SBIR-STTR Award

This is a Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Proposal. Technical advances in oil recovery and increased environmental stewardship are providing substantial new opportunities for drilling fluid additives which are environmentally-benign and which offer enhanced performance characteristics. We propose to examine derivatives of the natural polysaccharide chitosan as an alternative water-soluble viscosifying polymer in drilling fluids. Specifically, we propose to: (1) produce chitosan from crabshell wastes; (2) derivatize chitosan to yield polymers which offer low-shear-rate viscosities (I.e. have yield stresses) but which are shear thinning; and (3) perform laboratory tests to study the performance of the chitosan derivatives in simulated oil drilling applications. The project team for this study is a subset of a larger team which is examining how to commercially convert Maryland's crabshell wastes into chitosan in partnership with end-users who are developing large volume outlet markets for low-end chitosan. If successful, this research would lead to two commercial opportunities. First, large-volume markets would develop for high performance, environmentally-friendly chitosan derivatives as drilling fluid additives. Second, supplying large-volume chitosan markets would provide commercial opportunities to convert seafood wastes into a value-added products.

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project has technological developments that can extend the working lifetimes of oil and gas wells and improve total recovery of hydrocarbons. Aphron-Based Drill-In Fluids, a recent technical development, has created a new market for specialty biopolymers, such as xanthan gum. The Aphron-Based Drill-in Fluids are designed with aphrons (microbubbles of gas less than 100 microns in size) that are stabilized by xanthan gums. This biopolymer has an unusual property of elevated, low-shear-rate viscosity (LSRV) along with several other desirable properties. Chitosan, a naturally occurring polysaccharide produced from crustacean shells, and some of its derivatives have LSRV properties. We propose to extend the knowledge and testing of chitosan products in oil and gas drilling operations by field testing of chitosan products in aphron-based fluids. We propose to enhance the properties of chitosan through derivatization methods demonstrated in Phase I. We plan to contract with the University of Maryland to perform physical and chemical characterization and to establish a basic structure-function understanding for chitosan and chitosan derivatives. Because of some unusual properties such as low-shear-rate viscosity, acid solubility, and cationic properties, chitosan and chitosan derivatives have potential commercial applications in drilling fluids and drill-in fluids used to drill oil and gas wells. Although other potential commercial applications exist, The Venture Group will focus short-term on the commercialization of these products in the drilling fluid market. Long-term, other commercial applications of chitosan and its derivatives will be developed.