Choke valve

The customer

• Size: Medium-large enterprise
• Sector: Oil and gas
• Country: United Kingdom

The project

• Size: 65-80 man-hours
• Duration: 2-3 weeks

The problem

• Joule-Thomson cooling effect expected
• Temperatures downstream the choke valve unknown
• Downstream low temperatures and vibration may lead to premature failure of the valve

Proposed solution

• Analyse the temperature drop expected for various inlet gas conditions
• Assess the likelyhood of hydrate formation
• Obtain the fluid frequencies downstream and compare them with the structure's natural frequencies

The simulations

• JT cooling effect simulation for various gas flow rates and temperatures (CFD analysis)
• Fluid velocity and FIV calculations (CFD analysis)
• Modal analysis to obtain the valve array's natural frequencies (FEA analysis)

Project overall results

• Valve was considered adequate for the application.
• Savings over £25,000 for the customer in prototyping and testing (estimate).
• Savings of more than 10 weeks in development time (estimate).