DBB Archives

The Imperative of Fire Safe Testing!

DBB - Fire safety solutions according to ISO and API standards

I often hear people saying “Metal seated valves with graphite sealing don’t need to be fire safe tested, as all the components are fire resistant”.
To be honest, starting my career as a valve engineer, I was convinced, that this common understanding is true – until I did fire safe tests on my own for our Monoflange Series, many years ago. Even after this long period of time I remember very well, when we did the pre-tests. I looked very surprised, when the valve seat was leaking during the firing of the valve.

[Interview] – Smart Technology in the Valve Sector

DBB - Smart technology for a valve assembly in the oil and gas industry.

Juan is a Sr. Consultant with over 25 years of experience in the upstream O&G Industry working at different levels and capacities from Lead Engineer to Management, holding a successful record of accomplishments. Experienced in Advance Drilling, Production, and Marine Systems and have participated extensively in Rig (JU & Floaters) Design and Construction, with In-Depth involvement from Concept Development to Commissioning and Delivery of over 20 new Offshore Rigs, in addition to several life enhancement, upgrades, and refurbishment projects.

Big Data ControlNet DBB DBB Valve DIMS Environment Experience Modbus Offshore Oil PLC Price Profibus Smart Smart-Valves Technology Valve Sector

DBB Valves: Floating vs. Trunnion Ball Design

DBB - The difference between floating ball valves and trunnion ball valves.

The higher the pressure, the more the sealing elements are pressed together – and the higher are the forces on the ball and the seat.
This would not be a big problem, if the valve has not to be operated like a check valve. But a ball valve has to be operable, even under high differential pressure.
When high forces are acting on the sealing elements, the friction between them is high. This means that the operation torque and the wear on the parts are also high.

API 6D Ball Valve Bore Size DBB DBB Valve Double Block and Bleed EEUMA 182 Floating Ball Forces Industrial Valves ISO 14313 Pipeline Valves Pressure Process to Instrument Valve Taurus Trunnion Ball Valve

[Interview] Challenges and Trends in the Oil & Gas Industry

DBB – Challenges and trends in the oil and gas industry.

Interview: Frans Martens, Industry Expert, reports on the develompent of the Oil & Gas Industry. Frans has 35 years of experience in both the upstream and well as the downstream parts of a major oil and gas company, working in the Netherlands, Germany and Oman. His knowledge and experience cover field devices, telemetry, process control systems and final elements such as control valves and actuators for on/off valves. Frans has been involved in standardization work, vendor and product acceptance work, the development and delivery of training courses. As of January 2017, Frans is self-employed as an independent consultant to the industry. Frans holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and telecommunication.

Challenge DBB DBB Valve Engineering Expert Fugitive Emission Interview ISO 15848 Oil and Gas Price Safety Trends

Improve Safety – Upgrade to DBB Valves

DBB - Safe solution couse valve meet the face-to-face requirements of ASME B16.10.

It is very easy to upgrade your existing Single Isolate Ball Valve installation. Simply use a DBB with Face-to-Face and End-to-End dimensions acc. to ASME B16.10.

Use a DBB Dual Ball Design improve Safety and Process Reliability. Here is a simple infographic to illustrate the interchangeability using ASME B16.10 dimensions:

ASME B16.10 DBB face to face Isolate Ball Valve Pipeline Valves Taurus-DBB Two Ball Valves Valves

The most important facts of an own Valve Test Center

DBB - Profit from German engineering, technology, testing, manufactoring and assembly.

When I think back 20 years, I nearly cannot imagine how we were able to provide such high quality valves without the means of testing them in such an extensive way like we do this today.

I remember very well the time, when I started at AS-Schneider as a design engineer. Fire Safe Approvals and Fugitive Emission Testing (TA-Luft) had to be done outside the company on a third party test rig. There was no chance to do a pre-testing and it was always very exciting when the third party like TÜV was witnessing the tests. Well, most of the approvals were passed successfully, but I also remember some Type approvals were we failed at the first stage. The disappointment was great and we lost time with the re-design and the second try.

Today we are very glad to operate our TechCenter with 2 Fire Safe test rigs, a fully automated valve test bench, a climate chamber, etc. Once we started our TechCenter, it was so exciting for us to learn what our valves are able to withstand and where they have their limits.

API 607 DBB Double Block and Bleed Fire Safe Fugitive Emission Industrial Valves ISO 15848 Pipeline Valves Process to Instrument Valve Taurus Valves

How the position of levers can influence the usability of DBB Valves

DBB - Position of levers can influence the usability of DBB valves.

Several Ball Valve basic designs are common and therefore a lot of different solutions are available on the market. Especially the position / orientation of the levers have an enormous influence on the usability of the valve, when used in horizontal installations. The following pictures are showing two different options.

Ball Valve DBB DBB Ball Dual Ball DualBallDBB Lever Operation Safety Taurus Valve

Cost Savings Through Better Performance during Installation and in Use

DBB - Installation and maintenance of compact valves in the oil and gas industry.

Traditional installations of Double Block & Bleed (DBB) valve systems at plants are very time consuming and an expensive practice. A traditional system consists of two single ball valves, a needle valve, various connectors, adaptors and flanges.

CostReduction DBB Dual Ball DualBallDBB Taurus-DBB TCO Valve

What does Full Bore stand for?

DBB - Difference between full bore valves and reduced bore valves, chart.

There has always been a lot of confusion and misunderstanding when it comes to Full Bore and Reduced Bore terminology. Let me try to explain some interesting facts. For example, DBB Valves are developed mainly for the use in the Oil and Gas sector. In this industry, the relevant design standards are ….

API 608 API 6D Bore Size DBB Double Block and Bleed EEUMA 182 Full Bore Full-opening valve Industrial Valves Pipeline Valves Process to Instrument Valve Reduced Bore Reduces-opening valve Taurus Valves

Fugitive Emissions: ISO 15848 vs. TA-Luft

DBB - Environmental requirements (fugitive emissions) according to ISO 15848-1.

Tracking and limiting Fugitive Emissions has moved into the focus of many countries around the world. Stringent legal requirements force the industry to rethink and use emission-reducing equipment. This sounds very simple, but from my experience there is still misconception when it comes to this subject.

DBB Fugitive Emission Industrial Valves ISO 15848 TA-Luft Taurus Taurus-DBB Valves