Oil and Gas Equipment
Wear Parts, Cylinders and Filters
Hydroforce presses and sinters carbide inserts for erosive and corrosive duty, builds hydraulic actuator cylinders with documentation for offshore and process projects, machines stems, shafts and flanges, and sinters porous metal filter elements, for chokes and flow control, drill bits and mud systems, sucker-rod pumps and pump jacks, high-pressure plunger pumps, pipeline valves and actuators, and gas and process filtration.
Why Erosion and Corrosion Decide Oil and Gas Wear Parts
A choke or a valve core works in sand-laden fluid or drilling mud and wears from the inside while it goes on regulating flow. The bore grows a little at a time, nothing shows from outside, and the flow through the part slowly changes. We make choke pipe inserts, valve cores and seats, and seal rings in pressed and sintered tungsten carbide. In this duty a carbide insert keeps its geometry far longer than a hardened steel part.
Some fluids are corrosive as well as abrasive. In a standard grade the cobalt binder then dissolves from the surface first, and the carbide grains lose their support however hard they are. For this duty we use grades with a nickel binder. Nozzle bushings for drilling mud systems and sleeves and plungers for downhole tools come from the same pressing and sintering line, with the working bore diamond ground after sintering.
A worn insert usually keeps running. As its bore opens, exit velocity falls and consumption rises, and no alarm goes off. So we specify and quote a replacement against a measured bore, with the limit set by the flow the process needs.
Pumps load these parts in other ways. The ball and seat of a sucker-rod pump valve wear in abrasive fluid and are struck each time the valve closes. A plunger insert in a high-pressure pump slides back and forth through abrasive fluid. We choose the grade by the load. For erosion alone we use a fine-grained grade with little cobalt. Pressure cycling adds fatigue and calls for a medium-cobalt grade, and a part that also takes point impact gets more cobalt and a coarser grain.
A valve actuator can stand in one position for months and still has to move when the valve is called. All that time the exposed rod collects what the site puts on it, and near the sea that includes salt. We choose the rod coating for the site where the actuator will stand, and the project sets the documentation that goes with the cylinder.
Stems, sleeves, shafts and flanges for the valve, the pump and the actuator are turned and milled from bar stock. A gas or process filtration skid depends on its filter element. We sinter it from metal powder to a micron rating and test bubble point and permeability before it ships. Each part goes out with the documentation its component file needs.
By Type of Equipment
Built for Oil and Gas Equipment
Chokes and flow control
carbide choke pipe inserts as the trim sleeve, carbide valve cores and seats, and seal rings for the choke body, with hydraulic cylinders for the choke actuator and machined stems and sleeves.
Drill bits and mud systems
carbide nozzle bushings and inserts for the mud system, diamond ground to the bore the drilling program specifies.
Sucker-rod pumps and pump jacks
carbide valve seats and balls for the pump barrel, and carbide plunger tips.
High-pressure plunger pumps
carbide plunger inserts, seats and seal rings, with machined shafts and flanges for the pump end.
Pipeline valves and actuators
carbide valve seats, linear hydraulic cylinders for the actuator, and machined stems, shafts and flanges, with a die-cast control-unit housing where the design calls for one.
Gas and process filtration
sintered porous metal filter elements in 316L, nickel and titanium, with machined flanges for the housing.
What We Make for Oil and Gas Equipment Builders
Six Technologies for Oil and Gas Equipment Builders
Hydraulic Cylinders
Linear actuator cylinders open and close gate valves, choke valves and pipeline block valves. Our standard range covers bore 20 to 1000 mm and working pressure up to 500 bar, and the smaller and mid-size bores are what an actuator normally needs. For a dry inland site the rod is hard chrome plated. Where chloride is in the air we use a triplex nickel-chrome layer or a duplex stainless rod. Documentation is built into the order to ISO, DIN, DNV, ABS or API requirements, with material certificates to EN 10204 3.1.
Typical parts
- Linear actuator cylinders for gate, choke and pipeline block valves
- Rod coatings chosen for the exposure: hard chrome, triplex nickel-chrome, or duplex stainless
- Cylinders pressure tested at 1.5 times working pressure before dispatch
- Documentation packages to ISO, DIN, DNV, ABS or API requirements
Hydraulic Motors and Pumps
Motors and pumps have a small role in this trade. Where a valve actuator is driven from a hydraulic power unit, that unit needs a pump. Our range covers gear, planetary, axial-piston and radial-piston types from 0.25 to 8000 cc/rev, with working pressure up to 450 bar and SAE or DIN mounting flanges.
Typical applications
- Pumps for hydraulic power units that drive valve actuators
- Replacement motors and pumps for units already installed on site
- SAE and DIN mounting flanges for a drop-in replacement
- Units function tested and pressure tested against catalogue values before dispatch
Machining and Gears
We turn and mill stems, sleeves, shafts and flanges for valves, pump ends and actuators. We work in stainless steels 1.4301/304 and 1.4404/316, and in duplex 1.4462 where the drawing calls for chloride resistance. Our Haas CNC milling centres (1270 x 660 x 635 mm work envelope) and DMG MORI turning machines (Ø500 mm, 1000 mm length) hold IT6-IT7 fits, with geometric control to ISO 2768-fH, ISO 286 and ISO 1101, and our Schiess lathes turn the larger flanges and shafts up to 2 m diameter and 16 m length. Gear cutting has a small place in this trade. If a drive needs a gear, we cut it on the same floor as the shafts and flanges.
