Western Process Controls have been one of Western Australia’s premier valve suppliers for the past 27 years, primarily in the Topside and Downstream market segments. With the advancements in subsea technology, making more subsea production processes possible and significant subsea projects here in WA has led Western Process Controls to partner with ATV (Advanced Technology Valves) in pursuit of these opportunities. 

                            

A gas-storage facility in Texas experienced repeated noise and control issues with a number of six-inch cavernstoragevalves. The valves controlled the first blast of high-pressure gas, up to 3275 psid, coming from a miledeep, gas-storage dome carved out of salt. (They inject high-pressure water into the dome in the winter when gas prices are low, and then store the gas to fill summertime demand.)

One of the high-pressure valves, an eight-inch valve equipped with a piston actuator and trip-valve assembly, had the capacity to flow eight million standard cubic feet per hour. It was performing poorly; The salt is corrosive, and according to one technician, “the valve sounded like a freight train.”