My family and I went to see the fireflies along the Yak Yak river, near Ijok, Kemaman, Terengganu. We went after dinner at Tong Juan, which is in Chukai, and well known among oilman for its stuffed crabs (though to be honest, they aren’t the only stuffed crab game in town).
Turns out that the firefly attraction is not well developed. You have to arrange for a boatman to meet you at the jetty. The boats are equipped with electric motors, so the tour is nice and silent.
The light produced from the stern of the firefly comes from the oxidation of luciferase with luciferin as a catalyst. The reaction is apparently 90% efficient. It got me thinking, is there a place for bio luminescence in the oil & gas industry? One place it could be useful is in the production of Class I Div 2 (or Div 1) lighting sources. There is little heat generated, and possibly requires some sort of pump to mix the two chemicals together. Concerns entrepreneurs have to think about are:
- light intensity (is the light bright enough to be useful).
- cost (the chemicals have to be made, most likely through bio engineering).
- transportability (two chemicals have to be kept oxygen free till the time of use).
- engineering (circulation systems, delivery of oxygen, control mechanisms).
Anyone have any other ideas?
Posted by Wata 
Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 