The world-leading authority in PVT and FLow Assurance
We are recognised experts in gas hydrates, flow assurance evaluation and experimental testing services.
Our Expertise
At the forefront of technology development for hydrate inhibition monitoring
We have an established track record of excellence in providing gas hydrate and flow assurance consultancy and technical services to the oil and gas industry. Our team combines a wealth of knowledge and expertise comprising well over 30 years of experience, published over 300 papers in our areas of expertise and have delivered over 600 projects successfully worldwide.
Hydrafact’s flow assurance capabilities are underpinned by our state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, our hydrate inhibition monitoring technology HydraCHEK and our advanced thermodynamic and PVT prediction software HydraFLASH, which is used in over 25 countries all over the world.
Our Team
Managing Director
Following graduation in 1984 (BSc in Chemical Engineering, Abadan Institute of Technology, Iran), Bahman Tohidi joined the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), where he worked as a production engineer and university lecturer for seven years. In 1991 he joined Heriot-Watt University, graduating with a PhD in Petroleum Engineering in 1995 with his doctoral work on the phase behaviour of water-hydrocarbon systems and gas hydrates. He started his employment at Heriot-Watt in January 1994, working on both Hydrate and Reservoir Fluids research projects.
Prof Tohidi’s research interests include gas hydrates, flow assurance, phase behaviour and properties of reservoir fluids, and the development of low carbon energy technologies. Currently, he leads the Reservoir Fluids Research Group and is Director of the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research and the newly formed Centre for Flow Assurance Research (C-FAR) at the Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, where he manages a wide variety of research projects on gas hydrates, flow assurance, phase behaviour and properties of reservoir fluids.
Prof Tohidi teaches Petroleum Engineering and Production Technology at postgraduate level, as well as offering several short courses to the industry. He has published more than 150 papers and currently holds 8 patents primarily concerning gas hydrate and PVT technologies. He is a Professor at the Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tehran, and an Honorary Professor at the School of Engineering and Electronics, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Prof Tohidi is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and a member of EPSRC (the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council) Peer Review College for 2006-2009. He was SPE Distinguished Lecturer for 2004-2005, giving high-profile presentations on gas hydrates worldwide over the course of the year.
Our History
From initial research all the way through to a private laboratory within the Heriot-Watt University Research Park
Research begins
The history of Hydrafact dates back to 1986 when research into gas hydrates first began at the Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University.
Initially, hydrate studies were undertaken by the well-known Reservoir Fluids Group. However, as hydrate research grew steadily, the Hydrate Group soon emerged as a recognised research group.
HydraFLASH developed
During the 1990s, the Hydrate Group successfully undertook a variety of Joint Industry (JIP) and Government sponsored research projects related to hydrate problems in offshore oil and gas operations. Over the course of this period, the team firmly established itself within the industry and academic community as a leader in flow assurance research, with a reputation for quality experimental work and advanced theoretical studies.
Sequential JIPs supported the generation of a vast in-house library of hydrate equilibrium data, and development of the commercial hydrate predictive software, HydraFLASH which is currently used by a number of major hydrocarbon production and service companies in planning their flow assurance strategies.
RDG Grant awarded
In June 2000, the Hydrate Group was awarded a prestigious Scottish Funding Council Research Development Grant (RDG) with the aim of creating a 'Centre of Excellence' in gas hydrate research and training. This led to the formation of the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research, which was formally established in February 2001.
Funding allowed the employment of new staff, expansion of laboratories and construction of new equipment, greatly increasing the breadth and scope of gas hydrate and flow assurance research at Heriot-Watt.
New laboratory constructed
In 2006, the Hydrate Group secured a major SRIF (Science Research Investment Fund) award to establish the Centre for Flow Assurance Research (C-FAR) at Heriot-Watt. This grant funded the construction of a new laboratory with a 1" diameter, (2.5 cm) 40 m length, 200 bar flow loop system for hydrate and other flow assurance studies.
As well as this, for over 20 years the Hydrate team at Heriot-Watt have been undertaking specific individual consultancy/technical flow assurance studies for hydrocarbon production and service companies. In light of this, demand has been growing steadily for specialised hydrate studies, training for engineers, and advanced equipment for laboratory studies.
To meet the demand for such services, senior team members of the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research, with support from Heriot-Watt University, founded Hydrafact - Hydrate and Flow Assurance Consulting and Technologies - a Heriot-Watt Spin-out Company.
