Clariant opens experimentation lab in Texas for oil and gas industry
In what has been described as a first for the oil and gas industry, Clariant has opened its next High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) laboratory in Houston, Texas in the US.
Locating the lab in the energy capital of the US is key, as the new facility will be the first of its kind to support the oil and gas industry, offering new solutions for customers. The lab is part of a company initiative to expand HTE capabilities to all Clariant business units, including support for oil services in North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the North Sea.
The HTE approach allows automated instrumentation, specialised software tools and alternative techniques to provide optimised formulations in a short timeframe. While it has been used in other industries for a number of years, Clariant is the first company to adopt the technology for the oil and gas industry as a standard tool.
“This is an exciting, and unique, new offering for the oil and gas industry, and, being in such close proximity to so many customers, means that we can offer superior, faster service,” said Jonathan Wylde, head of innovation and application development Clariant Oil and Mining Services. “With our state-of-the-art equipment in the lab, advanced research concepts, and potential customisation for specific projects, our researchers are now able to identify new formulations and synergistic blends for specific customer crudes, ultimately reducing the time to market for new products.”
With the new addition to the existing lab at Clariant Oil Services’ headquarters in Houston, the company’s chemists and experts will be able to use miniaturisation, parallelisation, intelligent design and enhanced analytics to increase efficiency and productivity.
“Static environments, like factory assembly lines, are easy to automate,” explained Lucius Kemp, Clariant’s global head of HTE, Group Technology and Innovation. “In contrast, an R&D environment requires a special solution to keep pace with its dynamic nature. One must have a highly flexible concept with very short integration times to reach automated efficiency. As a global leader in the field, we have designed our HTE lab with ‘standardised flexibility’ to achieve this.”
The company has recently invested in its Midland, Texas and Clinton, Oklahoma facilities, highlighting its commitment to growth with US and global customers.
Locating the lab in the energy capital of the US is key, as the new facility will be the first of its kind to support the oil and gas industry, offering new solutions for customers. The lab is part of a company initiative to expand HTE capabilities to all Clariant business units, including support for oil services in North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the North Sea.
The HTE approach allows automated instrumentation, specialised software tools and alternative techniques to provide optimised formulations in a short timeframe. While it has been used in other industries for a number of years, Clariant is the first company to adopt the technology for the oil and gas industry as a standard tool.
“This is an exciting, and unique, new offering for the oil and gas industry, and, being in such close proximity to so many customers, means that we can offer superior, faster service,” said Jonathan Wylde, head of innovation and application development Clariant Oil and Mining Services. “With our state-of-the-art equipment in the lab, advanced research concepts, and potential customisation for specific projects, our researchers are now able to identify new formulations and synergistic blends for specific customer crudes, ultimately reducing the time to market for new products.”
With the new addition to the existing lab at Clariant Oil Services’ headquarters in Houston, the company’s chemists and experts will be able to use miniaturisation, parallelisation, intelligent design and enhanced analytics to increase efficiency and productivity.
“Static environments, like factory assembly lines, are easy to automate,” explained Lucius Kemp, Clariant’s global head of HTE, Group Technology and Innovation. “In contrast, an R&D environment requires a special solution to keep pace with its dynamic nature. One must have a highly flexible concept with very short integration times to reach automated efficiency. As a global leader in the field, we have designed our HTE lab with ‘standardised flexibility’ to achieve this.”
The company has recently invested in its Midland, Texas and Clinton, Oklahoma facilities, highlighting its commitment to growth with US and global customers.
