Rubber and plastic molding companies that serve the oil and gas industry may have historic opportunities in 2025. In the United States, recent executive orders that restore offshore oil drilling and expedite energy project permitting could be just the beginning. Even at the end of last year, Deloitte Energy and Industrials reported that U.S. oil and gas production in the Permian Basin was “repositioning for growth”.
Molders can’t control the pace of exploration or drilling, but they can be ready to supply reliable, defect-free parts. Flash, a type of molding defect, isn’t just a cosmetic issue. Flash can interfere with sealing, and the oil and gas industry needs molded rubber and plastic seals for everything from wellheads and blowout preventers to valves, pumps, compressors, pipeline connections, and flanges. The industry also needs rotating heads, stripper rubber, insulators, connector boots, and vibration isolators.
Molding Parts and Removing Flash
Depending on the specific oil and gas application, rubber parts can be molded from nitrile, neoprene, natural rubber, silicone, fluorosilicone, urethane, or Viton. Plastics like PVC and PEEK are also molded, and so are various thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). Some of these materials are commodity items, but others are not. In fact, they’re costly and specialized.
For example, the PEEK that’s used in high-pressure wells is considerably more expensive because of its unique properties. Molders don’t want to discard PEEK parts with excessive flash, but manual deflashing can remove too much or too little material. Even with commodity materials, manually trimming parts can affect critical tolerances that are required for sealing. Workers with hand tools may not be able to reach intricate geometries, and it can be time-consuming to deflash one part at a time.
Nitrofreeze® Cryogenic Deflashing
Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deflashing is an automated, computer-controlled process that quickly removes flash from batches of molded rubber and plastic parts. Only the flash is removed, and this reliable, repeatable process won’t affect critical tolerances or surface finish. Plus, Nitrofreeze® cryogenic deflashing can easily reach intricate geometries such as blind holes or through holes in a way that workers with hand trimmers cannot.
The process begins when batches of molded rubber or plastic parts are placed inside a basket and loaded into a cryogenic deflashing machine. The parts are cooled below their glass transition temperature so that the flash becomes brittle and easy to remove. As the parts tumble against each other, they’re impacted by a special cryogenic-media media that’s sized to meet the application’s requirements. Each part has its own “recipe”, and Nitrofreeze® saves this information for future orders.
Can’t Miss Oil and Gas Industry Opportunities
Does your company mold rubber or plastic parts for the oil and gas industry? Contact Nitrofreeze® to discuss your requirements and find out if the parts you mold are a fit for our process. No job is too large or too small, and our standard turnaround is two days after receipt. Sampling is free of charge, so send us your part drawings, photos, or actual samples of molded rubber of plastic parts.
To get started, contact us at the phone number and email address listed below.
(508) 459-7447 x 105 | info@nitrofreeze.com