SBIR-STTR Award

One of the major maintenance headaches causing increased operational cost in the production of mature oil wells is the elimination of wax and paraffin buildup in the production tubing. The accumulation over time of paraffin compounds in "cold spots" in the tubing creates high pressures and flow constrictions that contribute to accelerated pump wear, and constrict the flow of fluids to the surface. Currently paraffin formation (which restricts the recovery of hydrocarbons) is managed in a reactive manner when oil production is observed to decrease. Current methods of paraffin removal include hot oiling, chemical treatments and electric heaters powered from the surface with cables. We propose to address this problem proactively by preventing paraffin formation in the tubing by using a permanent magnet induction heater. This will increase hydrocarbon recovery from many of the hundreds of thousands of oil wells in the US. Unlike current methods, this method does not require any external intervention to remove paraffin. It prevents paraffin formation in wells by keeping the oil above the cloud point all the way to the surface. We have built and tested a proof of concept tool and all aspects of the tool perform as analyzed by transient EM Finite Element analysis. We have briefed several oil companies and several oil field tool manufacturers. The oil companies have offered advice on operational requirements and these directives have been incorporated in the design. The tooling companies have advised us to make the device “oil field tough” which involves the selection of steel alloys for some components and the chemically compatible metals for other operational components.

There are an estimated 1.7 million oil and gas wells in the United States, 771,000 of these are considered marginal producers. Combined they make up 11.3% of the US oil production and 8.3% of the US gas production. In that last 10 years, over 131,000 of these oil wells and 48,000 gas wells have been plugged and abandoned. Most of these wells suffer from paraffin plugging problems. The only way to extend the economic life of these wells is to reduce operating costs and/or increase production. A new paraffin abatement tool has been built and has now been successfully tested in a simulated wellbore as a part of Phase 1 of this SBIR project. It provides a simple and novel way to prevent downhole paraffin buildup to both increase production and reduce operating costs. The tool which permanently screws into the tubing and the sucker rods generates heat over a specific depth interval in the tubing by converting the up and down motion of the sucker rods to the rotary motion of a metal tube within an array of magnets. We have demonstrated that for our tool the induction currents generated by this rotary motion generates over 2KW of heat per foot of tool length. This heating keeps the oil above the cloud point temperature until it reaches the surface. The full-scale tool that has been designed, built and lab-tested has many commercial and technical advantages over current methods (hot-oiling or chemical treatment using paraffin inhibitors). Higher continuous oil production. Much less decline in production because there is no buildup of paraffin in tubing over time. 10-20% lower annual treating costs than hot oiling or paraffin inhibitor chemicals. No formation damage to the well. No paraffin being squeezed into the perfs (as happens in hot oiling). The heat is generated where it is needed (at the depth where paraffin is forming). The rest of the wellbore and rock is not heated. The tool integrates with existing tubing and sucker rod. No additional equipment, power requirements or operational changes are needed. The tool is modular, so its heating capacity can be adjusted to meet the needs of different wells. Permanent tool installation results in less frequent well workovers and well intervention. The market and/or market segments we are targeting is well over $1 billion annually. With the better performance, lower cost, higher efficiency and improved production we expect the PM heater to be an attractive solution to virtually all oil and gas operators. The primary hurdle we will need to overcome in order to gain market/customer acceptance is the initial demonstration of the technology in several wells over a period of time. Most operators are eager to adopt the technology after it has been demonstrated to be effective and reliable in other oil wells. To demonstrate the capabilities of the tool and to install it in a reliable manner in the first few wells we have partnered with Harbison Fisher (now Apergy Inc.), the world’s largest supplier of sucker rods and other artificial lift equipment (see Letter of Commitment). Once we have established the viability and effectiveness of the tool over the course of the next 2 years, Apergy has agreed to make this a part of their product line. With this level of well-established marketing and technical support in the field we will be able to deploy the tool across all markets in the US and abroad (all markets that they already operate in). In addition, we intend to set up marketing booths in industry conferences and conduct short courses to educate the industry about the benefits of preventing paraffin formation in their wells.