AquaNRG Selected to Add Screening Metrics for Sandia National Lab Wettability Technologies

HOUSTON, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Can oil and gas operators economically improve oil recovery and lower environmental footprint by altering the composition of injected brine? AquaNRG Consulting Inc. (AquaNRG), an environmental and energy technology company, has landed a new contract with NRG Systems Inc., a Sandia National Labs related licensor, to quantify that question.

AquaNRG advances next-generation diagnostic models for optimizing subsurface fluid-rock interactions and in this contract is developing an economic-environmental Screening Tool to apply patented Sandia wettability enhancement technology in improved oil recovery (IOR). Wettability describes the preference of a fluid, such as water or hydrocarbons, to stick to mineral surfaces. Applications of the technology include subsurface reservoir waterflooding, and remediation but also budding multiphase flow operations in the energy-environmental nexus such as carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS). AquaNRG will fortify the client's existing wettability alteration model to incorporate optimization of injectate chemistry and soak time for the complex input parameter space, including:

• chemistry-based modifications to injected fluids,
• operator rock property and engineering values, and
• various reactive fluid flow considerations.

Headquartered in Houston, AquaNRG offers access to simultaneous biogeochemistry and computational fluid dynamics or reactive transport models (RTM), including aiRock^TM, a SaaS-based and AI-enhanced web application. aiRock^TM leverages high-performance cloud computing for predictive subsurface modeling. NRG Systems, Inc. is a privately owned company and Licensing Lead in an IOR-focused CRADA with Sandia National Laboratories.

"The existing NRG Systems, Inc. model employs Sandia's technology to remarkably increase oil recovery while significantly reducing environmental costs.  This expanded linkage to cloud-based technical, financial, and regulatory resources will create an even more powerful tool for production planning and operations," noted Helmuth Heneman, NRG Systems' President.   

"We are extremely pleased to continue working with NRG Systems on Sandia's cutting-edge technology. This collaboration further underpins the strong synergies between two companies which focus on developing novel workflows for sustainable energy production. In this work, our interdisciplinary project team will enhance AquaNRG's core capabilities to add new modules that are critical in gaining concurrent insights with respect to IOR, quantity and quality of produced water, cost-saving, and CO₂ footprint per produced barrel," stated AquaNRG CEO and Founder Babak Shafei.

The Screening Tool effectively interfaces with industry data and other AquaNRG advanced subsurface services such as aiRock^TM to advance go/no-go screening metrics for subsurface wettability alteration technologies.

About AquaNRG:
Founded in 2017, AquaNRG has been awarded 3 prestigious Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants with the total amount of $1,400,000 from the US Department of Energy and National Science Foundation. AquaNRG's RTMs have already been used by major independent E&P companies, helping to increase energy production and optimization, IOR, and CCUS. Furthermore, other industries such as mining and nuclear waste management companies use these models, respectively, to forecast the extent of acid mine generation and movement, and assess transport in engineered barrier systems (repository safety).

For more information contact [email protected] or visit www.AquaNRGconsulting.com.

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SOURCE AquaNRG Consulting