ISOL8 Ltd, the oil & gas industry’s emerging market leader in zero emission wellbore barriers, has opened a state-of-the-art Thermite Module Manufacturing Facility within its Aberdeen premises.
Thermite modules play an integral part in creating isol8’s proprietary Fusion® bonded alloy barriers. These products provide the highest integrity wellbore barriers for every stage of the well lifecycle, from construction, to completion, intervention, and ultimately abandonment.
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They are formed by melting the alloy downhole with exothermic heat to form a seal at the desired setting depth within a well – with the heat generated by isol8’s range of proprietary engineered thermite compositions.
Andrew Louden, isol8 CEO said, “Previously, we produced our thermite modules at our R&D facility just outside of Seattle. We are extremely pleased, thanks to funding from both the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, to now be in a position to manufacture within our Aberdeen facility, which will bring significant cost and time savings for UKCS clients. Going forward, our US team will be solely focused on research and development into new solutions we can add to our growing product portfolio.”
The new manufacturing facility housed within isol8’s Aberdeen headquarters, represents an investment of more than £150,000. All equipment and materials in the facility’s interior – including dust extraction and lighting – are Atex Zone 22 compliant, having been fully tested and approved for safe use in hazardous and explosive atmospheres.
The Thermite Module Manufacturing Facility was officially opened on 19th April by Colette Cohen OBE, CEO of the Net Zero Technology Centre during a visit to the isol8 Aberdeen site.
Colette Cohen commented “The Net Zero Technology Centre has supported the development of isol8’s zero emission barrier technology since 2019 and I’m delighted to see them take the next step in their growth journey. Bringing production capability back home, with the opening of their manufacturing facility in Aberdeen shows real commitment to helping the north-east prosper and is testament to the region’s skill set. The journey from concept to commercialisation for any product is complex, marked by challenges and accomplishments, so it’s exciting to see isol8 lay a solid foundation on which to commercialise their product offering and ramp up operational capacity.”
isol8’s CEO Andrew Louden expressed the company’s gratitude to the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the Net Zero Technology Centre for their financial support during their start- up phase. He commented that the head office in Aberdeen is now scaling up to address the significant international demand for isol8’s metallurgically bonded alloy barrier technology. Isol8’s operations team are currently preparing tools for upcoming activity in Holland, Denmark and the UK, whilst the company is dealing with numerous enquiries from operators all around the globe.
In recent months isol8 increased their headcount by 30% and they anticipate the need to recruit a further 20-30 staff over the next 12-24 months.
