FFKM material meets demanding enhanced oil recovery requirements
Published: 15 September, 2017
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions reports it used SPE Offshore Europe Conference & Exhibition in Aberdeen as a platform to launch its latest Isolast perfluoroelastomer (FFKM) material development and says specifically engineered for the offshore industry, Isolast J9554 matches up to the most demanding of upstream requirements and is ideally suited for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) systems.
Chris Busby, product manager for Isolast material, says: “To achieve extended sealing life in demanding environments, it is important that sealing materials specified match up to the conditions likely to be faced. A particular focus for development of Isolast® J9554 was ensuring long seal life in EOR systems. This includes thermal recovery where heat is introduced to the oil reservoir to reduce the viscosity of the oil and cyclic steam injection, which is used extensively in heavy-oil reservoirs and tar sands to thin oil and enhance its ability to flow.”
Extensive testing was undertaken to prove that Isolast J9554 can operate at the extreme temperatures and pressures encountered in critical upstream applications, including high temperature steam environments. The material exhibited excellent retention of physical properties following high temperature steam aging for one week at +300°C / +572°F.
