Astrimar and Rawwater sign collaboration agreement

Independent specialist engineering consultancy Astrimar has signed a collaboration agreement with Rawwater Engineering Company Limited. The agreement was signed at the SPE Aberdeen 9th Well Abandonment Symposium in June 2019.

Rawwater invented the Bismuth Plug and has successfully worked with Astrimar on two Innovate UK projects to qualify advanced bismuth alloys for plugging and abandonment as well as other sealing applications.

Building on earlier qualification and deployment activities, a range of novel alloys specifically formulated for plugging and abandonment has been developed by Rawwater, with extensive testing under simulated service pressures and temperatures. The result is a suite of alloys with operating envelopes to cover a variety of typical downhole geothermal conditions and sealing applications.

In parallel with the Rawwater testing activities, Astrimar has developed the STEM-flow tool. This predictive well integrity modelling software can be used to forecast long-term plug performance, reflecting the specific downhole well and casing conditions and plug material behaviour obtained from qualification tests. In addition to providing reliability and integrity assurance for the Rawwater bismuth plugs, the predictions from Astrimar’s numerical models can be used to support well P&A design risk assessments.

Through signing a collaboration agreement, Rawwater and Astrimar will provide a combined plug service provision, with well-specific seal performance forecasts.

About the Rawwater Group

From its UK-based technology centre, the Rawwater Group provides solutions to the oil & gas industry. The group offers contract research and consultancy in the fields of materials science, well technology and water management, and combines engineering with reservoir microbiology to deliver solutions for facilities design, oilfield souring, biofouling and microbial corrosion. The Rawwater Group’s engineering division is known for its expertise in the development and application of molten bismuth alloys as a specialist alternative to cement for sealing within onshore and offshore oil and gas wells. The division is also creating a range of new alloys to provide secure, high integrity, reversible metal seals for the nuclear industry and other sectors.