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VALVE LUBRICANT 601TM

The Valve Lubricant 601TM range is one of the Industry’s most successful and most widely used gate valve lubricant ranges. It was designed to provide exceptional performance across the widest range of well operating conditions, processes and equipment applications. 601 holds a large library of case studies, field success testimonials and performance reports and is widely acknowledged across the industry by Field Operators, Drilling Contractors, Well Intervention and Workover Companies. It is approved by several leading API 6A OEMs and holds the most approvals for any single product grade.

Valve Lubricant 601TM delivers operational cost savings across key areas by achieving:

Cost Effective Performance

Valve Lubricant 601TM’s hydrocarbon resistance gives it the ability to remain in the valve cavity and ensure operational protection to the valve’s critical internal components. By protecting the gate and seat, the sealing surfaces remain in good condition, and ensure the valve can deliver an integral ‘metal to metal’ seal when closed. The high performance lubricating ability of 601TM not only protects the interfacing seal surfaces, often moving relatively under high contact stress, but also lubrication of the non-rising stem thread on manually actuated valves.

Unbeatable Cavity Retention

The physical texture of 601TM is such that it delivers an effective blocking barrier, when completely filled in the valve cavity. This has been proven to be extremely beneficial in well testing operations where high sand production is often encountered. In frac operations, there is potential for ingress of proppant media during injection and sand during flow-back, which can cause major valve problems. 601TM has been field proven to remain in the valve cavity, reducing ingress of contaminants dramatically and delivering significant valve performance benefits

Enhanced Sealing Capabilities

Valve Lubricant 601TM performs effectively when there is some leakage across the valve, indicating damage to the seal surfaces. Field experience shows that in 65 – 75% of cases of leaking valves, 601TM helps operators achieve a zero leak-off rate.

Testimonial

“We were pleased with how quickly 601TM stopped the leaking on the valves we trialled and we're using this in all of our UMV's to protect the valves from damage and minimise the risk of leaking in the future.”

Product Selector

*Pumpability temperatures refer to reasonable flow rates when using the RS Clare 70:1 Pump System. Click here to view our pump range.

Product Temp Range Minimum Pumpable Temperature* Download TDS

Valve Lubricant 601TM

-20°F to 450°F

-13°F

-40°F to 300°F

-25°F

ALSO AVAILABLE IN WINTER GRADE FOR TEMPERATURES BELOW -20°F

Download Our Oil & Gas Lubricants Brochure

Our range of advanced lubricants for the Oil and Gas industry have been proven to deliver increased valve integrity, enhanced functionality and a more cost effective operation for our customers around the globe.

Explore our full range of premium oil and gas lubricants and sealants in our Oil and Gas brochure.

Gate Valve

GATE VALVE LUBRICANT PERFORMANCE

THE 6 ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES YOU NEED FROM A GATE VALVE LUBRICANT

Valve Lubricant Technology

A valve lubricant, often referred to ‘valve grease’, is distinctly different to the standard, multi-purpose greases which are familiar to most people. The conditions a gate valve faces in the field are extremely severe and a grease must be able to withstand this environment and continue to provide lubrication and protection to the valve. Wide temperature variations, extreme pressures, flowing hydrocarbons, high levels of CO2 and Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) all contribute to very difficult conditions for a grease, which is why it must be specifically formulated with these conditions in mind. Below are 6 essential attributes that are required to help enable it to do so:

BELOW DESCRIBES THESE 6 POINTS IN MORE DETAIL:

HYDROCARBON RESISTANCE

The main products produced from the reservoir are hydrocarbon gases, crude oil and water. It is therefore essential that the lubricant is insoluble and unaffected by these three materials. Although most lubricant greases are fully water resistant, they will readily dissolve in crude oil and the related but more aggressive gas well condensate. This generally leads to the disintegrating and washing out of the valve cavity. Produced hydrocarbon gases, both wet and dry, will also degrade the grease and remove it from the cavity. This often causes deposits made up from a combination of the grease’s thickener along with any solid lubricants the grease contains to remain in the cavity. These deposits will interfere with the valve’s operation, typically causing problems with valve cycling.

