Surface Systems

FLS Gate Valve

Description
The FLS gate valve is part of the Cameron F-Series valves which have been supplied for production and drilling service
since 1958. Many of the features of the FLS are common to the original Type F gate valve, such as full and internally flush
bore, forged construction, metal-to-metal sealing, slab gate and simplicity of design. In other areas such as seat seals and
stem seal, the FLS design takes advantage of the latest technology in materials and design. 

The FLS has been designed with the highest performance in service conditions of any gate valve Cameron has offered. It
is the most extensively tested gate valve design Cameron has produced. The FLS has become an industry standard for high
pressure, high temperature, gas service, and abrasive and corrosive conditions. It is a preferred choice throughout the
world for critical service application, from subsea trees in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico to high-temperature gas
wells in Indonesia, the Middle East, and South America. 

Design Features and Benefits

• Metal to Metal Sealing - Sealing gate-to-seat and
seat-to-body is metal-to-metal. Seal surfaces on both
sides of the seats and gate are lapped to ensure gas
tight sealing without sealant. Lubricant is used to limit
wear, friction, and intrusion of contaminants into the
valve cavity, not as an aid to sealing. No sealant is
required or recommended for the FLS gate valve. 
STEM
• Reliability through Simplicity of Design - Two-piece PACKING
floating seats and a floating slab gate provide reliable STEM
performance through simplicity of operation and a BONNET

minimum of sealing interfaces. Cavity clearances are

carefully controlled to limit the amount of float needed, GATE

and special modified acme threads at the gate-to-stem

connection provide sufficient freedom of movement
SEAT
in all directions to effect a positive downstream seal. 
RETAINER
• Bi-directional Sealing - The FLS valve is a truly PLATE

symmetrical, bi-directional design without a preferred BODY

direction of operation. The seal diameters and bearing
areas of the seats are designed to prevent trapping of
• Stem Packing - Several stem packing designs are available
pressure inside the valve cavity. 
to cover the full range of temperatures, pressure, and fluids
• Stem Backseat - The FLS incorporates a metal-to-metal encountered in service. The selected packing is the Varipak
stem backseat which can be energized to isolate the packing, a non-elastomeric seal. The seal is spring-loaded
stem packing stuffing box from line pressure. The and pressure-energized, so that no longitudinal preload or
bonnet grease fitting port can be used to test the precise space out is required. Sealant injection is neither
backseat integrity, and the stem packing can be required nor recommended for the Varipak stem seal. The
replaced with the valve cavity under pressure.  seal has been extensively tested in laboratory fixtures with
applications of temperature cycles, pressure cycles, and both
rotary and linear mechanical actuation cycles. 

© 2010 Cameron | FLS Gate Valve | PDS 0112 Page 1 of 2

 Surface Systems

Design Features and Benefits

• Seat Design - The feature which differentiates the FL • Tested Design - The FLS valve design has been sub-
from the FLS valve design is the seat design. Both jected to extensive laboratory testing to simulate drill-
designs utilize seats which have lapped sealing ing and production conditions. In addition, API 14D
surfaces on both sides for metal-to-metal sealing Class 2 testing has been successfully completed.
against both the gate and body. However, the FL valve Qualification tests have also been performed for gate
has a single pressure energized PEEK lip seal in the and seat materials and coatings and stem seals, as well
seat-to-body interface while the FLS valve employs as stem thread materials for manual valves. 
two lip seals. 
Performance verification testing to Appendix F of API
The lip seals in the FLS valve perform several functions:  6A (PR2) has been successfully completed which
qualifies all current FL and FLS designs under the 6A
• Contaminants and debris are excluded from the
scaling provisions. 
metal sealing surface of the seat and body between
the two seals.  • Optional Torque Multiplier - Where specified in the
proposal, the manually-actuated FLS valves will be
• The spring loaded design of the seals maintains
equipped with a removable torque multiplier. This unit
contact between the gate and seats, wiping the
is easily installed on or removed from the valve bonnet
seal surfaces and protecting them from damage
assembly and uses the same handwheel as the standard
due to sand or other contaminants. Body cavity
valve. A planetary gear train provides a 4 to
clearance is effectively reduced to zero, while the
multiplication with an efficiency of approximately
downstream sealing function of the seal gate is
87 percent. Both multiplied (4:1) and direct drive (1:1)
retained. 
handwheel adapters are included in the design so that
• Sealing integrity is enhanced at very low differential the handwheel can be moved from one position to
pressures, where low bearing stresses limit the the other to minimize opening time and input torque
effectiveness of the metal-to-metal seal.  requirements. The multiplier has environmental seals
and shear pins in the input shafts to protect the gear
train from overloading.  

Slab-Style Gate Valve Availability

Nominal Size Working Pressure (psi)

(in.) 2000 3000 5000 10,000 15,000 20,000
1-13/16 - - - FLS FLS FLS
2-1/16 FL/FLS FL/FLS FL/FLS FLS FLS -
2-9/16 FL/FLS FL/FLS FL/FLS FLS FLS FLS
3-1/16 - - - FLS FLS FLS-R
3-1/8 FL/FLS FL/FLS FL/FLS - - -
4-1/16 FL/FLS FL/FLS FL/FLS FLS FLS-R/FLS FLS-R
5-1/8 FLS FLS FLS FLS-R/FLS FLS-R -
6-3/8 FLS FLS FLS FLS-R/FLS FLS-R -
7-1/16 - - FLS FLS-R FLS-R -
9 - - FLS-R/FLS FLS-R FLS-R -
Note: FLS and FL may be actuated or manual. This chart represents typical valves for material classes AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, FF and HH; Temperature ratings K, L P, R, S, T, U, V; and PSLs 1, 2, 3, 4.
For other designs, contact your Cameron representative.

© 2010 Cameron | FLS Gate Valve | PDS 0112 Page 2 of 2