The oil and gas industry has always benefited from other technologies, borrowing seismic and perforation technology from the military and imaging technology from medicine. These technology transfers are not one-off occurrences, however. The possibilities for continuous improvements are limited only by the imaginations of those who apply technology to find and produce hydrocarbons.

Game changers

Speaking at the 20th World Petroleum Congress in Qatar in December 2011, Khalid A. Al-Falih, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, said much of the new upstream and downstream technologies will come from within the industry. But in terms of end-use solutions, there are major untapped opportunities.

“In my view, we also need to go beyond incremental improvements and look for big, game-changing ideas with the potential to revolutionize our business,” Al-Falih said. “More than a century ago, great inventions such as the diesel engine and the application of seismic technology in petroleum exploration were made. The onus is now on us to create our own disruptive technologies. This can be done by going back to basic research – including work in fundamental sciences like physics, chemistry, and biology – as well as applied R&D to make dramatic advances that will enable us to really push the envelope of petroleum technology and unlock its future potential. “But we need to face the reality that our industry lags behind when it comes to R&D spending, and we need to do a lot more in this critical area,” he said. Saudi Aramco is acting on this, focusing on initiatives such as:

Proprietary Resbot technology, which involves intelligent nano-sensors providing direct and real-time data on reservoir properties;

Highly advanced and efficient reservoir simulation of massive systems;

The use of super-critical water for desulfurization of oil;

Managing carbon from mobile sources; and

Research into transportation fuels for the future.

Small steps to large gains

Nanotechnology has so much potential in oil and gas that it is easy to get overexcited. Realistically, many of the gains to be realized from nanotechnology are still years away. But already amazing progress is being made. At Harvard University, a group of researchers is exam- ining the concept of “slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces,” or SLIPS, as a way to repel liquids and even debris from surfaces to which things tend to stick. The idea is to reduce problems like drag, icing, contamination, and fouling on these surfaces.

Harvard researchers used the carnivorous pitcher plant to design a nano-scale coating that repels liquid and debris. (Image courtesy of Caroling Wholeo Geary - Wholeo.net)

The group is working with Schlumberger to develop a downhole optical sensor that can repel downhole substances while retaining transparency. Such a sensor would need a coating that is self-healing, self-cleaning, and able to withstand high pressures and temperatures. To this end, researchers have examined the pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant that uses rainwater to create a slippery surface that causes insects to fall into its center, where they are digested. Studying such plants under a microscope revealed that the pitcher plant’s leaves have a rough, porous surface to which the rainwater adheres.

Researchers developed a Teflon surface that was micro-textured and then added a lubricating film. Tests to date indicate the surface completely repels oil of all gravities as well as gas molecules, and debris can be removed by adding liquid.

A joint project between scientists at Rice University and engineers with M-I SWACO has recently published its findings after producing functionalized graphene oxide to alleviate pore clogging in newly drilled wells.

Graphene is a 1-atom-thick sheet of carbon that won its discoverers a Nobel Prize last year. M-I SWACO funded the lab’s follow-up to research that produced the first graphene additives for drilling fluids. The material is proving to perform well as a filtration additive in water-based drilling fluid.

Microscopic, star-shaped flakes of functionalized graphene oxide plug holes in pores in a test of the material’s ability to serve as a filter cake in fluids used to drill oil wells. The single-atom-thick flakes of treated carbon are pliable but among the strongest materials known. (Image courtesy of Tour Group and Rice University)

Traditionally, standard muds generate filter cake downhole. This forms a seal while drilling, and typically the reservoir surface will flow out the remnants of filter cake once production begins. In some cases, clays can bind in the pore space, thereby drastically reducing initial production.

University researchers discovered that microscopic, pliable flakes of graphene can form a thinner, lighter filter cake. On a microscopic level, the graphene flakes resemble starfish. These flakes fold in upon themselves and are essentially sucked into the hole. When well pressure is relieved, the flakes are easily flowed out of the pore space.

The team conducted standard API filtration tests on pH-adjusted, aqueous dispersions of graphene oxide (GO) and xanthan gum. The combination of large-flake GO and powdered GO in a 3:1 ratio performed best in the API tests, which allowed an average fluid-loss of 6.1 mL over 30 minutes and left a filter cake of around 20 um thick. In comparison, a standard suspension (12 g/L) of clays and polymers gave an average fluid-loss of 7.2 mL and a filter cake of around 280 um thick.

Scanning electron microscopy imaging revealed the extreme pliability of well-exfoliated GO as the pressure, due to filtration, crumpled single GO sheets and forced them to slide through pores with diameters much smaller than the flake’s flattened size. In addition, GO solutions also exhibited greater shear thinning and higher temperature stability compared to clay-based fluid-loss additives.

