Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HarshEnergy (Perpetual Sensing in Harsh Environments: Self-powered sensors for the Oil Gas industry) Période du rapport: 2017-09-29 au 2018-09-28 Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet The Oil & Gas Industry has the need to measure and control the physicochemical properties of its fluids, starting from the drilling and wellbore fluids, to the distribution and end-of-the-line refined products. Energy harvesting in harsh environments has a tremendous growth potential as the Oil & Gas Industry is moving towards the Industrial Internet of Things revolution. However, many times the available current technologies fail to deliver it due to the remote locations, harsh environments and extreme conditions. The usual well conditions consist in high pressure and high temperatures. In such conditions, most of the materials used for energy harvesting do not withstand their energy conversion efficiency. Most of the available prototypes (by other companies) obstruct the oil steam, require packer holes that decrease stream pressures, and hence are low efficient or simply too big and heavy. Therefore, the development of energy harvesting technology capable of feeding sensors analyzing and transmitting the fluids physicochemical data is an urgent need. This project aims for the development of prototypes composed of nanomaterials that integrate various technology combinations for energy harvesting in harsh condition (high temperature, high pressure).The objectives defined and approved for the 1-year program is described in Table 1, which shows the specific deliverables of the whole project. Table 1 - Deliverables defined in the beginning of the program.Deliverables Deliverables' name Work Package Type Delivery Schedule Delivery date1 Growth techniques and optimized materials 1 Report M4 5-Mar-20182 First functional prototypes 1 Prototype M6 5-May-20183 Optimized prototypes 1 Prototype M8 5-Jul-20184 Final prototype 2 Prototype M9 5-Aug-20185 Adaptable prototype 2 Prototype M12 5-Nov-20186 Report on prototypes and business plan 2 Report M12 5-Nov-2018At this point, we have developed adaptable prototype using the novel concept of highly efficient nanomaterials that convert fluid streams into useful energy. A small number of groups are working with the proposed technologies and none of them have reported downhole power generators. Furthermore, no other work has yet used micro and nanotechnology for downhole power generation. The use of micro and nanotechnology in power generation systems would have several advantages: they would be small, light, efficient, flexible and easily adaptable and could be used to feed various types of sensors. Also, our technology could avoid the use of energy cables, packer holes and flux obstructions, which would be extremely advantageous when compared to most of the technologies reported, since it would avoid pressure drops and it would simplify the system. Our system could also be adapted to avoid the contact of the crude oil stream with the generator, avoiding its exposure to the corrosive and abrasive environments, increasing its lifetime and reliability. Therefore, we believe that at this point we are at the forefront of this kind of generators. Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent "During this project, the description of work performed and main results is divided into 4 quarters;1st Quarter: October, November and December of 2017The first quarter was dedicated to research the best materials to develop the technology. Also, initial tests started to be made with the chosen materials.• A State-of-the-art bibliography was done to decide the best materials to be used in energy conversion in harsh environments;• Nine different types of materials were selected to be sampled and tested;• Resistance tests were performed in high temperatures and high pressures with the chosen materials;• Materials were optimized to build the generator;• Energy efficiency tests were performed with the samples of the chosen materials;2nd Quarter: January, February and March of 2018With the materials selected and sampled, the initial resistance and efficiency tests began to be made in high-temperature, high-pressure environments inside the laboratory.• Resistance and energy efficiency tests performed with the samples of the selected materials using crude oil at high temperature and high pressure;• Improvement of the test setup to correct flaws;• Selection of best materials among the tested ones;3rd Quarter: April, May and June of 2018The third quarter was dedicated to developing the prototype. The following activities were carried out: • Development of the experimental setups to be used to prove the concept of generating energy from turbulent flow;• Development of two possible prototype layouts:o Layout #1: testing energy generation in laboratory environment at ambient conditions;o Layout #2: testing with a closed loop system in which turbulent flow of water is induced;• Implementation of energy generation system;• Optimization of the assembled generator to maximize power output from a turbulent flow;• Energy efficiency tests with crude oil at high temperatures and high pressures;4th Quarter: July, August and September• Prototype was able to perform energy generation in a gaseous high-pressure environment, filled with nitrogen and methane, with different results for different gases;• Prototype was able to perform energy generation in an environment filled with crude oil at high pressures.• Reproducibility and stability tests were performed." Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent) "i.nanoEnergy a startup founded in Jan. 2016, focuses on providing consulting, designing and prototyping service of energy harvesting solutions to feed small electronic devices in remote places. The main area combines 2 emergent market segmentation namely related to Nanotechnologies and Energy Harvesting. i.nanoEnergy was granted a European project by the European Commission, funded under H2020-EU with mission of enhancing the innovation capacity of SMEs. The company is composed by 6 members, including 3 founders, 2 employees and 1 subcontracted. In this project year Nov. 2017-Oct. 2018, we successfully attained the promised objectives and delivered the following milestones, as stated in Table. 2.The project was able to progress from TRL-1 status to TRL-4 status.Table 2. Milestones and status # Milestones Status Specifics1 Materials under high temperature and pressure Achieved DL-12 Magnetic induction array system under high temperature and pressure Achieved DL-23 Optimized materials under high temperature and pressure Achieved DL-24 First functional prototype Achieved DL-35 Optimized prototype DL-46 Adaptable prototype with optimized electronics Achieved DL-57 Business model development Achieved DL-68 Patent Partially achieved Under evaluation by Patent office9 Research Manuscript Partially achieved To be communicated soon" Adaptable generator fitted in metal tube
