Christopher Daeffler
Dr. Christopher Daeffler has been a product development engineer for oilfield chemistry at Schlumberger for six years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.
After completing graduate work in organic synthesis and polymer chemistry, Daeffler applied himself to solar energy research at a startup company, where his efforts resulted in the award of several patents.
Leadership: Daeffler’s first project at Schlumberger was in natural gas foam fracturing, but within a year he started to investigate new technologies for acid stimulation. One of the goals of this research was to deliver a new tool that could extend the productive life of reservoirs.
Daeffler was an ideal scientist to break down conventional technical barriers. He was trained to think of interactions and reactions at the atomic scale, which helps address problems in oilfield chemistry from the bottom up. Daeffler became an integral member of the research team that included coworkers Mohan Panga, Dmitriy Usoltsev, Julia Fernandez del Valle, Jacob Kariampally and Maxim Nikolaev.
Accomplishments: With the support of this team, Daeffler introduced the OpenPath Reach extended-contact stimulation service, which includes a new carbonate treatment fluid that alleviates many of the issues with older acidizing technologies. He took the new fluid from laboratory concept to field implementation, with commercialization in late 2016.
The technology comprises acid stimulation modeling and design, pumping and a novel single-phase retarded acid system. The acid system solves the problems of legacy emulsified acid systems while maintaining – and in some cases, improving –performance in high-temperature reservoirs. Simplified wellsite preparation allows fluid to be prepared continuously, which introduces efficiencies and time-saving advantages. The single phase makes the system compatible with friction reducers, enabling high-rate acid fracturing and coiled tubing matrix acidizing jobs to deliver improved performance and treatment uniformity across a long wellbore. This technology has been deployed in eight countries on dozens of wells.
The fluids development project resulted in eight patent filings (of which two have been granted to date) and seven technical papers.
Currently, Daeffler focuses on operations technical support for Schlumberger North American stimulation operations through the OneStim organization. In this role, he investigates new hydraulic fracturing additives, teaches classes on oilfield chemistry and helps to ensure the technically robust delivery of chemical products across OneStim high-volume operations.
Perspective: “The innovative spirit of this Schlumberger team was built from diverse backgrounds united by the belief that we should continuously strive to create more efficient and responsible technologies for the energy industry.”