From the moment when rubber was first bonded to metal, a problem was born. When the need arises, how does one get the rubber back off? From rejected products to worn out parts in the field, a true dilemma is formed for the multitudes in the rubber-affiliated industries, in particularly the oil industry.
The problem begins when a machined piece of steel is bonded with rubber to form a part that will undergo extreme pressure and use. When the rubber on these parts wear out it renders a highly valuable and usable metal insert useless until the rubber can be safely removed, and new rubber can be reapplied. Such high value parts can be found in many industries including railroad, mining, automotive, marine, heavy equipment and military however perhaps one of the highest valued parts, with the most need for frequent reuse, lies in the pump industries need of progressive cavity pump power section stators.
The problem has been so perplexing over the years and the solution so scarce that some companies have even resorted to having employees take parts and burn them in a field at night. This practice does not occur much anymore, due to stringent EPA laws fines and damage to the metal, but with the ever increasing value of these machined metal parts, and the high production in the areas such as oil and gas drilling, the problem of reclaiming is bigger now than ever.
These days, companies have turned to legal burn-off ovens, water jets and liquid nitrogen baths to get rid of the rubber. Burn-off ovens, however, can bring the metal to very high temperatures that often take the temper out of the steel; not to mention the environmental concerns with smoke and ash created by the ovens. It is also slow, as well as costly, to burn these parts. Liquid nitrogen can be very expensive and potentially dangerous, as employees are subjected to the sub-zero substance. Then you have the rubber to deal with for disposal. This method is also labor-intensive, time-consuming and often results in fractured and unusable metal.
Another method of modern reclaim is the use of water jet systems. This is probably the worst of the solutions, because of its extremely slow approach and because of the substantial amount of rubber fragments left on the part after the jets have cut off the majority of the rubber. A watery, rubber sludge (sometimes mixed with oil residue) is produced from this process that must then be dealt with and disposed of. Because of the high pressures associated with the procedure, maintenance and upkeep can be a problem with the equipment also.
In all methods currently used, the reclaimed metal parts are left with fragments of the rubber and require burn-off oven processing to remove. This reheating further exposes the metal to high temperatures and can create a need for re-tempering. The re-tempering of the metal is a time consuming and a very costly process.
Finally, a breakthrough has been made in dealing with this monster of a problem. Our technology attacks the bond, not the rubber. The bond is gently broken in a matter of seconds or minutes, compared to the hours that other methods take, and it is done at a fraction of the cost. When a part is reclaimed with this process, the rubber is left in its whole state, leaving no fragments, and the metal is completely unaltered. Preparing the metal for relining is usually as simple as a gentle sand blast.
Let's take for example a stator pipe or power section (simply put a section of a drilling pump called a “Progressive Cavity Pump”). Stator pipe can range in length from 3 to 25 feet and from 2 to 36 inches in diameter. Rubber is molded to fit the inside of this high quality steel pipe. This elastomer has a smooth outer surface and a corkscrew form on the inside. This molded elastomer is fitted to the inside of the pipe and bonded to the pipes inner surface.
Due to the competitive nature of the pump industry and the highly propriety materials used to make the elastomer and to bond the elastomer to the steel, pump manufactures benefit greatly from seeing their pipe inserts (rubber elastomer) in their whole state. This allows them to inspect for failures in the elastomer and bonds, as well as observing the rubber performance under various field conditions.
While many industries struggle with the dilemma caused when trying to break the bond with metal parts, perhaps one of the most impacted is the aforementioned oil pump manufactures. Reclaiming oil pump stators in the US and Canada alone is estimated to be a $114,660,000 per year business. Pump manufacturers are scaling up volume and operations to service a rapidly growing demand for oil exploration, particular in North and South America.
With today's ever growing prices for high quality machined steel and the increased scrutiny of oil field part performance, there is a true opportunity to profit in several ways with this technology. It is green, cost effective, extremely quick and very versatile. A winning combination when coupled with huge opportunity.
Copyright 2013, AMFB Reclaim Management, LLC.