A recent grant award from the Oil & Gas Innovation Center (OGIC) in the U.K. aims to spur the development of automated data analysis technology for on- and offshore oilfields.
Chemical monitoring and management solutions specialist LUX Assure said it secured the grant along with the University of Strathclyde to further develop its CoMic technology to provide the industry’s first corrosion inhibitor micelle detection tool with automated data analysis capability.
LUX Assure, OGIC and leading signal processing and data analysis researchers at the University of Strathclyde will together work to develop CoMic’s existing manual analysis methodology, create bespoke algorithms and exploit novel mathematical techniques to automatically analyze data gathered during on-site chemical tests.
LUX Assure CEO, Emma Perfect, said, “This project will enable LUX Assure to provide information to our clients both on-site and in real-time, informing them of optimal corrosion inhibitor dosage and enabling prompt decision making on chemical injection.
“Chemical use plays an important part in protecting oilfield assets, and technologies such as CoMic enable better chemical management. Off-site data processing and evaluation is currently required; this leads to delays in obtaining results and can be a barrier to sales where data cannot leave the oilfield being monitored. Automated data analytics tools for use on-site, will facilitate quicker decision-making and deliver significant benefits to clients. Evolving the business towards providing such tools is of huge importance to us.”
Ian Phillips, chief executive of OGIC, said, “Asset integrity management is vital to ensure that offshore operations are carried out safely and efficiently. The technology being developed by LUX Assure is an excellent example of how automated data management can bring major benefits to offshore operations. This technology has the potential to improve chemical monitoring on projects while reducing costs and increasing efficiency, as the real-time relay of data will allow decisions to be made proactively.”
Inspired by technologies used in life sciences, CoMic is an on-site chemical monitoring technology used to maintain asset integrity through delivering effective corrosion management, by informing management of corrosion inhibitors and providing data on the optimal level of corrosion inhibitor. This project is the next step in the evolution of the product after the technology was redeveloped in 2017 to create the world’s first operator-deployable corrosion inhibitor detection tool.
Dr. Paul Murray, Lead Investigator at the University of Strathclyde, added, “It is very exciting to be working closely with LUX Assure to conduct research and develop novel algorithms to automatically analyze data gathered by their highly innovative CoMic technology. Recognized as one of the U.K.’s leading technological universities, our partnership with LUX Assure and OGIC is an excellent example of Strathclyde delivering innovative technological research which will have a significant impact in the oil and gas sector.”