PEEK Featured In New Line of Subsea Connectors

The Diamould line of electrical connectors for subsea and downhole applications from OneSubsea, Houston, utilize PEEK from Victrex, West Conshohocken, Penn., for the overmolded insulating material. OneSubsea engineers opted for the high-performance thermoplastic when designing the new dry and wet-mateable connectors for use in extreme environments as it met their key requirements for the insulating material: electrical integrity, excellent chemical resistance, and high mechanical properties in high-pressure, high- temperature (HPHT) wellhead and downhole applications. 

            According to OneSubsea’s molding technologist Gareth Eccles, the company’s connectors, depending on selection, are now able to perform in temperatures of up to 302 F and in pressure requirements up t0 15,000 psi. They are resistant to typical oil and gas fluids including seawater, mineral and silicone oil, and hydraulic fluids. They are suitable for hydrogen sulfide sour gas wells.Victrex PEEK has been shown to perform well beyond the vital specification of the oil and gas industry, the Norsok M-710 standard. The material also aided the OneSubsea engineers to create smarter designs. “The purity and strength of this thermoplastic allowed us to design thinner wall sections resulting in more compact connectors that perform exceptionally well even in tight spaces,” says Eccles. And, its relative ease of processing, reportedly delivers reliable manufacturing benefits through the optimization of tooling and molding equipment. 

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