Graphene has the potential to become an essential material for providing efficient, environmentally sound oil production. Pristine graphene is hard to disperse in water, so it is unsuitable for water-based muds. Researchers discovered that GO is much more soluble in fresh water but tends to coagulate in saltwater—the basis for many muds.

The Rice team, headed by James Tour, found the solution was to “esterify” GO flakes with alcohol, which does-n’t precipitate in the presence of salts, thereby offering a non-exotic chemical approach to solving the problem.

The best mix of functionalized GO, the team discovered, was a combination of large flakes and powdered GO for reinforcement. In a series of standard API tests, a mud with 2% functionalized GO formed a filter cake an average of 22 micrometers wide, which is substantially smaller than the 278-micrometer cake formed by traditional muds. GO blocked pores many times smaller than the flakes’ original diameter by folding.

The newly developed fluid proved beneficial in several ways. With a thinner filter cake, a drill bit has more room to turn. In addition, the GO-infused mud contained less than half as many suspended solids, which makes drilling more efficient and more environmentally friendly. Tour and Andreas Luttge, a Rice professor of earth science and chemistry, reported last year that GO is reduced to graphite, a natural mineral, by common bacteria.

While there remains research to be performed, recent statements from the Rice University team indicate that drilling fluids may help graphene live up to its commercial promise.

Accessing university brainpower

Scottish universities have a long scientific and engineering tradition of inventing or helping to develop many technologies that have eventually been commercialized in the North Sea and further afield, and they have capitalized on this expertise in recent years through technology licensing and the formation of spin-out companies.

The University of Strathclyde has developed a combined optical pressure and temperature sensor. The low-cost sensor system is capable of operating in HP/HT environments and offers a superior accuracy and measurement range relative to the existing electronic and optical gauges, according to university researchers.

The plan is to apply new technology to overcome the issue of poor temperature and pressure sensitivities and the mutual contamination of the spectral patterns generated by the existing sensors. The new device will offer greater accuracy. Additionally, within this technology’s development, a low-cost sensor interrogation system will be constructed. This system is extremely resilient to external temperature changes and can be manufactured in high volumes, helping reduce costs.

The University of Edinburgh has developed a low-cost statistical tool to predict oil well flowrates and connectivity. Understanding structurally complex reservoirs presents many challenges to reservoir engineers, and one problem in particular is establishing the connectivity between wells to plan injection strategies to obtain maximum oil recovery. Researchers at the university developed reservoir modeling software, called “COFFERS,” to provide improved flowrate forecasts and oil-well connectivity statistics. The software provides independent information about oilfield well connectivity and can be used to complement existing reservoir models. Researchers report this simple software solution has the advantage of using readily available historical injection and production data to rapidly filter and identify the most significant flowrate correlations within two to three hours on a standard desktop computer. Given steady operating conditions, this tool can then be used to forecast the production rate up to three months ahead. The method can be used to improve reservoir description, identify geomechanical effects, and provide information on infill well placement. Applications would include entire reservoir management to maximize oil extraction, identifying fluid flow paths and super-K zones, and optimizing infill well locations. In a number of North Sea field trials, COFFERS has revealed how geomechanical effects influence production.

Digital initiatives

According to Steve Sonnenberg, executive vice president and business leader for Emerson Process Management, many of the company’s intelli- gent energy instrumentation products already are being used both upstream and downstream.

The application of wireless data monitoring systems and services in an industrial setting, as well as advanced leak detection equipment such as the new Rosemount 708 Wireless Acoustic Transmitter, could potentially be transferred over to digital oil field (DOF) operations centers and remote drill sites around the world.

The Rosemount 3051S product line, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2011, is the world’s first fully scalable WirelessHART platform for integrate pressure, differential pressure (DP) flow, and DP-level solutions. In upstream applications, the 3051S WirelessHART pressure transmitter has been applied successfully to monitor steam injection flow for enhanced recovery oil fields.

Many of the company’s process management technologies currently deployed in industrial and manufacturing settings also are helping to leverage new energy solutions for future applications, particularly in light of new global emissions mandates. The recently launched Smart Energy Initiative, a turnkey energy optimization program, combines Emerson’s industrial energy expertise and energy management technologies to help operators reduce energy costs and emissions.

