Gate

Valves
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 Gate Valves
Table Of Contents
Section 10
Page
1. Gate Valve Operation 1
2. Cameron Type F Gate Valve 2
3. Cameron Type AF Subsea Gate Valve 3
4. Cameron Model DF Valve 4
5. Cameron Model MCS Valve 5
6. McEvoy Valve 6
7. WOM Valve 6
8. Typical Valve Problems 9
9. Gate valve Operational and Inspection Points 9
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 1 Gate Valves
1) Gate Valve Operation
a) Used in choke and kill manifolds and on ram outlets to control flow up the riser
mounted choke & kill lines through the manifold.

b) Gate valves close the flow of wellbore fluid with a gate sliding across the valves
bore similar to the operation of a guillotine.

c) Most gate vales used for mud service use a solid gate which floats downstream
to form a metal-to-metal seal against the valves down stream seat. With this
construction the valve cavity contains full wellbore pressure when closed.

d) The WOM magnum seat forms both a downstream and an upstream seal
1
,
simultaneously.

e) McEvoy valves employ the floating gate concept but use a unique seat design.
The valves use a gate-to-seat sealing mechanism with a sealant injection to
actually create the seal between the two. Wellbore pressure acting on a piston in
the downstream seat forces the sealant into the groove between the closed gate
and seat.

f) Hydraulic operators use 1,500 psi for normal operation but up to 3,000 psi may
typically be applied since most operating chambers are rated for this pressure.

g) Subsea ram outlet valves are spring loaded into the closed position. They must
be hydraulically pumped into the open position. LMRP test valves have a
reversed gate installed to make them spring loaded into the normally open
position. They must be hydraulically pumped into the closed position.

h) Typically, as a balanced subsea valve closes if the pressure across the gate is
greater than 500 psi, the valve will not close with only spring action. Hydraulic
pressure will usually be required.
2

i) Accumulated closing assist pressure typically found on Cameron control
system. Closing pressure applied only when opening pressure is shut off

1
Currently the WOM Magnum is the only mud service valve with a solid gate which forms an upstream
and downstream seal.
2
A balanced valve has a tail rod or balance rod attached to the gate. The actual pressure for the valve
will depend upon the valve manufactures design.
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 2 Gate Valves
2) Cameron Type F Manual Gate Valve
1. Gate and seat 2. Bonnet
3. Seat retainer plate 4. Needle thrust bearings
5. Stem packing retainer 6. Back seat shoulder
7. Stem Packing weep hole 8. Valve cavity HP grease fitting
3) Operation of Manual Gate Valves
a) After closing a manual gate valve the handwheel should be backed off 1/8
th
to
1/4
th
turn to allow the gate to float in the valve cavity.
b) When opening the valve the handwheel again should be backed off or the gate,
over time, can jam up against the bonnet.
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 3 Gate Valves
4) Cameron Type AF Subsea Gate Valve
The AF valve is wellbore pressure assist close. With a 7 to 1 opening ration and 10,000
psi wellbore pressure in the valve, an opening pressure of 1,428 psi is required to hold
the valve in the open position.
Note: The vent port from the enclosed tail rod area connecting to the valves bore.
This port must not be oriented to the line between valves in a dual installation. The
diagram below shows the correct installation.
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 4 Gate Valves
5) Cameron Model DF Valve
With the tail rod attached to the gate, the DF valve is balanced. Wellbore pressure does
not attempt to close the valve. For this reason a hydraulic assist circuit is usually
provided by Cameron to ensure that the vale returns to the closed position
Accumulator bottle circuit, Cameron Engineering Bulletin #707C
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 5 Gate Valves
6) Cameron MCS Valve
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 6 Gate Valves
7) McEvoy Valve
a) Seat sealant injection mechanism
Note: When pumping sealant into the downstream reservoir, the seat must be held
against the downstream seat with wellbore pressure of around 500 psi in order to ensure
that the sealant is forced into the reservoir and not allowed to pass between the seat
and gate. When the reservoir is filled, the sealant injection pressure will abruptly rise
several thousand psi as the reservoir piston hits the valve bonnet.
8) WOM Valve
a. Used on ram outlets to control flow up the riser mounted choke & kill lines
b. Steel gate acts as a guillotine to cut off flow. Gate seals against a seat forming an
up-stream and down-stream seal, simultaneously.
c. The WOM Magnum is one exception to the floating gate design. With its pressure
energized seats, the metal to metal Magnum seats form a seal on both the
upstream and downstream seats simultaneously.
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 7 Gate Valves
d. If both seats are sealing properly there will be no wellbore pressure in the valve
cavity when the valve is closed.
3
e. Hydraulic operators use 1,500 psi for normal operation but operating chambers
are rated for 3,000 psi WP
f. Spring loaded into the closed position and hydraulically pumped open
g. The 10,000 and 15,000 psi WP valves are provided with a balance stem (tail rod).
h. In deepwater applications all valves use hydraulic pressure to not only open but to
assist the spring in closing the valves.
i. Hydraulic closing pressure is accumulated in stack mounted bottles to assist the
spring in closing the valve.

