OIL secures patent jointly with Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Our Staff Correspondent

Dibrugarh, July 10: Close on the heels of securing its first ever patent grant recently, the R&D Department of OIL added another feather to its cap by securing a patent jointly with IIT Madras, Chennai. The Indian Patent Office has granted the patent for an invention titled ‘Formulations for dissolution of petroleum sludge or waxes and method for evaluation thereof’ which was filed in November, 2013. The invention is based on a 2-year research project, carried out during 2013 and 2014, between IIT Madras, Chennai and the R&D Department of OIL. During the project, a special class of compounds known as ionic liquids were investigated successfully for dissolving sludge that accumulates at the bottom of crude oil storage tanks and also for dissolving paraffin wax that is removed from pipelines during pigging operations. The research has significance not only for enhancing efficiency of oil production, but has the potential to mitigate environmental impact of oilfield operations.