Severn celebrating 20 years with Shell.
Back in 2000 Severn Unival secured a valve management contract for Shell’s North Sea platforms. Each time the contract has come up for renewal we have retained the business. The contract was recently renewed again, marking 20 years of working together. The strength and duration of this customer relationship are testament to the high level of service and technical expertise we bring and is a major factor in Severn celebrating 20 years with Shell.
Severn manufactures and supports high quality valves for the energy industries. Its control, choke and small bore subsea valves are pre-eminent in the global market, underpinning the reliability and high performance of business-critical client infrastructure.
Severn’s global reach, technical prowess, and collaborative approach – all founded upon a heritage of British engineering excellence – help to assure production continuity for clients and reduce the prospect of costly downtime.
Its understanding of the life-cycle of assets positions Severn to offer end-to-end engineering solutions, enabling clients to meet their core imperatives: safe operations and minimum downtime.
Recognition from BP.
Our Applications Engineering Group based in Brighouse received recognition from BP with a fantastic testimonial from the UK Engineering Team Leader of BP’s West Nile Delta Project this week:
“…the team in Brighouse are long overdue a thank you from us in BP West Nile Delta Operations for the support you’ve given us across various issues and various valves. We’ve bombarded you with questions and requests for data and I’m sure we’ve been a pain on more than a few occasions! However, you and the team have always responded professionally and given us very useful guidance, including going into some deep technical detail with us which has been very valuable in making our operation safer.”
Special recognition has to go to Jonny Walker and Andrew Dennis who have completed most of the work in relation to this contract.
Severn manufactures and supports high quality valves for the energy industries. Its control, choke and small bore subsea valves are pre-eminent in the global market, underpinning the reliability and high performance of business-critical client infrastructure.
Severn’s global reach, technical prowess, and collaborative approach – all founded upon a heritage of British engineering excellence – help to assure production continuity for clients and reduce the prospect of costly downtime.
Its understanding of the life-cycle of assets positions Severn to offer end-to-end engineering solutions, enabling clients to meet their core imperatives: safe operations and minimum downtime.
Remote inspection technology gains momentum.
Adoption of Severn Oculi, our connected system for the remote inspection of valves, is going from strength to strength. As well as assessing valve condition in the field, the digital system can be used to facilitate remote witness testing.
Severn Glocon Abu Dhabi recently conducted a full pressure, seat leakage and functional test on a 2- 9/16 API 10,000 globe control valve for ADNOC, with the process witnessed virtually by the client team. Various work scopes have been witness-tested in this way in recent weeks to demonstrate the technology to our clients.
The SVS team has also been holding internal video conferences to introduce the technology and its benefits to the wider Group. If you would like to participate in a future demonstration, please contact support@svsi.ae.
With the global pandemic response still restricting movements and international travel, remote inspection technology gains momentum as Severn Oculi is proving to be a valuable tool. It’s set to deliver a good return on investment, improving cost efficiency for Severn and our customers alike.
Severn manufactures and supports high quality valves for the energy industries. Its control, choke and small bore subsea valves are pre-eminent in the global market, underpinning the reliability and high performance of business-critical client infrastructure.
Severn’s global reach, technical prowess, and collaborative approach – all founded upon a heritage of British engineering excellence – help to assure production continuity for clients and reduce the prospect of costly downtime.
Its understanding of the life-cycle of assets positions Severn to offer end-to-end engineering solutions, enabling clients to meet their core imperatives: safe operations and minimum downtime.
BOC praises 24-hour critical valve repair turnaround.
In the middle of February, BOC called us to investigate a recycle valve that was not stroking properly at its Worsley plant. This was a repeat problem which we’d previously resolved by adjusting the positioner. On this occasion when Field Service Technician, Jake Wood inspected the valve it was clear that the positioner needed to be replaced. Contracts Manager, Dave Morrison promptly contacted Project Engineer, Tracy Chapman in Gloucester who quickly advised us on several replacement options. One of these was already in stock in the Brighouse stores. So, Jake was despatched to BOC Worsley again the following day where he successfully installed the replacement part. This is a great example of multiple facilities collaborating to deliver a high level of customer service.
BOC praises 24-hour critical valve repair, as both the maintenance supervisor and the branch manager of BOC stated:
“I would just like to thank you for your quick response in getting our N2O filling system back up and running. This is a critical gas which we supply to the NHS and with your help and quick response we have managed to keep the supply chain going.” Mark Derbyshire, Maintenance Supervisor
“[You’ve] been a big help this week. Given the criticality of N2O, it’s prevented us having any immediate shortages to the NHS.” Dan Smith, Branch Manager
In the long-term the entire valve needs to be replaced, and Gloucester’s Tim Webb is on the case.
Severn manufactures and supports high quality valves for the energy industries. Its control, choke and small bore subsea valves are pre-eminent in the global market, underpinning the reliability and high performance of business-critical client infrastructure.
