies from the US and Europe,

have been able to certify their valves

across the range for ISO or API 624 at

our facility. This also includes third

party approval.”

Furthermore, when one of its man-

ufacturer clients is asked to comply

with a low emission standard like

API 624, a lot of variables come into

play – it is not just the gland packing

that affects performance – and many

manufacturers find it very difficult to

pin-point the exact flaw. In J.D. Jones’

testing capacity is able to take away

and solve client headaches. “We

look at the valve as a constant and

suit our gland packing to match the

particular standard needed through

altering the mix of packing material,

quality, density, purity of graphite

tolerances, etc.,” says Mr. Bajoria.

Developments in products“All these services have, additionally,

increased our standing and reputa-

tion among clients, and because of

our close contacts with them we have

been able to further develop a lot of

regular sealing products.”

“For example, over a decade ago we

developed a pressure seal gasket

with a well-reputed valve company

J.D. Jones: a world class solution provider for fluid

sealing products

Starting out as a small trading house in 1923 dealing in packings and minerals imported from the UK,

J.D. Jones is today very much on its way to becoming a globally reputed manufacturer and supplier of

fluid sealing products. Located in, and near to, the city of Kolkata in India, its success and growth can

be attributed to its product diversity, its entrepreneurial spirit, and the vast knowledge and experience

that it has gained from its domestic and global business partners. This knowledge has then been

rechanneled back into new products and services. Valve World India Journal spoke to Company Director,

Mr. Ashish Bajoria, about the company’s success, its role as a solution provider for customers, and its

vision for the future.

By John Butterfield

Ashish Bajoria, Company Director.


SPOTLIGHT ON

as a replacement for a traditional

flexible graphite pressure seal ring.

Additionally, we were among the

first companies in the world to de-

velop pressure seal gaskets with a

stainless steel end-cap fused into

the gasket. When tested by the valve

manufacturer it was found to have

a hugely superior performance over

traditional flexible graphite pressure

seal rings. The pressure seal gasket

we developed had end caps fused

into a flexible graphite layer and this

produced a seal that was capable

of considerably reducing leakage

issues. It saved our customers a lot

on costs by reducing on-site ser-

vice downtime. So successful was

the development that it was then

picked up by other valves companies

around the world. It’s just one ex-

ample of a sealing product that we

established for a customer, which is

still a global standard today,” points

out Mr. Bajoria.

Markets

When it comes to market share,

most of J.D. Jones’ clients come from

OEMs and end users, particularly

refineries and power stations. Never-

theless, new segments are growing

rapidly such as the supply of special-

ized gland packings for hydro power

stations, or to the Indian navy, and

the naval industry in general. As a

pleased new customer, the Indian

navy has come back to J.D. Jones

stating that their products have

solved a lot of their leakage issues

with gland packings, and that this

has resulted in considerably reduced

downtime through repairs.

Nowadays almost a 40–45% of the

company’s exports go overseas and

this ratio is increasing yearly.

“To help us with our sales we have

a huge distributor network all over

the world. These distributors then

further supply to the end-user chain.

At the same time, we also cater to a

lot of major valve manufacturers in

Europe, in Southeast Asia including

China, and the US,” says Mr. Bajo-

ria. These valve manufacturers are

the company’s biggest customers

and read like a who’s who register:

Bonetti, Bray, Crane, Emerson, Flow-

serve, Larsen & Toubro, Score Valves,

Velan and Walworth, to name but

a few. Notably, our deliveries are

not just for standard gland packing

or sealing materials but also for

low-emission packings putting us on

a par with any other international

provider, “adds Mr. Bajoria.

Unique strengths

Because J.D. Jones has been produc-

ing gland packing and developing

gland packing over a long period of

time, they have worked with close

on 50 valve manufactures in India

and around the world. It is therefore

not surprising that because of their

flexibility and their understanding of

the challenges facing a multitude of

industries that they are capable of

providing new technology solutions

not only for standard packings but

also for a variety of very critical

sealing components. These types of

components do not normally come

from one manufacturer so this has

certainly given them an edge in

their business as a one-stop shop

for solutions whether it be for gate,

globe, check, trunnion mounted or

floating ball, control, or knife gate

valves.

Mr. Bajoria takes up the story: “If, for

example, a customer is not happy

with a standard product we have the

openness of mind to look with our

R&D at other possible solutions for

it. As such we can develop a com-

pletely new product from scratch,

which may involve a combination of

different fibers, yarns, or materials

or it may even involve a completely

new material. Once produced we

will provide the customer with a

sample to test and ensure that this

new product solves the problem at

hand.”

The R&D team at J.D. Jones’ man-

ufacturing plants consists of only

twelve staff but they cooperate in-

tensively with sales and marketing

staff when developing products.

Sales staff, in particular, gains a lot

of feedback from customers and this

information is used to further refine

products and services. In the lab a

lot of fugitive emissions and chemi-

cal tests are carried out and the data

produced is used to solve a lot of

potential product issues. Moreover,

top management ensure that the

various divisions of the company

also work together on providing

solutions to further develop products

and assist clients.

State-of-the-art company

Company headquarters is located in

Kolkata with the company’s state-

of-the-art manufacturing facility

placed strategically just 28 km from

the city’s international airport and

just 9 km from the nearest seaport.

The manufacturing facility covers a

total are of 25,000 sq. meters and

includes 42 braiding machines, 40

compression molding presses, 13

turning lathes, and 4 CNC machining

centers. It also contains the most

modern welding machines. Mr. Ba-

joria: “Many of our machines are

standard but we have automated our

processes with a number of special

purpose machines that the company

has developed with our partners. All

our machinery is used to ensure not

only efficient productivity – so cost

saving for our customers – but also

world class products at extremely

competitive prices.”

Future

Mr. Ashish Bajoria: “For the future

we not only hope to expand our

markets in the industries we current-

ly serve but we also want to develop

additional products for new markets

areas and continue to strengthen

our position as a very strong solu-

tion provider to our customers. Our

presence will continue to expand

around the globe either through a

direct supply channel to OEMs or

through distributors. We are, moreo-

ver, especially proud to be an Indian

company that can take a brand for-

ward to make its global mark, as we

have done with our packing brand

‘Pacmaan’, which is internationally

renowned.

You will continue meet us at the top

international shows like ACHEMA

and Valve World in Germany, and the

Fugitive Summit in the US, and we

will expand further as a strong play-

er in key markets areas like the US,

Europe and China.”

“Our company continues to grow by

leaps and bounds as market percep-

tions towards Indian companies has

changed. Nowadays top Indian com-

panies like ourselves can produce

products comparable with anything

coming out of Europe or the US. As

a company we use only the best

raw materials from across the world.

We make no compromises here. The

only difference between our regions

of the world is the lower, not low,

costs of manufacturing and the flexi-

bility that our company works with.”

It is indeed a bright future that lies

ahead.

“”

All our machinery is used to ensure

not only efficient productivity – so

cost saving for our customers – but

also world class products at extremely

competitive prices.

PIPING MATERIALS


Piping materials in piping designThis article is written with young engineers entering the field of piping design in mind. In

it the importance of piping materials specifications and the choice of the appropriate mate-

rials for valves is laid out for a number of industries. Similarly, attention is given to the

importance in the role of datasheets and inquiry requisition. Tips for finding design infor-

mation on the internet, the role of valves in piping systems, and the need to understand

isometrics are also pointed out.

1.IntroductionPiping commonly called ‘piping design’, is the detailed specification of the physical piping layout within a process plant or commercial building. In the past, this was often called drafting, techni-cal or engineering drawing, and design. Today, it is commonly performed by designers that have learned to use automated computer-aided draw-ing or computer-aided design (3D CAD) software as PDS & PDMS.Piping materials is one of the specialized streams in piping design. Over the years, the role of the piping materials’ engineer has greatly evolved and expanded. Currently, the piping materials’ engineer must own the responsibility over this package from the preparation stage right through to vendor drawing approval of the package.The young generation of engineer’s (GET’s) who get into this field must learn to work with chal-lenges like tight deadlines and the varied qual-ity of technical documents. The topic of piping materials help them to understand the various items involved such as pipes, flanges, fittings, gasket, bolts, as well as special items like strain-ers, steam traps, and flame arrester, to name but a few.

2. Importance of piping materials’ specificationsIt is important to note that all piping materials have inherent strengths and weaknesses. As such, no one material is ideal for all applications, though metals have been used longer than any other material in piping applications.It is necessary that the materials required for all piping items are properly selected, based on pro-ject specific requirements such as service, design

By Nikhil Hasurkar, Deputy Manager-Piping at Petrofac Engineering India Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai), India

pressure, design temperature, metallurgical requirements, and fugitive emission norms. The requirements are different for different industries/applications, and a proper understanding of the feed documents and the basic engineering pack-age is required. Also, a sound knowledge/under-standing of process P&ID is also needed in order to capture the requirements related to special items (particularly special valves like non-slam check valves and PIV (Post Indicator Valves), etc. Correct and relevant ASME, ASTM, API, IS stand-ards are required to be mentioned in the tech-nical documents whilst preparing the material specifications. Piping materials offer engineers a broad spectrum of opportunities along with new challenges every day.

3. Role of datasheets, inquiry requisition (MR), PMS, and VMS, etc.Piping material speci-fications can be con-sidered to be one of the important pillars in finding engineering solutions and have a lot to contribute to the success of any project.For the project to be successful, care has to be taken while prepar-ing technical docu-ments, which include: PMS: Piping Material SpecificationsVMS: Valve Material SpecificationsMR: Inquiry & Pur-chase RequisitionsVDR: Vendor Docu-ments Reviews.It is imperative that correct technical details are drawn up

in these documents to avoid any technical prob-lems in later stages of the project.Before the start of any project, reference to the piping specifications is essential in order to stipulate and use the correct materials. Therefore check that you use the latest revision of the specifications. A list of applicable standards and editions is available in the basic engineering doc-ument: input from the process, metallurgy, past project experience, and it is important to realize that technical know-how needs to be developed in order to successfully prepare any technical documentation. These days a lot of online mate-rial and help topics are available on the internet. It is imperative that these are read and under-stood properly so that the points they raise which regards to applications are clearly reflected in the technical documentation.Also, MTO (Material Take off) is an important aspect, which is directly related to cost. In this aspect close coordination with the Piping Layout & MTO team is required.

4. Internet knowhow

It’s important to be abreast with latest industry trends and to have knowledge about the latest updates related to piping design. Some useful websites are mentioned below:• www.wermac.org• www.nace.org • www.spiraxsarco.com • www.pipingstudy.com • www.asme.org • www.processengr.com

5. Role of valves

Valves are mechanical devices that control the flow and pressure within a system or process. They are essential components of a piping system that conveys liquids, gases, vapors, slurries etc. Different types of valves are available: gate, globe, plug, ball, butterfly, check, diaphragm, pinch, pressure relief, control valves etc. Each of these types has several models, each with different features and functional capabilities. Some valves are self-operated while others manually or with an actuator or pneumatic or hydraulic is operated.

5.1. Functions of valves

• Stop and start a flow.• Reduce or increase a flow.• Controlling the direction of flow• Regulating a flow or process pressure.• Relieve a pipe system of a certain pressure.There are many valve designs, types, and models, with a wide range of industrial applications. Valves are often expensive so it is important that a correct valve is specified and that it is must constructed of the appropriate material for the relevant process.

6. Piping Isometrics

The piping materials engineer must also under-stand piping isometrics. These allow the pipe to be drawn in a manner by which the length, width, and depth are shown in a single view. Isometrics are usually drawn from information found on a plan and or elevation views. The symbols that represent fittings, Valves and flanges are modified to adapt to the isometric grid. Usually, piping iso-metrics are drawn on preprinted paper, with lines of equilateral triangles form of 60°.Isometrics are the most important drawings for installation con-tractors during the field portion of the project

Fig. 5.2. Commonly used symbol for valves. (This illustration adheres to section 5 of the article.)

Fig. 6.1. Common symbols for isometrics. (This illustration adheres to section 6 of the article.)

About Nikhil Jayant Hasurkar

Nikhil Hasurkar is Deputy Manager-Piping at Petro-fac Engineering India Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai). He holds a Chemical Engineering (Bachelors & Diploma

both) and has experience in piping material design in projects in the Oil & Gas, Refinery,

Fertilizer, and Petrochemicals projects. Mr. Hasurkar has worked at various levels

in piping design since his graduation in 2000 since year 2000, including working at

Toyo Engineering-India, Toyo Engineering Corporation-Japan, Kaverner Powergas-

India. He has worked for projects for both local and global clients.

valve-world-india.com

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FUGITIVEEMISSIONS

SUMMITCH I N AProjects starting up in Sri Lanka

Iran to build new refinery for Sri Lanka

Cabinet approves construction of 3 LNG power

plants

With a population of approximately 22,409,000 in 2017, Sri Lanka has for dec-ades been renowned for such products as tea, quinine, coffee, rubber, cinnamon, and coconuts, and its agriculture in general. Nev-ertheless, it is also famous for its petroleum, rare earth elements, hydropower, gems, and

minerals. With a relatively rapidly growing population and hereby a critical need for more power resources, rising urbanization, and the development of a more industrial economy, Valve World India looks at a num-ber of large scale projects currently occurring on the island.

