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A Scalable Pipeline For Your Commercial Microfluidic Workflow
Operating microfluidic testing at a commercial scale generates large volumes of data, primarily images, setting it apart from most lab tests. Some tests can generate thousands of .TIFF images and multiple sensor logs each with thousands of points. Managing this data through a robust pipeline is critical for a lab to be able to reach commercially viable throughput. This blog explores the data management problems associated with running commercial volumes
SapphireLab: Your Lab’s New Multifunctional Powerhouse
Imagine a single device in your lab that can do it all—just like your smartphone does for your daily life. These days, the average person in North America uses about 10 apps on their smartphone per day and about 30 apps per month1, without much thought about how amazing it really is. The smartphone is small enough to fit in a pocket but enables us to do more on the
Interface Fest 2024
September is always a special month for Interface Fluidics as it is the time we come together for our annual team event—Interface Fest! Every year, our team gathers from across Canada—Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, and more—to meet at our Edmonton office and lab. It is a time to connect, grow, and collaborate on the future of Interface Fluidics. My InterFest journey began early on the morning of September 4th with a
SapphireLab around the world
Since December 2023, the Interface Fluidics Team has been hard at work building two of the most advanced high-pressure microfluidics systems in the world. PTT Exploration and Production Company (PTTEP), with a lab based just north of Bangkok, and The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC Rio) ordered these SapphireLab systems to enhance their laboratory capabilities for both fluid property measurements and characterization of flow through porous media.
Enhancing the Accuracy of Reservoir Models using Microfluidic Testing
At Interface Fluidics, we view microfluidic fluid testing as a crucial component in managing operations. The workflow highlighted here underscores the importance of screening and monitoring fluid performance as a part of an iterative process. This approach aims to enhance the efficiency of field operations by providing studies of realistic fluid-fluid interactions. Commonly, there are a variety of tools used to help better manage subsurface oil recovery operations, one of
On-Chip Oil Swelling Measurement for Gas Injection
Why Gas Injection? With main reservoirs being depleted over several decades of primary and secondary production stages, tertiary recovery or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods seem to be the most viable approach to continue producing from these reservoirs. Gas injection (for example, hydrocarbon gases, flue gases, and CO2) for EOR purposes has gained a lot of interest for its operational and environmental implications. Alleviating the climate change issues because of
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro Acquires Interface Fluidics’ SapphireLab for Advanced Fluid Analysis
May 3, 2024 CALGARY, Alberta – The Laboratory of Microhydrodynamics and Flow in Porous Media (LMMP/PUC-Rio) from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC Rio) has recently acquired SapphireLab, Interface Fluidics’ groundbreaking microfluidic platform, to enhance its fluid analysis capabilities. SapphireLab, known for its precision and efficiency in fluid property measurements, will be instrumental in advancing the university’s research and development endeavors. “SapphireLab is revolutionizing how fluid analysis is
Flowback to the Future: Optimizing Frac Chemistry Amid Uncertain Produced Water Chemistry
Introduction From 2000 to 2014, the volume of water typically used for fracing an oil well in the United States increased from 177,000 gallons to over 4 million gallons. This surge in demand, combined with concerns over the depletion of freshwater aquifers is leading oil and gas producers to increasingly use produced water when designing chemical packages for hydraulic fracturing operations. Although this shift is environmentally beneficial, produced water introduces
School of Hardnocks To Fluids Matter
In 2015, I found myself standing at a crossroads, wrestling with a challenging decision. My friend Tom was trying to convince me to leave the well-trodden career path I was on at Canadian Natural Resources, and start a company to solve a problem that we were both struggling with in our day to day, rather than fix it from the inside. After 5 years, I was looking for a new
From Dorm Room to PVT On A Chip, Interface Fluidics Founder’s Story
1992:When I was three years old, I moved to Houston Texas where my dad was specializing in microsurgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center. I was three years old at the time. We were there for one year. While I was in Houston, we visited Space Center Houston. I was in love with all the amazing technologies there. I proudly told my parents that I wanted to be a “microtechnologist” when
Crude Oil Fluorescence: An Application of Image Processing
Interface Fluidics use of imaging sets us apart from other reservoir-fluid testing companies. This arsenal of physical and digital systems opens a window to how fluids behave at the pore scale – providing phase behaviour information critical to building computer reservoir models. Interface’s fluid-fluid compatibility studies are conducted using reservoir-mimicking microfluidic chips, under powerful digital microscopes. Image results captured are then processed through computer vision to quantify chemical performance. In
Developing a Portable Lab: Engineering Perspectives
When Interface Fluidics started working on SapphireLab, we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy road. From mobilizing our portable lab units to engineering the hardware, every single person at Interface played a part in making a commercial product. After all, this innovative fluid analysis system is poised to take testing to the next level – helping de-risk decision making, especially for the offshore industry where operations tend to