OIL & GAS NON-METALLICS 2016

Material testing for the

development of next generation
inflow control valves
Jørgen Nyhus
NORNER

Norner AS, Asdalstrand 291 www.norner.no

NO-3962 Stathelle, Norway post@norner.no
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Content
• Norner – The polymer explorers

• Background
• Experimental methods
• Results
• Discussion & Conclusions

• Q&A

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 About Norner www.norner.no
Industrial polymer technology service provider
localized in the south of Norway
* 55 Scientists, polymer technologists, end user
specialists, lab- and conversion engineers.
* 4000 m2 Scientific Laboratories

The Polymer Explorers

Norner office

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 Background

Norner AS, Asdalstrand 291 www.norner.no

NO-3962 Stathelle, Norway post@norner.no
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 Background – Motivation
More oil from each well and less produced water

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Note: figures
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COMPOSITES
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Background – flow control devices
• Typical wells have 2-3 km of
horizontal pipeline
• Inflow Control Devices or Valves
(ICDs or ICVs) are used to
optimize output from wells
• Several technologies on the
market from big players such as
Schlumberger, Halliburton and
Tendeka
• «Best in class» is Autonomus
ICDs (AICD) which choke the
flow into a well when unwanted
fluid (e.g. gas or water) break
through.

Illustration: © InflowControl AS
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Background – EU project «REVIVAL»
The data presented today is from a project called REVIVAL
• A two-year project with 8 partners
• Objective: Develop a new technology called AICV®
(Autonomus Inflow Control Valves)
invented by InflowControl AS
FoU: - Design
- Flow simulations
- Reservoar modelling
- Material testing
- Product evaluation

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 Experimental

Norner AS, Asdalstrand 291 www.norner.no

NO-3962 Stathelle, Norway post@norner.no
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 Why polymer testing?
• The AICV closes with a piston, if unwanted fluid is present
• Behind the piston is an elastomer piston seal
• The piston seal must stand the well conditions (P, T, chemistry)
• The piston seal should function for more than 25 years

• Before the project started a supplier made some seals, but as these
pictures show – the quality was far from good enough.
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Questions to answer
• The main task for us in this project was to find materials that would
«do the job», meaning function for 25 years, and document this.

• Based on a group of compounds (candidates) we asked:

• How is the swelling properties of the materials?
• Under which well conditions (P, T and chem.) will the material mechanically
«survive» for 25 years?
• How can we simulate AICV performance under different well conditions?

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Testing scheme
• Thermal characterization (DSC, DTMA, TGA)
• Mechanical properties (Hardness, Tensile, Compression, COF, …)
• Swelling properties

• Compatibility (Ageing) testing in different media

• Three different materials (compounds)
• Five different media (sweet, sour, aromatic/non-aromatic)
• Different temperatures and pressures

• Cyclic pressure testing (w/ ageing)

• Three different designs
• Four different materials
• Different media (sweet, sour, aromatic/non-aromatic)
• Reinforced piston seals Illustration: © Seal Engineering AS

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 Compatibility-testing
• In order to estimate service life for • Testing was done under different
the materials we tested according sweet and sour conditions:
to ISO 23936-2 (NORSOK M-710)
Multiphase fluid mixes:
10% DI-water, 60% Synthetic oil, 30% Gas
Sour gas:
3% CO2, 2% H2S and 95% CH4
Aromatic oil:
70% heptane, 20% cyclohexane and
10% toluene
Non-Aromatic oil:
70% heptane, 30% cyclohexane
Sweet oil:
We used crude blends (Troll/Grane/…)
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 Cyclic testing – New application tests
• A setup was made where the
piston (w/ piston seal) opened
and closed in a cyclic facion

• The valve were held at simulated

well conditions regarding
temperature (e.g. 70 °C), and oil
(e.g Troll crude blend)

• Piston seals were aged under

accelerated conditions
beforehand

• Accelerated cycling with a

number of cycles estimated for
25 years of use (~ 200 000)

