Oil & gas

Roechling Engineering Plastics (UK) Ltd , manufacture and machine various thermoplastics and composite materials. All of these materials have unique properties which allow them to be used in various applications. The ability to cast in excess of 1.5 metric tonnes makes Roechling quite unique in the plastics manufacturing industry. With a global base employing over 6,000 employees with a turnover in excess of €1 billion, Roechling are one of the largest plastics manufacturers in the world.

Applications

As thermoplastics are light weight and non-corrosive with excellent wear and impact properties they can be used in many subsea applications. For example with ROV components:- Thruster nozzles, ROV panels, camera pan and tilt units, hydraulic compensators and bumper strips.

Wellhead equipment can also benefit from the use of thermoplastics. With low moisture absorption and with high visibility subsea, they offer the perfect solution. Visual indicators in yellow PE are commonly used. Top side equipment such as chute liners, Diablo rollers, sheaves in excess of 2m in diameter, gear profiles and bearings are also manufactured from various thermoplastic materials.

Properties

Strength of the materials (compressive and tensile) is also critical. REPL materials being manufactured include both thermoplastic and composites, ie Polyamide (Sustamid) material grades and also fibre re-inforced grades. The various polyamide materials can be modified to suit customer’s requirements.

As for impact, wear, low friction or temperature resistance these materials are all currently available.

When the temperatures and loads become excessive for the polyamides, REPL’s composite materials (Durostone) are introduced. With compressive strengths of up to 600 Mpa (Durostone EPC 205) and tensile strength up to 500 Mpa (Durostone EPC205) the materials currently available have endless opportunities in the oil and gas industry, eg HP/HT (High pressure/High temperature) flowline bundle spacers and also pipe-in pipe centralisers.

 Should the long term temperatures be an issue then the Durostone materials available will also perform without any concerns at temperatures up to 225°C (Durostone EPX-M). If low temperatures are part of  the design criteria, Roechling’s Durostone EPM 203 has been incorporated as a finished component on the Ariane 5 space rocket proving it’s suitability in an extremely harsh environment. Temperatures in this instance reaching as low as -253°C when in the vicinity of the liquid oxygen tanks.

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