Joint research with Argonne Lab will save millions for SoCalGas

Business Wire, April 20, 1995

ARGONNE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 1995--The nation's largest natural gas distribution company, Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), expects to save millions of dollars in operating costs thanks to a joint research project with the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory.

``We're projecting savings of about a million dollars a year in operating costs at our Montebello (Calif.) underground gas storage field.'' said Robert Skultety of SoCalGas,'' and the project has only been underway since June.''

The three-year, $1.7 million project aims at reducing the millions of dollars the chemical, gas, oil, nuclear and water industries spend each year to control corrosion and bacteria in pipelines. It could also help the environment by reducing the use of chemicals and by finding more environmentally friendly chemicals to do the job.

The project's early success has attracted interest from Baker Performance Chemicals, Houston, and Nalco Chemical Company, Naperville, Ill., Skultety said. Both companies have expressed interest in joining the project.

The project focuses on ``microbiologically influenced corrosion,'' which costs U.S. companies about $200 million a year in water treatment chemicals alone.

In the small percentage of pipeline systems where water collects, bacteria can act as enivronmental catalysts to stimulate corrosion, said Argonne scientist Jim Frank. Colonies that include serveral kinds of bacteria can form deposits on metal surfaces, build slime layers and produce organic acids that accelerate corrosion and pitting inside pipes.

The operating-cost reduction at Montebello was achieved by using a quaternary amine instead of the usual glutaraldehyde to fight bacteria in the pipes.

``The amine is kinder to the environment and retains its effectiveness, so we don't need to keep adding it,'' said Frank. ``It appears to coat the inside of the pipes, making it harder for bacteria to attach and form colonies.''

In the 10 months since the project started, SoCalGas has experienced only one corrosion-related failure at its Montebello field, where we're using the amine. The joint research project is also looking at new ways to detect microbiologically influenced corrosion, which is difficult to detect because it takes place in limited parts of pipe systems.

The SoCalGas-Argonne project is a ``cooperative research and development agreement'' (CRADA). CRADAs are designed to foster cooperative research between industry and government labs by offering industry streamlined government approval, protection of joint data, and advantageous rights to patents and other intellectual property from the joint research.

SoCalGas is providing $845,000 in materials and effort, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Research/Laboratory Technology Transfer Program is providing $840,000 in materials and effort through Argonne.

With more than 200 different research programs in basic and applied science, Argonne is one of the nation's largest federally funded scientific laboratories. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratory system. -0-

   Editors:  James R. Frank is a resident of Glen Ellyn, Ill
   This and other news about Argonne is available on the Internet's
   World Wide Web at ''http://www.anl.gov/OPA/newsmenu.html''.
   Argonne's WWW Home Page is at ''http://www.anl.gov/''.

CONTACT: Argonne

Dave Baurac, 708/252-5584

or

SoCalGas

Michelle Bagley, 213/244-3030