Over the past three years, Trican has developed more than 60 new cementing and stimulation products and 18 coiled tubing products, tools and processes, maintained 14 Canadian patent applications and authored 25 technical papers. This dedication to Research and Development has earned Trican recognition as an industry leader in providing innovative technical solutions to customers engaged in the development of oil and natural gas reserves.  It has also resulted in Trican being the only pumping services company to make the list of Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders in 2008 and 2009.

Trican’s commitment to R&D is further demonstrated by the 18,000 square-foot Research and Development Centre located in Calgary, Canada. The R&D Centre houses Trican’s Stimulation and Cement laboratories as well as the Coiled Tubing tool development facilities. The extensive facility also contains an array of state-of-the-art equipment that enables our Chemical and Petroleum Engineers, Environmental Specialists, Chemists, Biochemists and Earth Scientists to continue developing relevant products and procedural enhancements that deliver on customer expectations and contribute to the overall improvement of oil and gas field activities throughout the industry and around the world.

Cement Laboratory: The cement laboratory is equipped with specialized analytical equipment in order to perform all recommended API testing procedures for well cementing. Specific analytical capabilities include:

• Thickening Time
• Fluid Loss
• Ultrasonic Compressive Strengths
• Water Analysis
• High Temperature Cement Strengths
• Rheology Tests
• Low Temperature Strengths and Thickening Times
• Gas Migration
• Particle Size Analysis
• Static Gel Strength Analysis

Stimulation Laboratory: The stimulation laboratory conducts analyses in support of both stimulation and production services. Specific analytical services provided are outlined below.

• Triaxial Rock Mechanics
• Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy
• High temperature/High pressure frac fluid rheology studies
• Acid compatibility with formation water, oil, condensate and drilling mud
• Corrosion testing with H₂S/CO₂custom gas blend capability
• Solubility studies
• ICP (inductively coupled plasma) for water analysis and scaling tendency
• Wax/Asphaltene determination of solid and liquid hydrocarbons
• Reid Vapour Pressure and Flash points of fluids
• Solids identification through X-ray diffraction
• Elemental analysis with X-ray fluorescence
• Special core/clay/fluid analysis and performance evaluations
• Friction studies and fluid performance
• High pressure foam loop rheometer system

CT Tool Development: The Research and Development Centre includes a highly specialized Coiled Tubing tool development team that provides design, assembly and commissioning of new coiled tubing tools and applications.

Reservoir Characterization Laboratory: Trican’s CBM Solutions performs in-depth studies of unconventional reservoirs across North America and in other parts of the world. Our shale gas and CBM analytical techniques are designed for purpose and conventional rock analysis protocols have been customized specifically for shale and coal studies. These include:

• Field desorption and gas testing
• Stratigraphic and core logging analysis
• Quantitative mineralogy (both bulk rock and clay minerals) and geochemistry (trace and major elements)
• Gas composition and fractionation
• Quantification of sorbed, free and solution gas using Trican’s proprietary TOGIP modelling
• Adsorption isotherms for low T/P and high T/P reservoirs
• Effective porosity and permeability
• Stress dependent porosity and permeability (at in-situ and drawdown reservoir conditions)
• Complete rock mechanical testing (hydrostatic, uniaxial and triaxial compression) for stimulation design, log calibration and reservoir stress-path modelling
• Pore size distribution and accessibility
• Organic matter (OM) characterization, petrology and quantification of OM
• Organic thermal maturity