Pentair Valves & Controls’ specialist service brand, SABO, provided maintenance support for a valve repair project at one of the largest gas storage facilities in Europe. After experiencing leakage of ball valves in the facility, the customer turned to Pentair to discover the reason for the loss of seal tightness and provide maintenance to solve the issue within a short timescale.
The 30″ 750 CL 600 ball valves were located between the depleted gas reservoir used as storage 2,500m underground at the facility, and the pipeline system. Featuring an actuator with a high-integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS) function, the valves isolate the high-pressure gas storage from the pipeline system. On examination of the critical ball valve, Pentair discovered corrosion of the seat and inner valve body, and identified that the seat required reworking and a hard-facing. By promptly determining the root of the problem, providing a mirror polished surface to the ball and adjusting the clearance with new o-rings, Pentair delivered a successful outcome. This fast service completion also led to the early start of the pipeline testing procedure, which in turn allowed for early restart of the full pipeline. A chosen partner based on the team’s expert capabilities in this area, Pentair completed the job almost two weeks ahead of schedule. This minimised downtime and loss of production for the 17BCM gas storage facility.
