Editor's note: The Norwegian government recently funded a study that attempted to introduce reservoir modeling technology into the medical field to improve doctors' understanding of MR*** vibroseis imaging results; cableless seismometers, originally developed for oil and gas exploration, have become a new tool for seismologists; International Offshore & Engineering, a pioneer in oil and gas diving, has provided proprietary technology to NASA's space program for 35 years; in 2013, the Curiosity rover drilled its first well on Mars using percussion drilling technology, bringing about synergies with multiple fields. The Curiosity rover drilled the first well on Mars in 2013 using percussion drilling technology, leading to a major discovery that the geochemical conditions on Mars were once capable of sustaining life. ...... The contribution of the oil and gas industry's technology exports has been breathtaking.
When it comes to absorbing technology from outside the industry, the oil and gas industry, from upstream to downstream, has practiced "fetishism" in countless ways. For example, the use of satellite remote sensing technology in physical exploration, drilling fluids using nanotechnology, three oil recovery using polymer technology. However, along with the oil industry on the "imported technology" gradually in-depth research and application of these technologies to further "feed" the potential of other industries are gradually reflected to achieve the introduction of technology and technology export synchronous development.
Of course, this kind of technology export is not limited to "imported technology", but also includes the "native technology" of the oil industry.
The oil industry and medicine
Reservoir modeling has been used successfully in the modern oil and gas industry for more than 30 years, and is rightly regarded as a technology unique to the industry. The Norwegian government has recently funded a study that attempts to bring this technology into the medical field to improve doctors' understanding of MR*** vibration imaging results, and thus save lives.
Research experts believe that reservoir modeling technology can enhance our understanding of MR*** vibration imaging results. The idea is based on the similarities between the human brain and oil reservoirs, which are both double pore media, and the researchers believe that reservoir modeling techniques in the oil industry could lead to a breakthrough for the medical community. The $1.1 million project was led by the Stavanger Institute for International Studies, which has more than 20 years of experience in reservoir modeling. This cross-border application of the oil and gas industry and medicine stems from Pumps and Pipes, an international organization of technologists founded in Houston, USA, to explore synergies between the oil and gas industry and the medical industry.
Fiber optic technology has also been around for decades and is considered to be at the heart of the world's communications networks. For quite some time, the oil and gas industry has used fiber optic technology to monitor well production dynamics, such as pressure changes.
Opsens, based in Quebec, Canada, was one of the first companies to work with fiber-optic technology, and has recently improved its fiber-optic sensors for use inside the human body. A medical version of the fiber-optic technology is now approved for blood pressure measurements inside arteries that affect heart function, helping doctors quickly assess the severity of blockages and determine whether angioplasty or minor invasive treatments are needed.
The oil industry and geosciences
In the 1970s, with the development of digital wireline telemetry seismometers, cableless seismometers emerged, broadly categorized as autonomous nodal seismometers and wireless seismometers. The cableless seismometers, which were initially developed for oil and gas exploration, have now become a new tool for seismologists. Their "cableless" nature simplifies the logistics of seismic monitoring (no need to transport or bury cables) and allows monitoring of large seismically active areas for weeks at a time.
A 2014 seismic study used more than 900 cable-free seismic nodes to monitor earthquakes at Mount St. Helens in Washington, USA. The researchers said that the array of nodes increased the efficiency of seismic monitoring by two orders of magnitude.
During World War II, the United States invented aeromagnetic surveys to search for submarines. In fact, scientists realized its geophysical value even before the end of World War II. In 1946, aeromagnetic surveys were first used in the oil and gas industry to assess geologic reserves of oil on the North Slope of Alaska. Subsequently, oil and gas companies upgraded the technique as a cutting-edge exploration tool, which led to a number of significant discoveries, including one that had a major impact on paleontology In 1978, offshore aeromagnetic surveys by Petróleos Mexicanos (Petróleos Mexicanos) led to the first discovery of the famous Chicxulub crater, a 93-mile-diameter crater formed by the impact of an asteroid or comet that was 50 miles in diameter. The crater was formed by a 50-mile diameter asteroid or comet impact. Based on this discovery, paleontologists first suggested that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago was caused by this impact.
Early work on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) was also initiated by imaginative military scientists, but it was the oil industry that pushed ROVs to true operational use in the 1970s by equipping them with robotic arms, also known as manipulators. Compared to previous ROVs, they can do a lot more than simply observe the seafloor environment, such as underwater salvage and underwater construction.
