EZ valve: Live Insertion of Pipeline Isolation Valves on Risers

Completed

Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas)

Applied Research and Development

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Project Contact
Cadent Gas

Network Innovation Allowance

Ofgem

01 September 2016

01 June 2017

9 months

£185,147

Technical Consultancy

London

Network Innovation Allowance

Project Contact, Cadent Gas

Project objectives: Develop a set of valves which can be applied to metallic mains under live gas conditions by;Refining the theoretical concept by adapting the existing technologyDeveloping a detailed design for the valvesPrototyping of valvesField trial and proof of concept. The project will deliverable a set of valves that can be used on National Grid’s network, however, further evolution of the product as a fully deployable solution for the gas industry would require further quality assurance and acceptance testing (independent testing of valves in accordance with industry standards BS EN 12266-1: 2012 and GISV7: Part 1. At the end of the project, NGG will have a developed and proven a range of valves which can be used operationally

Currently there is no readily available method to insert a Pipeline Isolation Valve (PIV) onto metallic mains under live conditions. This presents a problem in a variety of areas, particularly for Multi-occupancy Buildings (MOBs) where a PIV may not be available on an existing system which means that i) the system cannot be easily isolated in an emergency situation and; ii) it may be necessary to replace the entire riser system as part of a planned replacement project. Being able to provide a valve which could enable the remediation of the riser as opposed to full replacement will provide benefits for the GDN and the customer NGG was approached by Advanced Valve Technologies (AVT) who currently deploy this technology in the water industry and have completed several thousand installations across the globe. The company identified a theoretical path to adapt the technology to suit the gas industry and it is believed that further development will create a viable solution which will provide time, cost, safety and customer satisfaction benefits. Whilst this project is initially focused on MOBs, the valve will be built in accordance with the requirements of NGG and there is further potential to use it on other types of network systems. The method of development will have 4 key stages. These are: concept designdetailed design and developmentprototype manufacture and buildfield trials and proof of concept.Note : Project Documents may be available via the ENA Smarter Networks Portal using the Website link above

14/08/18