What was installed and where?
TotalEnergies EP Denmark fitted seven anti-surge valves with additively manufactured nickel-based alloy disk stacks supplied by IMI. The valves handle gas with hydrogen sulphide partial pressures of up to 3.3 kPa. The parts were built by laser powder bed fusion, and IMI paired them with its own heat treatment tailored to sour service.
How were the printed parts qualified?
The starting point was valve passing, a leakage problem in anti-surge systems under harsh conditions. Because the gas is corrosive, any replacement part had to prove corrosion resistance, reliability and mechanical performance first. Printed nickel alloys have little track record in sour service, so qualification carried the project. IMI and TotalEnergies ran extensive mechanical and corrosion tests. The parts matched conventional nickel alloy components and satisfied DNV-ST-B203 AMC Level 3, after which TotalEnergies approved installation.
What is the Retrofit3D approach?
The disk stacks belong to IMI's Retrofit3D offering: custom printed trims that fit into existing valve bodies. They use IMI's DRAG multi-stage, multi-path flow design to lower differential pressure. Only the internal trim is exchanged, so the pressure boundary and actuator stay as they are, and no pipework needs cutting or re-welding. IMI says installation can take hours and that it has upgraded hundreds of valves, including projects in China and for Griffith Energy.
How does it fit wider oil and gas practice?
Other operators also print parts to keep installed equipment running. ConocoPhillips retrofitted choke cage valves with printed cages after the OEM stopped supplying them, and Shell obtained CE certification from LRQA for a printed pressure vessel. DNV GL ran joint industry projects with 20 partners on qualification guidelines for LPBF and WAAM, and Protolabs was reportedly the first powder bed fusion producer certified by DNV for oil and gas.