Elastomers

Stator Elastomers
Three basic types of elastomers extensively used: Nitrile Rubbers (NBR), two common grades Medium High (ACN), Buna Ultra High (ACN), High Nitrile Hydrogenated or Fully Saturated Nitrile Rubbers Flurocarbon Elastomers

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Nitrile Rubbers
The majority of elastomers in PC pumps are classified as nitrile rubbers (NBR)
Emulsion copolymerization of butadiene with acrylonitrile (ACN) List of about 20 other ingredients, plasticizers, fillers, curatives, carbon black Sulfur or peroxide cured Least expensive and easiest to mold Best mechanical properties
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Acrylonitrile Effects on NBR

NBR material properties effected primarily by varying the ACN content Medium-high ACN (30-40%) content commonly referred to as Buna N Ultra-high ACN (>40%) content commonly referred to a High Nitrile ACN increases polarity and improves resistance to non-polar oils and solvents I.e: Aromatics are non-polar
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Fully Saturated Nitrile Rubbers

Butadiene portion of butadiene-acrylonitrile polymer hydrogenated (fully saturated)
Improved properties over NBR with respect to
Heat resistance (150OC, 300OF) H2S resistance

More difficult to manufacture Typically four times the cost of NBR Typically designated as HNBR

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Flurocarbon Elastomers
Trade name Viton Excellent resistance to heat Excellent resistance to oils, solvents and chemicals Extremely poor mechanical properties Hard to mold Expensive
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Elastomer Properties Table

Characteristics Buna
Mechanical Properties Excellent Abrasive Resistance Aromatic Resistance H2S Resistance Water Resistance Tempertuare Limit **

Elastomer Type High Nitrile Hydrogenated Viton

Good Good Good Good Excellent Excellent 135 C (275 F) Poor Poor Excellent Excellent Excellent 150 C (302 F)

Very Good Good Good Good Very Good Very Good

Very Good Good 95 C (203 F) 105 C (221 F)

** The temperature at the pump must be 20- 30 C below this limit to accommodate the friction heat generated by the interference fit

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Material Properties
Elastomer performance is dependent on its mechanical and chemical properties Compounding and Vulcanization also important Primary mechanical properties are (ASTM):
Liquid or Swell Resistance Tensile Strength Tear Resistance Fatigue and Flex Cracking Resistance Heat Resistance Abrasion Resistance Hardness Elasticity (resilience)

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Wellbore Environment
Most fluids produced through the pump will have some affect on the elastomer High fluid temperatures and exposure to certain chemicals also contribute The most common elastomer reactions are:
Swelling Softening Shrinkage Hardening Blistering
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Fluid Swell
Elastomer is a permeable membrane Swell is the result of fluid absorption by diffusion into the elastomer Swelling takes place until equilibrium is reached throughout the elastomer Oilfield fluids that commonly cause swell:
higher API gravity oils that contain aromatics aromatics: Benzene, Toluene, Xylene Water, gas

Different elastomers have varying degrees of compatibility with a particular fluid

I.e. Oils that contain aromatics will cause high swell in Buna and lower swell in High Nitrile elastomers
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Effects of Fluid Swell

Swelling can cause an excessively tight rotor/stator interference fit Tight fits may lead to a rapid hysteresis failure Badly swollen stators exhibit high pump friction torque and poor volumetric efficiencies Pumps with minor swelling can generally be fit with a smaller rotor and reused Swell results in the deterioration of mechanical and chemical properties

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Thermal Swell
Heat causes overall expansion Temperature resistance is dependent on chemical structure, base polymer etc. Heat can break down the chemical structure resulting in a deterioration of material properties Heat can affect the adhesive bond between the elastomer and stator tube

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Gas Swell
Gas will permeate into an elastomer by diffusion Permeation rate is determined mainly by the gas size, shape and polarity Permeation is a diffusion process governed by:
temperature pressure differential thickness of elastomer

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Gas Swell
Solubility determines the quantity of gas that will absorb into the elastomer Gas solubility increases as the molecular weight of the gas increases
CO2 & H2S more soluble than CH4

Elastomers with a high diffusivity value allow gas to escape from elastomer when subjected to rapid pressure drops

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Elastomer Blistering
Blistering is one result of Explosive Decompression (ED) ED is when an elastomer compound is exposed to high pressure for a period sufficient for gas molecules to diffuse into the compound, subsequent rapid reduction in pressure can cause internal fracturing in the form of cracks or blisters Elastomers exposed to CO2 is leading cause of ED failures

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ED contd
Common causes of rapid pressure reductions: Retrieving pump to surface Rapid fluid equalization between casing and tubing in pumped off wells. The deeper the well the more pronounced the pressure drop. Majority of damage at pump discharge Permeation is a diffusion process governed by: temperature pressure differential thickness of elastomer

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Elastomer Fluid Swell / Thermal Expansion Phenomenon

The amount of swelling or expansion can be expressed as a percentage of the elastomer thickness the thicker the elastomer, the more significant the swell Therefore the amount of change is dependent on the crosssectional profile of the stator elastomer Since the stator cross section is non-uniform, resultant swell/expansion is also non-uniform resulting in altered stator geometry and ultimately lower pump efficiencies

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Single Lobe 1:2

Thicker elastomer cross-section, therefore greater swell/expansionlower pump mechanical efficiency

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Elastomer Thickness
Tierra Alta design engineering:
Minimize the amount of elastomer in the tube Minimizes the effects due to chemical/thermal swell Optimized Design

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Optimized Elastomer Volume

Less dimensional fluid and/or temperature swell Elastomeric rubber is an insulator
Thicker elastomer = more insulated heat Thinner elastomer = more dissipated heat

Swell is measured as a % of the elastomer thickness

Thicker elastomer = more dimensional swell Thinner elastomer = the less dimensional swell

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Elastomer Softening
Chemicals in the produced fluid attack the elastomer and cause it to soften
I.e. Amine based corrosion inhibitors

Aromatics will also cause softening Softening results in the deterioration of the elastomers chemical and material properties

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Elastomer Hardening
Curatives (I.e sulfur) plus heat, pressure and time initiate the vulcanization process Wellbore environments can contain all of the above Wells that contain H2S may cause advanced vulcanization HNBR (hydrogenated) elastomers have been specially formulated to reduce effects Hardening results in the deterioration of mechanical properties

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Elastomer Shrinkage
Lower molecular weight parrafins (C3-C30) will extract plasticizers from NBR and cause shrinkage Extraction of plasticizers results in an overall reduction in elastomer volume Shrinkage will reduce rotor/stator interference fit Wells that have wax problems correlate with elastomer shrinkage Shrinkage results in the deterioration of mechanical properties

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Tierra Alta Elastomers

M6 Medium Nitrile Soft
Best elastomer for PCP Soft durometer to improve abrasion resistance

H1 High Nitrile

High Performance formulation Best resistance to aromatic/chemical swell

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