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INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research

BrazilNorway Production Optimization Consortium

Alternative title: BrasilNorge-konsortium for produksjonsoptimering

Awarded: NOK 2.7 mill.

The term Production optimization implies methodologies that use mathematical models and optimization in combination with real-time data. Products and services are implemented in software. Production optimization adds value by increasing productivity in existing oil fields without any large capital expenditure. This is accomplished through improved utilization of existing production and datasystem infrastructure. Production optimization is also widely applicable outside oil and gas production. Some examples are the process industries and energy distribution systems. The project has supported multiple activities related to education and research on production optimization for petroleum production, including: -Short-term visits by faculty members -Extended stays by MSc and PhD students -Arranging an annual 2-day workshop on production optimization at Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro -Establishing an agreement for the joint PhD degree for one candidate. The agreement can serve as a template for future joint PhD degrees. -Establishing a specialization course on 'Mixed integer optimization in energy and oil and gas systems' for NTNU Master students. -Joint conference and journal publications. -Contributing to the development of the open source FieldOpt software for optimization-based field development.

The project has resulted in renewed and extended contacts between NTNU and Brazilian academia (primarily UFSC, but also other universities) and industry (Petrobras, IBM Research, etc.) active in the area of petroleum production optimization. -The project has funded shorter visits by faculty at UFSC and NTNU, as longer stays by Master and PhD students. -A specialization course on 'Mixed integer optimization in energy and oil and gas systems' has been developed and taught every year throughout the project for students at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics at NTNU. -An annual workshop has been arranged at Petrobras in Rio every year, with both from the academic and industrial participation. -The project has lead to five joint publications in scientific journals and conferences, with a sixth one being submitted to a journal. -The project has contributed to the development of the open source FieldOpt software for petroleum field development.

The Centre for Research-based Innovation (SFI) on Integrated Operations for the Petroleum Industry ('IO Center') has developed close links between the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) and NTNU within Production Optimization. This cooperation is anchored on a strategic level through an MOU. The collaboration has been further strengthened through cooperation with industry partners in Norway and Brazil. Cooperation is characterized by mobility of researcher and students, workshops and seminar series, joint publications and joint supervision of students. The IO Center started in 2007 and ends in 2015. This proposal will continue and expand cooperation with Brazil by taking advantage of a platform that has been established during the latter 5 years. This will further excel research and education within Production optimization. The term Production optimization include methodologies that use mathematical models and optimization in combination with real-time data, and includes software implementation. These methods are widely applicable; in oil and gas production, the process industries, the maritime sector and energy distribution systems to mention a few sectors. The project activities stress the importance of exchange on all levels, i.e. student, researcher and faculty member exchange. Further, there will be a series of workshops, seminar series and joint courses, which include industry partners. The project will take advantage of a new and unique laboratory at UFSC. Publications with joint authorship and emphasis on level 2 publications are important as a measure of research excellence. The research itself will performed through external PhD projects. The current proposal, however, will embed research results into courses and seminars. The aim is to continue collaboration beyond 2018. Thus, the project includes startup of new activities, in particular two double degree PhDs and launching of a new joint research project.

Funding scheme:

INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research