Choke Valves

Choke Valve General Information

Choke Valves are severe service valves which are designed specifically for oil and gas wellhead applications, both in a surface and subsurface context.They are used for controlling the flow on production, reinjection and subsurface wellheads. Choke Valves are subjected to typical wellhead extreme conditions which can cause erosion, corrosion and other damage. Typically this can include high fluid velocity, slugging, sand production and multiphase of oil, gases and water. Also a Choke Valve has to have a very high turndown capability as it has to cover a wide range of flowrates. Thus the design of Choke Valves is required to be very robust with careful selection of valve configuration, flow path profiles, materials and ease of maintenance. In subsea applications the Choke Valve has to cope with severe marine environmental conditions and be designed for subsea robot maintenance. If choke valves are selected poorly maintenance becomes a real issue with valves having to be removed regularly which is a real cost impost. Chokes can be operated manually or automatically. Sometimes a "choke bean" size is detailed, this is a device placed in a choke line that regulates the flow through the choke. Flow depends on the size of the opening in the bean; the larger the opening, the greater the flow. Actuator selection is also important, actuators may be a "stepping type" or linear depending on the valve design. Control systems can be complex on large facilities where multiple wells are controlled to production and reinjection manifolds.