In North America, built-up wax in crude oil pipelines compromises oil flow, resulting in millions of dollars lost due to removal expenses. Honeya Shahin, a senior research chemist at SECURE, creates cost-effective, advanced chemical solutions to significantly reduce wax formation and restore flow.
“One of the biggest problems faced in oilfields is wax buildup,” says Shahin. Daily, Shahin tests customers’ wax samples using various leading technologies at our Edmonton SECURE lab. Her equipment includes a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC 4000), Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID), Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) and Viscometers, among others.
Shahin simulates customer cases using cold fingers. Cold fingers are cool metal rods that act like pipelines. Shahin places cold fingers in heated samples of her customers’ wax, wherein wax builds up against the finger as it cools, like in a pipeline. By observing the temperature at which wax appears, along with other data collected from lab technology, e.g., wax hardness, Shahin tests SECURE’s solutions against the sample.
After evaluating the effectiveness of SECURE’s products, Shahin recommends the most cost-effective solution tailored to customer needs. She avoids prescribing the most intensive and costly treatment if the wax removes easily; this results in substantial savings compared to competitors who apply a one-size-fits-all solution regardless of the wax type.
While Shahin uses cold fingers to determine effectiveness, developing new formulations relies on a range of advanced laboratory equipment and analytical techniques.
Preventative measures customers take using SECURE’s solutions mean they can avoid expensive remediation and enhance pipeline pigging. This can lead to less time spent by operations on pigging and dealing with wax problems.
Overall, Shahin’s work at SECURE in paraffin technologies helps maintain uninterrupted crude oil production for customers and infrastructure longevity.
Women in STEM
With over 12 years of experience in chemical research and innovation, Shahin has established herself as a leading scientist in paraffin management, polymer chemistry and material science. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Alberta, where she conducted groundbreaking research in metabolomics, focusing on metabolite behaviour and their derivatives in biological systems.
Shahin’s diverse scientific background includes photoluminescent materials (materials that harness the ability to absorb and re-emit light for advanced applications), as well as the development of batteries and supercapacitors using natural resources. She has made significant contributions to linker chemistry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, expanding the analytical capabilities of chemical research.
At SECURE, she engineered company-patented paraffin inhibitors, defining industry benchmarks for wax control. Her latest innovation helped to eliminate severe wax buildup in a customer’s pipeline. She delivered near-total paraffin reductions, even with lower-than-expected treatment rates.
The inhibitor is “proving to be one of the most efficient solutions currently available,” she states.
Shahin explains that through her work, she realizes her passion for creating. Further, at SECURE, she has felt incredibly supported by all her teammates and supervisors. For girls and women looking to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Shahin’s advice is to not give up.
“That is my code all my life,” says Shahin.
“Never get disappointed, everything has a solution. Dig in more, work more, study more. If there’s something you want, go for it.
“My career has been defined by scientific innovation, technical expertise and a commitment to advancing industry standards. Over the years, I have pioneered breakthroughs in paraffin control, introducing solutions that have fundamentally reshaped the way producers manage wax-related challenges.”
Other Works
As a published researcher, Shahin’s most notable papers include:
1. MagMet: A fully automated web server for targeted nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics of plasma and serum
2. Automated Beer Analysis by NMR Spectroscopy
3. Automatic Chemical Profiling of Wine by Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy