New seals from Trelleborg have been developed for high pressure sealing environments, such as those found in oil and gas downhole tool applications.
“Offshore oil and gas fields are moving into deeper waters. That means applications are becoming increasingly challenging, especially in downhole tools where temperatures and pressures are becoming more extreme,” says Eric Bucci, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Global Technical Manager, Oil & Gas Americas. “To meet these growing demands, we’ve developed the new XploR S-Seal and XploR FS-Seal to meet critical operating parameters.”
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions says its new custom-engineered, spring-energized seals combine the benefits of integral support components with the flexibility of an elastomer seal. Both offer the maximum extrusion resistance necessary for high temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) sealing environments within oilfield applications, such as subsea tubing and casing hangers, subsea wellheads, flowline connections and drilling riser connections.
“By using integrated anti-extrusion devices, the XploR S-Seal and XploR FS-Seal can withstand pressures up to 15,000 psi at temperatures up to 392 °F,” Bucci says. “Coupled with our rapid gas decompression resistant range of materials, which are compliant with industry standards, you have an extremely capable seal for harsh oilfield conditions.”
The seal materials are certified to NORSOK, NACE, API and Total standards, Trelleborg notes.
The XploR S-Seal and XploR FS-Seal are manufactured in a range of XploR Rapid Gas Decompression (RGD) and sour gas-resistant elastomers along with corrosion-resistant steel springs. This allows for standard and custom sealing solutions to be engineered to accommodate specific oil field conditions, as well as meet requirements of HTHP environments.
Sealing is achieved by controlled deformation of the elastomer element. Optimal stress distribution throughout the elastomer body is modeled through finite element analysis (FEA) to ensure high performance sealing as well as long seal life. Extrusion resistance is created when the specially designed spring provides support to the rubber, but the seal is still flexible enough to allow easy installation.