Lei Zhao
Baker Hughes, A GE Company, USA
Title: Advanced carbon composite material for heavy oil and geothermal energy recovery
Biography
Biography: Lei Zhao
Abstract
Lack of high temperature elastic seals has been the bottleneck for the energy industry to economically and safely explore geothermal energy and heavy oils. The reserve of heavy oil is three times the total amount of conventional oil and gas combined, and resource of geothermal energy is almost unlimited. In these applications, hot fluids are required to be safely sealed in an enclosed system, the temperature of which could easily reach to 750°F (399°C) and above, and the seal material also has to survive the extremely corrosive downhole environment. Traditionally, elastomers are the materials chosen for downhole
sealing applications. But this type of organic material is prone to decompose when temperatures approach 600°F (316°C) and even lower in wellbore fluids. Metal to metal sealing systems may have the temperature tolerance, but lacks enough elasticity to provide reliable seal performance in downhole conditions. This presentation will introduce a newly developed elastic carbon composite (ECC), which is a highly engineered material with both mechanical and chemical properties readily tuned for specifi c applications. Tests show that the elastic carbon composite material has excellent thermal stability over 1000°F (538°C) and strong corrosion resistant to extremely corrosive environment including concentrated acid. In this presentation, we will also discuss the performance of the elastic carbon composite as a high temperature seal, and provide some exemplary industrial applications in unconventional energy recovery, including packing elements, O rings, and chemical injection valves seals.