Researchers then saw the potential of working-class ROVs, which they have been using for years to search for shipwrecks and discover new marine species, and the SERPENT project is a prime example of that technology transfer, a collaboration between oceanographers and energy companies including BP, Shell, Chevron, and Petrobras. Using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) provided by the oil and gas companies, scientists are able to explore the deep ocean in greater detail, and since 2002, the SERPENT program has conducted more than 100 studies of deep-sea marine life, most of which have been carried out on drilling ships or offshore oil production facilities.
Oil Industry and Aerospace
Deep-sea technologies from the oil industry have also been applied to aerospace exploration, given the similar environmental factors, such as high pressures, faced by both submergence in the deep ocean and space exploration.
Before the advent of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the oil and gas industry had to dive deep into the ocean to install or repair underwater equipment, so the industry has a wealth of experience and know-how in deep diving. IOC was the pioneer of diving in the oil and gas industry and has been providing proprietary technology to NASA's human spaceflight program for over 35 years.
The partnership began when NASA drew on IOE's hyperbaric suit principles to create space suits for the human spaceflight program, with the company's primary contribution being the development of a leak detection system for the suits. In addition, the company provides day-to-day operations and maintenance for NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. This laboratory is an underwater training facility for simulating weightlessness in space, where astronauts can simulate extravehicular activity, and is currently the cornerstone of all modern U.S. space missions, including ISS segment assembly and spacewalks.
The application of oil and gas industry technology to space exploration has also been successful on Mars, 34 million miles away, where the Curiosity rover drilled its first well on the Red Planet in 2013 using percussion drilling technology. Although the total depth was only 2.5 inches, the drilling led to the significant discovery that the geochemical conditions on Mars were once capable of sustaining life.
In order to better understand whether life really existed on Mars, NASA may need to drill deeper wells on subsequent manned missions, which will require more powerful drilling systems that improve or miniaturize existing commercial technologies in the oil and gas industry, including high-pressure downhole fluid sampling, borehole imaging, on-site fluid analysis, continuous tubing, and blowout preventers.
These technologies may also be used for high-pressure downhole fluid sampling, field fluid analysis, continuous tubing and blowout preventers.
The Oil Industry and Renewable and Sustainable Energy
For a long time, the process of developing geothermal resources has been similar to the process of exploring, developing, and producing an oil field, from the initial exploration, drilling, and completion of the well, all the way to final production. Generally speaking, the higher the temperature of the water source or rock in the target layer, the higher the thermal energy of the geothermal wells. When it comes to the development and utilization of some high-temperature geothermal projects, it is difficult for ordinary drilling and completing systems to meet the construction requirements, and it is necessary to rely on advanced high-temperature and high-pressure drilling and completing technology and systems in the oil and gas industry.
Taking a geothermal project in Iceland as an example, because the temperature of the target layer was too high, the traditional penetration and mud system could not withstand the high temperature and led to failure of the operation.
In 2017, the project team utilized the specially designed drill bit and mud system of Baker Hughes, an oil service company, to successfully drill the second well, and the extreme working temperature of this new drilling and completion system was as high as 299 degrees Celsius, which is twice the rating of the common downhole equipment. This new drilling and completion system has an ultimate operating temperature of 299 degrees Celsius, which is twice the rating of ordinary downhole equipment. The project team plans to drill a third well this year, which will test the suitability of the follow-through measurement equipment and, if successful, could improve the energy efficiency of existing geothermal wells by a factor of 5 to 10.
The oil and gas industry is also integrating carbon dioxide capture and applications across borders. Carbon dioxide capture can help reduce global carbon emissions, but how to dispose of carbon dioxide is a big problem. The way the oil people do it is to inject carbon dioxide into the underground several thousand meters to drive oil to improve the recovery rate. Major oil companies, both domestic and foreign, are continuing to invest in this field, and engineers are developing many of the technologies needed for CO2 capture and storage, from injection systems to modeling software, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Deep underground oil and gas resources have ushered in an era of abundant and cheap energy, but with the gradual depletion of old oil fields, the space in underground reservoirs can be reused to store carbon dioxide, providing new ideas and solutions for the environmental industry.
At present, the technology output related to oil exploration and production has covered the earth and life sciences, space exploration and renewable energy, etc. Perhaps in the future, a large number of oil companies, oil service companies, oilfield equipment manufacturing enterprises relying on the scientific and technological achievements accumulated in the past will realize the magnificent turn, into the people's livelihood of the various fields.
Source: China Petroleum News Center