Iran has agreed to build a new oil refinery for Sri Lanka in addition to upgrading its ageing 50,000 barrel per day (bpd) state-owned refinery, Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said.Iranian officials promised the new refinery when Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena recently visited Tehran – the first leader to go to Iran since U.S. President Donald

Trump re-imposed U.S. economic sanctions.Sri Lanka has a single, 50,000 bpd oil refinery in Colombo suburb Sapugaskanda, built by Iran in 1969 to refine Ira-nian light crude. However, when toughened sanctions were imposed on Tehran in 2012 to curb its nuclear ambitions, state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) was forced to look for other light crudes.

The existing refinery accounts for 30% of Sri Lanka’s fuel requirement, but the head of CPC last week said that upgrading “may not be the solution” because Sri Lanka needs a refinery capable of handling all types of crude.Sri Lanka is still in talks about the Hambantota refin-ery, though the government has blocked a proposal by the Chinese companies to sell fuel locally.

A proposal to set up three new Liquid Natu-ral Gas (LNG) power plants with the assis-tance of China, Japan and India has been given the green light by the Cabinet of Minis-ters. The cabinet mem-orandum presented by Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has proposed to estab-lish the three new power

plants as a measure to resolve the country’s energy crisis, which is expected to become far more serious by 2021.Consequently, the cabinet nod has been given to construct a 400 MW LNG plant with the assistance of China while two separate 500 MW LNG power plants will be constructed with the support of Japan and India.

Swiss Singapore wins Sri Lanka crude oil deal

Swiss Singapore Overseas Enter-prises Pte Ltd. has won a Sri Lankan tender to supply seven million barrels of Murban crude oil to the state refiner Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).A statement said the Cabinet of min-isters this week approved a proposal by Petroleum Resources Develop-ment Minister Arjuna Ranatunga to award the deal to the Singaporean firm to ensure uninterrupted supply of crude oil to the CPC’s Sapugaskanda refinery.The long-term contract is to supply crude oil for eight months.

Sri Lanka, Total to sign $13M agreement

Sri Lanka will sign an agreement with French oil and gas giant Total for a seismic study evaluat-ing prospective oil resources of the east coast. Total will invest $13M for the seismic study.Speaking to Reuters, the director general at Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) Vajira Dassanayake said, “We are hoping to sign a new agreement with Total later this month. It’s a marine survey. There will be more resources allocated this time com-pared to the previous agreement. They will have the marketing exclusivity for a certain period until they recover their cost. Actual ownership of the data will be with the government of Sri Lanka. They have one year to negotiate with us and give us a favourable contract for production and sharing.”Sri Lanka earlier singed a $25M deal with Total to survey 50,000km off the east coast from the air.

Sri Lanka approves $500M

LNG plant Sri Lanka’s state-run investment body has approved a $500M liquefied natural gas plant by China Machinery Engineering Corp near a Chinese-controlled port and industrial zone, the development strate-gies minister said recently.The state-run Board of investment has approved investment projects worth $1bn in the first quarter, Malik Samarawickrama said, the largest of which was the LNG project in Ham-bantota, where China Merchants Port Holdings controls a Chinese-built port on a 99-year lease.The port, which is leased for $1.12bn, is near the main shipping route from Asia to Europe and likely to play a major role in China’s “belt and road” initiative.Chinese control of Hambantota, as well as a plan to acquire 15,000 acres (23 square miles) to develop an indus-trial zone nearby, has raised fears that it could also be used for Chinese naval vessels.Government and diplomatic sources have told Reuters that the United States, India and Japan had raised con-cerns that China might use the port as a naval base. The Sri Lankan govern-ment has said the agreement bans usage of port for military purpose.

SLURRY VALVES


Advanced slurry valves promote efficiency and productivity

A short article looking at the sound reasoning for using advanced slurry valves in a number of industries where

targeted efficiencies and productivities require process parameters that may seem totally intolerable for materials and

construction – namely nonstop exposure to abrasive and erosive solids that often move at very high velocities.

By Ville Kähkönen and Jussi Hellman, Metso Flow Control Oy, Vantaa, Finland

Fully complying with engineer-ing codes, safety standards and emission requirements is a good starting point. But creating genu-ine added value only comes from the extra performance that can be offered on top of just the mini-mum requirements. With intelligent instrumentation and digitalization, processes can be maintained and serviced based on the actual condition of the equipment, instead of the assumed or average equip-ment condition. Then, when reliability and performance is

consistent, maintenance opera-tions can be put on a planned schedule.In the best case, maintenance shutdowns can be shorter, safer and less frequent, since techno-logical improvements can extend the effective lifetime of key equip-ment such as valves.

Withstanding harsh conditionsSlurry valves are part of critical process control in several indus-tries, in applications for which the targeted efficiency and productiv-ity require process parameters that may seem totally intolerable – for any material or construction. In the most severe applications, slurry processing valves must withstand nonstop exposure to abrasive or erosive solids that move at very high velocities, often at high temperature. Despite the careful sizing of control valves, flashing and cavitation are sometimes una-voidable, which further increases the loading of internal surfaces in valves. Also, the medium may contain chemicals capable of dis-solving metals very quickly. Taking mining and metallurgy processes as an example, valves often oper-ate in an extremely demanding

A thick layer of wear block material protects erosion exposed surfaces in this Metso top-entry ball valve.

A comparison of operation costs between a typical erpsion valve and am engi-neered valve solution.

material selection is matched to specific requirements for corro-sion and wear resistance – and to the targeted maintenance schedule and overall lifetime. For each case, a broad range of details matter when selecting the material that can live up to the expected performance.

Favorable results

The outcome of using these Metso wear-protection solutions has helped to multiply the effec-tive lifetimes of valves. In the most successful cases, these improvements have reduced operational and valve replace-ment costs by more than 90%. This means a similar reduction in potential HSE risk situations due to replacement or repair work – or due to cases of unexpected valve failures, if maintenance is delayed. These achievements also help with environmental sustainability, since equipment manufacture, service operations and logistics consume fewer materials and much less energy. In addition to efficiency, an uninterrupted production process generally has a very positive effect on end-product quality, another prereq-uisite of good productivity in any industry.

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environment. Then it becomes necessary to find both the opti-mal valve design and the best construction materials for each component.In isolation service, knife gate valves have been used for slurries when the characteristics of the medium do not prevent reliable closing or opening. But this type of valve design is not the most optimal for control service. Pinch valves have been used in slurry applications, but are not an option at higher tem-peratures – above the safe tem-perature range of rubber materi-als. Valve designs based on metal-lic construction materials and a rotating closing member generally offer the best combination of reli-able operation and component durability over the widest range of parameters.

Material innovations for severe serviceFor slurry media, innovations in wear-protection materials and the development of functional coatings have both contributed to supporting the use of metal-lic, metal-seated valves in severe control service.During the current decade, the use of innovative wear-protection

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materials in the construction of Metso ball valves has resulted in encouraging results in severe slurry control service, even

with operat-ing pres-sures up to 30 bar and tem-peratures of 200–300°C. The Metso Wear Block materials include metal matrix composites, in which the erosion resistance approaches the per-formance of ceramic materials, while the mechanical and electri-cal charac-teristics are like metals. Depend-ing on the process environment for each application, the final

REGIONAL NEWS


ADNOC and OCP to develop a new global fertilizers joint venture

Unique group completes line stopping job in Qatar

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and OCP Group of Morocco (OCP) have agreed to explore the phased creation of a new global ferti-lizers joint venture, in a move that will accelerate the execution of both ADNOC and OCP’s interna-tional strategies.The proposed joint venture will build on both com-panies’ competitive advantages, namely ADNOC’s world-scale sulphur production, ammonia and gas expertise, and shipping and logistics network,

and OCP’s access to large phosphate resources, its century-long fertilizers know-how and its market-ing network, to develop a new global fertilizers producer. The proposed partnership will comprise two fertilizer production hubs, one in the UAE and one in Morocco, giving the proposed joint venture global market reach.The agreement aligns with ADNOC’s announced plans to increase production by at least 50% from its current levels of 7 million tons a year, as it

looks to increase gas production by tapping into vast gas caps and scaling up sour gas production. The first phase of this program was completed this year and has brought the Group’s existing fer-tilizer capacity to 12 million tons, and rock export capacity to over 18 million tons.The agreement comes as ADNOC, at its Down-stream Investment Forum, unveils its ambition and plans to become a global downstream leader, enabling it to further stretch the value

of every barrel it produces to the benefit of ADNOC, its partners and the UAE. It aligns with ADNOC’s 2030 strategy of a more profitable upstream, more valuable downstream, more sustainable and economic gas supply, and more proactive, adaptive marketing and trading. This project further supports ADNOC’s downstream growth plans to create the world’s largest inte-grated refining and petrochemicals complex in Ruwais.

Unique Group’s On-Site Engineering (OSE) division in Qatar recently completed a line stopping project in downtown Doha’s busy financial district for Qatar Cool Westbay division. The job involved the isola-tion of 30” cooling water lines at three locations to enable defective piping and valves to be replaced. This has been the largest line stopping operation undertaken by Qatar Cool Westbay division to date.Unique Group provided customised line stopping fittings in accordance with the required design costs.

The hot tap and line stop procedure was completed with the support of NASCO who aided the operation. The project was completed in three days per location.The project was executed under safe operations and helped keep the Westbay area cool without interruption to the critical cooling systems. As the operations were located in the middle of the main transit roads around Westbay, there were diversions in traffic but these were necessary in order to repair the system back to its specification.

Saudi Aramco purchase agreements of SR26 billion

Saudi Aramco has further expanded its In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program and strengthened its relationship with local industry players by awarding purchase agreements to 16 Saudi pressure vessels manufacturers. Pressure vessels represent an integral and critical equipment group for oil & gas processing facilities that require sophisticated manufacturing capa-bilities and labor skills.The agreements, carrying a procurement value of more than SR26 billion, further enhances the company’s ongoing support and commitment to empower local companies within the small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs) realm under IKTVA, in tandem with Saudi Vision 2030.The purchase agreements signed recently focuses on the supply of pressure vessels by local manufactur-ers, mandated under IKTVA goals as well as to actively pursue Saudization targets. The 16 companies are expected to build up their capabilities and competitive-ness throughout the 10 years agreement duration.Aramco is also extending the IKTVA requirements to the procurement of other strategic materials such as drilling equipment, process automation systems, line pipes, pumps and valves.

Iraq, BP sign Kirkuk oilfield contract

Iraq’s state-run North Oil Co. signed an agreement with BP recently to triple output from the Kirkuk fields in the north of the country. The agreement was signed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Under the deal, BP will boost output capacity from six fields in the Kirkuk region to a total of more than 1 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d), three times today’s capacity in the region.The oil fields were returned to Bagh-dad’s control in October after Iraqi gov-ernment forces dislodged Kurdish fight-ers from the area. The minister began talks with BP in October, days after the Kurdish fighters were driven expelled.Oil exports from the region, transported by pipeline to Turkey, were halted after the Iraqi military operation, which was launched in retaliation against an inde-pendence referendum held on Sept. 25 by the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Cyprus-Egypt gas pipeline to cost $800m-$1bnA planned pipeline connecting Cyprus’ Aphro-dite gas field to Egypt’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities will cost between $800M and $1bn, Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said.Egypt has rapidly increased its production of natu-ral gas and hopes to become a hub for exporting to Europe after making a series of big discoveries in recent years.Molla, speaking at a joint news conference with Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, said Cypriot gas will be used in part for domestic consumption and in part for export.

Egypt aims to sign an agree-ment with Cyprus for a pipeline to trans-port gas from the Aphrodite field to its LNG facilities, he said last month.Lakkotrypis said a final agreement on the pipeline will be signed as quickly as possible.Egypt hopes to halt gas imports by 2019 and achieve self-sufficiency. Egypt has an extensive pipeline network and two idle gas liquefaction plants ready to export new gas as it arrives. The country believes its strategic location straddling the Suez Canal and the land bridge between Asia and Africa and its well-developed infrastructure will help turn it a trading and distribution center for countries in the region and beyond.Molla said that domestic gas production has increased to 5.7 billion cubic feet per day as a result of new production coming online, up from 5.5bn in February.Egypt is targeting about $10bn in foreign invest-ment in the oil and gas sector in the 2018/19 fiscal year that begins in July, Molla said last month, matching the figure expected for the current year.

SIS SOLUTIONS


operations, and a poorly designed system can require significant maintenance resources that lead to increased operational expenses and lost production time. These systems must be designed to reduce spurious trips with diag-nostics and stroke testing criteria that allow for reliable operations. Often systematic fail-ures are exacerbated by a component-based approach. As an alternative, Original Equip-ment Manufacturers (OEMs) of valves, actua-tors, and controls are able to offer a complete package solution with a holistic engineering and design strategy that results in higher levels of reliability and system integrity.

