Robert Tjon-Joe-Pin, BJ Services Co.
Previous advances in biotechnology have provided significant contributions to the oil and gas industry. Enzymes have been used for many years as low-temperature gel breakers. The previous enzyme products were non-specific mixtures of several different, non-isolated enzymes. Degradation by these systems resulted in the creation of polymeric fragments of widely varying size and damage tendencies. Recent biotechnical research has led to the identification of specific enzyme complexes to effect much improved degradation of polysaccharide polymers. The new technique utilizes substrate-specific enzyme complexes to hydrolyze the polymers to as little residue as possible. Neither the crosslinker type nor the degree of polymer derivatization interfere with the ultimate enzymatic degradation of the polymer.