Sonnenberg unveiled the Smart Energy initiative during a press briefing at the 2011 Emerson Global Users Exchange held in Nashville, Tenn., in October 2011. He noted that while industrial manufacturers consume approximately 50% of the world’s energy and amid ris- ing fossil fuel prices and reduced emissions standards, energy management through “smarter” technology such as wireless and automated applications can provide greater efficiency for refineries, manufacturers, and other industrial customers.

And as technology transfers from the industrial sector to upstream oil and gas accelerate to meet longer term E&P challenges in a rapidly evolving energy landscape, optimization and efficiency will be mission-critical in the near term.

Messages from outer space

Aerospace has long been a kindred industry with oil and gas, particularly in deepwater applications, which resemble space operations in their remoteness and need for lightweight materials. But technologies developed at NASA go far beyond deepwater applications when it comes to applicability for oil and gas.

At the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, numerous technologies have been developed and patented that may have use in oil and gas. For instance, JSC is involved in research related to battery technology. The center attempts to use batteries with the highest energy density without jeopardizing safety.

The center also is examining a variety of water purification technologies, including the use of bioreactors, membrane-based water purification, post-processing systems, a self-regulated water separator, and bacterial contamination control.

Its research into self-contained energy systems that do not require electricity, useful in remote locations, includes a solar-powered refrigeration system that stores thermal energy for efficient use when sunlight is absent. It uses a variable speed DC vapor compression cooling system connected to a photovoltaic panel.

For exploration purposes, JSC has patented a system for surveying and evaluating space-based images to locate geographic areas favorable for petroleum deposits. The technology images fluvial fan patterns indicative of deposits. Also, a ground-penetrating radar system using relatively low frequencies has been developed that provides better penetration and higher resolu- tion. It is particularly useful in identifying approaching water fronts in oil and gas wells.

Imaging the cloud

Anyone who works on an oil and gas facility realizes that leaks exist. But now the leaks can actually be seen.

A company called Rebellion Photonics has applied its hyperspectral imaging technology to oil and gas operations to image gas clouds that result from equipment leaks. The image is effectively a “bar code” of chemicals – it indicates the type of chemical as well as the concentration at the source of the leak.

The company’s first product was used in the biotech industry for cancer detection. It is now focusing on chemical detection and will be partnering with a service company to test the concept.

DST Shells can be manufactured in many sizes and shapes. (Image courtesy of Deep Springs Technology)

Better proppants

A number of companies are developing products that can be used as proppants. Deep Springs Technology (DST) manufactures small, precisely manufactured custom and off-the-shelf hollow shells called DST Shells that have potential for oil and gas operations. The customizable shells can be made of ceramic, metal, or glass in sizes that range from 500 microns to 25 mm. Unlike other shells, the DST shells can be spherical, cubic, rectangular, or right circular cylinders. The density of the shells is controlled in the manufacturing process, and there is an option for the shells to be filled with gas at controlled pressure.

The shells can be used alone or incorporated into composite materials to satisfy a variety of applications. The company is developing hollow shell solutions for use as high-performance proppants.

Elemix reduces the weight of concrete to as little as 50 lb/cf and improves crack resistance by 85%. (Image courtesy of Syntheon Inc.)

Cementing alternatives

In October 2011, 3M introduced its Glass Bubbles G65 for sampling in oil and gas cementing as a lightweight alternative to cenospheres. Glass bub- bles are engineered hollow glass microspheres that are expected to provide increased reliability for cementing in demanding applications. A company press release says the new product will help increase confidence by reducing some of the risks associated with cenospheres, noting that because each lot is engineered to a specification, the glass bubbles provide an additional level of confidence.

The 3M glass bubbles offer a high strength-to-density ratio and are designed to be lightweight, with a high compressive strength for processing survival. The G65 line includes products with a variety of sizes, strengths, and densities. The company plans to continue pre-production of its G65 line through the first half of 2012 and then make the product more widely available in the summer of 2012.

A company called Syntheon Inc. is commercially producing a product called Elemix, a polystyrene that can be added to concrete. The dynamic structure and dispersion characteristics of the lightweight synthetic particles deliver batch consistency, which produces durable, lightweight concrete that pumps, places, and finishes easily. Traditionally produced concrete weighs about145 to 150 pounds per cubic foot. Adding Elemix reduces the weight to as little as 50 pounds per cubic foot, and the crack resistance of the concrete is improved by 85%, according to the company. The concrete has not yet been used in oil and gas applications but could be appropriate for cementing in horizontal shale wells.

Water treatment

AquaMost, a company that has developed water treatment technologies, is introducing photoelectrocatalytic oxidation (PECO) into the oil and gas industry for in situ frac water treatment and has applied the technology, which applies a UV light-activated catalyst, successfully in the Barnett Shale.

