Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2

Many processes are used to produce an oil and gas reservoir. These processes can break down or create debris inside the wellbore creating blockages. Blockages are expensive and to avoid them, regular maintenance is necessary. A new tool developed by Blue Spark is the Wireline Applied Stimulation Pulse or WASP. This high-power acoustic wave device is used for post-fracking wellbore applications when the flow of oil is degraded by debris and scale build-up around wellbore perforations The WASP works by generating a high power electro-hydraulic discharge (EHD) within a transmission medium of water and salt (brine). The mechanical waves produced have a magnitude that pulverizes the built-up scale in the perforations of the well casing. It improves flow by re-opening adjacent well rock glazed and compacted by perforation charges, extending the wellbore lifecycle. WASP is a technology that ensures that existing wells function efficiently until all the available reserves are extracted. Blue Spark is the WASP developer and they have successfully deployed the system in many international settings and won two awards for the best technology development for oil and gas in 2015. Blue Spark is seeking a second collaborative applied research project with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) to develop improvements to specific components of the WASP. The method that WASP employs is very effective at destroying debris around the well casing but the process is extremely hard on the WASP components. The electrodes and an isolating liner (that prevents contaminants from reaching the electrodes) are adversely impacted by the arc generation and degrade during the process. The degradation of these components is attributed to the extreme conditions in the downhole environment, the destructive mechanics of the EHD wave process and the requirement for electrodes to remain relatively clean and mechanically coupled to the environment around the tool.