SIS and International Standards

Unfortunately, ESDV failures continue to occur and are often attributed to systematic failures despite rigorous risk assessments and Safety Integrated Level (SIL) analyses that meet International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) I61508, IEC 61511 Safety Instrumented System standards and International Standards Association 84.01 (ISA 84.01). Implementing best practices and complying with inter-national industry standards simply are not enough to prevent serious incidents that can cause injury, loss of life, damage to facili-ties and equipment, or consequences to the environment. One reason is that IEC 61508 is component-oriented and focuses on validat-ing component reliability, and IEC 61511 is process-oriented. Most solutions, which have been performance-based rather than prescrip-tive, typically involve multiple components from various manufacturers that are assem-bled into a system by third-party integrators.IEC 61508, Functional Safety of Electrical/Elec-

tronic/Programmable Elec-tronic (E/E/PE) Safety-Related Systems, was adopted and documented in 1998. IEC 61508 defines functional safety as “part of the overall safety relating to the EUC (Equip-ment Under Control) and the EUC control system that depends on the correct functioning of the E/E/PE safety-related systems, other technology safety-related systems and external risk reduction facilities.” IEC 61508 addresses the entire safety life cycle. IEC 61511, “Functional Safety - Safety Instrumented Systems for the Process Industry Sector,” outlines best practices in the engineering of Safety Instru-

Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) play a critical role for industrial plants of all types

throughout the world in that they prevent or reduce hazardous events by taking the process

within that plant to a safe state when predetermined conditions are violated. A SIS typically

includes the design and implementation of a variety of shutdown and/or blowdown valves. The

three key components of a SIS are: 1) sensors or initiators that detect process conditions;

2) a logic solver that processes an input from the sensors to an output to the final elements;

and 3) final elements that perform corrective actions by bringing the process to a safe state.

An Emergency Shutdown Valve (ESDV) is the SIS Final Control Element. The Valve/Actuation Package is the weakest link in the Safety Instrumented Function (SIF), contribut-ing greater than 50 percent of total Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD) for an SIF. The reliability, safety, and design of the final ele-ment has a significant impact on the overall Risk Reduction Factor. See Figure 1. Upgrading the SIS with a special focus on the Emergency Shutdown and High Integrity Pressure Protec-tion subsystems can significantly improve both plant safety and reduce false trips. Emergency Shutdown Systems (ESD) and High Integrity Pressure Protection Systems (HIPPS) are two of several critical subsystems of a SIS – some others being Gas Systems (FGS), Instrumented Protective Systems (IPS), and Burner Management Systems (BMS).As plant modernization continues to be a focus, installation of SIS systems has grown in complexity and cost. A well-designed SIS sys-tem is critical to maintaining safe and reliable

mented Systems. (See www.iec.ch for more information.) IEC 61511 was first released in 2003, and the United States version was approved in 2004. In 2015, the United States Chemical Safety Board suggested additional reforms were needed to ensure compliance with Process Safety Standards such as IEC 61508 and 61511. International Standards Association 84.01 (ISA 84.01) addresses requirements for the specification, design, installation, operation and maintenance of a safety instrumented system, so that it can be confidently entrusted to place and/or maintain the process in a safe state. This standard has been developed as a process sector imple-mentation of IEC 61508. (See www.isa.org for more information.)IEC 65108, IEC 65115 and ISA 84.01 establish a performance or goal-setting approach that allows the user to select an appropriate per-formance target for a SIS function and, thus, design the system accordingly to achieve that level of performance or Safety Integrated Level (SIL) rating. These standards do not provide a set of rules that define in detail how a SIS should be designed. Instead, the standards lay out a framework that allow each indi-vidual user, designer, and owner to determine what is appropriate for their specific situa-tion. Hence, these standards tend to outline a performance-based approach to SIS rather than a prescriptive approach. In other words, the standards do not take the position of prescribing the type of components, the type of architecture, the type of diagnostic testing, how often the testing should be performed, and what functionally tests a SIS.

Advantages of HIPPS

An important safety consideration is the pre-vention of loss of containment due to vessel or pipeline overpressure situations. Conventional designs of pressure relief or safety valves are used as a primary means of pressure protection on most applications. However, with increased flow rate potentials into existing infrastructure, applications for which pressure relief devices are impractical or increase environmental constraints, the use of High Integrity Pressure Protection Systems (HIPPS) is widely becoming accepted as the ultimate protection system. HIPPS is typically a “double ball valve high speed trip to close system” independently instru-mented and designed with the highest level of system integrity, in accordance with established ANSI/ISA and IEC standards. The alternative to a mechanical pressure relief valve is a HIPPS Sys-tem designed to meet a calculated SIL level per IEC 61508 & IEC61511. See Figure 2.The simplest way of dealing with overpressure situations is to allow a relief valve to vent to

the atmosphere or into a flare. In several cases, such venting cannot be used. For example:• If flow rates through relief valve would be

excessive; • If toxic gases would be released;• If there would be a significant environmen-

tal impact;• If the plant has non-flaring operational

objectives;• If it is desirable to minimize loss of

product; or,• If the operating company has other

requirements (strategic protection of major production installations).

See Figure 3.

Advantages of ESDVs

End users, focus groups, and process industry experts have completed exhaustive analyses of field failure data to determine the root cause of ESDV failure. Their analyses concluded that systematic failures are still taking place at a high rate due to issues related to engineering, specification, and design, of the Final Element. Addressed in these analyses were valve torque coefficients and application lifecycle analysis; bracket/coupling torque coefficients; actuator torque coefficients and factors; and valve actua-tion, integration, and testing.An Emergency Shutdown Valve (ESDV) is an actuated valve that is designed to stop the flow of a hazardous process when sensors detect a dangerous event. The ESDV provides protection against possible harm to people, equipment or the environment. Shutdown valves, which play an important role in the “SIS” Safety Instrumented System, are typi-cally referred to as the Final Element. Some of the best and most widely accepted final ele-

By Shawn Statham, Pentair Valves & Controls

Effective SIS solutionsHow Emergency Shutdown and HIPPS within SIS can

meet IEC and ISA International Standards

Figure 1.

Figure 2. Figure 3.

A custom-engineered solution which includes a triple offset valve, two actuators and a con-trol system, designed for emergency shutdown functions, as well as modulation service.


SIS SOLUTIONS PLANTS & PROJECTS NEWS

Figure 4.

Questions for vendorsIn addition to typical questions that must be answered to specify automated safety shut down valves such as basic process and application data, fail safe modes, and other critical parameters, there are some less obvious questions that customers might consider asking of ESDV vendors, some of which are the following:• What engineering and design procedures are implemented when integrating ESDVs?• Do you perform a valve application lifecycle analysis for each application?• How are valve torque requirements calculated?• What sizing and selection criteria are used for the actuator and solenoid valve?• What safety factors are already calculated in the published torque data from OEMs?• Does the actuator output torque match the dynamic valve torque?• How are the drive train components such as brackets, and couplings, engineered?• What certifications and testing capabilities are maintained for the OEMs facilities and technicians?

Equipment and Solutions Providers

Many end users commonly work with a long list of third party equipment providers, which can increase costs, complicate work processes and impact project timelines. However, those who engage a qualified sole source Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) can devise and implement a comprehensive SIS solu-tion that addresses international standards through control over the engineering, design, and manufacture of the entire Emergency Shutdown Valve package as a complete prod-uct. The OEM package is optimized to provide a reliable and cost effective solution that can reduce the total cost of ownership while also simplifying equipment specification and pro-curement processes. When an OEM that manufactures the majority of critical components in an ESDV – such as the valve, actuator, and controls – brings all of the quality control, quality assurance, engineering knowledge and technical expertise together through internal procedures and processes focused on manufacturing the ESDV as a single product, then much more reliability can be achieved. As such, an OEM can serve as the sole supplier that is best suited to engineer the ESDV into a complete package for the customer.

ment solutions are triple offset valves (TOVs), ball valves, and butterfly valves. See Figure 4. TOVs offer several benefits over ball valves for SIS applications. TOVs use a sealing system consisting of a stationary seat and a rotating sealing surface sharing an identical shape - an inclined conic section. TOVs also feature a non-rubbing design that produces a single, instantaneous point of contact between sealing elements when closed position is reached. Top of the range TOVs can perform zero leakage per API 598, API 6D, EN 12266-1 and ISO 5208.

Kutch Chemicals to set up caustic soda plant in Gujarat

Kutch Chemical Industries is setting up a caustic soda facil-ity at Varsana village of Anjar taluka in Kachchh district of Gujarat with a capacity of 12.6 lakh tpa.The project will entail an investment of Rs 1,000 crore and the Ministry of Environ-ment & Forests (MoEF) has already granted environmental clearance for the plant spread over 74 acre of land. The work on the project is currently underway and the caustic soda unit is expected to commence production by May 2019.

NFL to invest Rs 12.5bn in the

next 2 yearsState-owned Indian National Fertilizers (NFL) will invest Rs 12.50 billion over the next two years on energy saving projects in its five existing plants and set up a new factory in Madhya Pradesh to produce di-nitrogen tetroxide, its chairman and managing director Manoj Mishra said.Besides that, he said NFL is reviving a closed urea plant at Ramagundam, Telangana, in a joint ven-ture with EIL, FCIL and the state government with an estimated cost of over Rs 53bn.NFL is also exploring the possibility of setting up a di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) plant in Alge-ria through a joint venture and under buyback arrangements.NFL, which has five plants at Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, produced a record 38.1 lakh tonnes of urea in 2017-18 fiscal with 118% capacity utilisation. Urea sales stood at 39.16 lakh tonnes.The company has taken up energy saving scheme at Nangal, Bathinda and Panipat units at an esti-mated cost of about Rs 6.50bn, he said, adding that Rs 2.2bn would go towards energy saving schemes at two plants —Vijaipur I & II — in MP with a capex of Rs 2.2bn.Stating that NFL has bagged an order from ISRO to supply di-nitrogen tetroxide (N2o4), Mishra said the company would set up a plant at Vijaipur in MP with an investment of Rs 3.5bn. The annual capacity of this plant would be 1,000 tonnes. The company has received ‘letter of intent’ from ISRO on BOOS (built, own, operate and supply) basis.

KBR awarded to develop Majnoon field in Iraq

KBR Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a contract by Basra Oil Com-pany (BOC) for the develop-ment of the Majnoon Oil Field in Basra, Iraq. Under the terms of the con-tract, KBR will provide over-all project management, multi-discipline engineering support, procurement and construction management services to BOC under a two plus one year extend-able service contract.Jay Ibrahim, KBR President Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific region said “KBR has a long and rich history in Iraq and we are excited to be able to lever-age our broad expertise in onshore oil and gas processing facilities across

the project lifecycle as a true partner to BOC. This award highlights BOC’s confidence in KBR’s capabil-ities to deliver in multiple engineering discipline areas across a variety of

projects,” Ibrahim contin-ued. “We look forward to transferring our knowl-edge and experience to local Iraqis in order to leave a lasting legacy in the country.”

MAIL to build dairy plant in

KabulThe Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) said they have final-ized the plan to establish a major milk processing plant in Kabul which will cost 240 mil-lion AFs. Statistics show that Afghanistan produces over two million liters of milk a year and imports over three mil-lion liters annually. The total amount spent each year on imported milk is about $100M USD.According to MAIL officials, the factory will be established jointly by the ministry and the private sector.MAIL spokesman Akbar Rus-tami said the construction phase of the factory will start by the end of this year.Afghanistan Chamber of Com-merce and Industries (ACCI) meanwhile said they are ready to invest in dairy production and processing.ACCI deputy spokesman Khan Jan Alokozay said cur-rently the private sector has invested $25M USD in dairy production.


PEOPLE & PRODUCT NEWS

Crane inaugurating aseptic diaphragm valve factory

Chempolis, Fortum & NRL to build bamboo biorefinery

Tata Power Delhi distribution appoints new CEO

BDK™ achieves SIL 3 certification

Ras Al Khaimah petroleum authority names new CEO

Tata Power Delhi Distribution (Tata Power-DDL) has announced the appointment of Sanjay Banga as the company’s new chief executive officer. Mr. Banga will take over from Praveer Sinha as he has been elevated to the position of CEO and MD of Tata Power.Mr. Banga has been with the Tata Power-DDL since July 2003 and was part of the founding team which transformed the ailing distribu-tion company into a benchmark utility. He has been serving as the vice president - power management, contracts and busi-ness development. He brings with him over

three decades of experi-ence in the power sector and worked on design-ing, project engineering, operations and commis-sioning of super thermal power projects. He has also extensively worked towards tech-nology integration in the distribution space for ushering in sectoral reforms.

BDK™, valve manufacturers and part of Weir Flow Control in India, has recently announced the achievement of SIL 3 certification for its range of; ball, butterfly, tricentric valves and B-Torq actuators.In order for BDK™ to achieve such a certi-fication, rigorous tests were performed by third-party experts Exida. Throughout test-ing, Exida took time to evaluate such areas as; product design, performance, reliability under various conditions and quality pro-

cesses. All such aspects proved to meet the stringent standards in accordance with SIL IEC 61508. Upon confirmation of the certifica-tion Product Director, Brett Armer had this to say; “This certification shows our commit-ment to providing safety critical valves and actuators to our customers, protecting their assets and people. The stringent and rigor-ous testing and analysis of our quality pro-cesses and manufacturing, has shown that BDK are again providing quality products to

our global customer base. We are committed to maintaining our high quality standards with globally recognised approvals.”SIL (Safety Integrity Level) refers to the level of safety adhered to throughout the production process through to performance and depend-ability in the field. SIL 3 certification is often a key requirement for valve customers searching for safety critical valve solutions, emergency shutdown valves and safety critical offshore/onshore applications.

Crane ChemPharma & Energy, Saunders a business of Crane Co. and a provider of fluid handling solutions worldwide, announced the inauguration of its newest location, an aseptic diaphragm valve factory in Satara, India.Crane has invited customers and industry stakeholders to celebrate and participate in a day-long event, complete with a tour of the new plant and luncheon. Built within

the same complex as two other Crane facto-ries, one for Saunders® Industrial Diaphragm Valves and another for CentreLine Butterfly Valves, the new facility will be 100% dedi-cated to Saunders® HC4 aseptic diaphragm valves and actuators. In addition to tour-ing the new plant, attendees will also take part in a ground-breaking ceremony for the Crane-sponsored Maher home for disadvan-taged children.

