The Advanced
Energy Consortium, a research consortium managed by the Bureau of Economic
Geology at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences,
has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to develop micro- and nanoscale technology
for enhanced reservoir characterization and hydrocarbon detection in conventional
oil and gas reservoirs with the ultimate goal of increasing hydrocarbon recovery
from known fields.
The consortium expects to fund 6 to $7 million in grants this year on micro-
and nanosensor research and enabling technologies.
The consortium’s primary goal is to fund research that leads to the development
of intelligent subsurface micro- and nanosensors that can be injected into oil
and gas reservoirs to help characterize the space in three dimensions, identify
fluids and locations, and improve recovery of existing and new hydrocarbon resources.
By leveraging existing surface infrastructure, the technology will minimize
environmental impact.
Geoscientists think they can extract more oil and gas by improving understanding
of the chemical and physical characteristics of the host reservoirs and their
hydrocarbon distribution. Under current technology, 60 percent of oil typically
remains underground even after secondary and sometimes tertiary attempts to
recover the resource.
The privately funded consortium has nine members: BP America Inc., Baker Hughes
Incorporated, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton Energy Services Inc., Marathon Oil
Corp., Occidental Oil and Gas, Schlumberger, Shell and Total. Rice University,
which has extensive nanotechnology expertise, is a collaborative technical partner.
The consortium intends to develop micro- and nanoscale sensors that will measure
the chemical and physical properties of reservoir fluids and rocks beyond the
well bore, the three-dimensional distribution of these reservoir fluids (petroleum
and natural gas) and rocks (layering and compartmentalization), and the dynamic
(4-D) paths of fluids as they move through the reservoir.
A challenging aspect of the application is the harsh downhole environment:
conventional reservoir temperatures typically range from 100 to 350°F and
pressures from 5,000 to 20,000 pounds per square inch. Nanosensors would be
surrounded by charged rock surfaces and complex fluid mixtures that could include
oil, hydrocarbon gas, water, acids, alkalis, tars, brines, nitrogen, carbon
dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Conventional microelectronic sensors cannot operate
under these conditions. The consortium seeks research proposals that address
sensor development, emplacement, recovery, protection, location, power, telemetry
and data management.
The RFP and supporting documentation can be found at www.beg.utexas.edu/aec.
Posted July 23rd, 2008
