The 11 laboratories at the CSTJF, originally created to meet the needs of the Exploration & Production branch, develop competencies that today help them to provide solutions to the new environmental challenges TotalEnergies faces. This article gives an overview of the capabilities of our equipment and the integrated strength of our teams of laboratory technicians and engineers. Our laboratories are constantly adapting to the questions raised by affiliates and operations - this experience serves to build customized solutions tailored to meet the needs of the affiliates, and fulfil the Company’s ambition.
DRILLING & WELLS, accompanying the energy transition
The three Drilling & Wells laboratories support drilling campaigns by proposing solutions that ensure borehole stability and integrity, as well as solutions to make sure that the wells are good injectors or good producers. The activities originally dedicated to hydrocarbon production can be easily adapted to other energy transition issues, such as CO₂ or hydrogen storage, or the characterization of geomaterials
- Fluids and Cement Laboratory (F&C lab)
The F&C lab, directed by Sandrine Annet-Wable, specializes in the design and quantification of drilling fluids (base oils, brines and drilling muds) cement slurries. It has 90 items of ISO/API certified apparatus that can run tests at temperatures between 1 and 300°C, and at pressures of up to 2,000 bar. It comes into play in the Oil & Gas sector to ensure good drilling conditions, borehole stability in-situ conditions, and well integrity. It’s a laboratory that contributes to sectors related to the energy transition for issues such as CO₂, storage, biosourced products, hydrogen storage, etc. but could also meet the needs of future projects involving polymers, wind energy and hydraulic dams. - Reservoir Well Interface Laboratory (RWI lab)
The RWI lab, directed by Marie-Héléne Alves, has accompanied TotalEnergies’ Drilling & Well activities for decades. It develops research programs and tests in different sectors including reservoir integrity, sand control, stimulation, hydraulic fracturing and water management. Today, the RWI lab aims to accompany the energy transition and, in particular, CO₂ and hydrogen storage. Two gas injection units have been deployed with the University of Lille to develop competencies regarding injection in porous media. - Geomechanics Laboratory (GM lab)
The GM lab, directed by Pierre Barlet, is recognized for its expertise in the measurement of rock mechanics and acoustics, to study their behaviors in different environments. These are crucial safety and efficiency measurements used by Oil & Gas, and by geological storage projects. The GM lab is more and more frequently called upon for environmental projects - to examine rock integrity for CO₂ storage, the long-term interaction between salt and cement in hydrogen storage sites, etc.