Finnish biorefining technology company Chempolis, compatriot energy group Fortum Oyj (HEL:FORTUM) and Indian state-owned oil company Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) will build a EUR-160-M (USD 192m) biorefin-ery in the Indian state of Assam that will use bamboo as feedstock.The companies have set up a joint venture (JV) to own the plant, where NRL holds 50%, Fortum 28% and Chempolis 22%. Construc-tion is due to start in the autumn of 2018, with start-up targeted for 2020.The biorefinery will process 300,000 tonnes of bamboo a year, found in abundance in northeastern India, and will produce 60 million litres (15.85 million gallons) of bioethanol to be sold to NRL for blending into petrol. It will also produce biochemicals and biocoal, which will be used to generate heat and power for

the biorefinery, with surplus power to be sold to NRL’s oil refinery.The facility will be based on Chempolis’ formico-technology.

Chempolis stated that the project supports the Indian government’s goal of increasing local bioethanol production and reducing fossil fuel imports.

After the recent announcement of the Government of Ras Al Khaimah appointing His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi as Chairman of Ras Al Khaimah Petroleum Authority (“RAKPA”), Nis-hant Dighe is appointed as Chief Executive Officer of RAKPA. Nishant Dighe, also the Chief Executive Officer of RAK Gas, is appointed to RAKPA on an interim basis until completion of the award of the petroleum rights under RAK’s 2018 petroleum licensing round, at which time a permanent appointment will be made.

The Government of Ras Al Khaimah recently announced the official launch of the Licensing Round and the establishment of RAKPA – the new regulator responsible for the Licensing Round tendering process and ongoing regulation of the petroleum sector in Ras Al Khaimah. These actions reflect the vision of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, regarding the development of the Emirate and its natural resources.

Proven technologyalways by your side

New Director (Technical)

for EIL Shri Lalit Kumar Vijh has assumed charge as Director (Technical) of Engi-neers India Ltd. (EIL). In a career span-ning over 36 years, Shri Vijh has a wide spectrum of experience in areas of process design, technology develop-ment and its commercialization, plant operation & process safety and other specialist design and engineering ser-vices across the entire hydrocarbon value chain.Having joined EIL in 1982 in the Process Design Division, he has been associated with many green and brown field pro-jects. Shri Vijh is a B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering from Punjab University, Chandigarh (1981 batch). Prior to assuming charge as Director (Technical), he held the position of Executive Direc-tor In-charge (Technical) in EIL.

James Walker excellent first year operation

in DubaiJames Walker has been selling into the

Middle East for at least 20 years and as its

range of products and services has grown,

it has become essential to offer a coordi-

nated approach to serving this important

region. As a result, James Walker Middle

East FZE was launched in Dubai last year.

With sales in the region recently dou-

bling, the company felt that this was the

right time to put people on the ground to

expand their capabilities and service their

growing customer base.

Haitham Zoorob, International Sales Direc-

tor, EMEA said, “With our ranges of gaskets,

compression packing’s, expansion joints

and elastomeric seals we service all the

key sectors including oil and gas, power

and the metallurgical industry supplying

OEM, end-user and MRO customers around

the globe with class-leading solutions.”

“We also lead the way in areas such as

flange management and bolting solutions

plus component weight-saving and per-

formance improvement through the use

of engineered thermoplastics – two areas

of operation that take our business into

applications as diverse as railways, cranes

and chemical processing” he added.


TESTING

High torque and soft seats do not go together - grabbing or tearing can occur. All these ‘soft seat’ materials will fail if over compressed or there are exceedingly high stress points. If not designed properly the seat will ultimately fail; typically doing actual tests and analysing marking and stress points are the only way towards a correct solution.Metal/soft insert; Typically triple off-set valve; Again tolerances and sur-face finish are critical, more so with this valve as it makes contact metal to metal with seat and body; This valve’s seats/seals cannot be honed or lapped to match the disc, there-fore not only is the surface finish critical but the discs’ position. Any misalignment can be taken up by the ‘soft’ part of the seal (typically graphite) or self re-alignment. This valve has a much harder time dur-ing start up and commissioning. As this is already a torque seated valve any further increase in torque can cause further loading on bearings not previously accounted for. Valve stem material choice is also critical in a TOSV due to the wind up on the shaft, any material that doesn’t per-form at the lower temperatures by imparting the right torque will inevi-tably cause the valve to leak. Metal seated ball valves can be honed so that the ball and seat match. But it’s more likely that they use a ‘stand-ard’ un-honed seat with a ‘soft’ insert. It’s the insert that provides the bubble tight shutoff.Valve stem extensions are there solely to keep the packing from freezing; the insulation serves not only to keep the valve cold but to stop any moisture getting to the very cold surface and ice forming. Whilst the standards quoted may state the length, this is certainly one area for interpretation it is a mistake to take these dimensions without knowing the application. Only when the amount of insulation which is going to be used is considered can the extension length be calculated. Take a valve in Brunei, for example, which is going to need a lot more insulation than one in Canada. Therefore the valve in Brunei is going to need a longer extension to include the thicker insulation.Valve shaft/extension housing gas space between the valves shaft and the stem extension should be a minimum, this is so that there is a small amount of LNG in the space which has chance to warm and

Cryogenic test standards such as BS6364, MSS SP-134

and ISO 28921-1 are based on testing the valve

with helium whilst it is submersed in liquid

nitrogen (LIN). This article endeavours to show

why the tests are carried out the way they are,

which to some would appear to be back to front!

Having designed valves and then conducted a great number of cryo-genic tests on almost every part of a valve let’s also consider the discussion from the manufacturer’s prospective. This is presented in two parts: A discussion on the design of the product and then the testing.

Designing a cryogenic valve

In general, it is true to say that the expectations placed on a cryo-genic valve are quite severe; as it is expected to seal on the seats at both ambient and cryogenic temperatures (conversely if this was a high temperature valve then the seats would NOT be expected to seal at ambient temperatures as everything expands and there needs to be large tolerances). Therefore, the following points need to be considered:Manufacturing tolerances on cryo-genic valves must be very tight, a lot tighter than a normal valve would be. This is a common mis-take made by cheaper valve manu-facturers. Therefore, a standard valve cannot be taken and ‘modi-fied’ for cryogenic applications; the valve will not perform and will fail in service. Hysteresis between ball and stem (slotted ball for ‘floating ball valve’) can also have a dra-matic impact and the fit has to be tighter.The surface finish of the valve is also of prime concern, as the mate-rials shrink. Parts must be able to move or flow over each other. Soft or polymer seats become very hard and therefore will not deform as readily as at ambient temperatures and must therefore be allowed to move easily. Soft materials would also tend to deform and fill undula-tions and roughness of the surface, so the better the finish the easier it is to seal (especially where helium is concerned).Soft seats on ball valves should be dynamic seat seals which are the only real solution to what is essen-tially a block of plastic. What is a ‘dynamic seat’? It’s a seat which is designed to move and change as temperatures reduce or increase. When a ‘block seat’ shrinks it liter-ally wedges the ball and significantly increases the torque of the valve.

By Bernard Horsfield

Cryogenic valvesWhy are they tested with a gas?

condense to a gas. This gas is kept to a small a volume as possible and helps reduce the packing loads.If the packing does start to leak then there is a lower load imparted and smaller volume of gas leaks.A Low emission packing design should always be used, there are many ways to improve and reduce leakage, but ultimately is comes down to good design and choice of materials. A packing set designed for severe service is the best option. But duty cycle and operation should always be taken into account.Valve design summary: A good cryogenic valve has smaller manu-facturing tolerances, better surface finishes and high specification materials. In other words a reliable cost effective valve is going to cost a lot more than a standard one, there are no ‘cheap’ alternatives if a valve is to last.

Testing a cryogenic valve

The British Standard test (BS63634) has been around for a very long time indeed. Shell based their own test standard MESC 77/306 on BS6364. If there was a significant failure in the ability of these stand-ards then this would be very obvi-ous as there would be thousands of valves actually failing in the field having passed the test. But let us briefly look at what it takes to pass a test and why the test is done.It is quite easy to manufacture a bespoke 1 off valve which has been designed specifically for cryogenic testing so that it will pass; the key is to be able to manufacture valves in large numbers which are of a con-sistent quality such that they will all pass the appropriate tests and perform in service.The test; According to reports some people would like to see the standards changed, so that the liquid nitrogen is on the inside of the valve!However, the cryogenic tests laid down in the standards BS6364, MSS SP-134 and ISO 28921-1 work only allow you to immerse the valve so that the Liquid Nitro-gen (LIN) is on the outside.Reversing the test and apply-ing the LIN to the inside would then require cryogenic pumps (which would increase

the testing costs significantly) to be able to get to the required rated pressure, this would cause signifi-cant safety implications due to the larger quantities of LIN. Any failure of a pressure retaining component (including pipework/equipment used for testing) would immediately allow a great deal of LIN to escape at pressure. LIN is oxygen depleting and the resultant liquid/gas would require immediate evacuation of the test area (unless conducted in a totally sealed test cell, which would again significantly increase cost) as at pressure it is going to outgas very quickly.If the valve was filled with LIN nei-ther the body joint nor the stem packing could be successfully checked for any sign of leakage.Taking the current testing as it stands one very important aspect to emphasise is the valve should always be allowed to ‘*soak’ “so that ALL components are down to the correct temperature (as there is a thermocouple touching the ball/orbiter, this isn’t difficult to achieve). Whilst it is agreed that every material contracts at a greater or lesser rate, once everything is the same temperature after soaking then there are no issues of differen-tial material temperatures.Only when the valve is completely ‘cold’ should any testing begin.The advantages of using helium gas internally are numerous; this media stays in the gaseous state even at minus 196Deg C, it has a very small molecule and is easy to detect in the smallest quantities. In other words, tests run with helium gas are harder to pass as the smallest possible leak path can be detected with a mass spectrometer. This is both safer and more effective than trying to use a liquid internally.The cost to carry out a cryogenic test is very high, both LIN and Helium are expensive to produce in the required forms. Time is also a huge factor as it takes so long for larger valves to get down to tem-perature and a lot of LIN is used. Making the test as simple as pos-sible and yet very difficult to pass is a way of both keeping the cost down and ensuring a good product is passed.*Soak time; It’s the soak time and cooling of the valve which must be

Image courtesy of Metso Automation

Image courtesy of Metso Automation

addressed by the users and installers during commissioning to eliminate shock loading the valves; which is only going to cause premature failure. There must be a slow cooling of the equipment and then a soak period (this can be calculated easily enough) only then should the valve be oper-ated so that it performs without leak-ing. Thermal shocking of any com-ponents will have an adverse effect especially over time. When commis-sioning or on start up, the insulation will initially work against you keeping the heat in the valve, this is one reason for a very slow cooling pro-cess and soak period. It is too easy to do it quickly, all that will happen is that equipment will fail prematurely, losing time and money in the future. All the materials have to get down to temperature and may need specific methods to achieve this.

ConclusionThe intention of this article is to create a more balanced perspective on dis-cussions of how valves are designed and tested for use at cryogenic tem-peratures. As a former cryogenic valve design and development engineer, the author wishes to help put the opin-ions of both the contractors and end users into context. There are a lot of other detail and points which can be raised and he welcomes comments and feedback as discussion can help promote the needs of the entire indus-try in ensuring safe and reliable valves at realistic prices.

Bernard Horsfield has been in the valve industry for over 26 years: designing, testing and developing both ball and triple offset valves for severe temperatures (cryogenic or fire safe). His extensive engineer-ing knowledge extends to electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineer-ing which has allowed him to see problems and provide end users with effective solutions. More recently Bernard has been using this experi-ence in a consultancy role and to increase sales in the oil and gas sector. Bernard can be contacted on 07772397078 or [email protected]

Further reading: https://www.cryogenicsociety.org/csa_highlights/a_cryogenic_valve_primer

valve-world-india.comJune/July 201814 Valve World India

FUGITIVE EMISSIONSI N D U S T R I A L V A L V E S M A N U F A C T U R E R

Dual ExpandingP L U G V A L V EARFLU Dual Expanding Plug valves repre sent the “single valve solution”, they are easy to operate, require very little maintenance and offer verifiable double block & bleed service with an extraordinary long lifetime.

PETROCHEMICAL DIVISION

How to reduce fugitive emissions to protect the environment and improve plant safety

Many countries are now focusing on track-ing fugitive emissions for certain industries. Today, they have been recognized as having become a major challenge to the environ-ment as they are capable of harming the milieu and contributing to global warming.Fugitive emissions are emissions of vapor or gasses from pressurized equipment mainly because of leaks or other irregular releases of gasses, mostly from industrial activities. In essence, fugitive emissions occur when an unintended leak of a hazardous substance takes place in a system, and the discharge fails to be contained in a stack, vent or duct. This may primarily be caused by poor ser-vicing, component failure or breakdown in the normal industrial process. For example, when a system containing certain refrigerant leaks, the substances cause significant dam-age to the atmosphere. In most cases, such refrigerant gasses are not broken down in the atmosphere, and it inadvertently enters the stratosphere and ends up destroying the protective ozone layer overtime.Fugitive emissions also come with other risks and hazards. For instance, emission of unstable substances such as benzene from oil refineries and chemical plants pose a sig-nificant health risk to both workers and local communities. Moreover, in situations where massive amounts of flammable gasses and liquids are contained under pressure, leaks in such cases also increase the risk of fire and explosion.Leaks from pressurized process equipment typically occur through mechanical seals, pipe connection, valves as well as other related equipment. Fugitive emissions also take place at evaporative sources such as storage tanks and wastewater treatment ponds. Due to the high number of possible leak sources at large industrial facilities coupled with the difficulty in identifying and fixing some leaks, fugitive emissions can be a significant percentage of total emis-sions. Even if the quantity of leaked gasses is small, it can have a serious impact on worker’s health as well as the environment as a whole.

