Expanding Metal Seal Project

铋及其合金在凝固时膨胀的方式与水在冻结时膨胀形成冰的方式相似。其中一些合金具有很高的耐腐蚀性，结合合金膨胀的极端寿命密封应用，可以应对恶劣的水环境。利用低熔点和凝固后膨胀的综合特性，即使在水下环境中也可以铸造高完整性的原位密封，包括海底（即熔融和水下铸造）、土壤和多孔岩石（即控制气体和水的迁移）以及有毒废物的密封。该合金可作为水泥灌浆密封的可逆替代品。合金的耐腐蚀性允许数百年的使用，如果需要，这种密封可以重新熔化，以获得先前密封的单元。扩展金属密封项目的总体目标是利用Rawwater现有的处理和部署低熔点金属的能力，在确定的光滑壁几何形状（即弃井套管塞）中，开发工具来创建未定义和/或粗糙壁几何形状的密封，这些形状无法用现有技术完美密封。

Bismuth and its alloys expand upon solidification in a similar manner to the way water expands upon freezing to form ice. Some of these alloys are highly resistant to corrosion, and combined with the alloy expansion extreme life sealing applications can cope with harsh aqueous environments. The combined properties of low melting point and subsequent expansion upon solidification can be exploited to cast high integrity, in-situ seals even in underwater environments, including subsea (i.e. melting and underwater casting), within soil and also within porous rock (i.e. control of gas and water migration) and containment of toxic wastes. The alloys can be used as a reversible replacement for cement grout seals. The corrosion resistance of the alloys permit many hundreds of years of service, and such seals can be remelted to gain access to the previously sealed unit, should the need arise. The overall objective of the Expanding Metal Seal Project is to take Rawwater's existing capabilities in the handling and deployment of low melting point metals in defined smooth wall geometries (i.e. well abandonment casing plugs) and to develop tools to create seals in undefined and/or rough walled geometries that cannot be perfectly sealed with existing technologies.