With pilot-production wrapping up in 2022, Atlas has matured and returned home. Valve Systems International LLC has matured with Atlas and now the original team that developed it is managing this unique industrial severe service control valve. The continued product improvement during pre- and pilot-production years has driven changes that have dramatically extended the range of control while validating accuracy and reliability. To find out more, please contact us.
Pilot production of the first Atlas SSCV has begun at Total Valve Systems in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The first customer is a leading manufacturer of electric submersible pumps and the Atlas 21 will be used to provide back-pressure to validate pump performance. It replaces a valve with a conventional multiple-orifice disc trim and offers over 40% higher capacity along with greatly increased accuracy.
The control valve is a key element of horizontal pump test benches, moving on a track to accommodate pumps that can be as much as 40′ long. Pump companies are expanding their product lines to include high-volume pumps used in skid-mounted systems to rapidly transfer produced water from oil and gas production. The Atlas 21 (130 Cv) will greatly increase the range of pumps to be tested on this customer’s bench, up to 70,000 bpd at less than 300 psi discharge pressure.
The product line includes the Atlas 15 (70 Cv), derived from the field trial valves, and the Atlas 32 (300 Cv) designed for large scale applications in refineries and chemical plants and to replace ball and plug valves to test pumps in the range of 100,000 bpd at 100 psi. Replacing complex, multi-valve back-pressure manifolds, or multiple test benches, the Atlas 15 and Atlas 32 together will allow the full product line of any ESP company to be tested on a single test system.
Preliminary product information can be found on the “How it Works” page
Flow testing of the HBGV began at Total Valve Systems in Broken Arrow, OK. The 2″ control valve was confirmed to have a flow coefficient above 60 Cv, the primary performance specification. Lobo Engineering PLC is processing the 136,000 data points to establish the inherent characteristic and choked flow performance ratings.
The first of five pre-production severe service control valves is prepared for flow testing and field trials. From the 3-D printed patterns for the internals to the rigorous CNC machining of the Body and Hub, the manufacturing process was complex. Eight contractors were coordinated by VSI to produce the valve in three months.
This video records the moment the HBGV came to life: Control Valve Actuates
Ranging from difficult to impossible to machine, the four key components that comprise the patented helical bevel gear-drive must be cast. For the 5 field trial valves, the patterns were scaled up from the digital model to allow shrinkage of the molten metal part and printed in wax. The patterns were produced by American Precision Prototyping, LLC with the selective laser sintering process at a fraction of the cost of traditional molded pattern tooling.
Alpha Investment Casting received the patterns and entered them into production, leapfrogging the steps of setting up permanent tooling in the injection press and molding a few patterns. VSI benefits from quick delivery of parts that meet production part specifications.
The first five HBGVs are in production and the search for a multi-turn actuator lead us to the Indelac LA7B-12MVQ-MT. For the rigorous field tests expected this fall, we specified an actuator that was robust, fast, accurate and easy to commission. The selected actuator is a multi-turn device, 115 VAC powered with 4-20 mA input, 2000 lb-in output and continuous duty cycle. Applied to the HBGV, the actuator can respond to a command for a 5% change in restriction in less than 7 seconds.
The first five HBGV will be prepared with end connections specified by the companies conducting field trials. Critical internal parts are investment castings – made in Tulsa from 3D-printed wax patterns also made in Tulsa! The valve body and machined parts, assembly and testing – made in Broken Arrow, Tulsa’s neighbor to the East. Fully an Oklahoma product, the HBGV extends a long line of innovative industrial and oil & gas equipment, drilling rigs, submersible pumps, flare systems and pipeline pigs to severe service control valves.
2-1/16 API 5000 Flanged Body
