The Offshore Industry is concerned with all aspects of oil and gas exploration and production, and in the longer term also with the decommissioning of off-shore facilities. The Industry has an enormous economic impact on the North-East and on the UK as a whole. There are wider links also with oil and gas production in other parts of the world.
Chemistry contributes in many ways to this Industry. Geochemists are intimately involved in the exploration phase. Materials used in production such as oil well and pipeline components, chemicals to aid oil recovery, filters and other aids to product purification, corrosion inhibitors etc, are developed by synthetic chemists. Performance monitoring is undertaken by analytical chemists. Environmental chemists deal with all of the environmental consequences of oil and gas production. Lifetime issues such as corrosion and corrosion protection also require input from chemists. The eventual decommissioning of off-shore platforms, or their possible conversion to other uses such as wind farms or wave energy collectors, will raise many new problems requiring chemical solutions.
Chemistry staff in Aberdeen are undertaking research in a number of these areas. The Scottish Offshore Materials Centre (SOMC), which is a joint venture between Chemistry and Engineering, examines the properties of materials subjected to extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, such as those existing at the bottom of oil wells. New technology for cleaning up waste water produced during oil recovery is being developed in collaboration with local industry.
A joint research project with Robert Gordon University is studying new methods for reducing atmospheric pollution from oil rigs. The chemistry and durability of materials used in construction are also under investigation, and we has a long history in the analytical chemistry of waste streams.
For the degree programme you will study courses in Chemistry, Physics, Geology and Environmental Science in the first year, Chemistry, Materials Science and Geology in the second year, and Chemistry in years 3 to 5. Your project work in years 4 and 5 will involve research work on some aspect of offshore chemistry.
These are the subjects that you must pass in order to graduate with the degree of MChem with Honours in Chemistry for the Offshore Industry;
| Level 1 | CM1010 - Chemistry 1A or CM1011 - Essentials of Chemistry | |
| GL1004 - The Natural Environment Through Geological Time | ||
| CM1506 - Chemistry 1B | ||
| GL1503 - The Materials Forming Our Dynamic Earth | ||
| BI1508 - Ecology and Environmental Science | ||
| Level 2 | CM2008 - Energetics of Change in Chemical and Biological Processes | |
| CM2007 - Shapes, Properties and Reactions of Molecules | ||
| PC2001 - Introduction to Materials | ||
| CM2512 - Organic and Biological Chemistry | ||
| CM2513 - Analytical Methods in Forensic Chemistry | ||
| GL2501 - Sedimentology | ||
| Level 3 | CM3018 - Communicating Chemistry | |
| CM3020 - Solid State Chemistry | ||
| CM3025 - Molecular Structure and Reactivity | ||
| CM3517 - Environmental Chemistry and Chemistry of the Elements | ||
| CM3521 - Organic and Biological Chemistry | ||
| Level 4 | CM4025 - Advanced Chemistry 1 | |
| CM4026 - Advanced Chemistry 2 | ||
| CM4027 - Professional Skills in Chemistry | ||
| CM4029 - MChem Group Practicals and Problem Solving | ||
| CM4518 - Advanced Chemistry 3 | ||
| CM4519 - Advanced Chemistry 4 | ||
| CM4520 - MChem Mini Project | ||
| CM4521 - Integrated Chemistry | ||
| Level 5 | CM5003 - MChem Chemistry Applications | |
| CM5505 - MChem Project Placement |
You have one extra course to choose in your first year of study, and two more in your second year.