Wavefront Technology Solutions

Brett Davidson and University of Alberta professor Tim Spanos teamed up in 1997 to fulfill a need that they believed to exist in the onshore oil drilling industry. While working on oil well stimulation site in Alberta, Canada, Davidson heard from a friend in the industry that there was a need for fast, effective, and inexpensive stimulation treatment for oil wells. ^[5]

Because even after using the most sophisticated oil recovery techniques, oil companies only retrieve a fraction of the crude oil at their sites. The oil well will become too uneconomical to continue pumping because most of the remaining oil is stuck in the nooks and crannies between the rock and sand. ^[6]

Even after all work is done, around 60% of oil is left in the ground. With more than 200,000 fields in North America alone, extracting even as little as 10% more oil would translate to billions of more barrels of oil recovered. ^[2]

During primary recovery, the natural pressure of the reservoir or gravity drive oil into the wellbore, combined with artificial lift techniques (such as pumps) which bring the oil to the surface. But only about 10 percent of a reservoir's original oil in place is typically produced during primary recovery. ^[6]

But petroleum isn’t the only thing trapped in the earth. Water hides there too. Sooner or later, the reservoir begins producing water, along with oil, and it becomes uneconomical to continue. The oil companies typically then re-inject the water back into the reservoir. This stage of production is called secondary recovery. ^[6]

Water injection helps maintain downhole pressure so that oil can continue to flow. Water from the injection well is also used to sweep or push the oil towards the producing wells. But rock in the reservoir has varying permiabilities; the more permeable the rock is, the more easily the fluid can flow through. ^[6]

Unfortunately, water flows more readily than oil, and it always takes the path of least resistance. Once water creates a channel through the permeable rock to the producing wellbore, there is little benefit in injecting additional water. It only bypasses the oil instead of sweeping it ahead. The result is poor recovery from the reservoir. ^[7]

Wavefront Technologies’ patented technology was created to combat the “paths of least resistance”. In this way, the Powerwave and the Primawave share the same scientific principles. This technology, originally penned as "Power Pulse Technology", uses pulses to improve the liquid flow in the ground for improved oil recovery (IOR) in the energy sector and groundwater remediation in the environmental sector. These identical processes generate a fluid pulse that momentarily expands the pore structure of rock and soil. Liquid is then able to flow freely and more uniformly.^[8]

Early iterations of Wavefront Technologies’ Power Pulse Technology were penned the “Premier Pulse Tool”. The Premier Pulse Tool, or PPT for short, was a two-meter long steel mandrel with a valve system on top and inverted swab cups on the bottom. ^[5]

Using a standard well servicing rig, the PPT would be lowered to a location above the well perforations. The tool would then be raised up eight meters and dropped. This was done between 200-550 times over eight to 12 hours. ^[5]

This workover and field stimulation technique used steady, non-seismic pulse vibrations to knock out perforation blockage and create a tsunami-like wave effect that encouraged flow in the reservoir. ^[5]

This technology, utilized in both the Powerwave and Primawave, generates a fluid pressure pulse that causes a momentary elastic flexure of the pore structure. This pressure pulse moves fluid in and out of a larger number of pore networks, obtaining a more uniform injection front. ^[8]

Both the Powerwave and the Primawave share the same scientific principles. This technologies, originally penned as "Power Pulse Technology", uses pulses to improve liquid flow in the ground for improved oil recovery (IOR) and environmental groundwater remediation. This phenomena is necessary because of varying permeability in the soil and wellbore. These identical processes generate a fluid pulse that momentarily expands the pore structure of rock and soil. Liquid is then able to flow freely and more uniformly.

Wavefront Energy and Environmental Services Inc., was founded in 1997 under the name PE-TECH Inc. (Pulse Enhancement Technology Inc.).^[1] PE-TECH, a privately held company holding intellectual property operated three subsidiaries; Prism Production Technologies Inc., Wavefront Environmental Technologies Inc., and E2 Solutions Inc. (US subsidiary standing for "Energy and Environmental")^[1]. In 2000 the shareholders of the privately held PE-TECH Inc., entered into an agreement with a publicly listed company (or in this case a shell of a company) on the TSX Venture Exchange. A reverse takeover of that entity transformed PE-TECH Inc., from a privately held company to a publicly traded company under the name Wavefront Energy and Environmental Services Inc. For consistency in name branding Prism Production Technologies was renamed Wavefront Reservoir Technologies Inc., Wavefront Environmental Technologies was rolled into Wavefront Reservoir Technologies Inc. and E2 Solutions Inc. was renamed Wavefront Energy and Environmental Services USA Inc.^[1]

The basis for forming PE-TECH Inc. (Wavefront) in 1997 was to bring to market a game changing technology for the energy and environmental sectors. It was formed by technologist Brett Davidson and University of Alberta professor Kim Stanos. Professor Stanos had been working on the Pressure Pulse Technology in the lab for 16 years before teaming up with Davidson. They founded the company in 1997 and convinced oil producers to let them test in the field. PE-TECH Inc. secured a $416,000 grant and contributed an equal amount of their own money. The field test of the Pressure Pulse Technology increased the daily output of a declining reservoir from 120 to 220 barrels per day.

The technology was originally penned “Pressure Pulse Technology”. The original intent of the developers of the technology was to license it to service companies such as Schlumberger Limited and Halliburton. That goal proved difficult in the early days of the Wavefront given there was limited field data and only an abundance of laboratory data coupled to a rigorous theory.

Pressure Pulse Technology is used both in the Powerwave and Primawave products. The Premier Pulse Tool (PPT) was developed by Davidson and Tim Spanos in 1997. Davidson was working on a fracture stimulation near Lloydminster in Alberta when he heard about the need for fast, effective, and most importantly, inexpensive stimulation treatment.

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• Enhanced Oil Recovery
• Water injection (oil production)
• Flood
• Oil reserves
• Reservoir simulation
• Peak Oil
• United States oil politics
• Petroleum politics
• Energy security
• Oil sands
• Stripper well
• Workover
• Well intervention