We are currently pressure testing an 18 inch Ball Valve in hyperbaric chamber TPT 5, the largest of our nine hyperbaric chambers.
The valve, which is 2.25 meters in both height and width, has been going through vigorous qualification testing at our facilities in Newcastle and is now undergoing hyperbaric testing at simulated water depths of 2,400 meters (34,811 psi), as well as hydrostatic testing to pressures of 6,380 psi.
Prior to the pressure testing, our engineers completed a PR2 test on the valve, which consisted of gas and temperature testing at +105ËšC down to -20ËšC in Environmental Test Bay 1. It is expected that it will take approximately five weeks to complete all necessary testing in order to verify that the valve can successfully operate within the extreme environments in which it will be deployed.
Once the hyperbaric testing has been completed, the valve requires endurance testing over 800 breakout cycles; which will mean that once it has finished its qualification testing, the 18 inch valve will have run a total of 1,200 breakout cycles.