Oil and Gas Industry Trends Encourage Increased Use of Composite Materials

Corrosion costs top roughly $2.2 trillion worldwide — more than 3 percent of the world’s GDP. One of the greatest risks of corrosion comes in the industrial sector. The industrial corrosion market is one of the faster growing segments of the composite industry, with tremendous expansion in power and water management applications.

The oil and gas industry has been especially encouraging of FRP applications and is perhaps the largest market for composites. The recent focus on shale gas in the U.S. and oil sands in Canada have led to increased use of hydrochloric acid for fracking. This highly corrosive chemical requires a large amount of composite materials to avoid corrosion of equipment and other components, and the oil and gas composites market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.05 percent to $1.98 billion in 2021.

Vinyl ester and polyester resin in the oil and gas industry

Vinyl ester resin is a popular choice for corrosion-resistant FRP, proving more effective than epoxy precursors. This is a polyester backbone molecule with an epoxy component that offers enhanced corrosion resistance with a range of available strength, heat distortion and shrinkage characteristics.

Another option is polyester resin which, combined with fiberglass reinforcements, have been instrumental to the composites industry for some time now. These low-cost components are easy to handle, cure quickly and offer high strength, making them ideal in several applications. Some polyester resin formulations that offer high corrosion resistance are isophthalic (iso) based resin and specialty resins.

In the oil and gas industry, several chemical plants and expansions have cropped up in the past few years, with ethane cracking plants near shale gas sources. These are areas that are ripe for the use of corrosion-resistant composite equipment.

Composites One is the leading supplier of composite materials for the oil and gas industry

Composites One is the leading supplier of composites throughout North America. We work with the industrial corrosion industry, including the oil and gas sector, to provide materials like vinyl ester and polyester resin. To learn more about the materials we offer, contact Composites One today.