High Performance Elastomer to Join V91J (FKM) and Z95X (HNBR) on TOTAL General Specification List 2015
Precision Polymer Engineering (PPE), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high performance moulded elastomer seals, today announces that its EnDura® V91K elastomer has been proven to meet TOTAL General Specification PVV 142. The superior performance elastomer material will be the third PPE product on TOTAL’s General Specification list scheduled for publication in January 2015. Along with other EnDura® materials, V91J (FKM) and Z95X (HNBR), this demonstrates PPE’s commitment to providing high quality sealing solutions to clients across the oil and gas industry.
Following the inclusion of EnDura® V91K on the TOTAL General Specification, this high performance elastomer can now be specified for use in all equipment requiring TOTAL certified seals.
The EnDura® V91K elastomer material has undergone external third party testing to the TOTAL standard for Explosive Decompression (ED) resistance, an extremely important material property for seals used in valves, down hole, surface and subsea oilfield equipment. The V91K (FKM) material also provides extreme low temperature performance and excellent chemical resistance to meet the requirements for elastomer seals in the upstream oil and gas market.
Steve Jagels PPE’s Oil and Gas Global Market Manager said: “EnDura® V91K has been manufactured specifically to overcome the problems commonly associated with upstream oil and gas operations. For any critical sealing application it is important to establish the quality and performance of the sealing candidates. PPE is committed to developing products of the highest quality to ensure the satisfaction of our customers, as well as full compliance with industry regulations. Third party testing carried out by Cetim has proven that V91K can perform to the TOTAL General Specifications for rapid gas decompression providing customers with complete confidence and product assurance.”
The challenges encountered in the upstream oil and gas sector are numerous and require high performance materials with specific properties to be able to cope with the extreme working environments. One of the biggest challenges is the increasing emergence of sour gas, also known as hydrogen sulfide. This exceptionally dangerous substance has the potential to cause great damage to exploration equipment especially when combined with water. The EnDura® V91K elastomer is able to withstand aggressive chemicals such as sour gas and other aggressive oilfield media, ensuring effective, high performance elastomer seals which can function in chemically harsh environments.
Another key challenge comes from applications involving extremely low temperatures and sub-zero environments such as offshore exploration. Seals for these environments must have low glass transition (Tg) temperatures in order to operate in the cold temperatures and high pressures of the deep ocean. The EnDura® V91K has an extremely low glass transition temperature ensuring long term sealing in demanding environments in the upstream oil and gas industry.
With the ability to withstand chemical deterioration as well as high pressures and low temperature environments, the EnDura V91K® material is an ideal solution for the challenges involved in oil and gas exploration.
