June 13, 2016
13th June 2016. This month two Training Centre PhD students start the first of their industrial placements with Woodside Energy Ltd as part of the of the ARC ITTC for LNG Futures. Temi Kuteyi and Fernando Perez will spend the next six months part-time in the Woodside Energy Perth office modeling the fluid and heat transfer characteristics in oil and gas pipelines. Dr. Paul Pickering of Woodside Energy who is a Partner Investigator for the Training Centre will supervise the students throughout their placements.
Temi Kuteyi started her Training Centre PhD in March 2016 and is studying Under Inhibition of Gas Hydrates. Her research has the potential to reduce the amount of hydrate chemicals injected into pipelines resulting in lower operating costs, leaner plant design and enabling increased production for existing assets. Temi is currently planning experiments where she will use High Pressure Sapphire Autoclaves to measure viscosities and make visual observations of hydrates as they form.
Fernando Perez started his Training Centre PhD in February 2016 and is studying Boil Off Gas in LNG Transportation and Storage. Boil Off Gas represents inventory losses to the LNG industry but also significant safety concerns if auto-stratification of the LNG occurs. Fernando is currently designing and building a new experimental apparatus to study the temperature and heat transfer profiles of LNG in vessels..
From left: Temi Kuteyi, Dr. Paul Pickering, Fernando Perez
The Training Centre has funding for 12 PhD students and each is required to spend a year in industry throughout the course of their research. This offers a fantastic opportunity for students to gain industry experience in their field and also to promote strong links with industry. Centre Manager, Leigh Hucker is currently seeking opportunities for student placements.
The ARC ITTC for LNG Futures is an Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre based at UWA. The Training Centre is funded for five years with $5 million from the Australian Research Council and $4 million from nine major oil and gas companies. Research partners include the CSIRO, Curtin University and the Universities of Queensland, Adelaide and Melbourne.