How to reduce fugitive emissions?There’s no doubt that fugitive emissions can contribute substantially to pollution as

well as climatic change. So how can this be controlled? Generally, process facilities opera-tors conduct regular leak detection as well as repair activities. Routine inspections of process equipment with gas detectors can be useful when it comes to identifying and estimating the leak rate in order to take the appropriate corrective action.When it comes to reducing fugitive emis-sions, it’s recommended that process facili-ties utilize industrial valves with special seal-ing technology; the type tested by ISO 15848 standard. In most cases, these valves are not used on plants for Instrumentation Valves and Manifolds.There are different types of ISO 15848 type tested industrial valves available on the market, and the best part is that they are cost-effective. If the valves have been tested according to ISO 15848 standard:• Hand, Gauge and Needle Valves• 2, 3 and 5-Valve Manifolds• Double Block and Bleed Valves• Monoflanges

How to ensure you buy the best product available?Pay attention of how the valves are tested and always compare the manufacturer certifi-cates. Some manufacturers conduct the tests at room temperature or reduced temperature and pressure only. It is obvious that the stress on the valve packing and material is much higher at real operating temperatures of up to 200°C [329°F] and under pressure of 420 bar [6092 PSI]. Do also compare the number of cycles the valve has gone through to pass the test under the test temperature conditions.It’s also noteworthy to mention that you have to always go for quality when it comes to choosing the right valves for your facil-ity process plant. State of the art design technique achieves the highest peak of seal integrity and maximum process compatibility. Good manufacturers can provide flexible con-figurations with a vast variety of body types, end connections and valve technologies for all kinds of critical piping applications.Remember: ISO 15848 Fugitive Emission Type tested valves are excellent at controlling fugitive emissions which in turns improve plant safety, reliability and protects the environment.

By Tim-Frederik Kohler

OIL & GAS


Are you using drone inspection yet?

The use of drones for the inspection in the

oil and gas industry is slowly but surely gaining

ground. More and more companies are using

these services, mostly because of cost and safety

reasons. Drone inspection also has its limitations.

The human element is always needed to analyze

and possibly to act.

It is fair to say that the drone inspection business is still in its infancy. One of the major players in Europe, British-Dutch Skeye, was established in 2012. Founder/co-owner Pieter Franken: “I came into contact with drones and their commercial potential back in 2012. After some initial tests I decided to start my own company which in 2016 merged with Skycap from Britain. At the moment we operate a fleet of more than 15 drones in different types and capa-bilities.”Franken, just back from a trip to Nigeria, has just signed an agreement with Shell to monitor some of its projects over the world, also in Nigeria. According to him, the agreement could be a breakthrough in oil and gas. “We have been working up to the agreement for more than three years. Understandably, Shell wanted to make sure that our drones, drone operators and organ-ization are working to their strict standards. This process takes time.”

CautiousAs for the rest of the oil and gas industry, Franken says some companies have expressed an interest in Skeye’s services, but only after Shell more or less decided to use drones for inspection purposes.“The acceptation of most new technolo-gies is generally slow. Most companies are looking at each other and waiting for a first mover who ideally would weed out the start-up problems. We and also our com-petitors initially have underestimated the reluctance within the industry in general. Only recently, it seems that the industry is more ready to act rather than expressing a general interest.”This reluctance also stemmed from various developments within the field of legislation, Franken says. Because the use of drones for commercial purposes is a relative new development using various technologies that are rapidly evolving, legislation typi-cally follows technology. “There is also a lot of confusion -still- within the industry what is allowed and what not”, Franken states. “It does not help that for drones below 150 kg there are national legislations in place which can vary

When asked about the potential of drone inspection, various numbers circulate. It is fair to say these are highly specula-

tive – ranging from 14 to 28 billion USD in 2022/2025 - and also encompass drone services in general. Apart from industrial

inspection, drones are also used for measuring (for example volumes of iron ore or coal) or visualization such as 360 views

from a 20 story building that still has to be built.

For industrial inspections, two types of drones or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) are in use: helicopter and airplane. The

latter are typically for inspection which cover greater areas and requite longer flight times. Inspections are carried out

mostly beyond the visional line of sight (BVOL). Helicopter-type drones – available in various types – are used for shorter

inspections of industrial equipment, mostly within visual line of sight. Both drone types have potential for the oil and gas

industry. For example, Shell will employ BVOL-drones for inspection of the Australian Charlie-LNG-project, covering more than

725 kilometers of water and gas gathering pipelines.

By Lucien Joppen

considerably per country. In some countries, the use of drones for inspection services is very strict. In other regions, both legisla-tion and enforcement are considered weak. There are however efforts, coordinated by the EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) to harmonize legislation within the EU, a development which the drone (operating) industry endorses.”

Lower costsAs stated before, drone inspection is here to stay and to grow in the years to come. A major driver for growth is a lower cost structure compared to manual inspection. Also the safety factor comes into play. Mostly drones are employed for inspections of equipment (parts) that are difficult to reach. For example, flares in petrochemical installations or hulls/underdecks/top sides in FPSO’s or platforms. One company - K2 Dronotics -claims that a drone could inspect 12 off shore flares in just six days, thereby increasing the number of inspections and sub-sequently reducing inspection costs and flare replacement costs.The other pro of drones is their ability to inspect and detect with greater detail than the human eye. Drones are able to shoot high-res images and use infrared camera’s to detect differences in warmth to 1/10th of a degree. “Holes in flares/flare stacks typically tend to clog which lead to uneven heat patterns which speed up wear and tear. It is very difficult to spot these clogs with the human eye or a camera.”Apart from visual inspections, drones could also be equipped with sensors that would be able to ‘sniff’ gas leaks. Franken states he has seen equipment at trade shows which would be able to do the job. The price tag for this equipment – around 80.000 euro – is hefty and the capabilities/scope of the equipment still needs to be tested in industry settings, Franken says.

Human factorApart from the advantages, drones also have their limitations. Franken would be the first to acknowledge this. Unlike a

A Shell platform at sea.

human inspector drones are not able to take a screw driver or some epoxy resin to carry out light repairs or mainte-nance. “Drones can only detect. Based on these data, it is up to human experts to analyze and possibly act. In most cases, human intervention is needed but with the data gathered by drone inspection, these interven-tions can be planned more efficiently.”In short, drones and drone operators will not be the be-all and end-all but merely take some of the inspection work away from humans, Franken says. “A drone is not a

silver bullet. The human factor remains very important for assessment and repair/maintenance.”


COMPANY NEWS

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High-strengthcorrosion-resistantalloys in bar, plateand pipe.With 80 years’ experience, we provide products thatdeliver functional performance in the harshest ofconditions. Langley Alloys carry extensive stocks ofhigh-performance stainless steels, nickel andcopper alloys in bar plate and pipe form.

Advance Valves receives awards

New explosion-proof electric actuators from AUMA for continuous underwater use

Rotork Gears increases versatility of manual valve remote position indicators

Advance Valves has been supplying on–off butterfly valves to the oil & gas, pet-rochemical, fertilizer, steel, power, and water sector for many years to cover such critical applications: IBR, Cryo, blast furnaces, flare gas, LPG, LNG midstream, crude, and process sectors, etc. These valves have been supplied to a number of companies of exceptional customers like Reliance, Essar, IOCL, HPCL, CPCL, MRPL, Cairn Energy, GAIL, RFCL, Thermax for RIL, Aquat-ech, and many more.It is therefore with pleasure that Advance Valves would like to announce with it has been approved with Engineers India Limited (EIL) for on–off butterfly valves with SIL-3 certification

for complete compliance and in -house automation integration.At PDIL, Advance Valves was previously approved for both on–off and control valves. This was achieved after having supplied an exhausting range of DPCV, butterfly valves, and triple offset valves over the last few decades across its prestig-ious projects.

A spokesman for Advance Valves told Valve World India Journal: “These results have been achieved because of our experienced group of engineers and our state-of-the-art in-house integration facilities leading to us providing a unique actuated valve value proposition to our clients ranging from on–off to control/regulating applications.”

Electric actuator manufacturer AUMA has enhanced its underwater actuators with explosion-proof ver-sions. These actuators are suitable for continuous immersion, thus considerably extending the scope of application of electric actuators in water sup-ply systems, hydropower plants, civil engineering constructions for water applications, and specific underwater applications.Where water supply or sewer pipes run underground, actuators and valves are often installed in pits below ground level. Actua-tors designed for underwater use are ideal for installation in monsoon regions or in areas with a high risk of flooding as they will oper-ate reliably even if flooding persists. The new explosion-proof version is available for sewers and sewage pits, where fermentation gases generate a risk of potentially explosive atmos-pheres during dry periods.

Thanks to a universal sealing system combined with comprehensive corrosion protection these actuators can reliably operate under water for many years. Double-sealed cable glands at the electrical connection, inner seals – some in pairs – on all housing covers, and a one-piece solid shaft effectively prevent the ingress of water.SA and SAEx actuators in sizes 07.2 to 16.2 for continuous underwater use are qualified for up to 15 m head of water, with higher heads of water available on request. Explosion-proof versions meet ATEX requirements.All actuator settings, including end position set-tings for travel and torque, are made non-intru-sively via the AC actuator controls, without open-ing the actuator housing. The actuator controls are installed outside the flooded area, separate from the valve and actuator, and connected via cables. Cable lengths up to 100 m can be achieved.

Designed for manually operated valves that are buried, in chambers or otherwise difficult to access, the Rotork Gears ECL Position Indicator enables the remote handwheel operator to see the valve position.Versatility has been increased with the introduction of a second, larger model, designated ECL BB. The ISO 5211 F10 flange dimensions of the original ECL are increased to F14 on the ECL BB, increasing the maximum circular stem acceptance to 40 mm with a 12 mm keyway, or a 36 mm square bore. Other flange and bore dimensions are available on request.

Housed in a sturdy aluminium IP67 water-tight casing, the ECL is constructed with gear ratios that match the gearbox ratio, enabling the open, closed and intermedi-ate valve positions to be accurately viewed at the handwheel. The introduction of the ECL BB extends potential applications to a considerably increased range of valve sizes and duties.Standard operating temperature range is -40°C to +120°C (-40°F to +250°F). Options include an IP68 enclosure for submerged applications (1 metre for 72 hours), high temperature duties up to +200°C (+392°F) and low temperature duties down to -60°C (-76°F).

R&D Multiples receives award

R&D Multiples (Metal Cast) Pvt. was declared the winner in the ‘Best Water Supply Engi-neering – Valves’ category at the Water Digest Water awards 2017–2018. The ceremony was held in New Delhi at the end of March 2018 and the award was handed over by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Hon’ble Minister for Parliamen-tary Affairs & Water Resources, River Develop-ment & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.Water Digest Water Awards are a platform to honor distinguished work carried out by vari-ous companies, NGOs or individuals in treating, recycling and conserving water. The awards were conceived with a vision to awaken eco-conscious-ness in Indian industries and stimulate behavio-ral change while augmenting awareness of the protection and preservation of our environment, with particular focus on water. The event also has the support of the Ministry of Water Resources & Ganga Rejuvenation, the Government of India and UNESCO. R&D Multiples are a leading manufacturer of valves used in industrial applications all over India. Founded over three decades ago, the company has developed a wide product range over the years. The company makes valves up to 3.6 meters in size and 40 bar pressure ratings. They also offer a wide vari-ety of operators and actuators as drive, as well as & many accessories. Materials that are offered to suit customer specifications range from cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steels, and other corrosion resistant/ high strength alloys. See www.rdmultiples.com

Bernard Controls new quarter

turn actuators

Zoedale Ltd is offering the new Bernard Controls AQ Range of quarter turn electric actuators.These electric actuators with an optimised design are IP68 / NEMA 4X weatherproof with a torque output of 15Nm to 500Nm with multi-frequencies and multi-voltages. They cover temperature ranges from -20°C to +60°C, and all come as standard, with a corrosive industrial polyurethane paint finish and aluminium housing to ISO standards.Depending on the environment and appli-cation specifications, there is a multitude of configurations available to suit most requirements. Essentially, the Bernard Controls AQ Range is available in 3 con-trol options; Switch, Integrated LOGIC and LOGIC Positioner. A super compact Switch option without a handwheel and torque output from 15Nm to 70Nm through to the LOGIC Positioner equipped with a large rotatable LCD display and Bluetooth com-munication as standard that is Fieldbus compatible. These actuators are highly flexible to suit many demands, whether that be for common flow control in a ther-mal power plant, a water treatment plant, ventilation systems or any other industrial applications.

Shown here with a Rotork Gears E1950G quar-ter-turn gearbox, MW100 90° bevel gearbox and extension shaft, the ECL sits beneath the remote handwheel to provide accurate mechanical indica-tion of the valve position.

SEALING


Selecting high-temperature sealing and polymer solutions for oil & gas

and aerospace applicationsThis article looks at how Saint-Gobain Seals continues to devlop its products

to take into account increasingly extreme requirements in high temperatures,

pressures, and corrosion in the oil & gas and aerospace industries.

