The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy is launching this fall with $70 million in combined funding from the provincial government and Shell Canada.
The provincial government first announced its intention to create the centre, which will focus on commercializing B.C.’s clean technology, in September 2020 as part of its economic-recovery plan.
“Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, and we are already seeing its devastating effects. Shifting from our reliance on fossil fuels to low-carbon energy requires an all-hands-on-deck approach,” said Premier John Horgan.
“That’s why we are working together with industry and government partners to create a centre for innovation and clean energy that will build on B.C.’s strengths as a climate leader. By supporting new technologies, we will stimulate investment and create the good jobs of the future.”
The centre will bring together innovators, industry, governments and academics to accelerate the commercialization and scale-up of B.C.-based clean-energy technologies. It will also be a catalyst for new partnerships and world-leading innovation to deliver near- and longer-term carbon emission reductions.
The Government of B.C. and Shell Canada have each committed $35 million to the centre that will leverage additional public and private-sector investments and participation. The Government of Canada has committed up to $35 million for the centre’s innovative projects.
Scheduled to launch in fall 2021, the centre will be established as a member-based, non-profit corporation operating independent from government and private entities. Its intent is to attract a wide range of companies and partners that share a common focus on low-carbon innovation and scaling up B.C.-based clean-energy technology.
“The Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy is part of our government’s commitment to create a better future by building an inclusive, sustainable and innovative economy with new clean-energy jobs for people throughout B.C.,” said Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “The centre will help B.C.-based companies develop, scale up and launch new low-carbon energy technologies and will help establish B.C. as a global exporter of climate solutions.”
Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy
Vancouver BC
Attention: Program Coordinatior
Hello,
The following is a brief introduction by Sibex International Inc. (Sibex) of Kelowna , BC. of its novel Proof of Concept tested innovation, called Multi-Component Oilwell Tester (MCOT) algorithm, which is a mass-fraction (not volume) based computation.
The MCOT solution offers a cost effective oil well monitoring/(testing under some conditions) method, using two industry-proven instruments (Coriolis and watercut), operating on a flow-through basis at each well site w/o physical separation. Such a system would enable the producers to better manage and optimize their oil fields.
It may be of interest that SRC, in a letter of support, issued to Sibex on MCOT stated that “The potential use of the MCOT solution to establish a base line and to verify the mitigation measures for methane release from an oil well is of interest to SRC.”
If adopted, MCOT could contribute the oil industry;’s effort to adopt an environmentally cleaner production of oil, a resource which shall be required as the main source of energy for the mankind until more robust economically sound substitute solutions are developed..
In Q4/2020 Q4/2020 Sibex has conducted a self-financed multiphase Proof of Concept test on MCOT at Coanda R & D of Burnaby, BC.
Sibex is extending an invitation and would be honored to have CICE, or any of its members (particularly ones with also some offshore production facilities) to perform a peer-review of the experiments and the calculated error results.
The tests show that, while MCOT is not at this stage a commercial product, if has the potential for certain real-time oil well site production condition monitoring and automatic well effluent abnormality detection without separation, where real-time, repeatable and reliable oil, water and gas measurements are as, if not more, more important than well-site custody-transfer quality accuracy metering.
MCOT may also offer an alternate algorithm solution for implementing Alberta’s AER’s Dir 17 with a Coriolis meter and a watercut analyzer.
The inventor came to Canada as a 1956 immigrant student and feels that he owes a lot to this country for all the opportunities it offered. For that reason, I would like to keep MCOT, if proves to be a worthy technological solution, a Canadian oilfield invention. BTW, Sibex has received an early indication of interest in MCOT from a large overseas (M.E.) offshore producer.
Please let us know it CICE is interested in and able to support Sibex in a Prototype testing and commercial development of MCOT. The inventor is no longer able to financially support further testing and commercialization of MCOT.
Further details are outlined below.
Sincerely,
Stephen Berbekar, P. Eng.
Principal
Sibex International Inc.
101 1986 Bowes Street
Kelowna, BC V1Y 3C3
CANADA
Novel Mass-Fraction Based Multiphase Measurements
Objectives
Sibex International Inc.’s goal is to attempt to respond to industry demand for a cost effective (less than US$100K/well) real-time oil well monitor/tester without separation. Among others, the novel solution should have the following attributes: small footprint, flow-through, employing oil field proven instrumentation, no radiation, no cross correlation, low O & M, reliable and good repeatability. Future improvements are possible to achieve in system accuracy and GVF tolerance depending future developments in the Coriolis and watercut instruments. One of MCOT’s major application may be that of production monitoring tool, where accuracy, while important, in many cases may not as relevant as reliable, repeatable, directly calculated oil, water and gas volumes, as well as trending and real-time anomaly detection.
Proposed Solution:
• Sibex International Inc.’s Multi-Component Oilwell Tester (MCOT) algorithm, which was registered with the Canadian Copyright in 2004 and PPA application has been filed with US Patent and Trademark Office on 06/01/2021. MCOT is a mass-fraction based calculation designed to compute the volume flow rate of oil, water and gas components of an unseparated, complex well fluid, using the real-time measured mass flow, density and dialectic properties of the mix at Po and To.
