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Hydrogen is expected to play a significant part in the low-carbon future that lays ahead. When interacting with the production and handling of any fluid, valves are not only necessary but critical to successful operations. A valve design in a hydrogen application requires two types of materials; metallic materials when dealing with high pressure and cryogenic temperatures, and non-metallic materials for overall static and dynamic sealing and seating. Hydrogen however, poses a unique challenge for the materials selection for valves. Due to its small size, hydrogen can diffuse into metallic and non-metallic components and, once there, can interact in deleterious, and not-yet-understood, ways with the material’s internal structure. Read on to learn more about hydrogen and its related damage mechanisms in common valve materials.

Having worked for several years with Saudi Aramco, and currently assigned as a project engineer covering capital programs, Mohanned W. Tarabzouni is a real expert when it comes to valves for oil and gas applications. During a recent conversation, Mr. Tarabzouni was kind enough to discuss his experiences in specifying and procuring valves for pipeline projects.

Pipelines are vital in production, distribution, and refining processes, as they deliver energy to various operations where it is turned into useful fuels and products for supply to local communities. There are many products commonly delivered by pipelines, including: crude oil, refined products (such as gasoline and diesel), and natural gas liquids (such as ethane and propane).

As many companies and producers of energy are looking toward establishing a cleaner future, a great amount of consideration is being put into the environmental impact of various fuels. As oil and gas will continue to be used in many industries for the foreseeable future, liquid natural gas (LNG), has become used more frequently, especially in various aerospace applications

When assembling bolted flange joints, reliability engineers, industry experts, gasket manufacturers, and almost anyone with ‘skin in the game’ agree that utilizing best practices is paramount to overall joint integrity, reliability, and most importantly, safety. A great deal of time and resources have been devoted to identifying those best practices and to training plant maintenance personnel and contractors on proper flange bolt-up.

Typically called “volatile organic compounds” or VOC’s, common greenhouse gases like methane (CH4) and other compounds have be-come an increasingly real threat when they...

Valve World Americas had the pleasure of speaking with Joshua Stanford, Production Systems Product Manager, Valves and Actuation, to discuss the four key focus areas of Cameron’s U.S. operations—manufacturing, employees, services, and a diverse portfolio.

A key distinction between the consumer world and the industrial world is the power the latter might have over a manufacturer. An individual is not typically able to impose on their favorite cellphone supplier additional requirements addressing design and materials; but this is something commonly done for industrial valves. The bigger the end user, the greater the power.

The extreme operating conditions for cryogenic fluid service presents several challenges when designing and sizing valves. The low process temperatures range from -150°C and can fall to absolute zero (-459ºF or -273ºC), making standard valves unsuitable for such applications.

In order to achieve desired leakage rates, which were more stringent than industry standards, engineered solutions for both valves and testing requirements had to be made in order to meet customer requirements.