DOE Digest

Pipe Tally Sheet for Pocket PC

A new program, Pipe Tally Sheet for Pocket PC, allows users to conveniently build an inventory and tally sheet for tubular products and downhole tools. Developed by Maurer Technology Inc. for DOE, the program is designed for Pocket PC's with Microsoft operating systems. It can provide an electronic file for transfer. Software can be downloaded from the DOE's National Petroleum Technology Office's website (www.npto.doe.gov/Software/compindx.html). Contact Roy Long (Roy.Long@npto.doe.gov) for more information.

While there, one might consider downloading DOE's software programs focused on helping independents analyze their risks for decision making.

Products include:

Neuro3-Neural Network
Tree2000-Decision Tree
Monte Carlo Simulation

IntelliPipeTM—High Speed Data Transmission Through Drill Pipe

IntelliPipe^TM is drill pipe with a built-in telemetry system enabling it to transmit large amounts of data to surface as fast as one million bits per second, a dramatic improvement compared to the three to 10 bits per second possible with conventional mud pulse telemetry. It also allows data to be sent downhole just as fast, giving drillers the first-ever capability to tell a drilling tool what to do almost instantaneously. IntelliPipe^TM was developed by an engineering team of Grant Prideco and Novatek Engineering in a DOE-funded project that began with a small business contract to Novatek in 1997. Key to the new system is a unique non-contacting coupler embedded in the drill pipe connections. The coupler permits data to be sent across the connection and on through a high-speed cable attached to the inner pipe wall.

Excerpted from DOE Techline (www.fossil.energy.gov/techline/tl_intellipipe.shtml)

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Still Time To Prepare Your DOE Proposal

Evaluation Period 3, Tech Development with Independents (Due Jan. 9, 2003)
Round 2, Broad-Based Solicitation for Oil and Natural Gas R&D (Due Feb. 27, 2003)

See articles in PTTC Network News, 3rd Qtr 2002 for more details. Visit DOE's website (www.netl.doe.gov/business/solicit/index.html) for more details.

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NGOTP Adds Natural Gas Projects

DOE approved funding for four projects in a new Natural Gas Issues Technology area of the Natural Gas & Oil Technology Partnership (NGOTP). Last May the industry review panel reviewed 14 project proposals, selecting the following four for awards totaling $1075K.

Coiled-Tubing Deployed Hard Rock Thermal Spallation Drill and Cavity Maker. Los Alamos National Lab will modify its coiled-tubing drilling rig to support spallation drilling and cavity formation. Focus is on developing a new method to economically drill and excavate large volumes of rock at depths suitable for gas storage.

Molecular Engineering: Next Generation Gas Purification. Brookhaven National Lab and industry partners will tackle purification of low quality natural gas. They will adapt a revolutionary molecularly imprinted material (dubbed nova) for large-scale gas separation.

Scintillating Fiber Neutron Detectors for Well Logging. Pacific Northwest National Lab will develop a tool enabling high-efficiency epithermal neutron measurements for well logging. The tool will include a matched pair of fiber sensors to produce a more precise and accurate measurement.

225 °C MWD Using Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) Electronics. Sandia National Lab will demonstrate SOI electronics as an enhancement to MWD. SOI devices are more stable and predictable under temperature extremes.

Visit the Partnership website (www.sandia.gov/ngotp) for more information.

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DOE Funding For Advanced Oilfield Technologies For Independents

The Department of Energy is requesting proposals for "Advanced and Key Oilfield Technologies for Independents." This solicitation is asking for the final development and demonstration of advanced and key technologies especially relevant to the operations of domestic independent oil producers. Advanced technologies include projects that are not in use in the oilfield and could be termed "cutting edge." The key technology projects are programs intended to fund high risk oilfield projects.
U.S. companies can apply with exception of a Federal entity. DOE funds are available up to $2,000,000 per project with a minimum of 50% cost share. Applications are due February 24, 2003. The proposed projects should be three to five years in length and the DOE anticipates awarding four to five projects.

There are two Areas of Interest for which one can apply, Interest 1 - Existing Fields and Interest 2 - Exploration.

For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov/business or call Virginia Weyland, DOE Project Manager, at (918)699-2041.

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Two Field Tests of Ultra-Lightweight Cement Slurries

Many deepwater operations exhibit unique conditions that require high-strength, lightweight cements. Conventional lightweight cements using water have a minimum density limit of 11.5 lb/gal. Conventional hollow glass spheres can achieve densities as low as 9.5 lb/gal, but their application is limited by the crush resistance of the beads. Foam cements have some application, but they have high permeability and low strength. Recent technology advances have improved hollow spheres to be ultra-lightweight, while exhibiting crush strengths of 3,000 to 10,000 psi. Gravities as low as 0.32 to 0.46 can be achieved, and with the improved spheres, they are still crush resistant.

In a DOE-funded project, Cementing Solutions Inc., Texas, developed and field tested these new ultra-lightweight slurries. In an initial well in a Conoco-operated property in South Texas, the slurry was easily blended on location and was mixed and pumped in the well with no problem. A second field test was conducted at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center. Ultrasonic logs performed on the well after cementing showed excellent application of the slurry, good bond properties and good perforating qualities."

Excerpted from article in Gas Tips, Fall 2002. For additional information, visit the "What's New" page at CSI's website (www.cementingsolutions.com) or contact Fred Sabins, f.sabins@cementingsolutions.com.

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Table of Contents	Vol. 8, No.4 4th Quarter 2002