March 3, 2022
Russian scientists have created an environmentally friendly substance, which is also safe for marine life, and dissolves the plugs that are formed from time to time in wells during gas production in the waters. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Ministry of Education and Science of Russia).
"Specifically for the domestic gas industry, the scientists of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University (KFU) have developed a unique substance that copes with traffic plugs in wells during gas production on offshore shelves and is absolutely environmentally friendly and safe for marine life. This scientific work is part of a strategic project dedicated to the development of "green energy" and import substitution, implemented within the framework of the federal program of the Ministry of Higher Education of the "Priority 2030" Russian Federation (Ministry of Education and Science of Russia), the message reads.
Natural gas production in permafrost areas and the seabed is associated with technical difficulties, and the formation of gas hydrates in wells is one of them. Solid crystalline substances, which are externally similar to snow or loose ice, are developed under certain thermobaric conditions from water and gas. Such a gas hydrate plug can be removed if a special chemical substance- inhibitor is added to natural gas, which triggers the desired reaction and frees the well gas flow from the crystal plug.
However, use of inhibitors that are traditionally used in gas fields in the permafrost territory are unacceptable for working at sea. In the course of a new study, the KFU scientists have developed a unique inhibitor that is environmentally friendly and safe for marine life. If this chemical turns out to be in the natural habitat of marine inhabitants due to any technical malfunctioning, it will not cause any harm them.
The researchers also proved that the accelerated decomposition process is initiated with the use of the polymers used in the composition of the new inhibitor. Thus, the inhibitor developed by the KFU scientists simultaneously executes its direct function of removing the gas hydrate plugs and prevents any likelihood of an environmental impact in the event of uncontrolled release of the substance at sea depths.
"It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the applications that scientists are making today for the domestic economy: we are all interested in hydrocarbon mining is carried out in an optimal mode for the environment and fully complies with environmental requirements," said Danis Nurgaliyev, Vice-rector of KFU, Director of the Institute of Geology and Oil and Gas Technologies, whose words are quoted in the news report.