Saint-Gobain Seals has been requested to present a technical paper at the 2015 NACE Corrosion conference, which will detail their next generation of materials for oil & gas sealing solutions in high performance and high temperature (HPHT) conditions. The conference will be held in Dallas, Texas from March 15-19, and features a wide range of topics such as pipeline, oil & gas production and coatings.
Currently, the oil & gas industry faceschallenging requirements for applications within HPHT reservoirs. Sealing solutions have been rated as the technology with the largest gap to overcome these applications, primarily due to the polymers that are used for these applications. As a result, there has been an emphasis on the research and development of new materials that can withstand demanding conditions. In response to such needs, Saint-Gobain Seals has been developing their next generation of materials in order to fabricate the next generation of sealing solutions. Since there are severe limitations when using elastomeric seals, thermoplastic sealing solutions have emerged as a strong alternative due to their thermal and chemical resistant properties as well as their rapid gas decompression resistance. To solve durability issues and withstand HPHT conditions, Saint-Gobain Seals created specific thermoplastic formulations for their spring-energized seals and back-up rings in the form of their commercially available OmniSeal® seals and Fluoroloy® and Meldin® materials.
Their technical paper will address the performance of the materials that are being confirmed by experimental work as well as a proprietary Finite Element Analysis (FEA) material model.The study on the impact of exposure at 30 kspi/250°C on mechanical properties of PTFE compounds as well as the extrusion behavior of thermoplastic back-up rings at HPHT conditions will be shared in the first section of the paper.The selected materials have also been exposed to 25% H2S concentration up to 200°C according to NORSOK M710 rev2 specification to guarantee their chemical resistance. The results of the qualification program at different level of H2S will be covered in the second section. The best performing materials have been selected to be used for the development and validation of sealing solutions on their custom-designed test rig, which strictly follows the testing protocol of API6A, Annex F PR2.
Saint-Gobain Sealshas been requested on numerous occasions to share their research at oil & gas conferences; last year, they presented a similar paper at the High Performance Polymers for Oil & Gas Conference in Edinburgh as well as at the Element Oilfield Engineering with Polymers conference in London regarding a selection of thermoplastics for sealing solutions in aggressive environments.
To learn more about Saint-Gobain Seals’ OmniSeal®product line, other product lines and its strategic business unit, visit www.seals.saint-gobain.com, follow their Twitteror connect on LinkedIn.
About Saint-Gobain Seals: Saint-Gobain Seals is a strategic business unit under Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics’ Engineered Components SOA (sector of activity); our parent company, Saint-Gobain, is one of the world’s top 100 industrial groups. With more than 50 years of manufacturing experience and an established global presence (with strategic sites in Garden Grove, California, USA; Kontich, Belgium; and Minhang, Shanghai, China), we offer a diverse range of innovative sealing and polymer solutions:
Other products include Fluoroloy® (high-performance custom-formulated compounds), cup seals, hydraulic seals, metal seals, v-packings, piston rings, Marathon® (valves and vacuum pump diaphragms), Transband® (PTFE creepage band), custom parts, polymer bearings and stock shapes.
The majority of seals and polymer components manufactured are custom designed and matched with the best materials to optimize their performance in various applications and markets.