Ariane 5 rocket titanium technology benefiting the oil and gas industry

A special kind of titanium and a manufacturing technique used to build the Ariane 5 rocket were studied as spin-off from Europe’s space programme, for the possible benefit to the oil and gas industry. Together with space sensor technology that could be used in new offshore drilling tools, these developments were the result of several technology demonstrator projects just completed for ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme (TTPO). The wider use of unmanned autonomous underwater vehicles in the offshore oil and gas industry calls for new technologies and advanced materials that can handle extremely harsh environments. ‘Ti6-4’ titanium is used to produce the hydrazine fuel tanks for the European Ariane 5 rocket, and when combined with the special ‘hot gas pressure forming’ technique, the result is a strong and extremely corrosion-resistant structure. The same material and process could help in solving corrosion problems encountered in offshore underwater equipment. Another spin-off with a big potential could come from the sensors carried by planetary landers to measure magnetic fields. This could lead to smaller sensors for oil and gas drilling tools that draw less power than those used today.