3
This is true when the valve is closed prior to pressure testing. Then test pressure is applied to a fully
closed valve.
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 8 Gate Valves
WOM Valve Assembly
WOM Valve Operator Assembly
Open Ended
Cylinder
Easy replacement
of piston seals
Encapsulated
Spring
Remains in
factory assembly
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 9 Gate Valves
9) Typical Valve Problems:
a) Seat to gate seal not holding wellbore pressure
b) Stem or tail rod packing not holding wellbore pressure
c) Bonnet seal/ring gasket not holding wellbore pressure
d) Spring not returning valve to the closed position when opening hydraulic
pressure is released.
10) Gate Valve Operational and Inspection Points
a) All Valves
i) After closing a manual gate valve the handwheel should be backed off 1/8 to
1/4 turn to allow the gate to float in the valve cavity. When opening the valve
the handwheel again should be backed off or the gate can jam against the
bonnet.
ii) The #1 maintenance item grease the valve after every pressure test. That
will reduce your maintenance work dramatically. Ensure that the
manufactures recommended grease (or its equivalent) is used.
iii) When performing surface pressure testing between wells, pump the valves
open and allow only the closing mechanism to close the valves. This is to
check the fail-safe operation of the valve with no wellbore pressure applied.
iv) Periodically remove the targeted blind flanges on the stack outlets and the
choke manifold to ensure that the lead is properly in place.
v) When assembling a hydraulically operated gate valve the position of the gate
on the seat (called timing) must be adjusted. This allows the hole in the gate
to line up with the hole in the seat when the valve is in the open position.
b) McEvoy Valves
i) The McEvoy valve is very reliable, only when the sealant reservoir is filled
properly. To fill the reservoir requires a special technique. Simply pumping
sealant into the vale when in the closed position (as per McEvoy instructions)
and waiting for a pressure rise indicating that the reservoir is filled, may not
be sufficient. Sealant may flow into the valve cavity, not into the sealant
reservoir. This will cause the valve to hold pressure for only a few closures
before running out of sealant and beginning to leak again (possibly with the
stack back on bottom).
Subsea Engineers Handbook Section 10
In-Spec Inc. 1999 10 Gate Valves
ii) To ensure that sealant is pumped into the sealant reservoir and not the valve
cavity, apply 500 psi wellbore pressure to the closed valve and pump sealant
into the downstream seat. The pressure will force the gate onto the seat
ensuring that the sealant must travel up into the reservoir as desired. The
procedure must be repeated for the valves opposite seat.
iii) Due to the split gate design, the McEvoy valve is capable of trapping pressure
in the valve cavity when the valve is in the fully open position. Caution must
be exercised when performing maintenance on this valve.
c) WOM Valves
i) The WOM Magnum conversion is one exception to the floating gate design.
With its pressure energized seats, the metal to metal Magnum seats form a
seal on both the upstream and downstream seats simultaneously.
ii) If both seats are sealing properly there will be no wellbore pressure in the
valve cavity when the valve is closed.
4

4
This is true when the valve is closed prior to pressure testing and than the test pressure is applied to a
fully closed valve.