Oil is the life blood of progress and development on planet
earth. Ever since its maiden discovery, it has been a subject of immense
interest. Today, it fuels the 21st century we live in! Right from
the paper we write on and the plastic bottle we drink from, to the cars we
drive in and the shimmering cities we
live in, we are surrounded by thousands of derivative products that come to us
through the extraction of this magical fluid buried thousands of feet
underneath- for Eons!
Just as Chemical Engineers have been revolutionizing the world
with astounding researches and developments, they are playing a herculean role
in the industry that fuels the digitized world humans are now living in- the Petroleum Industry! This article attempts
to show a glimpse of some of the most influential researches that chemical
engineers working for the Oil & Gas Industry are currently involved in and
how could these determine the future of the energy industry.
SMART
FLUIDS TO AID ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY-
When reservoirs get depleted of the natural pressure that brings
oil to the wellbore, they often have to be treated with what is termed as
‘Enhanced Oil Recovery’. This is injecting fluids into the reservoirs to ‘push’
oil out of the rock pores. This technique can recover upto 60% of the remaining
oil from the reservoir.
Conventional injection fluids used in EOR techniques, drilling, production
and fracturing operations are extremely complex. They also have to be added
with additives to meet the changes in the environments commonly associated with
a suite of drilling hazards. In tough conditions such as high temperature and
acid gas environments, conventional fluids often perform poorly. While trying
to improve the efficacy of these fluids in such conditions, Chemical Engineering
has touched its limits in the petroleum industry!
Meet Smart fluids— A major advancement in chemical engineering that
can revolutionize the energy industry! By sensing the environment & smartly
tuning their particles’ properties accordingly, smart fluids can virtually
adjust to any environment without the need to add additives! These fluids are
capable of changing their chemistry & physical properties, in accordance to
the reservoir’s conditions. As an example, such fluids can hydrate & swell
in the presence of water, plugging the rock pores & preventing water
movement in reservoir (so as to prevent water breakthrough), while dehydrating
and contracting in the presence of oil (to allow only oil to flow). Tremendous
amount of research is being done on the usage of smart fluids for smart
diversion stimulation for better zonal coverage, segregation of oil and water
pathways, wettability alteration agents & so on. This technology is
progressing swiftly due to relative permeability modifiers & smart
emulsified gels.
In the future, chemical and petroleum engineers shall eventually
be able to deploy smart fluids deeper into the reservoir to change its
properties on a much larger scale. These fluids will be custom-fit & will
impart the desired behavior in the reservoir automatically. In other words,
they would be bull-headed into the reservoir & left to their own means to
work automatically, without requiring any sophisticated techniques.
THE
HUNT FOR ANTI-FREEZING CHEMICALS IN THE NORTH SEA OIL FIELDS:
Scandinavian beetles & cold water fishes produce especial
kind of proteins to prevent themselves from freezing in the icy cold
environments they live in. Tremendous amount of research is being done by
chemical engineers and scientists to investigate whether this mechanism can be
replicated and used as a hydrate inhibition tool to stop ice formation inside
pipelines and wells. Although the imagination does turn riot with the news of
beetles potentially coming to aid freezing pipelines, the concept is sound.
Maersk Oil Company has entered into a collaborative 4 year project that aims to
boost Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) and prolong North Sea operations by using bio
technology to create new solutions & overcome the challenges of mature
field production. The company has also announced a US $100 million investment
over the next ten years in a new research facility at the Qatar Science &
Technology Park in Doha.
OIL TRACERS:
Just as
no two humans are the same and each human can be characterized by a specific
DNA coding, no two ‘Oils’ are the same and each oil has its own distinguishable
‘biomarker’. These are a group of compounds, primarily hydrocarbons found in
oils and they typically retain all or most of the original carbon skeleton of
the original natural product. These have been used to catch the culprit oil
tanker after any spillage incident into oceans, especially when several oil
tankers passed by and none claimed to be responsible. The biomarkers of oil
samples from each tanker have to be matched with the biomarkers of the spilled
oil. When matched, the culprit is identified just as criminals are identified
in DNA forensic sciences. Today, oil bio-markers are being used in determining
oil ‘source rocks’ (the original rocks where from the oil migrated) for
petroleum exploration, allocating commingled production (that is, in a well
with multiple layers producing oil, identifying which layer is producing which
type of oil and how much of it) and so on. More progress in this science is
subjected to more researches involving Chemistry!
Chemical
engineers are making wonders happen in the oil and gas industry. Are you ready to join the energy industry and play your part?
By Batool Arhamna Haider
Kanza Batool Haider.
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