Aramcon Qiwei Wang earns international award for work fighting corrosion

Dr. Qiwei Wang will immediately tell you not to call him doctor, but by his first name, which is pronounced like chewy. His laughter is genuine, his openness evident, and you get a sense that he is a person who loves what he does. 

Wang, who serves as a Technical Services Division (TSD) research science consultant with the Research and Development Center (R&DC) has just been awarded the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) International Technical Achievement Award. The award ceremony was held during the NACE Annual Conference in May. The award, given to a maximum of five NACE members per year, was in recognition for his outstanding contributions in technical advancements for oil field scale management, which focuses on finding innovative solutions to reduce solid deposits that grow over time, which hinders fluid flow through pipelines, valves, and pumps. 

Tim Bieri, chair of the Association for Materials Protection and Performance, said, “It is an honor to recognize the extraordinary efforts and achievements of our members like Dr. Qiwei Wang who have done so much to advance the association and the industry.”

‘Curiosity’ is the key

Wang’s career, which spans 25 years, 190 completed projects, 20 patent applications, 180 publications, including seven book chapters, is indicative of his zest and the sheer enthusiasm he has for what he does.  

Curiosity is important. When I took engineering as an undergraduate, I realized I needed to study physics. Physics drove me to chemistry. Chemistry led me to an amazement about water. To understand the chemistry, the very nature and physics of water, I pursued a Ph.D. in oceanography from Texas A&M University.
— Dr. Qiwei Wang

Wang never imagined he would work in the oil and gas industry, but as he explained to me, he became fascinated with the iron sulfide that forms as sediment on the bottom of the ocean and is a major aspect of the evolution of the Earth. He said how — in his pursuit against iron sulfide — he went on a search for jobs to pursue his interest in eradicating iron sulfide. It was this way that he discovered how his work could morph into a career. 

It was in this way that Wang began his career, working at first as a research scientist for Nalco Champion and then as a team coordinator/senior specialist on scale management where he led the development of many new products and treatment programs for mature fields, deep-water, and unconventional applications. In 2011, after reading an article about scale management in the Saudi Aramco Journal of Technology, he decided he would join the team at Aramco’s R&DC. 

Among many other projects at Aramco, Wang led the development of scale treatment programs for Ghawar, Khurais, Abu Safah, and Central Arabia oil fields, sour and sweet gas producers, crude producing facilities, and gas plants. He led the multidisciplinary team on a downhole scale study for Khuff gas wells. 

Keeping on top of the game

An avid reader of industry papers, Wang says that he always keeps abreast of emerging challenges and developments in the industry. His passion, a project he really wants to pursue in the future, is a way to develop novel, multifunctional oil field chemicals using local raw materials. 

“New formulations, new chemistry, and new deployments of technology for scaling prevention are necessary.” 

Wang is currently working on mitigating solid deposition in the electric submersible pump systems.