Test standards Alpine supports: BPS-A104, BPS A-106, BPS-A114
Many equipment qualification programs inherently include seal qualification, as most tools rely on seals to maintain pressure integrity during operation. Testing tools for leakage, extrusion resistance, and thermal cycling performance inherently tests the seals within those assemblies, providing validation of both the hardware and the sealing system in a single program. This integrated approach ensures that seals are evaluated under the same pressures, temperatures, and chemical exposures the full assembly will experience in service, providing a comprehensive performance snapshot.
Seal qualification can also be conducted independently to evaluate new seal designs or material compounds before incorporation into tools. Testing can involve high-pressure gas or liquid exposure, thermal and pressure cycling, and chemical exposure in acids, bases, brines, hydrocarbons, and gases such as hydrogen, ammonia, and CO₂, under controlled conditions. Seal performance is evaluated by monitoring extrusion, leakage, mechanical integrity, and sealability under both static and dynamic conditions.
Low Temperature Sealability
At low temperatures, seals often leak rather than extrude, with factors such as material selection, seal squeeze, pressure, and fluid media significantly impacting performance. Alpine can test individual components like O-rings or large assemblies such as valves and plugs under cryogenic conditions, providing data to guide material selection and hardware design for low temperature service.
Seal qualification at Alpine ensures that elastomers, plastics, and composite seals meet service requirements across the conditions they will face in the field. Seal qualification may be performed as part of equipment qualification testing or as a standalone process to validate material and design selections for harsh service environments. Alpine’s material R&D capabilities further support seal qualification by enabling head-to-head comparisons of candidate materials and geometries under realistic service conditions. This helps customers identify the best material and design for a given environment before full tool qualification.
Whether testing individual O-rings, V-rings, bonded seals, or custom geometry components, Alpine’s seal qualification services provide clear, actionable data to validate designs, support customer specifications, and enable confident deployment of sealing solutions in harsh environments.
Alpine Expanded Capabilities
Test conditions we support:
Alpine qualifies seals for harsh environments by simulating temperatures from cryogenic to 400°C and pressures up to 50,000 psi in CO₂, H₂S, methane, hydrogen, brines, oils, and completion fluids. We perform thermal and pressure cycling, chemical exposure, and rapid gas decompression testing to evaluate seals, tools, and assemblies under realistic conditions. With mechanical testing, leak detection, and dimensional analysis, Alpine helps ensure your equipment performs reliably in the world’s toughest service environments.