Al Anderson - MOGAS
Validating the performance of a valve in a severe service application such as delayed coking is often times difficult to do without installing the valve in the said application. With that challenge in mind MOGAS R&D set out to validate the performance of design features such as in-line reparability, reduced purging requirements and added safety features of the MOGAS delayed coker switch valve in the following 7 ways:
- Validate the integrity of the body design using standard hydrostatic shell test.
- Quantify the seat leakage class of the valve.
- Ensure smooth operation at high operating temperatures.
- Validate the operation of the new patent-pending purging/draining technology.
- Simulate coking and validate the operation of the valve in a coked up simulation.
- Validation of the in-line ability to remove internal parts in Clean and Coked up Valve
Each of the above 7 validation tests was specifically designed to validate the MOGAS switch valve design features.
Each validation test was performed on location at the MOGAS R&D Facility, and the results were used to continuously improve the design until validation was achieved.
The results of each test demonstrated the functionality of the MOGAS valve, in particular, the simulated coking test. A hot rubberized tar material with similar properties to coke was poured into the MOGAS valve and allowed to cool and harden for a week. After the week the valve was function tested (without purging) and the valve operated successfully. After successful operation of the valve in the simulated coking test, the valve was taken apart to test the ability to make repairs in-line even after an event that causes heavy coking to occur. The valve was successfully disassembled and all the internal parts were removed easily to allow for cleaning and reassembly.
The result of the above validation program was a robust delayed coker switch valve with design features that were shown to improve safety and function and reduce the cost of ownership.
The proposed technical paper will detail the performed tests, including setup, data collection and data analysis and focus on how a dedicated validation program ultimately leads to better products for severe service application end users.
Al Anderson is the Senior R&D Advisor at MOGAS Inc. He has been with Mogas for 22 years working with valves in severe service applications, and 12 years with Cameron. He holds several patents in the valve and wellhead industry. Outside of work he enjoys traveling and playing golf.