Industrial decarbonization is a daunting challenge given the relative lack of low-carbon options available for “hard to decarbonize” industries such as iron and steel, cement, and chemicals. Hydrogen, however, offers one potential solution to this dilemma given that is an abundant and energy dense fuel capable of not just meeting industrial energy requirements, but also providing long-duration energy storage. Despite the abundance and potential of hydrogen, isolating it and utilizing it for industrial decarbonization remains logistically challenging and is, in many cases, expensive. Industrial utilization of hydrogen is currently dominated by oil refining and chemical production with nearly all of the hydrogen used in these applications coming from fossil fuels. The generation of low-carbon or zero-carbon hydrogen for industrial applications requires new modes of hydrogen production that either intrinsically produce no carbon emissions or are combined with carbon capture technologies. This review takes a sociotechnical perspective to examine the full range of industries and industrial processes for which hydrogen can support decarbonization and the technical, economic, social and political factors that will impact hydrogen adoption.

Industrial decarbonization via hydrogen: A critical and systematic review of developments, socio-technical systems and policy options

Experimental investigation of elastomers in downhole seal elements: Implications for safety

Elastomers are susceptible to chemical ageing, i.e., scission and cross-linking, at high temperatures. This thermally driven ageing process affects their mechanical properties and leads to limited operating time. Continuous and intermittent stress relaxation measurements were conducted on ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) and hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) samples for different ageing times and an ageing temperature of 125 °C. The contributions of chain scission and cross-linking were analysed for both materials at different ageing states, elucidating the respective ageing mechanisms. Furthermore, compression set experiments were performed under various test conditions. Adopting the two-network model, compression set values were calculated and compared to the measured data. The additional effect of physical processes to scission and cross-linking during a long-term thermal exposure is quantified through the compression set analysis. The characteristic times relative to the degradation processes are also determined.

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Scission, Cross-Linking, and Physical Relaxation during Thermal Degradation of Elastomers

Research and development of nanocellulose and nanocellulose-reinforced composite materials have garnered substantial interest in recent years. This is greatly attributed to its unique functionalities and properties, such as being renewable, sustainable, possessing high mechanical strengths, having low weight and cost. This review aims to highlight recent developments in incorporating nanocellulose into rubber matrices as a reinforcing filler material. It encompasses an introduction to natural and synthetic rubbers as a commodity at large and conventional fillers used today in rubber processing, such as carbon black and silica. Subsequently, different types of nanocellulose would be addressed, including its common sources, dimensions, and mechanical properties, followed by recent isolation techniques of nanocellulose from its resource and application in rubber reinforcement. The review also gathers recent studies and qualitative findings on the incorporation of a myriad of nanocellulose variants into various types of rubber matrices with the main goal of enhancing its mechanical integrity and potentially phasing out conventional rubber fillers. The mechanism of reinforcement and mechanical behaviors of these nanocomposites are highlighted. This article concludes with potential industrial applications of nanocellulose-reinforced rubber composites and the way forward with this technology.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/4/550/pdf

Recent Developments in Nanocellulose-Reinforced Rubber Matrix Composites: A Review

Concerning the still rising demand for oil and gas products, the development of new reliable materials to guarantee the facility safety at extreme operating conditions is an utmost necessity. The present study mainly deals with the influence of different carbon black (CB) filled hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR), which is a material usually used in sealing applications, on the rapid gas decompression (RGD) resistance in harsh environments. Therefore, RGD component level tests were conducted in an autoclave. The supporting mechanical and dynamic mechanical property analysis, the microscopic level investigations on the material and failure analysis were conducted and are discussed in this work. Under the tested conditions, the samples filled with smaller CB primary particles showed a slightly lower volume increase during the compression and decompression phases; however, they steered to a significantly lower resistance to RGD. Transmission electron micrographs revealed that the samples filled with smaller CB particles formed larger structures as well as densified filler networks including larger agglomerates and as a consequence a decrease effective matrix component around the CB particles. Apparently, at higher loading conditions, which already deliver a certain level of mechanical stresses and strains, the densified filler network, and especially a lower amount of effective matrix material composition, adversely affect the RGD resistance. SEM-based fracture analysis did not identify any influence of the CB grades tested on the crack initiation site; however, it revealed that the cracks initiated from existing voids, hard particles, or low strength matrix sites and propagated to the outer surface.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/11/1/61/pdf

The Effect of the Surface Area of Carbon Black Grades on HNBR in Harsh Environments.

Typically, polymeric materials experience material degradation and damage over time in harsh environments. Improved understanding of the physical and chemical processes associated with possible dam...

A Review on Applicability, Limitations, and Improvements of Polymeric Materials in High-Pressure Hydrogen Gas Atmospheres

Summary
The oxidative ageing behavior of carbon black- (85 phr) filled hydrogenated nitrile-butadiene rubber (HNBR) was characterized in this study. HNBR is widely used in many oil and gas field applications for seals, hoses, down-hole packers etc., due to its intrinsic combination of good heat and excellent oil and chemical resistance, coupled with outstanding physical properties. Hence, to support the material development, it is of prime theoretical and practical importance to characterize the ageing behavior of HNBR. In this work, mechanical properties and dynamic mechanical properties of aged and un-aged material were examined using tensile, tear and dynamic mechanical analysis tests. Possible micro structural changes and functional groups involved in aging were detected using DQ NMR, Raman spectroscopy and FT-IR spectroscopy in ATR mode. The results indicated that the ageing process caused the material to deteriorate; tensile strength − strain at break, the strain at tear strength and the damping properties were decreased. Additionally, the stiffness and the glass transition temperature of the material were also raised. According to the literature, residual double bonds in HNBR are involved in forming hydro peroxide and propagating the autocatalytic oxidation process in the presence of oxygen at higher temperature. This process leads to the oxidative degradation resulting in cross-linking and in chain scissions as the predominant reactions contributing to properties. Furthermore, at ∼100 °C, oxidation through the nitrile group was observed converting the cyano functional group into the imino group; but at higher temperatures, it was negligible. The results suggest that the cross-linking and the chain scission mechanisms are significant after 72 hours and 168 hours of exposure, respectively, at 150 °C. However, when aged at 170 °C, both cross-linking and chain scission were even effective after 24 hours of exposure time.

Winoj Balasooriya

Papers

The Effect of the Surface Area of Carbon Black Grades on HNBR in Harsh Environments.

A Review on Applicability, Limitations, and Improvements of Polymeric Materials in High-Pressure Hydrogen Gas Atmospheres

Influence of Thermo-Oxidative Ageing of HNBR in Oil Field Applications

On the experimental measurement of fracture toughness in SENT rubber specimens

Induced material degradation of elastomers in harsh environments