Typical parts
- Choke and valve stems, pump-barrel sleeves and plunger-pump shafts
- Actuator flanges and mounting brackets
- Large-diameter shafts and flanges on the Schiess lathes
- Stainless and duplex stainless parts for chloride exposure
Aluminium Die Casting
Die casting has a small place in this trade. Where a pipeline valve actuator runs from a hydraulic power unit, the unit's control housing can be die cast in aluminium, in the alloys we use for other equipment housings: EN AC-46000 (AlSi9Cu3) or EN AC-43400 (AlSi10Mg), with wall thickness from 1.5 mm and as-cast tolerance ±0.1-0.3 mm.
Typical applications
- Control-unit housings for hydraulic power units on valve actuators
- Wall thickness from 1.5 mm, as-cast tolerance ±0.1-0.3 mm
- Cast in EN AC-46000 (AlSi9Cu3) or EN AC-43400 (AlSi10Mg)
- X-ray inspection for porosity before the housing is machined
Powder Metallurgy and MIM
Gas and process filtration in this trade runs on sintered porous metal. We sinter filter discs, cups, candles and cylinders in 316L stainless, nickel and titanium. Open pores run through the whole wall of the element, and particles are held throughout its thickness. We make ratings from roughly 0.2 to 100 µm and test each element for permeability to ISO 4022 and for bubble point to ISO 4003 before it ships. An element that has blinded is one piece of metal, so it can be cleaned by backwash, in an ultrasonic bath or by chemical wash and fitted again.
Typical applications
- Sintered filter discs, cups, candles and cylinders in 316L, nickel and titanium
- Micron ratings from roughly 0.2 to 100 µm
- Permeability (ISO 4022) and bubble-point (ISO 4003) testing on every element
- Elements cleaned by backwash, ultrasonic bath or chemical wash and returned to service
Cemented Carbides
Cemented carbide is the main material we supply to this trade. It goes on the surfaces where erosion or corrosion would wear through a plain steel part within months. We press and sinter choke pipe inserts, valve cores and seats, seal rings, plunger tips and inserts, nozzle bushings for drilling mud systems, and sleeves and plungers for downhole tools, in grades across the ISO 513 range, K, P and M, with hardness from 1,400 to 2,000 HV. For corrosive fluid we use a WC-Ni grade, with 9 to 13% nickel as the binder, because the fluid would dissolve a cobalt binder. Where full density matters most, hot isostatic pressing takes the part above 99.9% of theoretical density, and diamond grinding brings the functional bore or face to ±0.01 mm and Ra 0.1-0.4 µm.
Typical applications
- Choke pipe inserts, valve cores and seats, and seal rings
- Plunger tips and inserts, and nozzle bushings for drilling mud systems
- Carbide sleeves and plungers for downhole tools
- WC-Ni grades, 9-13% nickel, for corrosion-resistant duty
Cost Logic
Where the Budget Goes, and How We Keep the Price Down
A buyer usually compares an insert or a cylinder with the previous batch on unit price. We spend on the checks that show whether every part in a series matches a measured bore or a proven grade. The rest of the order is kept standard.
| We invest in | How we keep the price down |
|---|---|
| Diamond grinding of carbide inserts to ±0.01 mm, with hardness, microscopy and CMM verification on every batch | Standard mounting types for valve actuators and pump components, where the design allows |
| Pressure testing of every hydraulic cylinder, at working pressure and overpressure, before it ships | Special rod coatings and duplex stainless substrates only where chloride or offshore exposure needs them |
| X-ray inspection of die-cast control-unit housings for porosity, and bubble-point and permeability testing of every filter element | One setup for a batch of identical stems, inserts or filter elements, and sensors only where the control system uses them |
| Full documentation: material certificates, CMM dimensional reports and test records | Near-net-shape pressing and casting that removes machining, with tooling cost spread over the series |
Aftermarket
Repeat Orders and Matching Parts
A choke insert, a valve seat or a filter element ordered today has to match the one fitted years earlier, down to the bore and the mounting thread. The tooling, the grade and the sintering parameters of pressed carbide parts stay on file, so a repeat order shrinks and sinters to the same dimensions as the first batch. A reordered filter element is made from the recorded powder fraction and sinter profile that set its micron rating, and it is tested against the same permeability and bubble-point numbers as the part it replaces. The CNC program and the fixture for machined stems, shafts and flanges are also kept.
If a choke insert, a valve seat or a stem has no drawing left, send us the part or its dimensions. We measure the bore and the geometry on the CMM and quote a replacement against that number. Once the tool or the program is built and the first article is approved, further batches run from it with no redesign, for a single insert or a full production series.
