Sour fluid resistant elastomers

Often encountered in oil and gas wells, sour gas is a gas stream that contains high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide/sulphide (H2S). H2S is highly corrosive and can have detrimental effects on elastomers. Non-resistant elastomers will become hard and brittle, losing their elastic properties and their ability to seal, ultimately leading to seal failure.

PPE has developed a number of sour gas resistant elastomer materials for the oil, gas and petrochemical processing industries with third party test certification to various international sour gas test standards and conditions.

PPE’s EnDura®, Perlast® and Perlast® ICE materials offer the widest selection of sour gas resistant elastomers to meet any application requirements.

Standard tests for sour fluid resistant elastomers

  • ISO 10423 (API 6A) – Petroleum and natural gas industries – Drilling and production equipment – Wellhead and Christmas tree equipment section F.1.13.5.2 (DD/EE and FF/HH).
  • ISO 23936-2 Section 7 and Annex A “Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries: Non-metallic materials in contact with media related to oil and gas production – Part 2: Elastomers”.
  • NACE TM0187 – Elastomeric materials in sour gas environments
  • NORSOK M710 Annex A Rev.3 – Ageing of elastomeric materials (section 7.2)

High concentration H2S testing

Going a step further than conventional tests, PPE has undertaken material testing at elevated temperatures and sour gas concentrations of 25% which exceed the minimum requirements of the ‘standard’ 2% NORSOK test. These higher test parameters are more representative of real-life service conditions and seek to find the limits of the elastomer’s capability and give the design engineer a level of comfort for the design limits in a given sealing application.

PPE materials tested to sour fluid standards

PPE gradeMaterial typeDescriptionISO 10423
(API 6A)
ISO
23639-2
NACE
TM0187
NORSOK M710
2% H2S
NORSOK M710
25% H2S
EnDura® A90HFEPMAflas® based copolymerFail*†Fail*†Not testedFail*†Tested†
EnDura® V91AFKMUltra-low temp gradePassPassPassPassTested†
EnDura® V91JFKMGeneral purpose gradePassPassPassPassTested†
EnDura® Z95XHNBRGeneral purpose gradePassPassPassPassNot tested
Perlast® G92EFFKMChemical resistant gradePassPassNot testedPassTested†
Perlast® G90LTFFKMChemical resistant low temp gradePassPassNot testedPassTested†
*Failure is caused by reaction to aromatic hydrocarbons rather than H2S.
†Contact PPE for further details.

Visit the Resources section to view/download material datasheets and test certification.

Sour gas test parameters for elastomers

ISO 10423
(API 6A)
ISO
23936-2
NACE
TM0187
NORSOK M710
2% H2S
(Rev.2)
NORSOK M710
25% H2S
Test vessel composition:
Gas phase
Oil phase
Water phase

35%
60%
15%

30%
60%
10%

90%
5%
5%

30%
60%
10%

30%
60%
10%
Gas phase composition:
Volume (%)

10% H2S
80% CO2
10% CH4

2% H2S
3% CO2
95% CH4
FKM | HNBR
20% H2S | 5% H2S
5% CO2 | 20% CO2
75% CH4 | 75% CH4

2% H2S
3% CO2
95% CH4

25% H2S
3% CO2
72% CH4
Oil phase composition:
Volume (%)
100% kerosene10% toluene
20% cyclohexane
70% heptane
5% toulene
20% octane
25% hexane
50% decane
10% toluene
20% cyclohexane
70% heptane
10% toluene
20% cyclohexane
70% heptane
Water phase composition:
Volume (%)
100% deionised water100% distilled water100% ASTM S1193
Type IV
100% distilled water100% distilled water
Test specimen locationOil phaseOil phaseGas phaseOil phaseOil phase
Temperature177°CVarious
from 100 to 200°C
150°C FKM
100°C HNBR
Various
from 100 to 200°C
Various
from 150 to 175°C
Test duration160 hours8 weeks160 hours8 weeks8 weeks
NORSOK M710 Rev.3 is now aligned with ISO 23936-2.

Resources

Below are some of our most popular downloads on sour gas sealing.

If you require further information on any sealing topic, please check out the Resources section of this website.