Jeevan Warker, Saint-Gobain Seals, Bangalore, India

In today’s high-pace manufacturing world, the limits of current technology are being strained due to the need to meet extreme requirements in high temperatures, high pressures and corrosion. This is especially true in volume manufacturing industries such as oil & gas and aerospace when it comes to selecting sealing and polymer material solutions.

What is being done to meet these challenging sealing requirements?In the case of sealing manufacturer Saint Gobain Seals, we have developed optimized designs through rigorous pre-validation process, qualifying solutions up to 25% H

2S

concentration and up to 200°C according to NORSOK M710 rev2 specifications for oil & gas applications. Oil extraction depths are grow-ing not only in subsea but also in onshore

Why has there been a change in the sealing material landscape? Several decades ago, aluminum was the mate-rial of choice everywhere in aircraft – from the fuselage to engine components. Today, lighter-weight materials are needed to reduce emis-sions and fuel consumption, which then have a direct impact on the temperature inside the jet engine. These changes have also affected the sealing material landscape. Current engines may easily need 122°C (50°C) more compared to twenty years ago. Sealing manu-factures must work very closely with engine manufacturers and their engineers to help them solve these new challenges. It was this thinking that led Saint-Gobain Seals to collabo-rate with their partners to develop Fluoroloy® A90 polymer material that withstands static hot air sealing in temperature up to 350°C (662°F) while retaining its mechanical proper-

ties with the same or less leakage, surface indentation, and material degradation.In addition, we work to develop new materials but also to see how these developments can improve our most successful sealing solutions for even more extreme environments such as space. Our OmniSeal® RACO® spring-energized seals have been used for the past sixty years and have been part of the start-up of NASA’s space program due not only to handling high temperature but very low, cryogenic tempera-ture. Most of the fluids used in space launch vehicles as propellants are stored at cryogenic temperature such as liquid oxygen (–196°C/– 320°F) or liquid hydrogen –254°C(–425°F). Due to the design of the spring that compensates for the physical shrinkage of the fluoropolymer-based jacket, the seal provides exceptional seal-ing capability at low and cryogenic temperature while maintaining sealing functionality at the high temperature (392°F/ 200°C). For further information see www.seals.saint-gobain.com

Aerospace manufacturers continually

focus on weight reduction in order

to optimize fuel consumption as well

as reduce carbon emissions.“”drilling. In the particular cases of valves and

downhole drilling tools, the sealing require-ments for valves up to 10” have increased to 200°C (392°F) and 20,000 psi from previous norm of 150°C (302°F) and 10,000 psi. Vali-dation has also become even more severe with test pressure defined as 1.5 times pro-ject pressure and therefore up to 30,000 psi (i.e., hydrostatic shell test as per API 6A for onshore and API 17D for subsea ).Because the business is active in multiple mar-kets where similar extreme requirements are present, we have used our shared knowledge and expertise to focus on the most common challenge of high temperatures. Aerospace applications are nowadays the most challeng-ing. For the aerospace industry, high-tempera-ture resistance in a jet engine is regarded as a critical requirement in order to achieve better fuel efficiency and lower weight. Why is there so much focus on the engine? Because the engine houses the most individual parts, it is the most complex element of an aircraft and the challenge then becomes finding materials that will meet this temperature need.

Looking closer at the jet engine and the temperature need The engine temperature and high-temperature sealing material need increase with each suc-cessive section of the engine. At the front is the air intake fan, which runs at about

Capability according to SAE AS5780) jet engine oils, and suffer thermal ageing. Addi-tionally, they are affected by oil coking (car-bonization of the oil at high temperature) as well as swelling or softening of the material that can occur at high temperature due to penetration of the oil or fluid, eventually causing leakage.Metal seals do tolerate very high tempera-tures but require more bolts and nuts for proper installation. This makes them more difficult to use, ending up with them being more expensive and adding weight to the system. Aerospace manufacturers continually focus on weight reduction in order to opti-mize fuel consumption as well as reduce car-bon emissions. This principle applies to other systems in the jet engine such as electric harnesses where engineered materials like Meldin® 7001 polyimides contribute to sav-ings due to thinner walls and lighter weight.Another sealing solution would be spring-energized seals as they do have the tem-perature capabilities to handle applications in engine sections within the 200–350°C (392–662°F) range, including the compressor and turbine sections. This range is higher compared to most sealing products in the market. Saint-Gobain Seals’ OmniSeal® poly-mer seals are reliable technology that is tested, validated, and evolve in line with the markets and the specific equipment where it is installed.

room temperature or up to approximately 50°C (122°F). After the fan is the compressor, which grows increasingly hotter as the air is compressed and moves closer to the combus-tion chamber, an area where the temperature is very high –going up and beyond 1000°C (1832°F). The turbine is next, and then the exhaust system where the temperature slowly goes down to 400°C (752°F) and lower at the gases’ emission.

Finding the right sealing materials to handle high temperatures? Elastomer and metal seals are sealing mate-rial options for engine design. However, these materials do pose challenges. Elas-tomers are mostly limited to 325°C (617°F), have chemical compatibility constraints with HTS (High Thermal Stability according to MIL-PRF-23699F) and HPC (High-Performance


VALVE PROCUREMENT

SUPERIOR VALVES AT INFERIOR COST

There is the opportunity to save 10% or more on valve costs, plus the

added benefits of reduced space, weight, shipping, installation time, and

delivery time. All of this is possible without affecting the technical

integrity of the valve whilst, at the same time, bringing improvements

during construction and operation in a lot of cases.

By Peter Smith

Project spends in the oil, gas, and petro-chem-ical industries range from US$ 10 millions for small-to-medium sized offshore platforms right up to US$ 100 millions spent on mega petro-chemical projects. However, regardless of the size, reservoir, or feedstock, there is always the opportunity to save significant sums of money and reduced capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operation expenses (OPEX) budgets.For commodity valves, why is there such a discrepancy in the valve selection philosophies of the major operators and smaller end users? If the product is from the same reservoir/feedstock, same fluid type/same pressures, same temperatures, why should the valve type selection be different. I am not speaking about different brands/manufacturers, this I can understand, based on commercials, quality, logistics, and track records. I am talking about fundamentally different valve types.

For manual valves, there are four distinctive valve functions:IsolatingThrottlingNon-returnPressure relivingAll end users whether they are ExxonMobil, Shell, Statoil, Chevron Total, BP, ENI, ADCO, ans Aramco, etc., approach valve selection from a different direction and end up with differing results. This is understandable for special cases, like riser valves, emergency shutdown valves, blowdown valves and other critical valves, where

special care and consideration is required which, will result in different conclusions.However, for commodity valves there is a greater opportunity for a shared consensus of opinion, which would lead to a greater degree of standardization in valve selection for both process and utility systems on both onshore and offshore projects. The first question that should be asked is what is a commodity valve? If you gathered 10 valve specialists together they would all have slightly different answers, based on personal opinions. Statoil, probably had the best solu-tion when they published a matrix, which identifies commodity valves based on:MaterialPressure classSize

From Statoil TR2000.

The above, is Statoil’s Corporate guideline to define commodity valves, which is clear and not open for misinterpretation. I have not seen commodity valves so accurately defined by other operators and it is certainly some-thing that they should all consider.

Valve selection

Generally, valve selection for the oil, gas and petro-chemical sector, is based on:• Meeting code requirements – generally,

ASME B31.3/4/8.

A US$ 10 million valve spend on an offshore platform.

suitable for;• Process design conditions• Fluid type – liquid/gas/vapour – clean or

dirty• Acceptable leakage rate – ISO 5208, rate A,

B, C, D etc.• Coefficient of variation (CV)• Maintainability – no/low/medium/high• Operation frequency• Design life• Commercial availability/cost/delivery• Operator experience/feedback.Many of the above are quantifiable, but there are variables. One such variable is ‘operator feedback’, which is very subjective. If a valve fails, in my experience, it is the valve type and the brand that is blamed first for the mal-function. The end user/owner is initially seen as the victim. The first impression is, ‘XYZ’s’ valve has failed and ‘XYZ’ and the valve type gets a bad reputation. This could result in ‘XYZ’ being removed from bidding on future projects and a change in valve selection.Before blame can be attributed, other possi-bilities must be considered:• Incorrectly specified valve, design and

materials of construction.• Not positioned in the correct location in

the piping system.• Incorrect orientation.• A poorly approved vendors list with low-

est cost as target.• Lack of sufficient inspection.

Appendix A - Commodity ValvesThe following applies for Commodity Valves (scope shown in grey in the tables below):– Reduced documentation required (see above SIRL)– Defect valves shall not be repaired and shall be replaced with newFor onshore facilities only:– Scope may be changed based on a local evalution.

Flanged piston check valves

Dual plate check valves:

Flanged swing check valves:

Flanged wedge gate and globe valves:

Carbon steel SS316

Carbon steel SS316

Carbon steel SS316

150 300 600 900 1500 2500 150 300 600 900 1500 2500

150 300 600 900 1500 2500

150 300 600 900 1500 2500

150 300 600 900 1500 2500

150 300 600 900 1500 2500

3°≤2°

3°≤2°

>14°14°

12°

10°

8°

6°4°

>14°14°

12°

10°

8°

6°4°

>14°14°

12°

10°

8°

6°4°

>14°14°

12°

10°

8°

6°4°


PROJECT NEWS

• Process conditions have changed significantly.

• Bad warehousing.• Poorly installed.• Subjected to extreme testing pressures

during commissioning and start-up.• Not maintained correctly.• Not operated correctly.Generally, it is highly likely that it is one or more of the above, which is the reason for the eventual valve failure. It is a valve company’s mission to sell the end user a valve that functions successfully and then hopefully, that end user will return and negotiate a new order, for the next pro-ject. But we don’t live in a perfect world and mistakes are made. It’s more likely that how a valve manufacturer responds to a problem is the indicator of a valve’s quality. Why would a reputable valve manufacturer, deliberately sell a valve that does not meet the project specifications so that it eventually fails? All operator/EPC contactors have their own expectations with regard to valve selection. Some invest more resources into research and development. Some of the decisions that have had an impact on valve selection are out of date. They were possibly valid when they were made many years ago, by person-nel long gone, but times have changed.Having reviewed over twenty corporate valve philosophies from major operators, I have concluded that a couple have refreshing new Ideas, but all have not captured fully, the potential to reduce cost, weight, space, and installation time. All of the valve selec-tion philosophies are, “Fit for Purpose”, but improvements can be achieved without compromising the technical integrity of the piping system.There are certainly opportunities to reduce costs, between 10% and more, and also with the added benefit of saving space, weight, and installation time, all of which have a value. The oil & gas industry has a reputation for “If it worked successfully last time, don’t change it.” Couple this to today’s, “cut and paste” engineering, made very easy in the digital age, then technical progress is very slow and new or enhanced technologies struggle for recognition.Bearing in mind, that all of the major opera-tors generally purchase their valves from reliable sources for their largest projects, their expectation would be for high quality. They should work from Approved Vendors Lists (AVL) that should be based on a manu-facturer’s reliability, reputation, quality and a high level of predictability that these valves should function as specified.Unfortunately, AVLs are not always of the best standard. If the list is of a low quality, then a commercial/technical evaluation will result in the ‘best of the worst’ being selected.Based on this fact, if only ‘non-variables’, are used for the evaluation – function, pro-cess conditions, design life, leakage rate, CV, commercial availability and that these valves are all designed to the same international standards, then there should be very little dif-ference, if any, in the valve selection philoso-phies between operators, large or small.But there is…. This leads us to the ‘variables’, of which there is only one significant factor, which is very subjective – ‘operator experi-ence/feedback” and personal opinions. Origi-nal valve selection philosophies can go back several decades, but incorporating periodic modifications, generally based on operator feedback. A decision to select a valve type in the 1980’s might not now be valid in the current market-place. Ten years or more can pass between corporate valve selection philosophies being reviewed, revised and published. The original selection may be ‘Fit for Purpose’ but, is it now the best choice.

Fortunately, for ‘in service’ failure, there are now higher levels of accountably. When a failure is reported a comprehensive root cause analysis is required, to justify these changes. However, when some of historic decisions on the cause of valve failure were made, there was less formality. In times gone by, the observation of failure, evaluation, recommen-dation, approval, implementation chain was very short.The other problem is that the major operator’s corporate valve selection philosophies are often used as guidelines by smaller operators, who, either adopt them from previous joint ventures or they simply copy them. The End User avoids spending engineering hours to create his/her own corporate valve philosophies. This is a false economy since a few hundred hours invested in specialist valve engineering skills, can be repaid by avoiding purchas-ing an inferior valve that fails and ultimately results in hours/days/weeks being lost.To make changes to existing valve selection philosophies requires careful consideration:• Reviewing existing documentation.• Investigating the opportunities with valve

manufacturers. • Discussing the challenge with other end

users.• Evaluating potential opportunities.• Confirming opportunities.• Recommendations to technical authori-

ties/custodians.• Approving the changes.An operator whose past projects have gener-ally been onshore but which the increases its offshore activities, should revisit its valve selection philosophy, if it wants to reduce, space, weight, cost, and installation time on future offshore projects. The valve may be ‘Fit for Purpose’, but not the best valve for an offshore environment.Developing a valve selection philosophy or updating an existing one takes the time, skill and judgement of experienced engineering personnel. Nevertheless, investing this time is justified by future rewards in procurement, construction, and operation.There are certainly opportunities for the end user to purchase superior valves at an inferior cost and gain other commercial and logistic benefits.

