Increasing Pipeline Efficiency

10/24/2016

Assured Flow Solutions (AFS) is an oilfield chemistry and engineering firm focused on the oil and gas industry. Rooted in vigorous academic research, the company provides practical, world-class engineering services that are critical to getting oil and gas out of the ground and to market in an environmentally-safe and cost-effective manner.

AFS, along with other industry leaders, like BP, Shell, Phillips 66, Hallibuton’s Multichem, Chevron, Statoil, Total, and ConocoPhillips, is the member of a research consortium with the University of Michigan’s Department of Chemical Engineering. Working together, these key industry players have helped support the school’s long term petroleum flow related research and software development.

Recently AFS and the University reached a software licensing agreement for AFS to take on role of continued development of the Michigan Wax Predictor (MWP) modeling program, a technology developed by University of Michigan Professor Scott Fogler to address the problem of paraffin (wax) deposition in pipelines.

“Wax deposition represents one of the most severe challenges in the industry and it’s exciting that this new agreement will help push U-M technology forward to solve problems in the field,” explained Tommy Golczynski, AFS’s managing partner and U-M alum (’97 BS ChE).

AFS launched its lab earlier this year. The licensing agreement enables the company to integrate U-M technology into existing laboratory services as a standard part of what it offers oil and gas companies.

“We have competitors in the lab space or in the engineering space,” Golczynski explained regarding the value of the licensing agreement. “Our real competitive advantage is that we marry the engineering, hands-on lab testing, and the years of academic research into a consolidated offering.”

“The licensing agreement also gives us the chance to look ahead to strategic ways we can provide further benefit to the markets we serve,” he continued. “Now, we can move into the field, talk to oil and gas professionals, get our technology into their hands, and build on our core services based on their use and feedback.”

Going forward, Golczynski is committed to furthering AFS’s relationship with U-M. “For us, it’s interesting to stay connected to U-M,” said Golczynski. “It’s satisfying to be able to sponsor world-class academic research, and then take that and move it forward to market where it can provide real-world value.”