Postgraduate Chemistry 2018-2019

In this course, you will learn about the importance of cement and polymer materials in the oil and gas industry.  The chemistry of cements, including oil well cements and the role they play in decommissioning are discussed.   The chemistry underlying the durability of polymers in the service environment is discussed in terms of composition-property relationships. The course is supported by practical classes, in which you will investigate properties of polymers and cements. The associated planning and report writing provides you with a set of valuable transferrable skills.

Oil and gas exploration has often proven to be an intrinsic threat to the environment. In this course, you will learn how to assess and prevent risks, and recognise components of risk assessment. You will learn concepts of chemical and biological processes for environmental remediation, and how to critically compare and select remediation strategies for particular types of contamination, as for example oil spills in the sea or on land. Environmental toxicology topics will be covered. The course is supported by practical classes which will develop skills used in assessing and reducing the impact of chemicals.

Oil and Gas resources are limited, and modern techniques for oil extraction must provide high production efficiency.  The chemistry happening at interfaces play a vital role in both corrosion and enhanced oil recovery. The principles of corrosion and of corrosion protection and prevention will be covered in detail. You will also learn about the principles of enhanced oil recovery, which covers solid-gas interfaces and gas adsorption, thermodynamics of surface interactions and how surface chemistry can be applied to this task. The course is supported by practical classes to deepen your understanding the chemistry of interfaces.

Chemical analysis is essential in the production of oil and gas; it provides critical information for the full life cycle in the extraction of oil and gas. It provides critical data for assessing the quality of crude oil, monitoring the environment and provides information on the performance of production chemicals. In this course you will learn fundamental principles of instrumental analytical methods used in the oil and gas industry, such as infrared and UV-visible spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry, thermal analysis and X-ray powder diffraction. The course includes practical classes, in which you will get hands-on experience with relevant analytical techniques.

The discovery of novel compounds e.g. for cancer or antibacterial research and treatment is a major task in the life sciences. The key to successful characterisation of novel compounds is structure elucidation, which can be achieved by modern, advanced analytical techniques. In this course, you will learn about the background theory of analytical techniques with a focus on structural identification to gain in-depth knowledge with methods like elemental & molecular mass spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) for qualitative and quantitative determinations. The course will contain lectures, tutorials and invited lectures by experts in the field.

Metals are ubiquitous in the environment and in living things. They can be essential or toxic, and can occur in traces in biota and environmental samples. For the determination of trace levels of elements, advanced analytical methods can be used, based on atomic spectrometry. This course will provide in-depth knowledge of atomic emission, absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies, and mass spectrometry, featuring qualitative and quantitative aspects. Chromatography, combined with atomic spectrometry, is featured for trace element speciation, which allows distinguishing different metal compounds with varying toxicity. The course will contain lectures, tutorials and invited lectures by experts in the field.

In this course, you will learn how to perform instrumental analysis on modern analytical equipment. The course comprises a variety of experiments with modern instrumentation including atomic absorption/emission spectrometry, mass spectrometric methods, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, gas and liquid chromatography and atomic fluorescence spectrometry in practical lab sessions. It provides experience in data collection and data handling from modern instrumentation through practical experience in environmental and life science applications. Students learn about research dissemination, funding mechanisms, quality assurance and ethical issues.

An individual research mini-project is performed in the second term within the Environmental Analytical Chemistry program. This mini-project is performed within one of the research groups in the chemistry department involved in environmental and analytical research. This can comprise a range of topics, from method development e.g. for mercury analysis, to determination of new compounds in plants. You will build on the knowledge you have acquired in the first term. The work will be mainly carried out in research groups e.g. the trace element speciation laboratory Aberdeen, TESLA, or the Marine Biodiscovery Center, MBC.

In this course, you will learn the principles of distillation and fractionation, catalysis and Green chemistry. Environmental issues are tackled by understanding the chemistry and application of industrial scrubbers in oil and gas chemistry. The chemistry of natural gas utilisation is introduced and you will learn to identify suitable catalysts for key petrochemical processes and describe their mode of action and identify and discuss industrial approaches to environmental protection including aspects of green chemistry. 

Pipelines are widely used for the transport of oil and gas products under the sea, or over land. A variety of chemical compounds in these products can undergo physical and chemical changes which can result in problems ranging from the interruption in the flow of oil and gas through to catastrophic failure of infrastructure.  In this course, you will learn about general pipeline flow assurance and risks related to waxes, resins, asphaltenes, gas hydrates and scales. Chemical strategies for managing flow assurance are introduced and discussed. Flow assurance issues are put into practice in laboratory classes.

This course further broadens your experience gained in CM5038. You will be exposed to advanced analytical applications, aiming to introduce the chemical concepts behind the techniques applied in industrial analytical chemistry laboratories supporting oil and gas exploration and production facilities. Hands-on experience is provided in the form of laboratory-based practicals on industrially-relevant materials and scenarios. You will learn how to optimise analytical performance, carry out an experiment, collate and interpret your own data and present your result.

Students graduating from the Oil and Gas Chemistry course can have a variety of roles in the petrochemical industry. In this course, students will put into perspective how their chemistry knowledge is applied in oilfield, refinery or analytical environments. A series of lectures by experts working in the industry as well as site visits provide direct experiences in various technological sectors of the industry. This course will highlight how chemistry is applied in the industry, the impacts of chemicals on the environment as well as the commercial considerations that are taken in the process of extracting oil and gas.

This course is tailored to provide you with research skills with a focus on problem solving and team working experience. A PPME project (Project Planning and Management Exercise) is performed, which asks for planning, managing and results delivery for teams of 2-3 students. Project topics revolve around environmental and analytical work. Workshop style assignments are held; information prioritising, (short notice briefing on an analytical problem) and writing a grant proposal for a long term investigation. The course contains laboratory classes and workshops. Oral presentations and scientific writing are part of the course assessment.

An extended research project is the final part of the Oil and Gas Chemistry course. Students will carry out an individual research project using the knowledge and skills gained in first part of the degree to investigate a topic relating to the oil and gas sector. We aim to provide project placements in industry locally in and around Aberdeen. Each project is supervised by both a University supervisor and the industrial placement supervisor to ensure academic quality. Projects may also be conducted at the University of Aberdeen in a research group, related to oil and gas chemistry topics.

An extended research project is the last part of the Environmental Analytical Chemistry course. An individual research project topic is given to each student within the field of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry. This can comprise a range of scenarios, e.g. the life sciences, archaeology etc. You will build on the topics taught in the first parts of the degree. We aim to provide project placements in related research groups at the University of Aberdeen, or in research institutes (e.g. the Hutton Institute, Marine Lab) locally in and around Aberdeen. Projects are supervised by both a University supervisor and placement supervisor.