At this year’s Industrial Valve Summit in Bergamo, Italy, DuPont will present a paper on the results of the chemical conglomerate’s research into low- and high-temperature elastomeric sealing systems for valves in harsh environments such as oil & gas production.

 

The paper provides results on the firm’s testing of a solution to one of the key challenges being faced by valve manufacturers specifying perfluoroelastomer seals: the need to meet both low-temperature and high-temperature requirements in a single sealing solution. Such seals often also need Rapid Gas Decompression (RGD) certifications such as Norsok M710 rev 3 / ISO 23936-2 / Total GS EP PVV 142 and excellent chemical resistance. Back-up rings are also typically required to prevent extrusion of high durometer O-rings under high temperature and high-pressure conditions. Meeting all these requirements at reasonable cost is not an easy task.

 

This DuPont paper details the results of its advanced testing of a solution to this challenge through a perfluoroelastomer seal with sufficient extrusion resistance at high temperature to allow the removal of back up rings. This is shown to significantly enhance low-temperature sealing performance as well as reducing total sealing system cost by simplifying assembly, reducing part count, and groove length requirements.

 

Testing on a state-of-the-art, high-pressure, high-temperature test rig at the DuPont European Technical Centre is part of the work presented in this paper. This test rig is part of DuPont’s continued investment in cutting edge testing capabilities and complements their existing Technical Center of Excellence for Fluids and Material Handling.

 

A relative comparison of various types of perfluoroelastomers has also been presented. Significant performance differences were observed between various types of perfluoroelastomers. The preliminary results highlight that selecting the appropriate Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer O-ring shows excellent extrusion resistance without back-up rings at high temperatures and that at low temperature the performance of the perfluoroelastomer is improved by removing back-up rings. The Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer seal without back-up rings can be a suitable solution to meet both low and high temperature requirements of valve manufacturers specifying perfluoroelastomer seals.

 

“We are very excited to present the results of our research at the Industrial Valve Summit. We believe that the results of the preliminary testing are very interesting for the oil & gas industry and could lead to more efficient solutions and cost savings for our customers,” said Dr Geoff Lewis, EMEA Application Development Manager at DuPont.

 

DuPont will present the paper at the Industrial Valve Summit on Thursday 25th May at Session 9 on Advanced Sealing Solutions.

 

Visit: plastics.dupont.com