Maersk Drilling and Maersk Training have inaugurated one of the industry’s most advanced training and individualized facilities for drilling, developed in response to the BP incident in the Gulf of Mexico. Following the catastrophe, Maersk Drilling established an investigation group to look at internal safety procedures. The simulator, developed based on the findings of the group, creates realistic training situations that the company hopes will improve safety conditions on board its rigs and in doing so, will reduce the likelihood of another such incident. (Image courtesy of Maersk)

The throughput volume at present is limited to 25 gal/min., according to the company, but R&D efforts are targeting increasing throughput to 250 gal/min.

From ultrasound to pigging

Moving technologies from other industries is part of the GE oil and gas approach to problem-solving . One example of technology transfer is the development and commercial deployment of the UltraScan Duo in-line inspection (ILI) tool by the company’s PII Pipeline Solutions. GE adapted ultrasound technology – originally designed by GE Healthcare for use in evaluating hospital patients – to monitor the internal condition of pipelines. GE Oil & Gas worked with GE Healthcare and GE’s Global Research Center (and Forschungszentrum Karlsrughe of Germany, the company’s technology partner) to develop the UltraScan Duo.

Introduced in late 2004, the unit was the industry’s first ultrasonic “smart pig” to use phased array sensors to simultaneously search for multiple types of cracks and other microscopic flaws in a single inspection run of the line.

Robots at sea

The offshore industry has a host of concerns, from eddy currents to weather to marine wildlife. Studying these phenomena with standard vessels is extremely costly and only provides a small snapshot of conditions that can change randomly and quickly.

The Wave Glider is a self-propelled robotic vessel that can capture and transmit data at sea. (Image courtesy of Liquid Robotics)

A company called Liquid Robotics has developed the Wave Glider, the first marine robot to use wave energy for propulsion. Using a design enabling cost-effective collection and transmission of data gathered during missions lasting up to a year, Wave Gliders can collect data on weather, waves, currents, water quality, marine mammals, and salinity and temperature. Research is under way to study their effectiveness in seismic data acquisition as well as their use in surface communications with subsea equipment, seep and spill detection, geodetics, and security.

Offshore and subsea power advances

The fast-increasing demand for greater power supplies for offshore platform and seabed facilities has been the impetus for R&D allocations in Norway. The country has a number of joint industry projects (JIPs) underway in response to political drivers from the country’s government aimed at “electrifying” the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), increasing step-out distances and voltage levels subsea, and marinizing power systems for offshore oil and gas and offshore wind projects.

According to Norway’s Det Norsk Veritas (DNV), which has played a key role for many years in helping the oil and gas industry research new technologies, the electrification of platform topsides installations from land – AC or DC transmission – is now a requirement for the NCS, with all new fields to be evaluated for electrical power supply from shore. The current practice generally is that electrical equipment is contained within 1-atmosphere pressure containers that are very large and heavy. The reserves lying in deeper and more remote waters will need subsea processing (separation, boosting, and compression), longer step-out distances, and consequentially better subsea power systems and components. The power required in the next generation of subsea power systems will therefore be in the megawatt range.

Developing a toolset for designing ships and offshore structures for year-round Arctic operations is the focus of Sustainable Technology for Polar Ships and Structures (STePS2), a US $7.2 million five-year applied R&D project at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Ice-crushing tests in a double-pendulum apparatus (currently being built) will create impact forces up to 5 meganewtons at speeds to 15 knots. The pressure distribution will be measured by a high-impact module provided by the National Research Council – Institute for Ocean Technology. Industry partners include Husky Energy Inc., ABS, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd, Rolls-Royce Marine, and BMT Fleet Technology. (Image courtesy of Memorial University of Newfoundland)

Arctic advances

Overcoming the challenge of exploring for oil in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions is a major research focus for the upstream industry at present, but equally important are advances in its ability to deal with potential spills. Eight member companies of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) established a JIP for Arctic oil spill response technology mid-2011, concentrating on the challenges of exploring in the northern seas. The JIP is focusing in particular on minimizing the risk of offshore spills amid sea ice and testing the suitability of spill response resources where operators will encounter periods of darkness, extreme cold, and the presence of sea ice. The aim is to improve industry capability and coordination in the area of Arctic oil spill response. An initial three-year funding period aims raise more than $20 million to carry out research investigations and related field activities in areas including:

Dispersant use in broken ice;

The fate of dispersed oil beneath ice;

Oil slick trajectory modellng in ice and

in poor visibility conditions;

Tracking oil in and beneath ice; and

Mechanical recovery in infested waters.