Total Carbide, one of Europe's largest tungsten carbide product developers, announced that it is introducing a new Intraform process that creates tungsten carbide components for use in harsh and highly corrosive environments.
The company has planned to launch the process to the oil and gas sector at the Offshore Europe event scheduled from September 6 to 8, 2011.
The Intraform process will allow production of tungsten carbide chambers, which is not possible with other standard production methods. The process enables production of complex internal wear forms that is needed in rotary and linear valves. These products can last about 10 times longer than the comparable steel parts. The tungsten carbide wear parts are manufactured as a single piece preventing leakage and allowing greater pressure liquid flow rates. The enhancement in the performance and reliability of valves will considerably decrease the downtime impact and cost associated with component failure and maintenance.
Total Carbide’s Intraform process has undergone leakage testing by major valve manufacturers across the globe. The products produced using the process have undergone Factory Accreditation Testing (FAT) and proved that there are no signs of failure. A 90 day corrosion trail has also been carried out. All these tests prove that Intraform is suitable for harsh subsea environments.