US Patent 11661827 Gas lift valve aging process and apparatus

A process for aging gas lift valves utilizing a controlled decompression to prevent damage to seals of the gas lift valves. The process includes pressuring one or more gas lift valves to a predetermined pressure (e.g., 5000 psig) and maintaining this pressure for a predetermined time (e.g. five minutes). After this time period, decompression is performed in discrete steps. For instance, the pressure of the pressure vessel may be reduced in predetermined pressure increments (i.e. reductions). After each pressure reduction, the reduced pressure is maintained for a predetermined time. This allows gasses and fluids within the elastomeric O-rings time to dissipate without causing damage to the seals.