Providing Technical Services to the Oil and Gas Industry and Green Energy
Our experimental facilities and modelling capabilities will allow us to simulate real reservoir and pipeline conditions, providing clear operational recommendations for our clients.
Hydrafact is a leading provider of production/flow assurance and PVT consulting and technical services involving the transportation of oil, gas and aqueous phases from reservoir to end-user.
Our experimental services (including an H₂S lab) are an important part of the work we do to establish a proper understanding of fluid properties at operating conditions. As a result, our experimental capabilities are the cornerstone of our offering, allowing us to simulate real reservoir and pipeline conditions and use the results to provide clear operational recommendations for our clients.
Our Laboratory facilities
Hydrafact has combined the laboratory facilities of the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research and the Centre for Flow Assurance Research with our own, providing access to some of the most advanced laboratory equipment Worldwide.
Our advanced experimental facilities span a wide range of PT conditions, from very low (-80 °C) to very high temperatures (400 °C), and from vacuum to ultra-high pressures (30,000 psia / 2 kbar).
The majority of our set-ups are custom built in-house based on designs developed through many years of R&D experience and the full scope of our capabilities can be viewed in our brochure.
Our Technical Expertise
Best-in-Field Consulting and Technical Services for the Oil and Gas Industry and Green Energy
Gas Hydrate Technical Services
Wax services
Wax deposition in pipelines and risers is an ongoing challenge for operators, and can have a significant effect on oil production efficiency.
Build-up in pipelines can cause increased pressure drops, resulting in reduced throughput and thus reduced revenue. In more extreme cases, pipelines/processing facilities can plug, halting production and leading to potentially huge losses in earnings.
As a result of increasing understanding of the problems of wax deposition, there are now successful preventative solutions, including chemical treatments and hot oiling. As well as this, Hydrafact have developed a number of reliable in-house methods for studies of heavy hydrocarbon solids deposition in crude oils, including novel QCM and cold finger techniques.
Wax technical services we offer include:
- Wax appearance and disappearance temperatures (WAT/WDT)
- Wax formation/dissolution rates
- High-pressure studies
- Wax inhibitor performance assessment
- Co-Axial Cold Finger with Shear and temperature gradient through flowline (2,000 psi)
- High pressure QCM cell with temperature gradient & shear (10,000 psi, -20 up to 250 °C)
- Wax Early Warning System
Asphaltene services
Asphaltene deposition can present a major flow assurance challenge.
Deposition can occur in various parts of the production system including well tubing, surface flow lines and even near the wellbore. The conditions of asphaltene deposition are controlled by factors such as pressure, temperature, composition and flow regime. Asphaltene deposition and fouling of flowlines/facilities can greatly reduce productivity and increase operational costs through the requirement for frequent chemical treatment and removal of deposits.
Asphaltene technical services we offer include:
- Asphaltene content determination (ASTM D 6560)
- Asphaltene deposition at high-pressure conditions
- Asphaltene Onset Point (Upper and/or Lower)
CO₂ Rich Systems
Hydrafact and Heriot-Watt University have acquired extensive experience relating to phase behaviour and properties of CO₂- Rich systems in the presence or absence of water and oil.
Our experimental facilities include:
- Test facilities, including low temperature bath (-80°C)
- Anton Paar Rheometer and capillary tube for viscosity measurements
- Pendant drop and capillary rise for interfacial tension measurements
- Slim tube facilities for Minimum Miscibility Pressure (MMP) measurements
- High-pressure glass micro model and visual cells for simulating CO₂ injection in depleted reservoirs or saline aquifers.
In addition, our comprehensive thermodynamic model HydraFLASH has been tuning and validated using literature and in-house data for predicting phase behaviour and properties of CO₂-rich systems.
H₂S LABORATORY
Around 2010, based on industrial demand we build an H2S compatible laboratory at Hydrafact
Typical Projects Include:
- Study on Reversibility of KHI Precipitation with Temperature: Full CGI Approach
- Study on Reversibility of KHI Precipitation with Temperature: Induction Time Approach
- Hydrate Laboratory Study
- KHI Fouling Mitigation
And a lot more
Salt Deposition Services
The precipitation of salt (e.g. NaCl, KCl) is a serious problem and can block the flow path of hydrocarbons.
Salt scaling is particularly severe in wells with high saline (>200 g/l) formation brines which may be near saturation with respect to sodium chloride. The phenomena occur more frequently in gas wells than in oil wells, and can be caused by low pressures, decreasing temperatures and/or the addition of organic hydrate inhibitors.
Salts readily adhere to surfaces, particularly rough surfaces, and are capable of forming very dense plugs, severely restricting flow and thus production efficiency.
Our experimental facilities include:
Salt deposition technical services we offer include:
• Measurement of salt solubility at surface and reservoir conditions, including the effects of organic inhibitors
• Assessment of salt inhibitors (e.g., crystal grow modifiers) on deposition conditions and surface adherence
Hydrafact Subscription Services
In response to the current challenging climate in the oil & gas industry, Hydrafact is offering a new, cost-effective approach to consultancy based on annual subscription.
Benefits include:
Direct access to experts with 24/7 support on urgent operational challenges
Discounted priority use of advanced experimental facilities
Innovative solutions to flow assurance problems
Our tailor-made solutions to common problems experienced during field life include:
Gas Hydrate plugging, including monitoring & early warning systems
PVT phase behaviour & properties of reservoir fluids
Emulsion & foaming problems
Wax & asphaltene
Halite
Our Subscription Packages
- Cover technical advice, thermodynamic modelling, data interpretation and the planning of laboratory test programmes
- Are available as subscription tiers and at considerably reduced rates compared to one-off projects
