3 Messages, 2 Countries, 1 Abstract
'Van Conrad' North America Tour 2024
When we posted earlier this year on the importance of accurate water sampling in system design, we did not expect where it might take us. Like any good band, we thought we had “something interesting” that folks may want to hear - and we were pretty proud of the content - but were still testing out the best way to play the notes. We opted for an Adam Sandler-inspired Waterboy montage to communicate some important and complex issues…but it’s hard to take those messages too seriously.
We eventually turned this into a more formal scientific abstract entitled “Case study: The importance of accurate water samples in assessing scale risk and designing MRU solids handling”, submitting it to a few technical conferences, each with very different audiences. While the topic is holistically-important for asset development, there were specific technical nuances that are hard to communicate unilaterally. Hence, the idea to use the same talk, but highlight three (3) different themes in three (3) different venues. Lo and behold, all three abstract submissions were successful.
With that, we are about to embark on our 2024 North American Summer Tour this month. Come check us out at the following tour stops:
Petrophase (Merida, Yucatan, Mexico): 14-Aug
Session: Flow and Production Assurance
Conference Theme: Academia and Industry Meet
In its 24th year, Petrophase is one of the preeminent industry events to discuss all things phase behavior (hydrocarbon PVT, solids, fouling, etc). Our focus will be understanding salt content in produced water samples and methods to avoid scale-induced fouling. Getting to the basics of how we collect, analyze, and interpret water samples in a practical world of non-ideal data (i.e. short duration well tests, drilling fluid contamination, etc.) can help bridge some of the gaps between academia and industry.
<Side note: if you are wondering about the academic slant of the talk, they even made Tommy an honorary Dr for the acceptance letter. An obvious oversight, particularly if they saw his organic chemistry test scores at Michigan>
Deepwater Technical Symposium (New Orleans, LA, USA): 16-Aug
Session: Production Systems
Conference Theme: Provide a platform for industry experts to share knowledge, best practices, new technologies, and process improvements
In its 27th year, Deepwater Technical Symposium is a more operations-focused audience, bringing a very ‘real world’ focus to production challenges in the heart of the Gulf of Mexico. Our focus will be the implementation and operational impact of engineering design assumptions. Working with pre-production fluid samples that drive equipment design has a long-lasting effects on operating efficiency and reliability. Understanding those impacts at the design stage can lead to more robust field performance.
<Side note: given our original story arc had a Cajun-inspired Waterboy theme, is there any better place to resurrect that message than New Orleans?>
American Chemical Society (Denver, CO, USA): 21-Aug
Session: Division of Inorganic Chemistry, Sustainable Energy & Environment
Conference Theme: Elevating Chemistry
In its 148th year (!!), American Chemical Society is one of the world’s largest scientific foundations. Their mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people, improving lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Our focus will be on water chemistry and the environmental impacts for salt disposal. After getting hydrocarbons to surface, we are left to responsibly dispose of any ancillary materials (i.e. salts/solids), which can find themselves throughout the process streams. How to responsibly meet any discharge requirements through accurate characterization and equipment design is part of being a responsible operator and good corporate steward for the environment. All with a hard-core chemistry focus.
Encore
Tommy spent time this summer in Europe, seeing some famous and aging bands (Metallica and AC/DC, just to name a few). He already missed Van Halen during a COVID cancellation and now can’t re-capture that (RIP Eddie VH). Thus, a focused effort to see these bands before they hang it up.
If you are wondering who you get from Pontem (Van Halen vs. Van Haggar), you will only be seeing Dr. Conrad on the Pontem 2024 NA Tour on lead vocals. But who knows, everyone loves a guest appearance so maybe Tommy will crash one of these.
Considering Pete just turned 50 last week, like the other aging rock stars, this may be your last chance to see him too…so grab your ticket and check him out, coming to a theater (or Conference Room A) near you.
