A research partnership has been formed between GLINCS and Heriot-Watt University to develop Time Resolved Fluorescence (TRF) technology for scale inhibitors, which are deployed into production wells.
The TRF technology will address current industry challenges relating to sampling and testing, which is typically a labour intensive, high-cost and time intensive process.
The TRF technology will enable sampling and testing to be deployed offshore in real time, providing a more cost-effective and efficient solution, and will also allow for increased analyses and a greater source of data for a better understanding of the real-time anti-scale deposition treatment requirements, says the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), which is supporting the research partnership.
Arthur Marais, CEO of GLINCS, commented on the project: “Scale inhibitors have been extensively used in oil and gas recovery to prevent scale deposition, but our TRF method represents a break from existing analysis technologies. Not only can it be used to detect concentrations at sub part-per-million values, but it can also be used for multi-detection of different chemistries, and, more importantly, it is suitable for offshore application.
“The collaborative project with OGIC and Heriot-Watt University will enable us to conduct essential comparative experiments to qualify the TRF technique for scale inhibitor analysis. This will be a valuable contribution to our early stage research and development process, and we look forward to furthering the project later this year.”