Elastomers

Natural rubber is the sap from hevea brasilensis. It has been used for
many years by the Amazonian Indians but didnt find industrial
applications before the beginning of the nineteenth century.

After the second world war, American chemists synthesized polyisoprene

and successively all elastomers known at the present time.
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Elastomers

Elastomers belong to the huge

polymers family.

A polymer is a chemical
combination of small molecules,
called monomers. They form long
macromolecular chains tangled
together.

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Isoprene
monomer

Polymer

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Fillers
Elastomer compounds need to be reinforced to increase their mechanical
properties such as hardness, tensile strength or compression moduli.
The main filler is carbon black.
Elastomers are made of linear chains of carbon
atoms so they can link very easily with the carbon
black particles. When several macromolecules are
linked to the same aggregate they are jammed
together, increasing the cohesion of the material.
Size and structure of the carbon black particles give
different behaviours of the compounds. Smaller is
the particle, higher is the structural cohesion.
Other fillers can be used such as silica, talc, kaolin,
chalk or calcium carbonate but their reinforcement
is lower.
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Graphite

Elementary particle

Aggregate

Agglomerate

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Plasticizers

Plasticizers lead to a decrease of hardness and modulus but

an increase of elongation at break .
They are necessary to make mixing and moulding operations
easier by allowing the macromolecules of polymer to slide
on each other.
They are made of different mineral or vegetal oil to fit with
each type of elastomer.

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Curing agents
To keep their shape from moulding, elastomers must be cured or
vulcanised.
Vulcanisation is the creation of cross links between the polymer chains
to reduce their movements.

Cross linking is obtained by the action of sulphur or peroxide under

appropriate temperature and pressure.
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Miscellaneous

Processing aids.

Protectors to improve the storage life.

Hardening or softening resins.

Pigments, blowing agents, flame retardant, insulating

components

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New advances in PCP

elastomers technology
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Content

Introduction
1- Compound formulation
2- Elastomers for oil industry
3- Elastomer development procedure
Conclusions
Questions
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Introduction
1930 : The University of Paris awards Ren Moineau,
a doctorate of science for its work on new capsulism
groundwork of the progressive cavity technology.
1932 : Foundation of PCM by Ren Moineau and Robert
Bienaim inside the GEVELOT group.

Ren Moineau was convinced that the elastomer part was the heart of the
progressing cavity pump and decided that PCM has to master this
technology from conception to manufacturing.
Since that day, PCM is following his strategy by developing new elastomer
formulations to fit the various evolutions of pumping conditions.
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1- Compound formulation

Elastomer

60 %

Fillers

20 %

Plasticizers

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5%

Curing agents

10 %

Miscellaneous

5%
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1- Compound formulation

- 10 to 20 components in a formulation.
- Thousands of possible combinations -type, quantity.
- Chemical modifications during vulcanisation.
- No possible predictions on the behaviour of a compound.

Empirical science where experience and knowledge of the

applications are the key factors.

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2- Elastomers for oil industry

3 types of elastomers can be used for oil applications :

NBR

Suitable for medium and heavy oil, sand, gas.

HNBR

Suitable for high temperatures -SAGD-, sand.

FKM

Suitable for light oil -high aromatic content.

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2- Elastomers for oil industry

NBR
Tmax = 260 F

(C

)(C

Mechanical properties : excellent

butadiene

Abrasion resistance : good

)
N

Acrylonitrile
(18 to 50%)

Chemical resistance to light aromatic solvents : limited

Gas resistance : limited for CO2 and poor for H2S
Explosive decompression resistance : good
Manufacturing : easy
PCMs references : 159, 194, 199, 205.
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2- Elastomers for oil industry

HNBR
Tmax = 300 F

(C

)(C

Mechanical properties : good

Abrasion resistance : excellent

saturated
butadiene

)
N

Acrylonitrile
(18 to 45%)

Chemical resistance to light aromatic solvents : limited

Gas resistance : good for CO2 and excellent for H2S
Explosive decompression resistance : limited
Manufacturing : easy
PCMs reference : 198.
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2- Elastomers for oil industry

hexafluoropropylene

FKM
Tmax = 175 F (static use 400 F)

(C

)(C

)(C

Mechanical properties : limited

Abrasion resistance : poor

Vinilydene
fluoride

C
F

tetrafluoroethylene

Chemical resistance to light aromatic solvents : excellent

Gas resistance : poor for CO2 but excellent for H2S
Explosive decompression resistance : limited
Manufacturing : difficult
PCMs reference : 204.
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2- Elastomers for oil industry

Limits of use

NBR
FKM

HNBR

Chemical resistance

Temperature resistance

H2S resistance

Mechanical properties

Abrasion resistance

We need to enhance the behaviour of elastomers under severe physical pressure, temperature, speed, abrasion - and chemical - monoaromatic
solvents, H2S - conditions.

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3- Elastomer development procedure

1- Discovery of a specific need.
Widen the PCPs field applications.

2- Turn the application strains into specifications.

Rheological properties :
Injection and curing parameters : ML, TS2, T 90
Mechanical properties :
Tensile properties : tensile strength, elongation at break, moduli, tear strength
Hardness
Compression modulus
Compression set
Abrasion loss
Sliding friction
Adhesion (peeling test)
Chemical compatibility :
Volumic swelling and hardness change after 14 days in fluid immersion.
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3- Elastomer development procedure

3- Create a formula and mix the different components.
Improve the compromise between mechanical and chemical resistance.
Choose the elastomer type :

NBR

Easily attack by H2S and limited in temperature resistance.

FKM

Too limited in mechanical properties.

HNBR

Best candidate but we need to improve its chemical resistance.

Find new formulation components to solve the chemical compatibility problem.

Mix all the components together in a special order.

4- Test the compound properties in the laboratory.

5- Repeat points 3 and 4 until the properties fit the specifications.

Modifying only one component in each trial if you want to see its influence on the
compound behaviour.
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3- Elastomer development procedure

6- Choose and codify the final formula.

Property

unit

Tensile strength

MPa

23

20

25

19

17

18

18

Tear strength

N/mm

48

44

19

19

46

58

35

37

40

Abrasion loss

mg

850

760

2660

2130

460

720

650

680

640

Swelling in toluene

110

83

12

15

134

57

47

40

37

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NBR 1 NBR 2 FKM 1 FKM 2 HNBR1 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

206

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3- Elastomer development procedure

New compound 206

Mechanical properties

H2S resistance

NBR
FKM

HNBR

Chemical resistance

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Temperature resistance

New compound 206

Abrasion resistance

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3- Elastomer development procedure

7- Industrialize the mixing operation.

8- Injection moulding of the various stators.
Injection parameters, injection and curing time, bonding, shrinkage

9- Characterize the pumps on the bench test.

Optimize the interference fit between rotor and stator to obtain the best compromise in
terms of flow rate and running life.

10-Test the running life of the new stators in real pumping conditions.
11- Sales introduction.

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Conclusions

Development of a new elastomer is iterative and

needs a lot of lab studies and knowledge.
Industrialization is under way for first field trials.
This new elastomer will widen even more the use of
PCPs in oil fields.
Combined with the large volume PCPs recently
developed, PCP will become a major actor in
artificial lift.
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PCP Workshop Houston

04/19/2004