Severn’s global reach, technical prowess, and collaborative approach – all founded upon a heritage of British engineering excellence – help to assure production continuity for clients and reduce the prospect of costly downtime.
Its understanding of the life-cycle of assets positions Severn to offer end-to-end engineering solutions, enabling clients to meet their core imperatives: safe operations and minimum downtime.
Severn achieve new OHS standard.
Severn Glocon achieve new OHS standard and has received accreditation to the new international standard of ISO 45001:2018 for Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems (OHS) certified by the BSI (British Standards Institution) Group. The scope of the standard covers: ‘The design, development, manufacture and supply to customer order and specification of all types of industrial/process control valves, actuators and valve mounted instrumentation.’
Severn Glocon achieved the earlier BS OHSAS 18001:2007 accreditation in January 2012 and has focused on the continual improvement of Health & Safety ever since.
With the launch of the new standard, Severn Glocon set out to improve its integrated management system to meet the revised requirements, receiving a positive recommendation from the BSI in January.
Chris King, QHSE Manager for Severn Glocon, says: “We were very pleased to achieve the migration from OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018 before the year end. It marks another milestone in the development of our Integrated Management System which also meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 & ISO TS 29001:2011.
“The team effort to achieve this ahead of schedule demonstrates our commitment to maintaining and continually improving our management system to meet both national and international industry requirements as well as specific customer needs. I would like to thank everyone on the team who helped make this happen.”
Severn Glocon Group has today announced a multi-million pound investment from energy investor Blue Water Energy. The investment deal, which is subject to certain conditions precedent, sees management team member Colin Findlay take on the role of new CEO to lead the implementation of a new plan for expansion and a focus on new product development.
Severn Glocon is one of the biggest manufacturers of control valves for the oil and gas industry, and employs over 900 staff worldwide including 370 in the UK. The independent UK-based company, with manufacturing locations in Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Chennai and service operations globally, now has a fully-funded growth plan that will build on its proud heritage and customer and supplier base to take quality and reliability to the next level.
Severn Glocon founder Maurice Critchley steps into a non-executive director role and remains as an investor in the company, alongside Blue Water Energy. As well as knowledge of the industry, Blue Water Energy investment will provide capital for the ambitious 5 year growth plan – allowing Severn Glocon to move forward with a positive balance sheet and ample financial support.
Christopher Powell continues in his role as Chairman.
Maurice Critchley said: “Having created an excellent global manufacturing business over the past 30 years, I am pleased to see it in good hands and I look forward to supporting our new CEO, Colin Findlay, and Blue Water Energy, in taking Severn Glocon to the next level around the world.”
New CEO Colin Findlay of Severn Glocon said: ““I am very proud to step into the role, leading the highly experienced Severn team. Our development plans are now in place and backed by Blue Water Energy. We are confident that our markets are strong and Severn will continue to punch above its weight with specialised products in all of its core markets.”
Mr Findlay, who has worked at Severn for the past 14 years, is also Chairman of the British Valve and Actuator Association (BVAA).
Blue Water Energy Director Salil Oberoi said: “We are delighted to be working with this hidden gem of British industry. We are excited to work with Colin Findlay and his team as we embark on the next chapter of the Severn Glocon story. Blue Water Energy brings a wealth of experience in growing energy related companies and we share the same ambitious growth plans for Severn Glocon that Colin and his team have. We are also are grateful to have Maurice Critchley in his new advisory role on the board and the experience he brings.
Severn Drives & Energy are working with a leading global technology developer to introduce to the market a cost-effective vanadium flow battery storage solution, being driven to empower a clean energy future for the world.
Today the world is faced with the twin challenges of global warming and air pollution; this destructive combination is damaging and costly in terms of both human health and the environment. The good news is that new solar and wind power installations are now recognized as some of the lowest cost of generation in most parts of the world, and our long-duration, deep-discharge, long-life batteries are the best way to integrate these variable renewable energy sources onto the grid. Unlike other batteries, our systems are safe, reliable, and recyclable.
Our grid-scale energy storage systems provide flexible, long-duration energy with proven high performance. Systems start at 250kW / 1MWh and can be as large as 100MW / 800MWh in size, installed at utility, commercial and industrial sites, in support of solar or wind farms or in isolated microgrids.
Our long-duration systems are ideally suited to stabilize isolated microgrids, integrating solar and wind power in a safe, reliable, low maintenance, and environmentally friendly manner.
UTILIZED CAPACITY 100% DISCHARGE CYCLE TO FULL DEPTH-OF-DISCHARGE
Vanadium flow batteries can be discharged over an almost unlimited number of charge and discharge cycles without wearing out. This is an important factor when matching the daily demands of utility-scale solar and wind power generation.
