Experience Rooted in the Past to Shape the Future
PetrolValves is a leading flow solutions provider for the Energy industry. Our strength is rooted in over 60 years of history and experience, specializing in the engineering of valves, actuators, and systems through advanced technology. We are inspired by our customers, partnering with them to maximize their performance through reliable, high-quality solutions.
We have the courage to innovate and shape the best possible solutions, giving life to products with ingenious features. Our vision is to believe in shaping the future and putting all our energy into creating innovative, unique, excellent, and reliable products – Energizing what’s yet to come. Our promise is to deliver reliable and innovative energy flow solutions that go beyond expectations – Enabling your energy flow.
Research & Development: The Foundation of Excellence
The continuous investment in the development of new technologies, materials, and services enables PetrolValves to play a leading role in complex and engineered flow systems. Our R&D excellence is highlighted by the very first registered patent for the Top Entry Ball Valve in the late 1960s.
A dedicated team of engineers, with expertise in design, FEA/CFD simulations, advanced materials and coatings, welding processes, and testing, continuously works to create new solutions. Our in-house testing capabilities, combined with a global network of partnerships with suppliers and universities, drive co-development with major companies to introduce new industry solutions.
Focus Areas for Advanced Solutions:
- Past & Recent Developments: Ultra-deep water, HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature), Hydrometallurgy, and material science and coating for complex applications.
Ongoing Developments (Forward-thinking Fields): Smart manufacturing, IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) / AR (Augmented Reality) solutions, Integrated Platforms, and Energy Transition.
Embracing Innovation and Advanced Technology
Innovation at PetrolValves is about challenging the status quo to achieve excellence and create value for our customers. We adopt technologies proven in other segments – cross-fertilizing – and integrate them into our flow solutions.
Advanced Manufacturing
We are rethinking design through the use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies to simplify components, improve resource utilization, and reduce costs.
- Metallic-Based AM: Qualification of Ball Valve main components using WAAM technology, qualified as per API 20S AMSL 3.
- Polymer-Based AM: Focus on quick spare parts for low-pressure, standard temperature, and liquid applications.
Intelligent Flow Solutions
We are integrating engineering and production data, simulation, and field-proven behavior with predictive and real-time analytics. This results in intelligent flow systems – a comprehensive suite of sensors, data integration, and advanced analytics that support the system’s lifetime and improve the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Our Role in the Energy Transition Challenge
PetrolValves addresses the global Energy Transition—the pathway to transforming the energy sector to a zero-carbon basis—in an innovative and sustainable way. We are enhancing the capabilities of our valve and actuation systems to deal with the complexity of new fluid compositions, challenging materials, and the operational envelope of these new applications. We partner with process owners to optimize conditions and use efficient production processes to minimize CO2 and raw material utilization.
Hydrogen Service Valves: From Oil & Gas Experience to H2 Reliability
Hydrogen is a key element for the decarbonization of hard-to-abate energy uses. Leveraging our extensive Oil & Gas experience, PetrolValves ensures reliability in hydrogen applications.
Our Hydrogen Expertise and Commitment
- Experience: We have been manufacturing hydrogen service valves since 1994, with over 30 years of experience and more than 1000 valves supplied up to Class 4500.
- Industry Leadership: We are committed to setting industry standards by participating in:
- ASME B31.12 Committee.
- API 6D, Annex M Task Group.
- European Clean Hydrogen Alliance membership.
Key Challenges in H2 Service
Hydrogen introduces unique challenges compared to natural gas:
- Embrittlement & Fatigue: Hydrogen reduces toughness and accelerates fatigue damage, requiring careful material selection and design.
- Sealing Elements: High risk of degradation, blistering, or leakage of seals due to hydrogen exposure and permeation.
- Flow Turbulence: Higher velocity and diffusivity create more damaging turbulence (vibration, erosion) and pressure drop.
Connections Integrity: The small hydrogen molecule combined with cyclic pressure/temperature loads makes joints prone to leakage.
Material Selection and Qualification for H2 Service
Our approach combines rigorous material selection and design improvements based on standards like API 6D Annex M and ASME B31.12.
| FAMILY | KEY H₂ CONSIDERATIONS | Suitability (PV Proprietary Data) |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon Steels | Hardness ≤HRC; adequate fracture toughness required; suitable for moderate conditions. | Medium |
| Austenitic SS | Good embrittlement resistance; balanced chemistry; high toughness retention. | High |
| Ni-Alloys | High strength; dedicated fracture mechanics tests required (e.g., Inconel 625). | High |
Design for Hydrogen Service
Our H2 valve design incorporates best practices to mitigate risk:
- Stress analysis as per ASME BPVC, Section VIII, Part 2, Part 5 (Fatigue Assessment).
- Specific design considerations for high hydrogen gas velocities to prevent excessive noise, internal piping erosion, and turbulence.
- Rigorous testing of prototypes using different gas mixtures (e.g., Nitrogen, Helium, Forming Gas, Hydrogen) to validate macro-scale leakage (HP Gas test – ISO 5208).
Our proven Oil & Gas expertise combined with a commitment to H2 specific qualification standards (API 6D Annex M, ASME B31.12) is our core strength. PetrolValves is focused on extending long-term testing, standardizing internal qualification processes, optimizing valve trims and geometry, and continued collaboration with end-users and certification bodies to deliver the most reliable flow solutions for the energy of tomorrow.