Our R&D Lab

Our lab, located in The Woodlands, Texas, is equipped with a diverse array of advanced instruments, including an ICP-OES, rheometers, and a flow loop system. These state-of-the-art tools enable us to conduct comprehensive analyses and simulations that address complex challenges in oil field chemistry.

Led by James W. Ogle PhD., a seasoned innovator with over 60 patents to his name, our team has achieved several breakthroughs, introducing cutting-edge products and developing novel insights into oil field chemistry. Dr. Ogle’s extensive expertise in innovation positions our lab at the forefront of research and development in this field.

Designed with collaboration in mind, our lab is set up to work directly with customers to develop tailored solutions. With the ability to analyze and simulate field water conditions, we ensure that the products and solutions we create are not only innovative but also meet the real-world demands and criteria of oil field operation

AET Innovation Center

Focus

The Innovation Center is strategically located adjacent to our corporate headquarters in the heart of The Woodlands.  Proximity to nearby chemical companies with adjacent chemistry and core manufacturing allows AET to rapidly collaborate and validate new developmental products and rapidly deploy these to our manufacturing sites and the field.

AET Innovation’s focus is in energy, specifically in upstream oil and gas.  Hydraulic fracturing is a specific interest of ours, and the team has extensive background in the development, production, and deployment of friction reducers, surfactants, scale inhibitors, biocides, clay control, and crosslinked fluids used outside US land.  The team also has a strong background in coiled tubing, drilling, cementing and production chemicals.

Philosophy

AET Innovation adds value to end users by developing and providing synergistic and efficient products that are either not available or not obvious from other suppliers.  We believe that respect, trust and innovation are the cornerstones of our technology organization.  Many providers produce a minimally functional product with the expectation that their customer will provide feedback to improve it: at AET, we provide fully functioning products that will work as proscribed, primarily due to constant communication with end use customers and AET Commercial and Operation arms during the development process – feedback is welcome, of course, and goes to developing later generations of products.

Operations

Regular communication and buy-in from operations, commercial, and regulatory groups verify constant viability and recommend adjustments to products as they move from lab phase to plant production and to the field.  Products do not leave the laboratory without being perfectly represented by what would be generated from a manufacturing site, and extensive quality assurance checks are performed with plant made batches of new products before deployment.  In short, AET makes sure that we’re able to manufacture and provide new products before they are sent to a customer to verify for themselves how the products will perform.

Capabilities

The Innovation Center has 7500 square feet dedicated to high end chemistry capabilities for reaction testing and analysis, performance testing equipment specific to energy needs, and analytical instruments dedicated to both basic analysis and challenges from our customers.  The table below is a partial list of instrumentation and capabilities.

Core Chemistry Tools​	​	Performance Testing Equipment​	​	Water Analysis Instruments​
HT Reaction Glassware​	​	Analytical Rheometer (multiple uses)	​	ICP-OES (salt content)
Lipholizer​	​	HPHT Viscometer (thick fluids)	​	Karl-Fischer Titration (water)
High shear mixing​	​	HPHT Rheometer (multiple uses)	​	UV-Vis Spectrophotometer (organic impurities)
Distillation​	​	Viscometers (multiple uses)	​	Conductivity (TDS)​
Precision Dosing​	​	Dynamic Fluid Loss (Cw and spurt)	​	Titration​
LT Heat Testing​	​	Fluid Loss (Cw and spurt)	​	pH ​
HT Reaction Heater​	​	Gel Permeation Chromatography (Polymers)	​	Colorimeter​
Closed Atmosphere Stirring​	​	Lubrisometer (Lubricants)	​	Melting Point Apparatus (purity)
Fume Hoods​	​	IFT-Rheology Cell (Surfactants)	​	Flash Point Testing (DOT and HSE)
HT Drying​	​	Tribology-Rheology Cell (Lubricants)	​	​
Precision Mass Balance​	​	Soxhlet Extraction (SARA)	​	​
HT Heat Testing​	​	Amott Cells (imbibition)	​	​
Solids Separation​	​	Flow Loop (FRs)	​	​
Non-contact High Energy Mixing​	​	Du Noüy Ring (Surfactants)​	​	​
Microscopes​	​	Goniometer (surfactants)​	​	​
Dynamic Dosing Equipment​	​	Cold Finger System (Paraffin/Asphaltene)​	​	​