How Greene Tweed is engineering the Future of Sustainability  

Whether you work in deep oil wells, fly at 40,000 feet, or manufacture semiconductors at nanometer scales, you need materials and solutions that can handle the world's most challenging conditions. That’s where Greene Tweed comes in — from sealing and composite components today to buggy whips back in 1863 — built to outperform when failure is not an option.  

Now, as the world transitions to clean energy, our engineers are working on innovating, developing and testing materials and solutions needed to address the challenges faced by companies making the leap to sustainability. Here are the four key areas we’re focusing on, along with some of our most impactful solutions:

1. Hydrogen: Is Your Equipment Ready? 

Greene Tweed technical experts collaborate closely with hydrogen innovators around the globe. As a result, we understand the extreme obstacles facing the hydrogen industry and are actively developing advanced materials and comprehensive solutions designed specifically to address your most pressing concerns: 

Low-Temperature RGD Resistance in Gaseous Hydrogen Applications:
Rapid Gas Decompression (RGD) is a major risk in high-pressure gaseous hydrogen systems. Sudden pressure release can cause hydrogen, which easily penetrates standard elastomers, to expand explosively and damage materials. Greene Tweed’s elastomers, like Fusion® 938 (FKM) and Chemraz® 678 (FFKM), are designed to resist extreme RGD scenarios in hydrogen and carbon dioxide systems. Tested to ISO standards, they deliver exceptional resilience under hydrogen-rich conditions.   

Cryogenic Sealing in Liquid Hydrogen:
Hydrogen stored as a cryogenic liquid poses extreme thermal challenges, making common materials like elastomers brittle and ineffective. We use Metal Spring Energized (MSE) seals, combining durable metallic seals with advanced coatings and design to minimize hydrogen diffusion and corrosion. With expertise in cryogenic sealing for industries such as semiconductors, our solutions are built to perform in these conditions.   

High-Pressure, High-Temperature Relief Valves:
Pressure relief valves (PRVs) for hydrogen and high-pressure gases often struggle with creep that causes the material to deform over time.  Greene Tweed's Arlon® 3000XT, a cross-linked PEEK polymer, offers a superior solution with exceptional creep resistance, leak-tight performance, and long-term reliability under extreme pressures and temperatures. Tests under HPHT conditions and over 10 years of customer use in the field prove Arlon® 3000XT outperforms traditional materials like filled PEEK, making it ideal for gaskets, o-rings, and backup rings in hydrogen systems. Used in relief valves of a Fortune 500 engineering solutions company, this advanced thermoplastic seating ensures optimum performance and service life even at pressures up to 20,000 psig.   

For applications that require even higher mechanical properties, consider Arlon® 3160XT, our glass-reinforced, cross-linked PEEK material. It provides 20 times better creep resistance and performs 30-70% better in short-term high-temperature conditions compared to standard glass-filled PEEK. This makes it incredibly durable and reliable for key hydrogen systems.  

Enhancing Wear and Friction Properties:
Wear and friction pose significant challenges due to the low lubricity of hydrogen molecules. This leads to increased heat and component degradation over time, ultimately shortening their lifespan and resulting in costly replacements. Arlon® 3000XT and its compounds offer exceptional wear resistance and low friction, extending component life in tough applications like industrial valves, pipeline fittings, and hydrogen-powered vehicles. We’ve conducted extensive tests to validate that our cross-linked PEEK delivers reliable performance in harsh conditions, reducing maintenance costs and providing peace of mind.   

Safer, Faster Hydrogen Compression :
Compressing hydrogen in centrifugal systems presents a unique challenge—traditional metallic impellers can’t withstand the high speeds required and fail before reaching those limits. To address this, we’ve developed a groundbreaking composite impeller capable of operating at tip speeds exceeding 600 m/s. This innovation ensures safe, efficient hydrogen compression and sets a new standard for performance. 

