Oilfield Scale - inorganic scale formation and prevention.

The Flow Assurance and Scale Team (FAST) in the Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt University is a 25 person strong team that conducts research into the prediction and prevention of oilfield scale. Scale deposits – such as calcium carbonate and barium sulphate - cause oilfield production difficulties by growing on metal surfaces such as pipelines and pumping equipment, causing restrictions to fluid flow. The use of chemical scale inhibitors has been widely adopted as a method to control scale formation. This research has been sponsored for many years by over 20 industrial companies and further details can be found at www.dScale.org
The FAST research group has industrial funding to support a PhD studentship opportunity in the subject area of inorganic scale formation and prevention.

The successful candidate may be required to develop a number of skills from among the following list - scale inhibitor performance evaluation, core flooding, inhibitor/brine analysis (ICP, wet chemical), computer programming (C++, FORTRAN, Visual Basic), or running third party simulation software. These skills are not essential prerequisites, and the successful candidate will be given ample opportunity to develop them.