Rotork nets major valve contract in South China Sea

London - Rotork Fluid Systems has won a contract to supply pneumatic valve actuators and packaged controls for a new offshore oil production platform located in the South China Sea. Wellhead Platform B (WHP-B) is a major component of the Su Tu Den Northeast (STDNE) Field Development, located in Block 15-1, offshore Vietnam.

Rotork is supplying 44 GP and CP range pneumatic actuators for the on/off control of ball valves in sizes ranging from 2inch to 24inch. Included in the contract is a GP-200C-685A/C1 actuator to operate an 18inch, ANSI Class 1500 ball valve on a High Integrity Pressure Protection System (HIPPS).

The WHP-B platform will be a normally unmanned installation and the safety-related function of the HIPPS will be to provide a failsafe back-up system to ensure the containment of hydrocarbons in the event of pipeline or vessel overpressure.

The HIPPS will protect the production manifold, pig launcher, pipeline and manifold from overpressure from the STDNE wells. The first level of protection is the Platform Instrumented System, but if this is unavailable, the HIPPS is designed as an independent second level of protection that will detect an overpressure scenario and ensure that the STDNE production wells are isolated.

Situated in Vietnam’s Cuu Long Basin, the Su Tu Den Northeast Field Development project will extend existing offshore oil facilities in the area and deliver an additional 30,000 barrels per day when production starts in 2010.