Expanding Metal Seal Project

铋及其合金在凝固时膨胀，其方式与水在冻结时膨胀形成冰的方式相似。其中一些合金具有高度的耐腐蚀性，与合金膨胀极具寿命的密封应用相结合，可以应对恶劣的水环境。低熔点和固化后的膨胀相结合的特性可以用来铸造高完整性的原位密封，即使在水下环境中，包括水下(即熔化和水下浇注)、土壤内和多孔岩石内(即控制气体和水的迁移)和遏制有毒废物。该合金可作为水泥灌浆封层的可逆替代品。合金的耐腐蚀性允许数百年的使用，如果需要，可以重新熔化这种密封件，以便接触到以前密封的装置。扩大金属密封项目的总体目标是利用Rawwater在处理和部署已确定的光滑壁面几何形状(即油井废弃套管塞)中的低熔点金属的现有能力，并开发工具来制造用现有技术无法完美密封的未定义和/或粗糙壁面几何形状的密封。

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.