This course will be presented by two members of the Heriot-Watt University Flow Assurance and Scale Team (FAST) who have a combined total of over 30 years of experience in both research and field applications in the area of oilfield scale prevention. Between them, they have written over one hundred technical papers on this subject. This course draws very strongly on that extensive  experience and provides both the underlying theory (originally developed by the authors in some cases) in an accessible manner along with concrete practical examples of how this knowledge is applied in the field.

This one day course is suitable for production technologists, engineers, oilfield chemists and anyone involved in flow assurance issues in oil operating companies, the service sector and scale inhibitor (and sulphate removal) manufacturing industries. The basic science is fully illustrated by field examples and attendees will have the opportunity to use the Heriot-Watt SQUEEZE software to perform scale prediction calculations and to carry out field scale inhibitor squeeze designs.

Topics:

• Background to mineral scale formation in oilfields
• Scale prevention using chemical scale inhibitors
• Theory of scale inhibitor squeeze treatments
• The design of field scale management programmes
• The impact of the reservoir on the field scaling problem

This is a unique opportunity to learn from people who developed some of the industry’s best tools for managing oilfield scale.

This course is for production technologists, engineers, oilfield chemists and anyone concerned with flow assurance issues. It is also useful for those who work in the service, scale inhibitor and sulphate removal industries.

Participants are encouraged to bring their field formation, injection water composition data and other properties of their reservoirs for discussion in class.

1.6 CEUs (Continuing Education Units) awarded for this 2-day course.

To receive a full refund, all cancellations must be received in writing no later than 14 days prior to the course start date. Cancellations made after the 14-day window will not be refunded. Send cancellation requests by email to trainingcourses@spe.org; by fax to +1.866.460.3032 (US) or +1.972.852.9292 (outside US); or mail to SPE Registration, PO Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083.

For more details, please contact us at trainingcourses@spe.org.

Eric Mackay is research fellow at the Heriot-Watt University Institute of Petroleum Engineering, where his research includes the application of reservoir engineering principles and data to better understand production issues. Mackay has written more than 60 publications on scale management. In 2004 he made a keynote presentation at the SPE 6th International Symposium on Oilfield Scale, and was elected program committee chair for the 2006 Symposium.

Mackay is currently responsible for software development, support, and training within the Flow Assurance and Scale joint industry project at Heriot-Watt University, where he has conducted both theoretical and field studies with many of the operating and service companies that support the research. He holds a BS in physics from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University.

Ken Sorbie is a professor at Heriot-Watt University’s Institute of Petroleum Engineering. He has a first degree in chemistry from Strathclyde University and a PhD in theoretical chemistry and applied mathematics from the University of Sussex. He has worked in oil-related research for more than 20 years, first with the Department of Energy laboratory at AEE Winfrith and, since 1988, at Heriot-Watt University. Sorbie is currently a principle investigator, along with Anne Neville and Eric Mackay, of the Flow Assurance and Scale Team joint industry project, which he launched in 1989.

Sorbie has published more than 200 technical papers on his research and a book on polymer flooding. He was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2000–2001 and is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.