2. The Hidden Hurdles of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage   

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a critical tool in combating climate change, but building systems robust enough for challenging applications is no simple task. Designing systems resilient enough for demanding applications is not easy. Amine-based solvents are essential for CCUS, effectively capturing Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). However, their corrosive nature can damage the material of the equipment, causing leaks, pressure drops, and expensive shutdowns.  

Material selection is key to overcoming these challenges. Standard materials often fail in the aggressive environments created by amine-based solvents, making advanced materials essential. Greene Tweed offers Chemraz® 541, a perfluoroelastomer that resists swelling and maintains integrity in contact with amines. Tests show its durability and reliability, reducing unplanned shutdowns and extending equipment life. We tested it by soaking in amines including monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), and methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and the material demonstrated remarkable chemical resistance to all three solvents, maintaining low volume swells—essential for preserving component integrity in aggressive environments.  

For high-temperature, high-pressure environments common in CCUS applications, our advanced thermoplastic PEEK, Arlon® 3000XT, provides superior chemical resistance and thermal stability. It ensures long-term reliability in CCUS systems, reducing frequent replacements.  

3. Rising to the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Challenges  

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), alternatives to traditional petroleum-based jet fuels that minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) are central to the aviation industry’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions. However, the successful adoption of SAFs is not without challenges.   

Recognizing that SAF will perform effectively in modern aircraft only if all fuel systems are optimized for it, we have conducted rigorous tests to ensure that our materials can withstand the chemical, thermal, and mechanical conditions that SAF presents. We evaluated several FKMs, including Fusion® 731, Fusion® 772 and Fusion® 665 and Fluorosilicone FVMQ 409 materials, in both 100% SAF and SAF blends, using simulated operational environments with elevated temperatures and fluid switching scenarios.   

 The performance of our FKM compounds (Fusion® 731, 772, 665) was outstanding, demonstrating consistent and reliable properties across all tested SAF formulations. In particular, these compounds performed exceptionally well in the three SPK formulations and the 50/50 blends with control fluid, as well as in the 20% SAK blends with three different 80% SPK mixtures. The three FKM elastomers also performed remarkably well when exposed to extreme temperatures during simulated "dry-out" conditions, maintaining their integrity and functionality. This highlights their durability, adaptability, and suitability for challenging conditions. However, for FMVQ 409, due to its higher hardness drop, inconsistent swell, and variable dry-out data, we recommend conducting specific end-use application testing before using it in SPK or SAK blends where fuel switching or dry-out conditions may occur.  

These results emphasize the robustness of our three FKM elastomers (Fusion® 731, 772, 665) and their ability to perform under the stresses of SAF environments.  

4. Tackling Battery Roadblocks

Energy storage is another key area of the clean energy value chain, providing customers with flexibility and reliability in energy supply. This is especially important, as renewable energy sources continue to grow and deliver an increasing share of power to consumers. Among the various technologies for long-duration energy storage, batteries are emerging as the fastest-growing market, while second to pumped hydro in utilization, they are rapidly gaining traction.  

As a dynamic and evolving market, the battery market has spurred numerous research and technological developments to improve overall battery performance and safety, as well as its sustainability aspects, especially with the rising importance of battery lifecycles, by addressing challenges. Some key challenges include leakages, which could compromise battery performance, a corrosive operating environment, which could lower process efficiency, and thermal runaway, posing a fire hazard. Selecting proper material helps avoid these potential challenges.   

Arlon® 3160XT, our glass-reinforced, cross-linked PEEK material, demonstrates improved thermal performance compared to standard PEEK for battery enclosures. In addition, our composite materials, like WR® 600 and XR®-1, can provide great chemical resistance to corrosive solvents used in battery recycling, completing the battery life cycle in a sustainable way. At Greene Tweed, we continue to evaluate our products to address pain points properly.     

 Let us Help You Meet Your Toughest Challenges 
Creating a sustainable future is not easy, but you don’t have to face challenges alone. At Greene Tweed, we pride ourselves on being your partner in innovation and helping your engineers optimize performance in the world’s harshest industrial conditions.   

Contact us today to learn how Greene Tweed can support your clean energy projects.