Why PEEK material is widely used in sealing terminal & connector application in oil&gas field?

What is PEEK?

Polyether ether ketone    (PEEK) is a colorless organic thermoplastic polymer in the polyaryletherketone (PAEK) family, used in engineering applications.

PEEK is a thermoplastic semicrystalline with excellent mechanical and chemical resistance properties that are retained to high temperatures. PEEK has a glass transition temperature of around 143 °C (289 °F) and melts around 343 °C (662 °F).  That’s why PEEK seals and manifolds are commonly used in fluid applications. PEEK also performs well in applications where continuous high temperatures (up to 500 °F/260 °C) are common.  It has high resistance to halogen, strong bronsted and lewis acids, thermal degradation,biodegradation, Air leak: helium leak test≤1×10 -3 Pa.cm 3 /s

PEEK melts at a relatively high temperature (343 °C / 649.4 °F) compared to most other thermoplastics. In the range of its melting temperature, it can be processed using injection molding or extrusion methods. It is technically feasible to process granular PEEK into filament form and 3D printing parts from the filament material using fused deposition modeling – FDM (or fused filament fabrication – FFF) technology. PEEK filaments have been demonstrated for producing medical devices up to class IIa.

In its solid state PEEK is readily Machinable, for example, by (CNC) milling machines and is commonly used to produce high-quality plastic parts that are thermostable and both electrically and thermally insulating. Filled grades (30% Glass filled) of PEEK can also be CNC machined, but special care must be taken to properly manage stresses in the material.

PEEK is considered a high-performance polymer, that is to say, its high price restricts its use to the most demanding applications only. Because of its robustness, PEEK is used to fabricate items used in demanding applications, including bearings, piston parts, pumps, High-performance liquid chromatography columns, compressor plate valves, and electrical cable insulation. It is one of the few plastics compatible with ultra-high vacuum applications.

Beware of the difference of PEEK & PEK

PEEK is Polyether ether keton & PEK is Polyether keton, both are very strong mechanical and chemical resistance properties but PEEk has one more molecule that means the physical performance more stability.

The Usage of PEEK Connector

PEEK connector, we also call it PEEK sealing terminal or HTHP connector, just as its name implies which the connector is made from PEEK material combining with metal contact and using glass sintered technology sealing PEEK material & contact so it has perfect air leakage performance. In wellhead, gate valve requires to PEEK terminal for sealing, or tubing head spool for connect gauge or control line of the outlet of the wellhead, and using on adapter spool for hydraulic control line terminated(C/L), electrical cable fit.

The working environment of oil gas petrochemical industry is always harsh, dirty, and with high pressure, extreme temperature, chemical corrosion, low PH erosion, and various different kinds of gas. PEEK Connector, which can withstand physical performance with Pressure in 30,000PSI /207Mpa and the extreme temperature in 300℃, can perfectly satisfy the working needs for the special area and provide high-performance solutions as oil and gas connectors.