In recent years, there has been lively public debate between scientists and business & industry on the relevance of Kazakhstan's scientific research to the domestic industry, particularly in fields of oil and gas. Foreign and domestic companies engaged in the extraction, transportation and processing of oil and gas often give preference to foreign technologies, equipment and materials. It is largely due to the advanced scientific, technological and financial capabilities of countries such as the USA, UK, France, China, Russia and others.
We at the Kazakh-British Technical University are aware of the above situation and it is our aim to bridge the gap between science and industry by offering technical and scientific solutions. To pursue this goal, the Kazakh-British Technical University has taken lead by planning a joint project with energy company, Embamunaigas. This joint project is: “Development and testing of new high-performance polyampholytic type dyes for conducting tracer studies of the inter well space of bed-reservoirs of oil fields of Embamunaigas”.
The idea of the project is associated with an increase in the efficiency of oil production technology due to the artificial flooding of oil beds. More than 70% of all the oil produced in the world is now produced using artificial water flooding. This technology is widely used in Kazakhstan. Embamunaigas also uses the same technology. However, the implementation of this technology requires large quantities of expensive imported dyes - tracers, many of which are sensitive to high salt content, high temperature, and are absorbed by the formation reservoir rock, which adversely affects the efficiency of water injection.
The goal of the project is the creation and testing of fundamentally new highly efficient polyampholytic type dyes, forming stable nanostructures. Due to this, such tracers will not be exposed to the negative effect of temperature, salt, sorption by the formation reservoir. These features will reduce the loss of polyampholytic dyes, increase their stability during the well survey, which will reduce the costs of conducting tracer studies and increase the reliability of the results obtained.
The Embamunaigas management found the project idea interesting. The KBTU and Embamunaigas agreed to carry out preliminary studies and started the paperwork for the project implementation. The materials of the declared project received an interest and detail discussions between specialists of Embamunaigas and KBTU scientists took place.
Participants from the both side agreed on the project launch and the financial details. Under the plan KBTU will train Embamunaigas staff, specialists for the introduction of this technology into production, familiarize the specialists of Embamunaigas with the available developments in the field of polymer flooding and flow-diverting technologies.
KBTU- Embamunaigas cooperation and collaboration is an example that higher education institutions can assist and even lead the industry by offering scientific solutions. It also proves the authority and relevance of Kazakhstani research and science in the development of modern production technologies. Such projects will increases the share of domestic content in scientific and technical projects and thus strengthens the industrial potential of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
