Interview – Chemicals in the geothermal industry and the GEO-Treat® Brand
Interview with Engin Helvaci of GREEN Chemicals
Carlo Cariaga
18 Mar 2024
In this interview with Engin Helvaci, we talk about the chemicals used in various phases of geothermal projects and the GEO-Treat® Brand.
GREEN Chemicals is a company that exports to more than 30 countries and continues its commercial activities in Türkiye, the Turkic Republics, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Balkan countries, producing chemical products and being a technical solution partner for half of the top 100 industrial enterprises in Türkiye.
In addition to its expert engineer staff, GREEN Chemicals manufactures products by world standards with an innovative and environmentally friendly approach with its doctorate level R&D employees and technical support from universities and carries out commercial and technical service in the above-mentioned countries.
Our Turkish language platform JeotermalHaberler recently conduced an interview with company coordinator Engin Helvaci. Below is the English translation of this interview:
Could you tell us about GREEN Chemicals recently completed and ongoing projects?
As GREEN Chemicals, we accept continuous development as our goal in line with our sustainability principle. In line with this goal, we continue our R&D studies and equipment investments that will further increase our technical service capability, while developing our field team in line with global technical developments with our in-house training.
Thanks to our pilot plant, which we completed and commissioned in 2023, we can monitor the processes of all geothermal investors in terms of scaling and corrosion and offer solutions to their problems, if any, by designing products specific to their businesses. With our DSL device, another new investment, we model geothermal waters of different characteristics on a laboratory scale, design the highest-performance products, and deliver them to our valuable businesses.
With our DSL device and pilot plant, we have completed our transition to a 3-stage performance system. Thus, laboratory tests are completed with the DSL device first. Our products with the best performance are tested in the field with our pilot plant. The one that gives the best performance under field conditions among these products is offered to our customers.
In the second half of 2024, we will be actively present in Indonesia and Kenya with the chemical trials we will conduct in the geothermal field. Representing our country abroad with the strength we receive from our country and the experience of 29 years is a source of pride for us beyond commercial gains.
The geothermal industry needs many different chemicals. Which product groups can you offer to your customers as GREEN Chemicals?
As it is known in the geothermal industry, work starts with the drilling phase. Drilling mud additive chemicals, cement additives, and acidizing operation additives are all used during drilling. Our WELL-Treat® product group, which we started working on in 2018 and completed in 2021, includes all the aforementioned drilling chemicals.
The second phase is the chemicals used during the operation of the power plant. The anti-scaling and anti-corrosion inhibitors used in this phase are available in our GEO-Treat® product palette, divided into 3 different temperature classes. Our high-temperature product group, which can be used up to 270°C, is capable of meeting the expectations in all the markets we compete in globally.
Another subject that is currently under R&D studies is the prevention of stibnite scaling. For this purpose, I can say that our latest product, which we have started field tests as of 2024 in our studies that have been going on for 4 years, has given results at a level that meets expectations. In the second quarter of 2024, we anticipate that commercial sales of this product will begin.
Can you briefly describe GREEN Chemicals’ efforts and strategic partnerships to accelerate the global expansion of geothermal?
Our company, which currently exports to 35 countries, has the absolute goal of becoming an important actor in global markets in the geothermal business line along with other business lines. In this context, we continue our efforts to increase our geothermal product group sales in 3 countries with our moves in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.
We continue our activities with various business models to establish the sales of our geothermal product groups in 10 countries in line with the targets we set for 2028 in our geothermal product group. With the completion of our Asia and America formations in 2024, we will be bringing the sales and service of our geothermal products to our customers in 3 continents.
You are also active in the field of ESP. Can we get information about your work in this field?
As of 2021, we have signed a “Channel Partner” agreement with Baker Hughes, the world’s leading company in this field, for ESP systems, which have gradually become a necessity rather than a preference due to the nature of geothermal systems. In the past 3 years, while responding to the supply needs of the market, we have completed our development in terms of stock, workshop, and team. We will continue to work with all our strengths to ensure maximum production by providing services in the field of ESP to the valuable operators of the geothermal market, where we provide services in the supply and use of chemicals.
With the opening of the Baker Hughes DIFA Center in Celle, Germany last month, we have reached the ability to provide faster solutions and technical support to our customers. Our next target will be our ESP system which provides high temperature and high flow rate, which is expected to be launched in early 2025. The R&D phases of this product group have been completed and field tests are ongoing. We believe that this product group, designed to meet the needs of enterprises producing high-temperature fluids, will gain an important place in the geothermal industry.