Valve spending can be US$ 100s millions on a petro chemical complex.

Peter Smith, is currently

working as a Valve and

Piping Consultant with

Petronas as a Technical

Assessor. He has over

forty years of project

and corporate experi-

ence with end users and EPC contractors

on a variety of Onshore/Offshore, Petro-

Chemical, FPSO, FLNG projects. Previous

clients include: ExxonMobil, Shell, Aker

Solutions, WorleyParsons, Bluewater,

ABBLummus, and others. Mr. Smith is

particularly interested in: cost and weight

reduction initiatives, valve selection,

standardization, and valve diagnostics and

preventive maintenance.

VALVE PROCUREMENT

BPCL to close Bina refinery for 45 days

Honeywell opens new CEC in Kuwait

Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd will shut its 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) joint venture Bina refinery from mid-September for 45 days to expand its capacity by 30%, its head of refineries said.R. Ramachandran told, during the shutdown, the company will carry out modifications at various units to raise capacity of the plant to 156,000 bpd.

He also said that “The refin-ery will be stable and start operating at (an annual rate of) 7.8 million tonnes (156,000 bpd) before the end of this calendar year.” The expansion is also aimed at producing cleaner fuels. The Bina refinery is oper-ated by Bharat Oman Refin-eries Ltd (BORL), a 50-50 joint venture between Oman Oil Co and state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Honeywell opened a state-of-the art Customer Experi-ence Center (CEC) at its office in Mina Abdullah in southern Kuwait, which aims at giving local cus-tomers, trainees and stu-dents a deeper understand-ing of Honeywell products and solutions, in particular Honeywell Connected Plant technology, for oil and gas facilities and refineries.The opening event was attended by senior energy industry executives who experienced how Honeywell leverages the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and connected technolo-gies to increase safety, reliability, efficiency, and profitability across the sector. The launch of the CEC reflects Honeywell’s strategic commitment to the development and advancement of key indus-tries in Kuwait and allows visitors to see, touch and experience a variety of technologies. Together with the Honeywell Automation College in the same location,

the facility provides a wide range of training on auto-mation technologies for upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas environments, and uses real case studies to facili-tate learning.The Automation College has been delivering global training capabilities in Kuwait through more than 300 courses specifically designed to address the challenges and future requirements of local power and water, oil and gas, and automation industries.The CEC showcases the lat-est connected technologies for the oil and gas market, including Honeywell Con-nected Plant technologies, process control solutions such as the Experion® Orion console, as well as fire, gas detection and cyber security solutions. Honeywell Connected Plant is a suite of applications that delivers higher levels of safety, reliability, effi-ciency and profitability.

Iran & China sign MoU on constructing petrochemical park

Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) and China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF) signed a MoU for strategic cooperation on constructing a petrochemical park in Iran.According to NPC’s Investment Director Hossein Alimo-rad, this MoU paves the way for further expansion of cooperation between the two countries’ petrochemical sectors. “The location of the new petro-park will be determined after precise surveys and the output prod-uct types will also be determined by NPC based on the location and its conditions,” he said.

DESIGN


The DIB-2 cryogenic trunnion mounted valve

In this short article, Microfinish Valves’ DIB-2 seat design for cryogenic trunnion mounted

valves is compared to single piston- and double piston-effect seat trunnion mounted valves and

its advantages are put forward.

By Gabriel Jaccoby, Microfinish Valves, India

Piston Effect (DPE) seat. The DPE seat design has no integral mechanism of relieving cavity pressure build-up. Normally, valves with DPE seats will include an external pressure relief connected to the valve cavity. In the case of over pres-sure it will be released to the surrounding, issuing a safety concern. On the positive side, DPE seats extend dramati-cally the lifetime of a valve in service, as both the upstream and downstream seats are working to block in-line leak-age, even in cases where upstream seat damage and leak will pressurize the valve cavity. The downstream seat will, moreover, act as a second-ary backup to block the leak.

The DIB-2 seat design of Microfinish ValvesThe DIB-2 seat design of Microfinish valves have

a combination of SPE seat design at the valve upstream side and a DPE seat design at the valve downstream side, which creates an optimal design for cryogenic services, especially since it adds the advantages and eliminates the disadvantages from both SPE and DPE designs.In normal condition, with the valve in its closed posi-tion, both the upstream SPE seat and the downstream DPE seat work in tandem to block the in-line cryogenic flow. The valve Mean-Time-To-Failure (MTTF) and the valve overall reliability extends dramatically. In the case of cavity pressure build up, the upstream SPE seat pre-forms exactly like a pres-sure relieve mechanism to release over pressure to the upstream side only. The relieve direction is always

About Mr. Gabriel Jaccoby

Mr. Jaccoby has been the CTO of Microfinish Valves for the past twelve months.

He has brought more than twenty-five years of international experience to the

company.

Mr. Jaccoby’s assignment is to support the rapid global growth of Microfinish

by developing new products and by improving and strengthening Microfinish’s

matured product line.

Single Piston Effect (SPE) seatMost trunnion mounted ball valves in the industry are based on DB&B construction; two identical (SPE) seats sym-metrically assembled at the valve upstream and down-stream side create a bi-direc-tional valve construction, with the ball in the closed position, both seats block in-line flow into the valve cavity; hence

creating a perfect insulated barrier at atmospheric pres-sure between two streams.In the case of cavity pres-sure build-up the seats are designed to yield and relieve over pressure in-line. This safety feature is critical especially in services, which are sensitive to thermal expansion, namely all cryo-genic applications, e.g. LNG at –162°C takes up about 1/600th of the volume of natural gas in the gaseous state, or another way to look at it, one (1) bar of LNG in a closed vessel will turn to 600 bar in the gaseous condition.The drawback of SPE design, is that it relies on only one upstream seat to block the

in-line flow. In the case of seat damage, a leak into the cavity will build a pressure sufficient to push the down-stream seat backwards, disconnecting the ball seat sealing surface area, and in-line free flow will occur.

Double Piston Effect (DPE) seatA rarely used seat design in the industry is the Double

to the upstream, and not randomly directed to either side like in a DB&B design.Every cryogenic valve is equipped with an arrow flow plates riveted to the valve body, and to the bon-net top side. The arrow flow indicates the valve installation direction with the high pressure at its tail and the low pressure at the arrow head. The arrow flow direction does not always correlate to the cryogen normal flow direction. In contrast, in most applications the valve should be installed with the arrow flow directed in the opposite direction to the cryogen normal flow. To clear up any confusion, one should dictate where the upstream side is e.g., when the pump stops and the valve is turned to its closed position. Although it seems trivial, at Microfinish Valves we find this industrial error very common. It is an error, which causes double work, wastes raw materials, and is even a safety concern.Our company’s cryogenic valve in general, and the cryogenic trunnion mounted valve in particu-lar, required close attention in the design stage, right through to the machin-ing of parts and cleaning (oxygen specification). It also needed accurate assembly in a lubricant free designated area followed by meticulous helium test-ing at ambient and in cold conditions. Microfinish Valves are the first valve manufac-turer company to launch a unique DIB-2 cryogenic trunnion mounted valve. We set an enhanced valve standard to LNG terminals, Air separation units, and downstream Ethane plants.

DPE seat design.SPE seat design.

DIB-2 cryogenic valve assembly

High Pressure Low Pressure

PLANTS & PROJECTS NEWS


Oman to integrate refining, petrochemical assets

Qatar Petroleum to build huge petrochemical complex

Oman is working with consultancy Mck-insey & Co to integrate its refining and petrochemical industries into one entity, a senior Omani official and a financial source familiar with the matter said. “The work is being carried out by McK-insey. It is not finished yet”. In recent years, Gulf countries have looked at ways to shake-up their oil firms, including privatizations, to make them more efficient during a period of low oil prices.

Saudi Arabia is seeking a public listing for its flagship oil company Saudi Aramco, while Abu Dhabi National Oil Co has embarked on a plan to privatize its ser-vices business and has signed deals with global partners on upstream projects.Oman has been considering privatiza-tions of a wide range of state firms for several years.Last year, it said it planned to sell shares in some state-owned down-stream energy companies to the

public, partly to raise money as low oil prices pressure its finances.With smaller oil and financial reserves than its wealthy neighbors, Oman has spent heav-ily on industrial and infrastructure projects to diversify its economy beyond oil.

Qatar Petroleum has invited a group of leading international companies, with extensive experiences in the petrochemicals industry, to submit proposals for partnering with Qatar Petroleum in the development and operation of a new world scale Pet-rochemicals complex at Ras Laffan Industrial City.The Petrochemicals Complex will include an ethane cracker with a capacity of more than 1.6 million tons per annum (MTPA) of Ethylene, making it the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East, and one of the largest in the world. The Petrochemi-cals complex will also include world-class derivative plants, which will consolidate Qatar’s position among

the leading petrochemicals producers in the world markets. The engineer-ing design of the Petrochemicals Complex should commence shortly, leading to a planned start-up in 2025.Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said “this development is a first step towards the launch of a new world scale Petrochemicals complex at Ras Laffan, marking another important milestone for Qatar Petroleum.” The feedstock for the Petrochemical Complex will be ethane produced pri-marily from the new North Field LNG expansion project that will produce an additional 23 MTPA of LNG, as well as from existing gas projects produc-ing ethane.

Persian Gulf Star Refinery phase II to start in June

Persian Gulf Star Refinery, also known as Bandar Abbas Gas Condensate Refinery, is a new gas condensate refinery being developed near Bandar Abbas, Iran.The project’s first phase is now producing 12 million liters per day of Euro-5 petrol which is expected to double once the second phase of the project comes fully online.CEO of the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company (NIORDC) Alireza Sadighabadi said that the project would become operational within a month.Iran has long sought to wean its energy sector off petrol imports and the Persian Gulf Star Gas Condensate Refinery is a major measure taken by the country to realize its long-sought goal to become self-sufficient in petrol production. It will have a processing capacity of roughly 360,000 barrels of gas condensate a day upon becoming fully operational in 2018. The facility is owned by Oil, Gas and Pet-rochemical Investment Company (49%), Oil Industry Pension Fund (33.1%) and National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribu-tion Company (NIORDC) (17.9%).The project is estimated to be completed at a cost of approximately $3.4bn. The refinery will produce high-quality gasoline in order to make Iran self-sufficient in gasoline production. It will also enable the nation to export gasoline and other strate-gic petroleum items.

Total, Oman sign MoU to develop natural gas resource

Total has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Govern-ment of Oman to develop natural gas resources in Oman. This MoU covers both upstream and downstream businesses.Total and Shell as operator will develop several natural gas discoveries located in the Greater Barik area on onshore Block 6 with respective shares of 25% and 75%, as per the agreement between both companies and before possible state back-in, with the objective of an initial gas produc-tion of around 500 MMcfd and a potential to reach 1 bcf/d at a later stage.Total will use its equity gas entitlement as feedstock to develop in Oman a regional hub for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering service to sup-ply LNG as a fuel to marine vessels. This will be achieved thanks to a new small-scale modular liquefaction plant to be built in Sohar port. The plant will comprise a train of around 1 Mt per year and will offer the flexibility for expansion as required by the development of the LNG bunkering mar-ket.In Oman, the Group’s production was 37 kboe/d in 2017. Total produces oil in Block 6 (4%) and in Block 53 (2%), as well as LNG through its participa-tion in the Oman LNG (5.54%)/Qalhat LNG (2.04%) liquefaction complex with an overall capacity of 10.5 Mt/y.

PREVENTION


Understanding and preventing

causes of down time

Improved plant reliability is key to optimising

both safety and profits. In today’s competitive

global environment understanding the potential

causes of asset down time is an important

part of devising and implementing effective

prevention plans.

Down time can be costly, therefore the man-agement of strategic plant and equipment allows the identification of both real and potential problems to avoid down times as much as possible.A good management system should define levels of connection criticality, allow the acquisition of appropriate data and include regular performance reviews attended by relevant personnel to identify trends, specific problem areas and continuous improvement strategies. This can only be successful if records are maintained as part of an integrated management control system.By implementing a structured analysis of seal failure, important lessons can be learned and preventative maintenance programmes adopted to prevent future occurrence.The bolted flanged connection is a complex mechanical assembly. A basic understanding of the mechanical compo-nents, forces at play, basic interactions

By ESA member D Halkyard

and the factors that influence them can give insights into why they sometimes leak. Before looking in more detail into the possible reasons for seal failure and ways to prevent future occurrence it is useful to briefly review each of the mechanical components and their primary functions and the importance of correct assembly procedures.

Flanges

Flanges serve a number of functions such as load transference i.e. how the compressive force is transferred onto the gasket. They also provide a sealing face against which the seal is formed and maintained. Flanges need to be flat, paral-lel and stiff or rigid enough to allow the transmission of the compressive force with-out over bending or rotation. Flanges that deform can cause uneven load distribution on the gasket leading to gasket unloading and\or too much stress on the outer edges

of the gasket. Important con-siderations that have a bearing on rigidity/stiffness are the flange thickness, facing configuration and the way the flange is designed to connect to the vessel or pipe-work. Material selection and tem-perature also play an important role as modulus, or stiffness are both temperature and material specific. Differences in the thermal expansion attributes between different flange materials and/or bolting can also lead to changes in the compres-sive load during process start-up, shutdown and under steady state operating conditions.