The absence of grease will also cause other problems. For example, when grease has been washed out of the valve cavity the protective layer of lubricating film is removed which makes valve damage more likely. Unlubricated valve internals are then likely to rub against each other and cause scoring on the surfaces which create leak pathways which affects the ability of the valve to seal when in the closed position. Furthermore, this then leaves a void, allowing contaminants to enter the valve cavity such as sand or other formation debris, leading to abrasion and erosion of the metal valve components.

CAVITY RETENTION

Valve greases often feel stickier than multi-purpose greases and this is a design feature required for valve lubricants to achieve optimal cavity retention. In addition to the tackiness required, the valve grease also needs to provide adhesive strength to surfaces and high cohesive strength to resist being washed away by pressurised liquids and gases flowing through the valve.

For a valve lubricant to excel though, more is required. As stated above, the base oil, thickener and additives must be matched to ensure that water resistance and hydrocarbon resistance are maintained. If any one component is incompatible the grease could easily fail and be washed away.

The temperatures of the reservoir fluids can be very high therefore, a valve grease must also be thermally stable so that it does not become too fluid and easily washed out of the valve cavity.

WEAR PROTECTION

Another key requirement for valve lubricants is to provide the internal valve components with protection against extreme pressure and wear. In most valve greases some anti wear additives are used to ensure the grease can withstand the forces experienced when valves are opened against pressure and they are also important in reducing wear rates, particularly when valve internals are already partially damaged. Failure to adequately protect and lubricate the contact surfaces of the gates and seats in a valve will result in the valve leaking and not being able to provide the necessary integral well barrier to perform intervention work.

EFFECTIVE SEALING PERFORMANCE

It is important for a valve lubricant to have good sealing performance to help maintain well barriers when the valve is in the closed position. Very often when a valve has been in operation in the field for some time, minor imperfections are created on the surface of the internal gates and seats of the valve. If a valve lubricant has poor sealing capability, these minor imperfections can result in pressure not being able to be held and the valve passing when in the closed position. This is a problem as the valve must reliably seal to be able to carry out a planned work over or intervention work on a well, and delays in getting a zero leak rate across the valve can result in high expense with maintenance crew and equipment is ready and waiting. A lubricant with excellent sealing performance can help reduce downtime and maintenance costs by ensuring your valves form a reliable seal and integrity is maintained.

CORROSION PROTECTION

When a valve cavity is full, the grease acts as a physical barrier between corrosive liquids and gases, which is another reason that good cavity retention is necessary in a valve grease. Most premium valve lubricants will also have a chemical corrosion inhibitor system to act as a secondary line of defence. This is particularly important where either brines or H2S are being produced.

RESISTANCE TOWARDS DRYING OUT

Some valve greases are prone to drying out if they are exposed to prolonged periods of high temperatures and this susceptibility is dependent on the grease’s thermal resistant properties. Certain types of grease can polymerise which leads to the grease thickening, then becoming rubbery and finally drying out and eventually becoming hard. In particular mineral oil greases are particularly vulnerable to this degradation, especially after prolonged periods at high temperature as often seen on wellhead gate valves.


Hydrocarbon resistance, cavity retention, wear and corrosion protection, good sealing performance and dry-out prevention are all important features, and they should drive your grease selection process, ensuring your equipment and the integrity of your operation is fully maintained.

VALVE LUBRICANTS FOR CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE OPERATIONS​

RS Clare teamed up with Schlumberger and a prominent IOC (International Oil Company) to conduct a detailed analysis on Valve Lubricant 601TM and how it behaves when mixed with Supercritical CO2.

DID YOU KNOW?

VALVE LUBRICANT 601TM IS RECOMMENDED FOR BOTH GATE VALVES AND PLUG VALVES

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Download our paper on gate valves and valve lubricants to maintain well integrity and HSE standards

GATE VALVES AND VALVE LUBRICANTS TO MAINTAIN WELL INTEGRITY AND HSE STANDARDS

Effective gate valve lubrication can be the difference between maintaining and losing well integrity, but with no lubricant specs included in API-6A (Specification of Wellhead and Christmas Tree Equipment), how can operators be sure to choose the right lubricant for their operating conditions to ensure long term field reliability of their gate valves?