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Map of the Colombian oil infrastructure. Photo: www.datateca.unad.edu.co

Iván Darío Mozo, Petroleum Engineer and Chemical Engineer master’s candidate and Juan Manuel Mejía Department of Processes and Energy Associate Professor. Photo: Faculty of Mines Communications Office.

The thesis project won the 2016 Ecopetrol Award for Innovation.

Oil well. Photo: Unimedios.

Gas injection in oil wells. Photo: Taken from www.1.bp.blogspot.com.

UNal-Medellín Faculty of Mines. Photo: Unimedios.

The tool is the result of an undergraduate Petroleum Engineering thesis project entitled, “Simulation and modeling of the formation and transportation of microemulsions in porous media,” presented at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNal) in Medellín Faculty of Mines. 

The software quantifies the amount of oil and gas production when in oil well operations using this type of chemical components,” said Juan Manuel Mejía, Department of Processes and Energy Associate Professor and Director of the Flow Dynamics and Porous Media Transport Research Group. 

He says that given that substances have oil and aqueous stages they can obstruct channels where oil and gas flow. 

GaStimulator was developed by means of a mathematical model based on transportation and transference phenomena using computer software used by the Colombian Petroleum Company (Ecopetrol, for its Spanish acronym). 

“The simulator did not exist before. A benefit is that Ecopetrol can now become cognizant and estimate how to manage surface microemulsions,” said Mejía. 

“To optimize chemical dosing and minimize the volume of contaminating microemulsions is a positive step, as it is a manner to contribute to reducing environmental impact," said Petroleum Engineer, Brain Fabián García. 

“Making the software program was a creative process which led to potential contributions. There is no innovation if ideas are not materialized or what is done is not useful for a social or industrial need,” said Iván Darío Mozo Petroleum Engineer and Chemical Engineer master’s candidate. 

Currently, corporations perform measurements through experimental studies because the technology which modeled with greater detail phenomena of the subsoil to simulate the formation of emulsions did not exist before. 

Mozo adds there were more than 40 finalists for the award among 1,860 people and 370 projects. 

García also said that receiving the award is a signal that they are effectively directing applied research to the service of the needs of the country. 

The awards look to acknowledge the best professional and student undergraduate and graduate projects and promote the production of novel solutions for the Colombian oil production with the purpose of increasing productivity and competitiveness.