ULTRA POLYMER TECHNOLOGY FOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS APPLICATIONS
Facing the Extreme Challenges of Aggressive Offshore Environments with Ultra-High Performance Polymers Solvay Specialty Polymers
A
right polymer choice that can deliver significant cost advantages in terms of both capital and operational expenditures (CAPEX/OPEX) thereby helping to increase system longevity and reduce maintenance needs. Trends in offshore operations are governed above all by temperatures exceeding 200°C and higher, as well as -60°C and lower, such as in cryogenic extraction and processing applications for natural gas. Deeply buried reservoirs in high-temperature fields are also associated with pressures up to 2,000 bar (29,000 psi) and exceedingly sour (H2S, H2SO4) conditions. In addition, Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques – which provide significantly higher extraction rates and yields than conventional primary or secondary recovery processes – are increasingly using super-critical carbon dioxide (scCO2) as a
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polymers, Torlon® polyamide-imide (PAI) resins combine the highest strength and stiffness of any thermoplastic material up to 275°C with superior resistance to chemicals,
HPHT
150°C
200 100 0 0
ultra-high performance
10,000 20,000 30,000 Static reservoir pressure [psi]
241 MPa
400
Spire® portfolio of
Ultra-HPHT
205°C
138 MPa
500
Another family in Solvay’s
creep and wear
HPHT-hc
260°C
69 MPa
Static reservoir temperature [°F]
LTHOUGH OIL prices have dropped in recent months and there is even an excess of oil and gas, global energy demands will continue to rise given that many traditional wells are drying up. As a result, the oil and gas industry is turning to sites increasingly hard to explore. Most of these new sources are located in extremely aggressive offshore environments and can only be accessed under very harsh operating conditions. While this places new demands on materials used for applications such as downhole components, seals and pipe liners, it also offers a wide range of attractive opportunities for ultra-high performance polymers in longer lasting and more sustainable solutions over traditional metals or corrosion-resistant alloys (CRAs). Therefore, an important consideration is the
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FIGURE 1. IN RECENT YEARS, THE OFFSHORE ENVIRONMENT HAS BEEN ADVANCING RAPIDLY INTO THE ULTRA-HIGH PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE RANGE. GRAPHIC COURTESY SOLVAY SPECIALTY POLYMERS (BASED ON INFORMATION PROVIDED BY SCHLUMBERGER OILFIELD TECHNOLOGIES)
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