LONG LIFE 25,000+ PRODUCT LIFE CYCLES AT FULL POWER
Vanadium flow batteries have a proven life of at least 25 years without degradation in the battery. Annual maintenance is low, and the vanadium electrolyte, which is 40-60% of battery cost, retains its value at end-of life.
ECONOMICS 2-3x LOWER COST OF OWNERSHIP THAN LITHIUM-BATTERIES
Lithium-based batteries have inherently shorter lifetimes and are not well suited for longer duration storage (4+ hours). Vanadium outperforms lithium on depth-of-discharge (DoD), cycle life, and end of life value (lithium carries a disposal cost).
At the end of 25 or more years, our electrolyte can be reused in another battery or recycled for use as commodity vanadium. This is dramatically different to other battery types that ultimately carry a waste disposal cost.
Unlike other battery systems, vanadium flow batteries are a robust product, contains no heavy metals like lead, nickel, zinc or cadmium and the liquid electrolyte in our products is non-toxic, non-flammable and is 100% reusable.
To discuss your energy storage requirements in more detail and see how we can help you please email sales@severnde.co.uk
Severn eliminates corrosion risk in firesafe valves for offshore oil & gas.
Severn Glocon Group is extending its range of triple offset butterfly valves with a new solution that avoids galvanic corrosion in saline applications, without compromising firesafe capability.
The OCT®SW innovation was driven by market feedback from offshore oil and gas operators in relation to seawater service valves used for fire safety. It ensures graphite parts – which can increase the susceptibility of neighbouring metals to corrosion when exposed to seawater – do not contact line media.
Seawater service valves play an integral role feeding water in the event of fire on an offshore platform or vessel. Their ability to either supply or isolate sections of the water line is a critical safety feature. Eliminating galvanic corrosion while maintaining firesafe credentials has been an enduring challenge for the industry. Severn’s new valve design overcomes this limiting factor and recently passed fire testing in accordance with the latest editions of API 6FA, API 607 and ISO 10497.
Mark Breese, Group Product Development Manager – Butterfly Valves, says his team focused on fully isolating graphite parts from line media, or removing them from the valve entirely.
“Triple offset valves are generally constructed with graphite packings, gaskets and laminated metal/graphite seals,” Breese explains. “In normal operation this noble material provides good service, but increased risk of galvanic corrosion in seawater applications has been an ongoing concern for offshore operators. Our team overcame significant technical challenges to develop a sustainable solution that removes or replaces graphite. Their success underlines our world-class engineering capabilities and builds on our pioneering oblique cone technology for triple offset valves.”
Granted a patent by the UK Intellectual Property Office in 2018, Severn’s oblique cone technology (OCT®) is central to this new solution. The ‘infinite circle’ geometry of the design enabled the R&D team to develop a hybrid seal technology that eradicates the need for graphite.
To validate integrity, OCT®SW valves are exposed to a stringent fire testing procedure, involving a 30-minute burn where they are bathed in flames. Valves are monitored for leakage throughout the process. After a forced cooldown period, they undergo further seat and external leakage testing, and operational capability is also verified. The process is designed to simulate the time required to extinguish a fire, ensuring the valves can perform during and after an incident.
“This is a landmark development which offers benefits for many firesafe applications, not just seawater service,” Breese continues. “The team took steps to ensure the solution is compatible with additional control valve features such as anti-cavitation or low-noise trims, extending its potential use beyond isolation service. It can also be retrofitted into valves already in operation.”
Further information is available at www.severnglocon.com.
Severn Valve Solutions (SVS) is now licensed by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) to provide Managing Safely training and certification.
Managing Safely is an internationally recognised health and safety management course that has the flexibility to address the specific needs of individual industry sectors. Benefits of the training include better employee engagement to facilitate an improved safety-awareness culture. This leads to greater productivity, with fewer hours lost to sickness and accidents. Holding the certification also boosts supply chain reputation.
“Managing Safely is for managers and supervisors in any sector, and any organisation. It’s designed to get managers up to speed on the practical actions they need to take to handle safety and health in their teams.” – IOSH.
Key areas covered in Managing Safely training include:
- Assessing and controlling risks
- Understanding responsibilities
- Understanding hazards
- Investigating incidents
- Measuring performance
Dean Hopcroft, QHSSE Manager at SVS, is a Technical Member of IOSH and our responsible person for all health and safety matters. Already highly qualified in the field, he is also working towards a master’s degree in International Security & Risk Management.
On receiving the formal acceptance from IOSH Dean said: “This license enables us to develop Severn’s employees as well as helping clients improve their own health and safety management. We’re committed to improving safety standards wherever we work, and gaining internationally recognised certification reinforces our ability to deliver this. Existing clients in Iraq and Ghana have been requesting our support in this area for some time, so it’s great to be able to satisfy the growing demand in this important area.”
Managing Safely training and certification is led and delivered through Severn Valve Solutions’ training department and is available worldwide.
For more information, contact support@svsi.ae