The Weir Group PLC

A BASIC INTRODUCTION TO
CONTROL VALVES

Confidential Information
This document contains information which is confidential to companies forming the Weir Power & Industrial
Division.
It should not be disclosed in whole or in part to parties other than the recipient without the express written
permission of Weir authorized personnel
The Weir Group PLC 2

What does a control valve do?

A control valve varies flow in a pipe to control a

process

It does this by constantly varying the position of a

plug, which varies the effective flow area through the
valve

In doing this it can accurately control one (and only

one) of a number of things
Pressure upstream or downstream
Temperature upstream or downstream
Flow to or from a process
Level in a tank or column
Click below to view a valve in motion.
The Weir Group PLC 3

How does it do it?

The valve works in conjunction with other
instruments
A transmitter
 transmits this variable to the control system
A sensing element
 measures the variable to be controlled
A controller
 Measures, compares the variable against the
process requirement and produces a valve
signal
An actuator
 Uses air pressure to move the valve plug
A positioner
 Turns the valve signal into air pressure
The Weir Group PLC 4

What fluids are controlled by our valves?

All types of liquids, gases and mixtures thereof, with

a few exceptions
Solids, powders, pulps, slurries
Extremely viscous fluids
High temperature fluids (>550°C)
High pressure fluids (> 10,000 psi)

This includes water, steam, air, oil, gas, many

different chemicals
The material the valve is made from is selected to
prevent corrosion and erosion
We make valves from many materials depending on
the fluid it will be used with
The Weir Group PLC 5

Where are control valves used?

Wherever there is a requirement for high

pressure fluid based process control
Examples are
Refineries
Oil and gas production platforms
Power stations
Gas plants
Cross country pipelines
Food and beverage plants
The Weir Group PLC 6

What does a choke do?

A choke regulates flow or pressure at the top of an

oil or gas well
It forms part of the wellhead or manifold assembly.
The contents of a well can be unpredictable, and the
choke is built to handle erosive fluids and high
pressures
A choke is not usually continuously moving to
control the pressure
It can be sited under the ocean, at depths of up to
2400m
The Weir Group PLC 7

How does it do it?

The choke works in conjunction with other

equipment
Pressure is measured on the wellhead
Information is fed to an operator
An operator activates a hydraulic signal to the valve
The hydraulic actuator moves the valve one or more
steps
The number of steps can be varied to move the
valve greater or smaller distances
Chokes can also be operated pneumatically,
electrically or manually
The Weir Group PLC 8

What fluids are controlled by chokes?

Well fluids, or production fluids

Hydrocarbons, containing a mixture of fluids
 Oil
 Gas
 Water
 Sand
 H2S
Can be both corrosive and erosive
Injection chokes
Used to control water or gas injected back
underground to force oil or gas to the surface
Examples are
Oil production platforms
Subsea wellheads
Subsea manifolds
Onshore oil wells
Floating Production, Storage and Offshore loading
vessels
The Weir Group PLC 9

What a Choke Does - Controlling Flow

 Field service lines and pipeline transmission lines are generally low pressure and require
proper sizing for distribution of produced fluids. Chokes are an essential part of balancing
these requirements.
 Controlled release of reservoir fluids through proper flow and pressure regulation will
maximize the life of the reservoir and the recovery of valuable oil and gas products.
 They extend the reservoir life and prevent fracture or bleed off of the fluids by controlling
the pressure going into the well
The Weir Group PLC 10

What is a desuperheater?

It cools steam down to the point where it is

nearly water
It does this by mixing the steam with cold water
Steam is used as a method of energy transfer
in industrial plant, particularly power stations
Cooler steam contains less energy and so it is
less aggressive on plant than superheated
steam
Desuperheaters can be combined with control
valves to reduce pressure and temperature
simultaneously
The Weir Group PLC 11

How do we test our valves?

With difficulty! We cannot simulate our customers plant

conditions here at the factory
We pressurise them with water or gas and check there is
no leakage to the outside
We close them and measure how much they leak from the
inlet to the outlet
We examine the body and bonnet material carefully,
sometimes X-raying it; we always record where our material
has come from
There are many other tests we can perform on request