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 Results

Norner AS, Asdalstrand 291 www.norner.no

NO-3962 Stathelle, Norway post@norner.no
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Material swelling
• All the materials swell when submerged in a fluid (oil, oil-mix,…)
• The swelling is material (/compound) specific
• Swelling can be temperature dependent or not
• Swelling as a function of time follows Fick’s law type behavior
• Swelling lead to changes in other material properties (hardness,
strength, …)

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 Compatibility testing - summary
• HNBR
• Ageing in sweet oil mix (e.g. Troll blend) – works well
• Ageing in sour oil mix (2% H2S) – not recommended
• Further testing stopped due to too much swelling (20-25%)
• FEPM
• Ageing in sweet oil mix (Troll blend / Grane blend) – works well
• Non-aromatic oil mix w/ Sour gas – works well
• Aromatic oil mix w/ Sour gas – works well
• FFKM
• Water at HTHP («steam injection conditions») – works well

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 Selected results
FEPM compound tested in Aromatic oil w/sour gas (2% H2S)
• Tough chemical ageing
• Clear trend in Arrhenius plot
• Lifetime > 25 years if T < 165 °C

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 Selected results
Non-aromatic oil w/sour gas (2% H2S)
• Compared also with other trials

years - conservative years - Arrhenius

Temp (°C) Troll Non-aromat Aromat Temp (°C) Troll Non-aromat Aromat
230 0,4 0,2 0,1 230 0,4 0,2 0,03
220 0,8 0,5 0,2 220 >0,8 0,8 0,1
210 1,6 0,9 0,4 210 >3 3,1 0,2
200 3,2 1,8 0,9 200 >12 12 0,7
190 6,5 3,7 1,7 190 >52 52 2,0
180 13,0 7,3 3,5 180 >235 235 6
170 25,9 14,6 6,9 170 >1132 1132 20
160 51,9 29,3 13,8 160 >5851 5851 69
150 103,8 58,5 27,6 150 … 32691 254
140 207,5 117,0 55,3 140 … 198537 994
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 Selected results
• FFKM
• 280 °C: cont. use 136 days
• Use tensile strength:
25 years if T< 200 ° C
(NOTE: conservative)

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 Results Cyclic testing
• Testing 7 steps w/ static and cyclic pressure tests
as well as ageing – «QC» more than research

• Evaluation of different piston seal designs

• Piston seals in different materials (HNBR, FEPM, FFKM)
• Ageing in different media (sweet / sour)

• Pass / Fail type results

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 Discussion &
Conclusions

Norner AS, Asdalstrand 291 www.norner.no

NO-3962 Stathelle, Norway post@norner.no
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 What did we learn?
• Both elastomer type and specific compound matters
• In present use (e.g. the seal is not a passive O-ring) material
swelling is extremely important
• With good choice of test temperatures Arrhenius calculations are
straight forward
• Rule of thumb (x2 for every 10°C) is really conservative
• Good consistency regarding test fluid (sweet, sour non-/aromatic)
• Application testing is challenging when real conditions are
complex (functionality, temp, pressure, chemistry, time)
• We found a way which provided more data than compatibility testing alone
• Design matters – not just material

• Product development is fun

– and requires a team with broad competence

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 Summary
• A new technology with great potential is on its way
• The EU-project REVIVAL has brought AICV® into pilot phase
• Elastomeric seals are key components in these valves
• A broad range of material testing has documentet and helped:
• Material choices
• Product design
• Production methodology

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 Thanks…

REA for financing the project

• EU FP7-SME-2013-1 Grant no. 605701

Project partners for good collaboration

• InflowControl AS
• Seal Engineering AS
• and others

“Nornene” - The godesses of faith in Norse mythology.

AMI for giving this opportunity to present

Thank you all for listening

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 Q&A

Norner AS, Asdalstrand 291 www.norner.no

NO-3962 Stathelle, Norway post@norner.no
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