PERTT Lab

The LSU Petroleum Engineering Research, Training, & Testing, provides a versatile research environment for performing multiphase flow experiments on field scale tubulars at high pressures. 

pertt lab reopening
oil derrick

Since its development in the early 1980s, this facility represents a multi-million dollar investment by industrial and governmental interests.  A full time laboratory support staff maintains their offices at this site.  In addition, the PERTT Lab employs student workers for routine maintenance work and research support.  The PERTT Lab Student Internship Program (SIP) has recently been refined to include more training and a “from the ground up” focus on common field knowledge and tool application.  This program is very valuable to the students who receive a foundation in industrial tool usage, piping mechanics, flanged, threaded, and hammer connections, rigging up for research experiments, and even witnessing experiments with our research staff and customer representatives. 

This is an industrial-scale facility, having full-scale equipment and instrumentation for conducting research related to petroleum technology.  PERTT originally assembled most of this equipment for blowout prevention and well control research and training activities. Today, we continue building on the legacy of drilling instruction and research excellence while expanding into production and surface operations instruction and development.  The PERTT laboratory’s large but flexible infrastructure allows us to rapidly move to meet the demands of a diverse petroleum industry. 

LSU PERTT Lab is the go-to well proving grounds for major operators like Shell, BP, Chevron, and many others.  PERTT Lab is renowned for providing the location for field-scale performance verification of tools or methods.