Improving High-Pressure System Performance with FKB Series Ball Valves
Discover why Ocean Edge Services trusts Swagelok FKB Series medium-pressure ball valves for demanding onshore and offshore oil and gas applications. In this customer success story, learn how Ocean Edge uses FKB Series valves in custom-engineered hydraulic power units (HPUs), control systems, and panels operating in extreme-pressure environments. Designed to deliver exceptional reliability, vibration resistance, and leak-tight performance, FKB Series ball valves help improve safety while streamlining production processes. Hear how Ocean Edge evaluated valve performance under challenging conditions and why the company considers FKB Series valves a dependable solution for enhancing operational efficiency, product reliability, and long-term customer success.
Video Transcript
Ocean Edge started with a phone call from Chile. He called me up one day and said, “Hey, look, I have a schematic that I want you to look at.” I instantly understood what he was doing. He was correcting a lot of the mistakes that he and I had encountered in our time offshore, and I saw the brilliance in it. So I called him up and said, “Man, what are you doing?” He said, “Well, I have an opportunity. I have been talking to a couple of guys, and they are potentially interested in renting a unit from me, so I am going to make a go of this.” Ocean Edge is unique in the fact that they deal with pressures that most manufacturers will not touch. The dangers of operating at that pressure start with the pumps that are creating the pressure, all of the connections that are holding those pressures, and the pressurized hydraulic fluid traveling hundreds of feet down to the subsea floor. There are a number of issues that are incredibly important to them. Of course, number one is safety. Human lives are involved. The environment is involved. Each unit they put onto these rigs is stringently tested to make sure it functions flawlessly.
We were having issues with another vendor and their product, so we were looking for a replacement check valve. We put the FK through various scenarios. You crack it a little bit, just try to wipe the seal in one spot, and what usually gives? You hit it hard, and the action on this valve was so smooth with 100% differential. That means one side of your valve is seeing all the force, and the other stays at zero. So as soon as you feel it come through there, you expect fluid to be screaming past that seal. It held. It held at 20,000 psi and was rated for 15,000. We were trying to destroy it. Ocean Edge has really taken an innovative stance in the way they use the FK. They have really taught us how dependable it is and why it is different from and superior to other products in the market. One of the biggest issues with cone and thread is vibration. You are not going to have that on the FK because the amount of swage actually acts as anti-vibration. Now that you have the FK that goes up to 20,000 psi, where do you save money? That is what it is always about. It is going to be your prep time—98% faster on the FKB compression. I mean, there is no comparison. Personally speaking, if you ask me at that particular pressure, I am going FK all day long. You are going to get a better product.
It has been a great honor watching them grow and become the gold standard for the HPU market. The opportunities that are coming forward for them are endless, and Swagelok is going to be right there with them. They trust our product and the performance of our product, and we will walk into that future hand in hand.
