EoW March 2010

technical article

[11] http://www.eastman.com/NR/

rdonlyres/17704C03–05BD–448F– 8221–2F39C01E7191/0/L167.pdf smoke, non–corrosive fire retardant cable jacket based on HNBR and EVM” Jicable’91 June 24–28, Versailles, 1991 Meisenheimer, “Low

[12] H

TSVariation (%) EBVariation (%) Hardness Shore A (%)

Figure 10 ▲ ▲ : Hot air ageing test for 672 hours at 135 °C

A combination of plasticisers with • different characteristics and high speci- fic surface filler ensured the compliance of requirements for low temperature flexibility and cold bending at –40°C and –50°C n

For the effects of this study, hot air ageing resistance meets the requirements of cable standards. An increase of the operating temperature for cables in offshore platforms could mean an improvement in the overall cable design for panel and instrumentation, using less copper conductor and therefore reducing total cable costs. 4 Conclusions Levapren 700 HV is a suitable • polymer-based compound for oil and mud resistance HFFR cables, though not quite suitable for cables with low temperature resistance typical of Arctic environments (–40°C and –50°C) Blends of HNBR and EVM were proved • to provide a good compromise of oil and mud resistance properties and hot air ageing properties, though with insufficient low temperature properties performance (low elongation at break at –40°C and –50°C and cold bending ® LT 2007 provided an outstanding performance in measure- ments conducted at low temperatures (down to –50°C) typical of Arctic regions. An excellent balance of mechanical, oil and mud resistance, and flame retardant properties was observed in compounds prepared with this material however, with a rather poor performance in the hot air ageing test The high polarity of HNBR materials • combined with EVM polymers brings cable compound solutions to the oil and gas market with relatively good cost–performance advantages The development of high performance • cable compounds required the use of special additives such as alpha silanes and fine particle sized flame retardant fillers at –50°C) Therban •

5 References

http://www.gazprom.com/eng/ Arcticles/Arcticle21712.shtml http://www.upstreamonline.com/ incoming/Arcticle132282.ece

[1]

[2]

[3] A D McCracken, T P Poulton, E Macey, J M Monro Gray and G S Nowlan, “Arctic oil and gas” Popular Geoscience http://www.gac.ca, 2007 [4] http://www.nek606.net/ [5] E Rohde “Ethylene vinyl acetate elastomers: applications and opportunities for industrial rubber goods” 141 st Meeting of the Rubber Division American Chemical Society, Proceedings (1992) [6] D Achten “Next generation HNBR grades: new materials for oilfield applications” Oilfield Engineering and Polymers (2006) [7] H Magg “The structure of Therban® (HNBR) and the impact of the low temperature characteristics of elastomeric materials” 3° Werkstoffkongress, Loeben Graz (2005) [8] C Fischer, C Wrana, J Ismeier, F Taschner, “Crosslink architecture of EVM based vulcanisates and its influence on technologically relevant properties”German Rubber Conference Proceedings, July 3–6, Nuremberg, 2006 [9] World Oil Fluids 2007 “Drilling completion and workover fluids” Gulf Publishing Co, PO Box 2608, Houston, TX 77252 USA (2007) [10] M La Rosa, C Wrana, D Achten “Electron beam curing of EVM and HNBR for cable compounds” 55 th IWCS Conference (2006)

Lanxess Deutschland GmbH Technical Rubber Products Leverkusen, Germany Email : andreas.roos@lanxess.com Website : www.lanxess.com

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EuroWire – March 2010