K Controls has used its expertise in sub-sea ingress protection and hazardous area approvals to develop 007-100 valve position monitors (VPMs) that will be used in a new FPSO vessel being built for BP by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in Korea. The new FPSO will replace the existing Schiehallion FPSO that has been moored in 400m of water, 281km west of the Shetland Isles in the UK, producing oil from the Schiehallion and Loyal fields since 1998.
In all, 147 valve position monitors have been supplied for use on hydraulically actuated ball and butterfly valves. The valves will be used in the seawater ballast tanks that are used for vessel stabilisation. K Controls worked closely with the engineers at the Offshore Design & Engineering Division of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea, in order to arrive at an exact specification.
The majority of the position monitors contain end of travel reed proximity switches and some provide a 4-20mA with HART signal to monitor the position of modulating control valves or the opening and closing characteristics of critical isolating valves. When not submerged, the position monitors could be in an area where hazardous gasses are present. They are therefore ATEX and IECEx intrinsically safe certified II 2 G Ex ia IIC T6.
