How standardization is driving design innovation

The precipitous downturn of 2014–2015, when the price of a barrel of Brent dropped almost 60% in a little over six months, forced an entirely new methodology on many parts of the hydrocarbon industry. Where healthy margins had been expected, now greatly reduced bottom lines brought sudden challenges to service providers and operators alike. A good number of the former did not make it through to the other side.

A fresh approach to everything from exploration and production through to operational excellence meant that a “new normal” had evolved. Strategy concentrated on maximizing returns, getting more for less, and extending the life of assets.

For component manufacturers, this translated as most applications no longer requiring their own bespoke, high-cost solutions. Innovation and design would now gravitate toward improving reliability standards and tightening efficiencies—and the fundamental means of achieving that has been by adopting a policy of standardization.

Gilmore started this process in 2015, with standardization of our regulator product lines. With over 300 designs available, many of them very similar cross-overs for previous bespoke solutions, our engineering team was tasked with developing an improved range that condensed this array of offerings into less than 50 drop-in replacement variations. Each one needed to retain the strongest elements and features of earlier revisions.

MUTUAL BENEFITS

The gains from adopting a policy of standardization are evident for both the product manufacturer and the customer. For an end-user, such as a drilling company, if it is utilizing a bespoke solution and needs a component rapidly for maintenance, that valve or regulator may not be readily available. This means a longer lead time and also a hefty expediting fee to speed up the manufacturing and delivery process. In a subdued market, such unnecessary costs must be avoided.

But if that consumer orders a standardized product, then that is far more likely to be held in stock, leading to a quicker turnaround, reducing any possible operational interruption, as well as reduced expediting fees. Opting for a standardized product offers reassurance around availability and affordability.

For an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), contracted to supply a blowout preventer (BOP) stack to a client, for example, opting for a standard regulator design could help it meet an agreed delivery date. If a component manufacturer cannot supply an integral part on time, a delay could follow. Bespoke solutions not only represent greater expense, but question marks exist around maintaining a swift supply chain.

The present need to accentuate cost-savings and efficiencies has, in fact, led OEMs to focus more on developing modular designs of core equipment. They now incorporate many standardized components, as they acknowledge their customers will want replacement parts quickly to limit any disruption, while prices will also remain competitive.

An often over-looked benefit of standardization, over bespoke designs, is provided by reliability data. High-specification, unique requirements imposed on the supply chain by operators have led to new products coming into service with very little service life history. This behavior has contributed significantly to the
higher-than-expected number of unplanned shutdowns. Utilizing standard components in application-specific assemblies enables a wealth of product use history to remain relevant, and ensures that the most reliable solutions are delivered to the market. Mean time between failures is much easier to calculate from the get-go. Such reliability data provide reassurance to customers.

Standardizing valve and regulator design also means that these components can provide a simplicity and uniformity of construction and function. This is greatly valued by drillers and operators, as this makes the process of offshore maintenance faster and less prone to human error. Fewer repair kits and manuals would be needed, less tooling required, and even less knowledge. Once technicians have changed one or two valves of this type, they would then have the confidence to tackle more.

MARK IV SHUTTLE VALVES

At Gilmore, our Mark III shuttle valves represent a very reliable, high-performing product within the BOP, but we recognized that making modifications to the valve, such as adding or removing stacks to the component, to alter functionality or redundancy, was challenging out in the field, due to its inherent construction. This means that the part would ultimately need to be sent in to us and another variant manufactured, with the associated costs and lead times.

Fig. 1. A cross-section of a Gilmore Mark IV stackable shuttle valve assembly, highlighting design enhancements over the previous Mark III model.

With our new Mark IV iteration, we innovated the design, so that there is now commonality of multiple parts, with body types, seal subs, fasteners and shuttles all standardized. This valve is now more modular, enabling easier customizable stack changes, rendering it more serviceable and maintainable.

For instance, with the Mark III, repairs necessitate a procedure known as coining, which is a metal-to-metal sealing operation, conducted under specific pressure conditions, but the Mark IV has done away with that process entirely, due to enhanced seal geometry, Fig. 1. The Mark IV also no longer requires the entire valve to effectively be taken apart to carry out localized maintenance. This again reduces the complexity of repairs and minimizes possible errors.

The development of a standardized range of valves and regulators must ensure the simplest of retrofits for end-users, avoiding unnecessary piping and tubing service work on field installations. As Gilmore has created its entire GEN 2 series of valves, constituting around 20 products since 2016, we have made certain that the footprint between our legacy products lines and the new-generation variants is identical. Thus, any upgrade involves a straight swap of old for new, with no service work required.

FEEDBACK STEERS CHANGE

Understanding prevailing trends in the market is key to directing product design efforts into areas of advantage. Component manufacturers will listen to direct feedback about performance of their products, and any associated issues, from their aftermarket team and their account managers. They will gain first-hand sight of how particular elements have responded to day-to-day wear and tear, through conducting regular maintenance. This will enable them to study the efficiencies of designs and innovate incremental changes. Insights like this helped steer modifications between our Mark III and Mark IV shuttle valves.

We also have been able to utilize valuable industry data from the Rapid S53 Reliability and Performance Information Database for the well control equipment covered under API S53 and established by the IOGP and IADC. In 2017, we signed up to this program, and it has provided instructive commentary about how products are used in the field and what issues can arise. Consequently, alongside the customer feedback, such inputs have played a significant role in driving the standardization efforts of our own GEN 2 series of valves and regulators.

