This fifth international MERL conference, organised jointly with Rapra Technology, provided a unique forum to discuss the latest developments in the selection, qualification and performance of polymeric materials. It brought together operators, contractors, equipment and component suppliers, materials suppliers and research organisations involved with polymers and their use in oil & gas sector applications.


SESSION 1. TRENDS IN OILFIELD ENGINEERING WITH POLYMERS

Paper 1 Meeting the increased demands of offshore developments

SESSION 2. POLYMER PERFORMANCE: CHEMICAL RESISTANCE OF ELASTOMERS AND THERMOPLASTICSPaper 2 Evaluating the retention of viscoelastic properties for extreme and long term service
Danny Hertz III & H. Bussem, Seals Eastern, Inc., USA

Paper 3 Compatibility between elastomers and oilfield chemicals on the Kristin subsea wellhead structure
Hkon Nygrd, Steinar Mollan, & Dr Bjrn Melve, Statoil ASA, Norway

Paper 4 Oilfield polymers and hydrogen sulphide
Dr Barry Thomson, MERL Ltd., UK

Paper 5 Seal selection for acid gas injection using an accelerated testing program
Dr Philip Abrams, Randall E Harris, & Tim G Martin, ExxonMobil, USA, & Dr Barry Thomson, MERL Ltd., UK

Paper 6 Linear PPS for use in high temperature oil and gas sour/acid fluid handling
Hansel Ramathal & Tom Baus, Ticona Polymers, Inc., USA, & Dirk Raudies, Ticona GmbH, Germany

SESSION 3. POLYMER PERMEABILITY AND RESISTANCE TO RAPID GAS DECOMPRESSION EVENTS
Bruno Flaconnche & Dr Marie-Hlne Klopffer, Institut Franais du Ptrole, & Dr Carol Taravel-Condat, TECHNIP-Flexifrance, France

Paper 7 Transport properties of gas mixtures in polymers: Measurement method, experimental data obtained on thermoplastics

Paper 8 Novel gas detection method for permeability measurement
Zoltn Filus1, Tibor Ajtai1, Dr Zoltn Bozki2, Gbor Pap3, Prof Gbor Szab1, Imre Domonkos4, Dr Tibor Nagy4, Dr Tams Katona4, 1University of Szeged, 2Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 3HILASE Ltd., 4Phoenix Rubber Ltd., Hungary

Paper 9 Specification of elastomeric materials for rapid gas decompression applications
Kevin Monaghan, Dr Chris Newlands, & Dr Emily Ho, BHR Group Ltd., UK

Paper 10 Development of a test and failure analysis methodology for elastomeric seals exposed to explosive decompression
Dr Zoltan Major1,2, Klaus Lederer1, Manfred Moitzi3, Mario Mitterhuber3, Dr Thomas Schwarz3 and Prof Reinhold Lang1,2, 1Polymer Competence Center Leoben GmbH, 2University of Leoben, 3ECONOMOS Austria GmbH, Austria

SESSION 4. INSULATION FOR DEEP WATER APPLICATIONS
Nadge Bouchonneau1,2,3, Dominique Choqueuse1, Dr Valrie Sauvant-Moynot 2, Franois Grosjean2, Prof Dominique Perreux3, Dr Emmanuel Poncet3, 1IFREMER, 2Institut Franais du Ptrole, 3Universit de Franche-Comt, France

Paper 11 Multilayer insulation systems: Study of thermomechanical behaviour of industrial prototypes for deep sea application

Paper 12 X-ray microtomography for a better understanding of syntactic foam performance and limits in ultra deep water
Dr Valrie Sauvant-Moynot & Nelly Gimenez, Institut Franais du Ptrole, & Jrme Adrien & Eric Maire, Groupe dEtude de Mtallurgie Physique et de Physique des Matriaux, INSA Lyon, France

SESSION 5. ADVANCES IN POLYMER TECHOLOGY: NEW MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS
Bilal Ghalaini, DuPont Int. SA, Switzerland

Paper 13 Innovative material solutions for the oil and gas industry

Paper 14 Next generation HNBR grades - new materials for oilfield application
Dirk Achten, Lanxess Deutschland GmbH, Germany

Paper 15 The role of base resistant FKM technology in oilfield seals
Steven Jagels, Solvay Solexis Inc., USA, & Stefano Arrigoni, Solvay Solexis SpA, Italy

Paper 16 Perfluoroether elastomer for oilfield engineering
Hidenori Koshikawa, Yasuo Tarumi, & Mikio Shiono, Shin-Etsu Chemical Company Ltd., Japan

Paper 17 Fluoroelastomers made with advanced polymer architecture for oil and gas applications
Robert Fuller, DuPont Performance Elastomers, USA

Paper 18 Flow improvements within oil pipelines
Matthew McDonnell, Copon Pipelinings Ltd., UK

SESSION 6. ADVANCES IN COMPONENT DESIGN AND ANALYSIS: SEALS, HOSE AND UMBILICALS