• Calibration/set-up requires the densities and dielectric properties of the separated components at Po, To.
• Create an intimately mixed state for the emulsion under test
• Calculate the mass and, using the known component densities at Po, To the volumetric flow rates of the oil well’s produced oil, water and gas
• Explore the future use of other, 3rd fluid-characterizing variable in addition to mass and density, possibly viscosity instead of the currently used relative permittivity, measured by a watercut analyzer.
Assumptions
Mass-fractions of the well-mixed well fluid’s components can be uniquely determined for a produced fluid’s:
– Composite mass
– Composite density and
– Composite relative permittivity or other property
MCOT Testing Status
Proof of Concept tests were conducted at Texas A & M University, College Station, TX labs in 2003/4, Coanda R & D in 2004 and at Emerson/Micro-Motion’s Colorado multiphase labs on Sept/Oct 2006. These results were subsequently disregarded. Subsequently, an error was discovered in the original MCOT coding which corrupted the results. The error has been corrected in 2015 and a self-financed re-testing was conducted at Coanda R & D, Burnaby BC, Canada in the fall of 2020 and Q1 2021, employing a 2” Krohne Optimass with Enhanced Gas Management (EGM) feature together with a Delta C Inline Watercut Analyser. Promising results at Coanda prompted Sibex to re-calculate the old raw measurements at TAMU, Coanda (2004) and Emerson. The oil component error calculations are presented from the four separate test sessions conducted at the a.m. laboratories. There were an aggregate total of 59 test runs at the four test sites. The ErrO was less than +/- 5% on 37/59 runs, less than +/- 15% on 16/59 runs and over 15% on 11 runs at various WC and GVF mixes. The water and gas errors were larger. For reference, the maximum watercut at various labs were: 0 – 100%, 0 -88%, 0–100%, 0–47%, the maximum GVF of the mixes were: 0 – 21.9%, 0 -40%. 0 -21.9, and 0 -47%.
One noteworthy observation is that the GVF tolerance of some of the instruments used in the experiments seem to be enhanced when used in conjunction with and as part of the MCOT system.
The invention’s current development stage, according to API 17N’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL) may be judged to be at the end of Stage 2 (proof of concept) and meeting some parts of Stage 3 (demonstration of potential risks and benefits).
The Mini-MCOT calculations and graphs results are available to oil industry members (subject to NDA) with vested interest in commercializing MCOT.
Introduction of a Two-Component Solution – Mini-MCOT
The functionality of MCOT initial algorithm has been expanded in October 2012, when a novel single phase, two-component (oil and water) mass-fraction based Mini-MCOT computation principle was developed, based on concepts of the original three component algorithm. Mini-MCOT computes the mass-flows of oil and water components of an intimately mixed oil and water employing a self-standing Coriolis meter. The volume rates of oil, water and gas are calculated by applying the known densities of the oil and water at Po, To.
The Mini-MCOT calculations and graphs illustrating the test results at InnoTech Alberta (2019) and at Coanda (2021) are available to industry members with vested interest.
User’s Self-testing Option
Upon request, Sibex shall provide interested users a password protected link to enable a producer to use of MCOT (or Mini-MCOT) algorithm for processing their own raw measured data for well monitoring, testing and error calculations.
Implementation Options
A novel system implementation is proposed in which the operator would purchase, install and maintain the Coriolis and the watercut instruments at each well site. MCOT algorithm would be installed/interfaced with the operator’s SCADA master or other production surveillance and control system. Such a solution would keep the field hardware simple and the O & M cost effective. (IooT-type solution.)
Well site implementation of an independent oil well tester is an option with appropriate hardware.
Conclusion
The benefits and shortcomings (WC and GVF limits) of MCOT algorithm are obvious to those familiar with the subject therefore shall not be listed herein. Readers are invited to conduct their own analysis, evaluation and reach their own conclusions. It is noteworthy that one (only) set of measurements yielded errors below one percent in the calculated oil, water and gas volume errors in up to 88%WC and 39%GVF mix environment.
All test results and error calculations are available to interested parties for analysis, subject to a mutual NDA.
Thank you.
Stephen Berbekar, P. Eng.
Principal
T. 250 868 8251
C. 403 874 2609
E-mail: berbs@telus.net
July 2021
Seeking Peer Review of a Innovative Technology
Sibex International Inc. (Sibex) of Kelowna, BC would like to present to BC’s CICE an inovative, real-time, mass-fraction baed mutiphase oil well monitoring and or testing algorithm called Multi-Component Oilwell Tester (MCOT). It employs a flow-through Coriolis and a watercut meter (without separation) to calculate the oil, water and gas volumes without separation (within certain GVF). According to SRC, the technology may also be applicable to determine the base line and the verification of applied mitigations for gas emissions.
Sibex tested MCOT at Coanda R & D of Burnaby, BC in Q4/2020 and Q1/2021.
If MCOT proves to be an industry-recognized technology, it would be a major cost saver, particularly for the offshore producers.
Please acknowledge receipt and let us know if you require further information on Sibex and on MCOT.