By drawing
By worn sample
Batches for a fleet
Dies kept on file
Documentation
Standards and Documentation
Our component documentation refers to these standards.
| Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| ISO 513 | Classification of cemented carbide grades |
| EN 10204 3.1 | Material certificate with traceable test results, on request |
| ISO 6020 / ISO 6022 | Mounting dimensions for hydraulic cylinders, 160 bar and 250 bar series |
| ISO 4413 | Safety requirements for hydraulic systems and components |
| ISO 10100 | Acceptance tests for hydraulic cylinders |
| ISO 5755 / ISO 22068 | Specification for sintered PM and MIM materials |
| ISO 4022 | Permeable sintered metal materials, determination of fluid permeability |
| ISO 4003 | Permeable sintered metal materials, determination of bubble-test pore size |
Pressure equipment, wellhead and pipeline regulations apply to the complete equipment, and stay the responsibility of the equipment builder or the operator. We supply the component documentation, including documentation packages to ISO, DIN, DNV, ABS or API requirements, as our quality planning process describes.
Our quality system is certified to ISO 9001:2015. More on inspection stages and equipment: Quality.
Quality
Quality Control
Every order goes through three inspection stages. We check incoming material against its certificate, and where the grade matters, for a stainless stem or a carbide powder lot, we run a spectrochemical analysis. During machining we measure with Renishaw probes on the machine and on a CMM with an error under 3 µm, checked on schedule every 45 machine hours.
Carbide inserts, seats and seal rings are ground to their functional tolerance, tested for Rockwell hardness, and checked under the microscope for grain size and binder distribution; critical parts go through X-ray inspection for internal porosity. Sintered filter elements are tested for bubble-point and permeability on every element, with an integrity check on welded end caps before dispatch. Die-cast control-unit housings are X-rayed for porosity at mounting bosses and sealing faces before machining. Hydraulic actuator cylinders are pressure tested at 1.5 times working pressure, with a leak check at every seal and a full stroke with no stick-slip.
More detail: Quality.
From Hydroforce
From Our Workshop
Tungsten Carbide Nozzles and Wear Consumables: Why Service Life Beats Purchase Price
How nozzle bushings, valve seats and plunger inserts wear in service and why bore growth shifts a process before the part fails. The article also shows how to specify a wear part by its service life.
Read more → QualityQuality Planning at Hydroforce: What Is Decided Before the First Part Is Made
How Hydroforce plans quality before production, drawing review, risk analysis, control plan, first article approval and in-process monitoring, for hydraulic cylinders, carbide, powder metallurgy and machining.
Read more → Powder MetallurgySintered Porous Metal Filters: Engineering Porosity as the Product
Custom sintered filter elements in 316L, nickel and titanium, with controlled porosity, micron ratings from 0.2 to 100 µm, backwashable and rated for high temperature and aggressive media.
Read more →Procurement FAQ
FAQ
What documentation do you supply for oil and gas equipment parts?
Carbide inserts, valve cores and seal rings come with Rockwell hardness testing and CMM verification. Filter elements ship with a bubble-point and permeability test report and a material certificate for the powder lot. Hydraulic actuator cylinders ship with a pressure test certificate, a dimensional inspection report and material certificates to EN 10204 3.1, and we build documentation packages to ISO, DIN, DNV, ABS or API requirements into the order where the project needs them. Machined stems, shafts and flanges ship with a material certificate and a CMM dimensional report. Pressure equipment and wellhead regulations for the complete equipment stay with the equipment builder or the operator; tell us what your component record needs and we plan the package with the order.
Can you match an existing choke insert, valve seat or filter element with no drawing?
Yes. Send us the part or its dimensions and we measure the bore and the geometry on the CMM before quoting a replacement or a new batch. Once the tool or the sintering parameters are approved on a first article, later batches are made from it with no redesign.
We use the same insert, seat or cylinder across a fleet of units. Can you supply it as a batch?
Yes. Once the first part has been quoted and measured against your drawing or your sample, further units run as a batch, with the same certificates and tests on every piece and one setup for the run. For pressed, sintered and cast parts the tooling and the process parameters stay on file, so a repeat order matches the first part with no redesign.
What is the minimum order and the lead time?
A single cylinder is fine, with the same certificates and tests as a series batch. For motors and gears, tell us the quantity and we will quote. Die casting, powder metallurgy and MIM are tool-based series processes, so send us your volumes and we will size the tooling and quote. We quote the lead time with the offer: grade selection, blank size, HIP where it applies, and the documentation package all decide the time.
Related capabilities:
Get a Quote
Send us a drawing, a specification or a photo of the part you need, and tell us what it is for: chokes and flow control, drill bits and mud systems, sucker-rod pumps and pump jacks, high-pressure plunger pumps, pipeline valves and actuators, or gas and process filtration. We will quote the carbide insert, the actuator cylinder, the machined stem or flange, the die-cast control-unit housing, or the sintered filter element, made to tolerance and tested before dispatch, with the documentation your component record needs.