Terves Inc. has announced the launch of the oil and gas industry’s first truly-dissolvable family of elastomers, ElementUM. ElementUM is a family of patent-pending high-performance, mouldable and machinable elastomer that is designed to fragment and dissolve to tiny particles after exposure to downhole brine and fluids. Unlike competing dissolvable elastomers, polymers, and rubbers that primarily degrade (lose hardness) without losing weight, forming a slime or jelly that could plug when mixed with sand; ElementUM loses (dissolves) about ~80% of its weight over a period of days in standard well conditions and disintegrates leaving ~20% of very fine filler particles.
“When our customers started asking us for Dissolvable Elastomer products to complement our industry-leading TervAlloy family of dissolvable metal products, we actively started seeking suppliers that could provide the industry with a dissolvable rubber solution that would meet our customer’s needs. We discovered that there was no existing product available that worked well and was available at a reasonable price. All the products that our customers tested merely lost their hardness forming a cake or jelly like material without actually dissolving or producing controlled particles that could be easily flushed from the well” said Mr. Andrew Sherman, CEO, Terves.
“Furthermore, mechanical properties were not close to conventional polyurethane or EPDM rubbers, and low- and high-temperature versions did not exist. “Once we realized that there is no fully acceptable solution available, we researched patents for freedom to operate and then initiated development efforts using our extensive materials science and chemistry competencies to design a suitable material. We had the first-generation product ready within 4 months, which worked as well as or better than the existing products with a more attractive price point, but still did not fully satisfy plug designers. We continued with development efforts, modifying formulations and completing extensive testing and qualification, resulting in two high strength, truly dissolvable elastomers. The Elementum Dissolvable Elastomer products have gone through extensive internal and customer testing and are rated for up to 10,000psi pressure and 90ºC temperature. These products have been scaled to production, and we are now accepting commercial orders for the ElementUM Dissolvable Elastomer products that can be used for making custom sealing elements for Frac Plugs, Gaskets, Seals, O-rings, and other components.” continued Mr. Sherman.
TervAlloy is the most widely used Dissolvable Metal in the industry, and Terves expects that ElementUM would be the default choice for the oil and gas industry that is in need of a Dissolvable Elastomer product that truly dissolves. With the widest product offering of Dissolvable Metals for every conceivable field condition, coupled with the recently launched ElementUM Dissolvable Elastomers and soon to be launched high-hardness, higher-pressure rating Dissolvable Metal Matrix Composites – Terves will continue to be the technology, value and market leader for interventionless tooling.