Qa3 have a commitment to external training programmes that expand our chemists’ skills base and knowledge in order to offer our clients a wider scope of analytical and consultancy services. Recently, four of the on-site chemistry team attended a training course at NCIMB in Aberdeen.
NCIMB provides specialist microbiology, analytical and biomaterial storage products and services. Their highly experienced microbiologists have extensive experience in the identification, quantification and monitoring of microorganisms that are associated with the oil and gas industry.
Qa3 are involved in an ongoing project for one of our international clients that includes pipeline issues that are potentially due to the presence of bacteria. The training received at NCIMB has given our chemists the skills that will enable them to conduct some on-site analyses to give an early indication of the presence of several bacteria, including sulphate reducing bacteria [SRB], general heterotrophic bacteria [GHB] and acid producing general heterotrophic bacteria [APGHB]). Complementary to this, the team have also learned how to take suitable samples and preserve them in a manner that will afford a more comprehensive and informative analysis suite at the NCIMB laboratories in Aberdeen UK, involving a combination of qPCR and DNA sequencing.
“After an indication from an ongoing project that there may be bacterial issues, we decided to get some bespoke training from the experts. We very much enjoyed our experience at NCIMB; Michelle and Carol gave us a very good overview of the range of testing that can be carried out to identify bacterial presence. This included an excellent presentation on the analyses that NCIMB can perform at their Aberdeen laboratory and also some hands-on training of the analysis that we will now be able to conduct on site using their media testing kits.
We also learned about some of the other services that NCIMB offer, including their MARA and LumniMARA toxicity testing, which may be of interest to some of our clients”
Matt Bower – Qa3 Analytical Chemist
