Bright idea to improve lab process wins award - 29/11/2011
Micropaleontology Technician at GNS Science, Randall McDonnell, has won a 2011 Bright Ideas Science Category Award for developing a device to help prepare marine microfossil bearing samples for scientists to study.
Science category winner in the Grow Wellington Bright Ideas Challenge, Randall McDonnell of GNS Science, holding a fine sieve used to separate rock grains of different sizes. (This is not the device that won Randall his Bright Ideas award.)
Dubbed the "Macerator", it disaggregates rock samples so the microfossils can be identified and studied by scientists working on projects for the petroleum exploration industry as well as for scientific research.
Mr McDonnell emphasised that the project was still in the testing phase, but results from a prototype had been very encouraging.
“Soft sediment samples are relatively easy to prepare for analysis, but harder material may need hours of physical handling and preparation, and occasionally chemical assistance to release the microfossils,” Mr McDonnell said.
“This process can take hours, and time really is money when drilling rigs are involved. So I started looking for a clean and efficient way to speed up the process.”
He took his idea to WelTec and has worked with them to develop a prototype that has brought the time for releasing the microfossils from hard rock samples down from an hour or two to about five minutes.
He added that the Bright Ideas Challenge had also been a major boost to the project.
Soft sediment samples are relatively easy to prepare for analysis, but harder material may need hours of physical handling and preparation, and occasionally chemical assistance to release the microfossils
“It was a great experience. There are so many people with creative ideas that have the potential to bring high value to the Wellington region and the country.
“The mentoring I received during the process has been extremely valuable for this project, and me personally.
“It’s encouraging to see Wellington innovation being supported across all sorts of industries and markets.”
The Bright Ideas Challenge is organised by Grow Wellington to provide people with connections and support they need to take their ideas to the next level.
Background
The remains of tiny, ancient creatures – microfossil foraminifera – are used by the oil industry to date marine rocks to help in the search for oil and gas by figuring out the depositional and burial history of a sedimentary basin.
Typically, hard rock sample preparation involves crushing washing and sieving the samples so microfossils can be separated from the rock matrix and analysed.
It may take an hour or more to disaggregate enough moderately hard rock for analysis by micropaleontologists.
There are potential commercial applications for this device, especially in oil exploration when results from on-site micropaleontology analysis are needed to make decisions on how deep to drill and where to point the drill.
Developing the prototype is a co-operative venture between GNS Science and WelTec.