About Brunel Oilfield Srvices

Brief History

Brunel originally started as a materials science consultancy in 1995. The main focus was engineering studies into the replacement of many metals by using Composite Engineered Polymers (eg Thermoplastics). Mr. John Thornton (Brunel Managing Director) joined the company in 2000 and refocused it on the development and manufacturing of products as opposed to consulting. The first Centraliser Moulds were made in 2000 for our first products, the 7" and 5.5". These initial products / sizes were available circa march 2001 after the original mould trials and extensive testing(over 150 of each size were made for the trials and testing). This allowed Brunel to confirm not only the design of the product but also allowed us to incorporate our patented Anti-Swage Ring into the design and manufacture of each centraliser which was a step change in the industry for Centraliser products.

In addition, extensive research and testing was carried out in selecting the right Composite Engineered Polymer (eg Thermoplastic) that would be used in the manufacture of the Ezee-Glider™ Centraliser. While not an easy or straight forward process, you can see in the table of mechanical properties (download section ) for Ezee-Glider™ that we and our customers know that the results of this extensive selection and testing process has resulted in a far superior product to the standard metal type products on the market and many cases far out performing them.

August 2001 saw our first run for BP in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf Southern North Sea region with outstanding results (see case history in Downloads section). In August 2002 we started making our own design of stop collars giving us 100% control and ownership of not only design but also the manufacturing of our products.

Since that initial job in August 2001 Brunel Oilfield Services have grown by 50% year on year as engineers worldwide see the measurable results Ezee-Gliders™ deliver, well after well – project after project. This has been organic growth both in the United Kingdom and Internationally. Brunel Oilfield Services UK Ltd are currently focused on continuing our growth continued reinvestment in tooling, stock, patents etc. Increasing our sales internationally is a part of this continued growth and we have committed the resources and effort to support not only our business partners internationally but also our customers internationally.

Thermoplastics offer significant advantages over conventional metal alloys:

• Outstanding Strength
• Low Density
• Extremely low friction factors
• High impact values
• Thermally stable
• Virtually inert to all known oilfield Chemicals
• Electrically and thermally insulating
• Outstanding abrasion resistance
  

Composite materials are used in numerous applications across a broad range of industries. Typically, composites are used to replace products made of metal alloys. Composites can offer comparable or better strength than metal parts, while providing a reduction in weight. This is particularly important in industries such as automotive and aerospace, where the use of composite materials results in lighter, faster and more fuel-efficient aircraft and automobiles. Modern civilian jet aircraft comprises +/- 35% of composite material, with military aircraft even higher.

Thermoplastic composites may also be designed to replace concrete, fibreglass, even wood and other more traditional materials. The following is a partial list of industries that may have application for the use of long-fiber reinforced structural parts made from thermoplastic composites:

An example of a general composite material would be concrete: different forms of concrete use different reinforcements. The cement acts as the matrix, which holds the concrete together, while the sand, gravel, and steel, serve as reinforcements. Concrete made with only sand and cement isn't nearly as strong as concrete made from cement, sand, gravel, which, in turn, is not as strong as concrete reinforced with steel, sand and gravel. The matrix and reinforcement materials of concrete are blended, poured and molded, typically in a form structure. In the generation of parts made with other composite materials, the shape of a composite part is determined by the shape or geometry of the mold, die of other tooling used in the part forming.

There are many different types of composites, including polymer composites. Each plastic resin has its own unique properties, which when combined with different reinforcements create composites with differing mechanical and physical properties. If one considered the number of plastic polymers in existence today and multiplied that figure by the number of reinforcements available, the number of potential polymer composite materials is staggering.

In general, among other attributes, polymer composite materials are corrosion resistant and offer long fatigue lives, which has made them particularly attractive for many manufacturers. The fatigue life refers to the period of time the part will last prior to exhibiting material wear or significant stress. Typically, composites are substituted for conventional materials where there is a desire to reduce the weight of a particular part while providing the required strength and other performance criteria.

Numerous parts, particularly in the aerospace industry, have been and are being made from "advanced" thermoset composite materials, which are very expensive. These types of advanced composite parts are typically in the military and aerospace industries.

As a result of the previously noted issues and due to advances in thermoplastic composites, many product development engineers and design engineers believe that composite materials will play an ever-increasing role in modern technological development. New thermoplastic resins are regularly developed and more innovative methods of manufacturing are being introduced bringing down the costs of manufacturing parts. As costs for reinforced thermoplastic production are lowered, the use of thermoplastics composites becomes more and more viable in many commercial and industrial applications.