Terves releases new dissolvable elastomers

EUCLID, Ohio—Terves Inc. is expanding its offerings with a new line of dissolving elastomers for completion tools in oil and gas applications.

ElementUM dissolvable elastomers are rated for up to 10,000 pounds per square inch and 90°C, and the newest addition to the line loses up to 80 percent of its weight as it dissolves, said Anupam Ghildyal, vice president of corporate development.

Terves manufactures dissolvable metal for tools used in gas well completion and production, which are important to get the horizontal fracturing process started, he said.

"But after their job is done, they're not required anymore and they have to be drilled out," Ghildyal said. "If you're using tools made out of dissolvable metal, they actually dissolve away so you do not have to drill them out again."

He added that using dissolvable tools saves the rental fees for drilling equipment, and time and effort in the drilling-out process, which can take two or three days.

"You are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars at each well using dissolvable metal," he said.

Those tools include rubber and elastomer components that do not dissolve. Terves received requests from customers for an elastomer that would dissolve along with the rest of the tools, Ghildyal said.

At the time, Terves wasn't interested in working with rubbers and elastomers, so it reached out to other companies that claimed to make dissolvable rubber products. After testing 10-15 products, none of the products actually dissolved, Ghildyal said.

The issue came down to the difference between disintegration and dissolution, he said. The goal of dissolution meant materials breaking down into fine particles, whereas disintegration meant the component or material lost its structure.

"So instead of a very fine powder, you will get big chunks," he said. Those chunks can plug holes and slow down efficiency in the process.

Terves started working on its own iteration of dissolvable rubber or elastomers, and was first able to make a product, DE50, that was similar to other products on the market. It would disintegrate into smaller chunks, but did not dissolve into smaller particles.

Within the last year, Terves completed testing on its new iteration, DE60, which not only dissolves and breaks down, but also loses about 60-80 percent of its weight while doing so, leaving about 20 percent of fine filler particles, Ghildyal said.

DE50 currently is being used in the field, and DE60 will be priced the same, so Ghildyal expects customers to make the switch to the new elastomer.

Dissolution happens over a period of time, depending on the amount of the material used and the size of the element, he said.

Both elastomers are produced in Euclid, Ohio, the main manufacturing facility for Terves, with the world's largest dissolvable metal manufacturing capability, Ghildyal said. Production of the rubber involved in creating the elastomers currently is outsourced to other producers locally. Terves employees usually go to the compounders' facilities to monitor the entire process to make certain every batch is produced correctly.

The company is preparing to bring production in-house during the next six months, as the third in a series of expansions this year, Ghildyal said. The first was an expansion that increased the company's casting capability, which will be completed within the next few weeks. The second is an expansion of the company's machining capabilities with new equipment, which should be complete within the next three months. Both expansions come with an investment of about $2 million.

The third expansion, coming within six months, will bring production of the elastomer products in-house. The investment total is not yet finalized, Ghildyal said.

The company has grown with about five hires already this year, starting with a base of about 35 employees, Ghildyal said. With the expansions, Terves plans to add about 25-30 jobs this year, with a target to double the company's size in 2018, riding the rise of the oil and gas industry after a few down years.

"In 2015, we were producing like crazy. Then 2016 and 2017 were down years," Ghildyal said. "In 2018, we've already seen almost double the demand. We scaled up our metal production, and in the next month or so, we should be about three times our production, compared to last year."

With dissolvable elastomers, Terves is trying to enhance its dissolvable metal products, as well as other offerings for the oil and gas market. The company also is working on a range of proppants, chemicals and other nano-engineered products, which are scheduled to be launched later this year.

"It's primarily about complementing technologies and how we are driving the use of dissolvable tooling," Ghildyal said.