National Labs Offer 3rd Party Evaluation on Elastomers (EERE/Geothermal Technologies Office)
The Geothermal Technologies Office is supporting researchers at Sandia (SNL) and Brookhaven (BNL) National Laboratories, to test elastomeric materials for use in high-temperature geothermal environments.
To evaluate the quality and performance of elastomers for use in geothermal environments, these national laboratories are offering industry suppliers and manufacturers of elastomeric materials a third-party evaluation of their products. These rubber-like materials, extremely common in oil and gas operations, are critical to the functioning of many technologies but are highly prone to dysfunction at high temperatures. The materials will be tested in simulated geothermal environments, which will expose the elastomers to high temperatures and pressures, synthetic brines, and operational wear and tear. In the first phase of the project, commercially available products will be tested and evaluated for performance suited for geothermal settings. Follow on material development work may be possible during the second phase of the project. Test results will be published and made available to the public.
Samples will be received through March 28th, 2014 and evaluations complete by September 30, 2014. If your company is interested in learning more about this free evaluation, please contact the Principal Investigators, Doug Blankenship, at Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico, dablank@sandia.gov and Toshi Sugama, at Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, Sugama@bnl.gov.
