AEA product to help boost profits from oil production
18 Feb 2000
A technology more familiar from the pharmaceutical industry could help boost oil producers' bottom line by reducing drastically the amount of downtime needed on certain types of oil well, according to AEA Technology. ChemFlow, which uses slow-release techniques used in sustained release drug formulations, stops oil wells from becoming clogged with mineral scale and reduces downtime on drilling rigs.
ChemFlow beads are impregnated with chemicals which prevent scale build-up. They are used in wells where a technique known as hydraulic fracturing has been used. In these wells, engineers fracture the rock surrounding the drill hole and pack the resulting cracks with ceramic beads to stop them from closing. These cracks then provide easy flow paths for the oil to reach the well, but formation of mineral scale can block the cracks, causing the flow to slow down.
Normally, mineral scaling is handled by stopping the operation of the well and pumping in chemicals to break up the scale. Using ChemFlow, says AEA, operations can continue for much longer, reducing the costs incurred by lost production. Recent research has shown that other chemicals can also be incorporated into the ceramic beads to solve other oil field problems.
AEA has licensed an Aberdeen-based firm, TR Oil Services, to make, use and sell ChemFlow beads worldwide. `At a time when the oil industry is looking to reduce its costs, this is an innovative solution to an expensive problem,' says AEA Technology's Pete Naylor. `ChemFlow will save the industry millions of pounds.'
