case studies
The VICTREX® PEEK™ polymer family of thermoplastic products has helped make important advances in the exploration and production of energy, particularly oil and gas.
A range of applications incorporating VICTREX PEEK polymer have provided longer equipment service life in more severe conditions, including higher temperatures and pressures. It has been instrumental in helping companies achieve higher production rates, reduce downtime, and lower maintenance requirements.
VICTREX PEEK polymer shows excellent performance in Norsok M710 sour aging test
VICTREX® PEEK™ polymer has a long track record of excellent performance in severe environments within the upstream Oil & Gas industry. There is a continuing trend to higher temperatures and more severe environmental conditions in downhole operations, and engineers require information on materials performance under these conditions in order to assist selection of effective and reliable materials. Victrex plc. is committed to a continuing program of material evaluation to provide data in support of oil and gas applications. Information on the resistance of VICTREX PEEK to chemical aging in oilfield conditions at high temperature is an important part of this program.
NORSOK standard M-710 (‘Qualification of Non-Metallic Sealing Materials and Manufacturers’, Rev 2 2001) contains procedures to assess the performance of thermoplastics and elastomers in environments simulating those found in oil & gas production. The standard is widely used by the Oil and Gas industry in screening and selection of polymeric materials for oilfield applications, including sour (hydrogen sulfide) service.
A leading independent Test House has assessed VICTREX PEEK 450G to the NORSOK M710 standard. Exposures were performed in the NORSOK standard sour service test fluid: this contains a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons with methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide in the gas phase. A range of temperatures up to 210°C were used.
Saturation with the test fluids caused slight changes in the first 4-5 days of exposure: this is normal behaviour, and changes were well within the limits in the Standard. Thereafter, VICTREX PEEK 450G did not exhibit changes in tensile property levels, volume swell or appearance with increasing exposure time. VICTREX PEEK 450G therefore satisfied the NORSOK M710 acceptance criteria at all temperatures tested with no evidence of chemical aging.
The absence of progressive changes in properties with time is evidence of the outstanding stability of VICTREX PEEK 450G in these conditions.
Note
NORSOK M710 provides a standardised test method for comparing material performance in conditions simulating a sour oilfield environment. It does not guarantee suitability for any particular service application. Users should take expert advice when choosing materials.
NORSOK M710 requires qualification of both the material and the specific process route used to manufacture a piece of equipment: manufacturers should perform their own tests to qualify their particular product and process and this qualification should be repeated if any changes are made to the formulation of the product or the process route.
For more information contact Victrex.
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