Planning live valve maintenance: operations gates, SIMOPS, sequencing and contingency

Engineering guide

Browse the BTR VSI knowledge hub for related valve maintenance guidance.

Seat-leak campaigns can also use our passing valves guide.

Define the window by outcomes and limits

Start with the operating outcome for each valve. Examples include restoring movement, assessing a passing seat or reducing external leakage.

Then state what the window will not attempt. Live maintenance is not suitable for every valve, service or defect. Some findings must move into shutdown repair or replacement planning.

Use valve criticality ranking to order work by consequence and isolation role, not convenience alone.

Set operations gates before mobilisation

Operations owns the live process conditions that make work possible. The plan should name the authorised person who opens, pauses and closes the window.

1. Asset identity. Confirm tag, valve type, size, rating, service and exact work location.
2. Process envelope. Record permitted pressure, temperature, flow and operating states for the task.
3. Valve condition. Review leakage, travel, fittings, previous injection and known defects.
4. Injection suitability. Confirm fittings are in good condition, design and service suit injection, OEM guidance applies, and operations permit it.
5. Work control. Approve permits, communications, exclusion areas, equipment ratings and stop-work conditions.

A pre-injection checklist should be completed for every valve, even within a repeated campaign.

Control simultaneous operations

SIMOPS can change pressure, flow, access or emergency response while maintenance continues. The plan should identify every nearby activity that can affect those controls.

Common conflicts include line switching, pigging, lifting, excavation, hot work, testing and work on connected valves. A control room action can also change differential pressure at the worksite.

Use a simple matrix showing activity, area, owner, interaction and required separation. If conditions move outside the agreed envelope, pause work and return the valve to its approved state.

Shift changes need a formal handover. The incoming team should confirm valve status, injected amounts, open permits, equipment condition and remaining hold points.

Sequence valves to preserve control

Do not work through a route only by physical distance. Sequence valves so operations retains isolation options, monitoring and access throughout the campaign.

1. Begin with a valve whose records, fittings and expected response are well understood.
2. Review the first result before repeating the method on similar valves.
3. Avoid taking related isolation barriers into maintenance at the same time.
4. Keep critical valves available while lower-consequence work establishes field conditions.
5. Allow time for testing, records and handover after each valve.

A campaign sequence should remain adjustable. Unexpected pressure response, poor uptake or rising torque may change the priority and method for later valves.

Our sealant injection visit guide shows how a single-valve task fits into the wider window.

Prepare contingencies before work starts

Each task needs a defined response for leakage, fitting failure, no uptake, loss of communications and process change. Name who decides, who isolates the area and who contacts emergency support.

Contingency equipment must suit the identified hazard and site rules. Its presence does not make an unsuitable task acceptable.

Stop-work triggers should be observable and specific. Examples include unexpected leakage, pressure outside the approved envelope, damaged equipment, uncontrolled valve movement or loss of operations contact.

Do not solve a blocked injection route by raising pressure beyond ratings. Stop, make the area safe and assess the valve-specific cause.

Close the window with evidence

Record work performed, product and amount, pressure response, valve movement, test result and unresolved limits. Screening observations should remain labelled as screening.

Operations should accept the valve state before the permit closes. Any temporary injected seal needs monitoring, ownership and a planned permanent endpoint. See managing a temporary injected seal.

For multi-valve campaigns, our field teams work to an agreed sequence, per-valve records and operations hold points.