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PROJECT FOCUS |
Polymers
for Use in Enhanced Oil Recovery (PEOR) project
by
Dr Morris Roseman
Extracting oil is more technically and financially challenging due to more complex and deeper wells being drilled with more hostile by-products. This places technical challenges on the materials used in the production systems.
The lifespan of a well is dictated by its production volume versus its economic viability. This has led to technologies being developed to increase the amount of oil that can be extracted from the well thus improving its profitability.
Components used for EOR operations offshore often contain polymers. The high temperatures and pressures, and aggressive chemical nature of the fluids involved could compromise the long term performance of the polymeric components. In addition, in a well conversion scenario, existing infrastructure will be used for reinjection and storage purposes and it may not be possible to replace polymer components that were not initially qualified for this use. The use of (re)injection for EOR therefore presents new technical challenges for polymeric materials (elastomers, thermoplastics and composites) used as seals and corrosion barriers in components.
The recently started Polymers for Use in Enhanced Oil Recovery (PEOR) project aims to identify, qualify and develop new and existing polymeric materials used during EOR operations, to ensure their longevity for safe operations when operating in these potentially hostile applications.
The PEOR project will simulate the operating and reinjection conditions for North Sea and other fields around the globe and will assess what effect these conditions have on current and emerging state of the art polymers. The materials to be evaluated include FKMs, FFKMs, ETPs and HNBRs, as well as thermoplastics such as PEEK, PPS and PVDF. These polymers were specifically chosen as they have demonstrated considerable potential in current field applications and have the potential to be developed and incorporated into cost effective future EOR technologies.
Currently the project has 4 highly experienced industry partners with a wide range of expertise in this field of work including.
• MERL Ltd – Coordinator, Project Manager and Technical Lead. MERL is an independent contract R&D company and has a 20 year track record of managing and conducting technical work within these types of commercial R&D projects at national and international level. MERL’s core business is innovative solutions for non-metallic materials. MERL has the equipment needed to expose the materials in a variety of fluids. This includes a ‘sour’ and ‘sweet’ laboratory capable of reproducing the conditions for this work.
• Clwyd Compounders Limited was founded in 1979 in Wrexham, North Wales and employs a total of 53 people. The factory houses state of the art compounding facilities, mills, internal mixers and a dedicated clean room for speciality elastomers. The role of Clwyd will be to develop compounds to resist injection conditions of high concentration H2S, steam, and CO2.
• Precision Polymer Engineering was founded in 1974 in Blackburn, England and moved into new purpose built premises in 2003 due to rapid expansion. Precision Polymer Engineering employs over 200 people worldwide with premises in California and Aberdeen and dedicated sales personnel in Europe and the Far East. PPE manufacture and supply seals in over 200 grades of high quality elastomers to demanding applications within the oil and gas, semiconductor, food, pharmaceutical and defence industries. PPE’s role will be to contribute to technical discussions surrounding the project and to provide the samples, particularly moulded seal samples for testing at MERL.
The project will run for two years and is part funded by the UK Technology Strategy Board (previously the UK Department of Trade and Industry) and the private partners. The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its role is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). The project is due to be completed in December 2009.
For more information on the PEOR project please contact Dr Morris Roseman at MERL.
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