Explosive Decompression Resistant Seals
Explosive Decompression (ED) resistant seals and O-rings are typically used in high pressure applications encountered in the oil & gas industry.
Explosive Decompression (also referred to as Rapid Gas Decompression or RGD) is a failure mechanism of elastomer seals and O-rings that is caused by a rapid reduction in pressure of a gaseous media. Gas that has permeated into the elastomer seal expands violently when the pressure is released rapidly causing fissuring and seal failure.
International standards for testing elastomers in ED conditions include the following:-
- NORSOK M-710: "Qualification of non-metallic sealing materials and manufacturers - resistance to rapid gas decompression (RGD)".
- TOTAL General Specification GS PVV 142, Appendix 8 "Elastomer O-ring seals explosion decompression type testing procedure".
- NACE TM0297 "Effects of high temperature, high pressure carbon dioxide decompression on elastomeric materials".
- ISO 23936-2 Section 7 and Annex B "Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries: Non-metallic materials in contact with media related to oil and gas production - Part 2: Elastomers".
Anti-explosive decompression (AED) seals
AED seals and AED O-rings are available from PPE in a range of elastomer material types including HNBR, FEPM (Aflas®), FKM and FFKM under the brand names EnDura®, Perlast® and Perlast® ICE.
PPE's AED elastomer materials have been tested to the standards listed above and ED test certificates are available to download.
Explosive Decompression Testing
PPE is a leading manufacturer and developer of anti-explosive decompression (AED) sealing solutions. PPE’s materials development laboratories, located in UK and Houston, house modern ED testing facilities for rubber in the industry.
The high pressure test rigs are capable of pressurizing various seal geometries up to 13.8 MPa or 20,000 psi over any time period, any number of depressurization cycles and any temperature up to 250°C (482°F). The rigs can be used to test materials against various industry standards or perform custom testing to simulate actual field operations.
The test rigs at PPE are capable of testing to standards such as TOTAL GS PVV 142, NORSOK M710, NACE TM0297, and ISO 23936-2. The O-ring carrier inserts are interchangeable to accommodate various squeeze levels in face and piston geometries.
EnDura® and Perlast® are registered trademarks of Precision Polymer Engineering.
Aflas® is a registered trademark of the Asahi Glass Co. Ltd
Send us your ED requirements
Document Downloads
| Document | Description | Download | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brochure | ED Resistant Elastomers | ||
| Brochure | Oil & Gas |
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