Our approach has been to take the best elements and features of our legacy products, target what we can improve upon, and then try to standardize to reduce the range of parts required. But, crucially, to listen to and respond to the voice of an industry seeking greater durability and reliability from its components, we have incorporated higher-quality materials and better seal geometries. So, as one example, previously the stainless steel 440C shear seal trim would become worn during high-demand service. So, for the GEN 2s, this has been replaced with a tungsten carbide seal trim to extend the life of the valve, and to minimize repair costs.

Standardization efforts have focused largely on internal assemblies, including hard-to-manufacture, long-lead items. For example, as a result of decades of product modification often for bespoke solutions, 18 types of regulator internals had evolved. This diverse set of styles had led to numerous unique components, all requiring stocking space within our inventory.

So, with the GEN 2 product line, Gilmore has standardized down to three internal variants, encompassing three different piston configurations, to allow for different regulator set point ranges. But there is now a commonality of multiple parts across the product line, including threaded and guided seal carriers, double back-up rings throughout, and internal hydraulic damping.

GEN 2 EVOLUTION

The development of the GEN 2 regulator offers an illustration of how design tweaks, maintenance support and feedback have molded the advancement of superior, standardized components, as the stronger features of legacy products were retained or improved.

Fig. 2. A GEN 2 manual spring regulator, with attached air motor, plus tungsten carbide seal plate (front left) and tungsten carbide flow port (front right), after each has undergone 10,000 endurance testing cycles. The air motor, itself, was tested 1,000 cycles.

An earlier version of the regulator used to include a pin connection to the piston stem but, over time, we noticed this could be hit on the hinge. If it wasn’t properly guided, premature wear could occur to the seal carrier, meaning deterioration was occurring to parts that wouldn’t normally see it. So, about eight years ago, our solution to eliminate this was to change to a solid, better-guided seal carrier that is threaded in, with damping to reduce vibration, and now this design aspect has become standard.

Similarly, in the early 2000s, we began using tungsten carbide to replace hardened steel for our flow ports but, while this represented the best shear seal option, we were using it in large quantities, so the cost of the raw materials and machining was high. So, now, through standardization, we implement a bolt-on technology, which has meant we are using less tungsten carbide but can offer the same resilience. This drives down that cost and allows us the scope to enhance other areas of the regulator.

What is also standard across our products is extreme qualification testing, which often goes beyond industry requirements. For components that play critical roles in our customers’ control systems, it is vital that they are recognized as tried and true. So, where the present API 16D standards necessitate manufacturers to cycle test one valve 1,000 times, we regularly test two components 2,500 times, each.

Naturally, we test all sizes and iterations of our products, so by minimizing the number of these through standardization, this has subsequently reduced the variety of endurance tests that we have had to run. This allows us to place more arduous examinations on the key GEN 2 regulator features. So, we test two valves to10,000 cycles (representing 2,000 cycles per annum over a five-year service period), and we also perform burst testing and hyperbaric chamber testing. We double down and increase testing tenacity to ensure that end-users can judge the durability of the regulators. See Fig. 2 for images of our tungsten carbide shear seal technology after cycle testing.

COMPACT REGULATOR

As the GEN 2 series has evolved, that template of combining proven, best-design elements from legacy products with fresh
modifications has enabled us to innovate a completely new product. It is aimed initially at the production controls market and, potentially, other industries requiring durability and encountering high-shock and debris-laden, corrosive fluids.

We received feedback from customers, highlighting limitations in the endurance and performance of smaller regulators used in applications, such as wellhead control panels, production hydraulic power units and many other general industrial applications for both fluid and gas mediums. They suggested an opportunity for us to create a solution offering far greater durability and flexibility than is presently offered, with current options largely regarded as a compromise.

Fig. 3. A cross-section of the new Gilmore compact regulator, highlighting its shear sealing and adjustable pressure setting capabilities.

The poppet style design provided by many suppliers in this market has inherent design weaknesses, leading to damaged seal surfaces and unreliable set points under high-flow conditions during start-up with strong vibration. This could lead to leakages and a need for repair, with the consequence of several hours of downtime, even with the necessary kits readily on-hand. Very bad chattering could kill one of these valves in minutes, creating a risk around regulated pressure levels for the downstream components that the regulator is essentially protecting—creating additional problems for a user.

Gilmore’s solution is based on the GEN 2 variable pilot valve (VPV), which has demonstrated strong levels of reliability and dependability in the field. Using the VPV as a foundation has eliminated much of the usual new design process. It has allowed for multiple standardized components between these two different product lines, such as seal carriers, tungsten carbide sealing and adjustment spring cap technology, providing versatility of operation in low- and high-pressure circuits, Fig. 3.

The new compact regulator offers much improved seal integrity than the current market offerings, as well as an enhanced capability around debris tolerance, reducing maintenance costs over time and the need for repeated repair kits or spares stocking. For any developer of flow control solutions for challenging environments, whatever route a product takes to come to the market, end-users expect reliability and durability: they want to have enough trust in a component that they can basically “set it and forget it.”

Standardization of design very much reflects the current wider priorities around cost-savings and efficiency, but for Gilmore, adopting this methodology has also enabled a team, with decades of experience and thousands of unique components, to cherry-pick the best features and elements of its legacy products and use them as a platform to stay ahead of future industry demands. Reliability through standardization is a key fundamental of how we can keep operations flowing.