A good management system should defi ne levels of connection criticality, allow the acquisition of appropriate data and include regular performance reviews attended by relevant personnel to identify trends, specifi c problem areas and continuous improvement strategies.

Fasteners

Flange fasteners, by which we normally mean bolts, nuts and washers come in many materials and forms. The most common types used in the field of industrial sealing are usually stud or fixed head bolts with either one or two nuts with a coarse metric or UN thread form; typically UNC or UN8. The primary function of the fastener is, via direct or indirect bolt extension, to provide suitable clamping load within the connection. Ensur-ing the bolt is not subject to loosening and stress is maintained within acceptable (elastic) limits. Correct fastener selection is a key consideration in maintaining compressive load throughout the expected life of the con-nection. A good knowledge of different bolt types and materials and their mechanical properties under both assembly and work-ing conditions will assist in this. In elevated temperature or cyclic service conditions as with flanges, consideration to differences in thermal expansion characteristics with other metallic components within the grip length of the bolt should be given. Washers are often overlooked, however their use, particularly in problematic connections where torque is used to generate bolt load can prove useful. The nut material is generally harder than the flange material, which can result in localised deformation of the back of the flange making accurate torque\tension determination dif-ficult, even under controlled conditions. The use of correctly sized and hardened washers can improve torque\tension conversion effi-ciency by providing a smooth hard surface for the nut face to slide over and spread the compressive force more evenly.

Gaskets

Gaskets come in many styles and materi-als they are generally classified into 3 main groups; non-metallic, semi-metallic and metallic gaskets. The primary function of the gasket is to create and then subsequently maintain the seal over the working life of the connection. This means the gasket must have the capability of forming into the sealing faces of the flange and react enough against the assembly and operational compressive loads without being damaged or undergoing excessive relaxation. Connections that utilise non-metallic gaskets can present particular challenges, such assemblies are sometimes described as floating connections. In general their load bearing capability is less than that

of the other gasket groups. For more extreme sealing applications semi-metallic gaskets may be more appropriate as load bearing, blow-out resistance and relaxation properties are generally improved. Resilience of a connec-tion can also be enhanced by selection of the appropriate semi-metallic gasket style for the application. Precision machined solid metal gaskets are generally used in high pressure service where available compressive forces are high. When using this type of gasket attention to mating surface finish and relative hardness are key considerations.

Installation

It should be pointed out that consideration of all the mechanical components and their potential for interaction is key to maximising seal performance. Correct hard-ware selection, however, is not a guarantee of seal success. Installation plays a major role, correct installation ensures that the relevant forces are appropriate in both magnitude and distribution for the intended service conditions. To achieve this with any accuracy requires the adoption of a man-aged or controlled assembly procedure. From a practical perspective this means adherence to proven best practice assembly techniques using trained and experienced personnel. EN1591-4 ‘Qualification of per-sonnel competency in the assembly of the bolted connection of critical service pressur-ised systems’ provides an excellent modular training syllabus and assessment regime for both management and techni-cians that have responsibility for the assembly and disassembly of pressurized bolted connections. The European Sealing Association (ESA) has produced this article as a guide towards Best Available Techniques for seal-ing systems and devices. These articles are published on a regular basis, as part of their commitment to users, contractors and OEM’s, to help to find the best solutions for sealing challenges and to achieve maximum, safe performance during the lifetime of the seal. The ESA is the voice of the fluid seal-ing industry in Europe, collaborating closely with the Fluid Sealing Association (FSA) of the USA. Together, they form the key global source of technical knowledge and guidance on sealing technology, which is the basis for these articles. For more information, please visit www.europeansealing.com


REGIONAL NEWS

Gazprom Neft commissions second well at Sarqala

GMR Energy divest its stake in Himtal hydropowers project

Iran to sign 7 IPCs worth $40bnThe National Iranian Oil Company is planning to sign seven agreements on devel-opment of oilfields within the framework of Iran Petroleum

Contract, the country’s new model of contract for oil and gas projects.“We are looking forward to signing the deals with a

total value of $40bn by mid-October,” Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy for development and engi-neering at NIOC, was also quoted as saying by Shana.Three IPCs have so far been signed on development of five oilfields. The first was concluded with the French energy Total S.A. in July 2017 to develop Phase 11 of the South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf.

The second accord was clinched in March with Rus-sia’s state-owned oil company Zarubezhneft for the develop-ment of Aban and West Paydar oilfields near Iran-Iraq border.The third contract was signed between NIOC and a domestic firm, Pasargad Energy Devel-opment Company, to develop two oilfields, namely Jofeir and Sepehr in Khuzestan Province in line with poli-cies to help expand domestic companies’ exploration and production operations.Manouchehri added that the seven prospective contracts will involve the development of 10 oilfields.

Gazprom Neft subsidiary Gazprom Neft Middle East B.V. has commissioned a second well — the Sarqala-2 — at its Sarqala field, located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The new well is cur-rently producing 11,000 barrels per day (bpd), with potential to increase this to 15,000 bpd. Total daily production at the field has now increased more than two-fold, exceeding 21,000 bpd.Sergei Petrov, General Director, Gazprom Neft Middle East B.V.

commented: “The Sarqala-2 well is operating under high reservoir pres-sure and temperature. But by using exceptional technical solutions in well construction we have been able to make significant reductions in operating costs, as well as bringing the project in on time.”First oil from the Garmian block was obtained in 2011, with com-mercial crude shipments from the field commencing as early as 2015.

Currently the total cumulative production at the field stood at seven million barrels of oil. The first phase of expand-ing gathering and treatment capacity to 25,000 bpd is now complete, with work continu-ing on expanding infrastructure to accommodate 35,000 bpd. Drilling of the Sarqala-3 well is planned for Q3 2018, completing Phase I of field development.

GMR Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of GMR Infra-structure Ltd, has announced the signing of a definitive agreement to divest its entire stake in Himtal Hydropower Company Pvt Ltd and its associated transmission company Marsyandgi Transmission Company Pvt Ltd.The company has signed an agreement to divest its stake to a consortium investor group, SCIGIn-ternational Nepal Hydro Joint Development Com-pany Pvt Ltd, Xingcheng International Investment Company Ltd and QYEC International Co. Ltd and the Nepal-based Independent Power Producer Butwal Power Company Ltd. In a filing to the BSE, the diversified infrastructure company

has spoken about its move to divest stake in the hydel project.GMR Energy is developing the 600 MW Upper Marsyangdi-2 Hydro Electric Power Project (UMHEP) on the river Marsyangdi in Lamjung and Manang districts of Nepal. A Joint Develop-ment Agreement (JDA) was executed with IFC as co-developer, with 10% equity rights. IFC has the right to act as the lead lender or arranger of debt financing for the project. The power project received environment clearance in December 2012. The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade has granted a long-term licence valid for 30 years, for the import of power from this power project.

ADNOC investment plan to become downstream player

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has unveiled plans to invest AED 165bn ($45bn) alongside partners, over the next five years, to become a global downstream player, ena-bling it to further stretch the value of every barrel it produces to the benefit of ADNOC, its partners and the UAE. The plans were unveiled at the ADNOC Downstream Investment Forum, which took place in Abu Dhabi, UAE.Building on the existing strengths and competitive advantages of the Ruwais Industrial Complex, ADNOC will create the most advanced integrated refining and petrochemicals complex. Through a combined program of strategic partnerships and investment, ADNOC will increase its range and volume of high-value downstream products, secure better access to growth markets around the world and create a manufacturing ecosys-tem in Ruwais that will significantly stimulate In-Country Value creation, private sector growth and employment. The strategy is expected to add more than 15,000 jobs by 2025 and contribute an additional 1% to GDP per year.ADNOC’s downstream investment plans are in line with its 2030 strategy of a more profitable upstream, more valuable down-stream and sustainable, economic gas supply, underpinned by more proactive and adaptive marketing and trading. The expansionary $45bn investment program will underpin a new downstream strategy to significantly expand ADNOC’s refining and petrochemical operations at Ruwais in the UAE, and undertake highly targeted overseas investments to secure greater market access. It includes a plan to build one of the world’s largest mixed feed crackers, trebling production capac-ity from 4.5 mtpa in 2016 to 14.4 mtpa by 2025.

Basra ready to receive Iran gas

Iran’s deputy petro-leum minister in gas affairs announced the Iraqi city of Basra has announced its readi-ness to import gas from Iran and will start once Baghdad makes payments for the gas.Hamidreza Araqi, CEO of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said the second phase of Iran’s gas export to Iraq is under way and Basra has indicated its readiness to receive gas from Iran, “but no gas has so far been sent to Basra.”“Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has the final say in this regard and they are currently trying to sort out their financial and budget issues for importing gas from Iran,” he said.Araqi said “One of the reasons for the delay in exporting gas from Iran to Basra was the gas pipelines in the Basra territory that were not ready, but the lines are ready now”. He pointed to the readiness of gas metering systems in Basra pipelines, saying Iran’s gas exports to Basra will begin at a formal ceremony.


INDIA NEWS

ONGC drills 503 wells, highest in 27 years

Emission norm deadline for captive power plants

$300bn energy investment to India in 10 years

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has drilled 503 wells in 2017-18, the highest number of wells drilled in the last 27 years. Among the 503 wells, 119 explora-tory and 384 development wells were drilled. In order to assess the prospectivity of existing acre-ages in a time-bound manner and add to the company’s reserve base, more focus was laid on exploratory drilling. What’s more remarkable is that among the 119 exploratory wells drilled, 8 were in the deep-water fields against initial target of 6 and 45 in shallow-water fields against target of 38.During FY’18, ONGC’s planned capex outlay on drilling activities was Rs. 16,038 crore with a target to drill 496 wells including 110 exploratory and 386 development wells. However, the company has drilled 503 wells at a cost of approx Rs 14,200 crore which is 11.5% lower than the budget outlay.ONGC has set a capex outlay of Rs. 17,615 crore on drilling activities this year. There is a significant upside in the number of deepwater development wells planned by the company. The company has set an ambitious target to drill 535 wells, of which 24 are deep-water development wells as part of Cluster-2 development of KG-DWN-98/2 project, off the East-Coast of India. The company is also set to drill 30 wells as part of its CBM development project.

The Central Pollution Control Board has directed 21 com-panies in Telangana and 30 companies in Andhra Pradesh to comply with new emission norms on captive power plants by December 31, 2018, or face action as per Environment Protection Act. This may also include closure. The list com-prises cement, pharma, sugar, infra, solvent and other compa-nies from both the states. The companies were asked to set up

equipment to decrease sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter pollution.Striking balance between envi-ronmental concerns and stabil-ity of power supply, the central pollution control board issued orders stating captive power plants based on solid fuels will comply with emission norms of particulate matter by December 31, 2018.Captive power plants which have to install technology to

remove sulphur dioxide from fuel gases should comply by June 30, 2020.In a separate, but related de-velopment, two major thermal power plants in Telangana, Ramagundam Thermal Power Station and Kothagudem Ther-mal Power Station were slapped with a fresh notice by the board stating that both the units have to comply with emission norms or these will be shut down by December 2019.

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Prad-han said about $300bn will be invested in the energy sector in next 10 years. The petroleum minister said this at the Indian Embassy while addressing over 250 Indian professionals, busi-ness leaders and community representatives working in the United Arab Emirates. Pradhan informed the gathering that India has become the world’s third largest energy consumer in the world.

“After the United States and China, India consumes maximum primary energy, but, India figures on the list of least per capita en-ergy consuming countries. What does it mean? According to ener-gy analysts, out of Rs. 100 worth energy sale in 2040, Rs. 33 will be sold in India,” Pradhan said.Energy is one of the three to four components of any developing country. There are four pillars of energy: It should be affordable, accessible, green, and sustain-able,” he said.

NTPC targets 268 BU power generation

NTPC, India’s power generating company is aiming at generating 268 billion units (BU) of electricity during the fiscal year 2018-19, under a MoU signed between NTPC and Ministry of Power in New Delhi.Revenue from Operations is targeted at Rs 85,500 crore. Parameters related to financial performance, improvement in operational efficiency, capital expenditure, projects moni-toring, technology upgradation and HR Management are also part of the MOU for the year 2018-19.NTPC has total installed capacity of 53651 from its 21 coal based, 7 gas based, 11 solar PV, 1 hydro, 1 small hydro, 1 wind and 9 subsidiaries / joint venture power stations. NTPC is currently building an additional capacity of over 21,000 MW at multiple locations across the country.

Oil & Gas input to be raised in Krishna Godavari Basin

ONGC is planning to increase its oil production by 17% and gas output by 24% from 2019 as it starts commercial production from its deep-water block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin.ONGC chairman Sashi Shankar said, “We have seen around 7% growth in gas produc-tion in 2017-18 over the previous year. We will increase oil production by 17% and gas production by 24% from 2019 onward, in a phased manner.” The development comes at a time when India’s oil production had hit a seven-year low, while gas production saw first growth in six years.In 2017-18, India’s gas production rose 2.35% to 32,649 mmscm. ONGC, with 7% growth in its gas production, contributed 23,429 mmscm, or 72%, to India’s gas production. India’s oil production dipped 1% in 2017-18 to 32,642 million tonnes, continuing its falling trend from 2012 when oil production was 34,869 million tonnes.ONGC, which produces about 60% of India’s crude oil, saw production stagnating at 20,370 million tonne. Mr. Shankar said that the ONGC was committed to reducing oil imports by 10% by the year 2022.

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