A recent report noted that a leading Malaysian oil and gas company will jointly develop a new technology with a leading worldwide provider of premium Engineering and Naval Architecture services, winner of the third Petronas Technology Challenge, to find innovative and economic solutions in sludge treatment to recover hydrocarbon onshore.
The announcement of the winner was held yesterday during the 4th Malaysia Oil & Gas Services Exhibition and Conference (MOGSEC 2018) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
The engineering, naval and architecture services provider’s winning technology proposal features the application of non-toxic and environment-friendly nanotechnology chemicals, capable of liquefying sludge and heavy wax.
The nanoparticles will separate the emulsions into oil and water, which allows for an optimised recovery of hydrocarbon, and at the same time, clean the discharged effluents to meet environmental quality standards.
The solution offers a cost-effective treatment of sludge from the crude oil and petroleum product tanks to generate additional value creation from the recovered hydrocarbon. The technology will also bring benefits to Petronas by introducing better Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) standards for operation, as well as reducing Unplanned Loss Profit Opportunity (ULPO).
As part of the programme, the oil and gas company will provide the engineering, naval and architecture services provider with the platform to apply the winning technology at the company’s assets, as well as proprietary information to jointly develop and commercialise the technology.
The oil and gas firm has also launched two new Technology Challenges at the event, on effective tool managing Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) and total technical solution of chloride-induced corrosion.
The oil and gas company’s Technology Challenge is a unique opportunity to seek innovative solutions for the oil and gas industry’s complex business challenges, via an open crowdsourcing platform.
This collaboration follows news of the setup of an RMB54.8 million research and technology centre in Brazil. The centre will serve as a centre for technical expertise and is the largest facility dedicated to the development of fluid technology to meet Latin America’s automotive and industrial sector’s growing needs.
The new facility is located at the oil and gas company’s subsidiary blending plant in Brazil, focusing on the development of the latest industrial fluids, lubricants and greases, while serving as a centre for technical expertise, customer assistance, product management and quality control activities.
The group’s managing director and the chief executive officer said that the RMB54.8 million investment joins the gas company’s network of satellite R&T centres around the world, including China, Malaysia, South Africa and North America.
These facilities have their nucleus at the company’s global R&T centre in Turin, Italy, which was opened in March this year.
The role of the new R&T centre will be to introduce new technologies, create world-class infrastructure and develop industry-leading talent as the subsidiary diversifies its product portfolio to strengthen its global position in the fluids industry.
The Turin facility was the latest R&T centre of excellence set up by the subsidiary before the Brazil centre; it joins the RMB392 million (US$100 million) investment in a lubricant blending plant and satellite R&T centre for motorcycle lubricants at Patalganga in Maharashtra, India.
The oil and gas company’s subsidiary also owns a 50% stake in a major research & development centre in China’s Guangxi province.
Thus, the oil and gas company appears to be committed to identifying and investing a number of ways in which to create more advanced technology which is better for the environment and those invested in the company.
