International Conference and Expo on Oil and Gas November 16-18, 2015 Dubai, UAE

Biography:

Dr. Enick has an active research area in high-pressure thermodynamics, high-pressure phase behavior and membrane separations. Most of his work, including the IAES projects, is related to CO2-rich gas mixtures. For example, Dr. Enick develops strategies for designing novel materials that have very favorable thermodynamic interactions with CO2. Previously, this research led to the identification of novel compounds, including surfactants, chelating agents and thickeners, which were extremely soluble in dense CO2. In the current work, these strategies will be used in an attempt to design high-flux, CO2-selective polymeric membranes. Polymers with specific, relatively strong thermodynamic interactions with CO2 will be cast or pressed into thin membranes. It is anticipated that these favorable interactions between CO2 and the polymer may significantly enhance the solubility of the CO2 in the membrane. Other modifications to the polymer will be incorporated to promote the diffusivity of the CO2 in the membrane. In another application, an attempt will be made to design solvents that absorb significant amounts of only CO2 at high pressure. Unlike conventional solvents that require low pressure during regeneration, all of the absorbed CO2 would be released from these novel materials with a very modest pressure drop. If successful, this solvent would be used to separate high pressure H2-CO2 mixtures into a high pressure H2 stream and a slightly lower (but still high) pressure CO2-rich stream.

Abstract:

The low viscosity of high pressure CO2 injection in oil-bearing formations leads to a host of problems, including viscous fingering, enhanced gravity override, loss of CO2 to thier zones, high produced gas-to-oil ratios, high CO2 utilization rates, and high gas re-compression costs. Water-alternating-gas (WAG) flooding remains the standard technique for reducing CO2 mobility via reduction of CO2 relative permeability, while gels can improve conformance control in stratified formations by diverting flow from thief zones. Surfactant-stabilized CO2-in-brine foams (CO2 is the high volume %, internal phase) remain a promising, low-cost means of mobility control and/or conformance control. A review of the prior use of nonionic, anionic and cationic surfactants in lab tests and pilot trials will be presented, most notably the alternate injection of aqueous surfactant solution and CO2 gas (SAG). A summary of our recent surfactant design developments will also be presented. Surfactant solubility studies, high pressure foam stability tests, static and dynamic adsorption experiments, flow-through-porous media pressure drop (i.e. mobility) results, and CT imaging of foam formation in porous media will be used to illustrate the performance of the surfactants. For example, certain amphoteric surfactants appear to be excellent foaming agents at extreme temperatures (up to ~130oC) when dissolved in high (~250000 ppm) total dissolved solids (TDS) brines, such as those found in Middle Eastern formations. With regard to nonionics, one can employ specific non-ionic surfactants that dissolve appreciably in CO2, but are even more brine-soluble. When a CO2-nonionic surfactant solution enters the formation, the surfactant will partition into the brine and stabilize the foam, thereby facilitating the continuous injection of a CO2-surfactant solution (GS process), or the alternate injection of brine and a CO2-surfactant solution (WAGS). To gain the greatest assurance that foams are generated in-situ, an operator could also inject surfactant in the brine phase and in the alternating CO2 slugs (SAGS). Finally, we will include an assessment of the CO2-soluble and brine-soluble “switchable” surfactants identified by Johnston and co-workers that exhibit a non-ionic to cationic transformation triggered by the carbonic acid that forms in the brine.

Biography:

Walaa Fathy has 18 years experience in the oil and gas industry working in different international oil companies, now he is working as a Staff Geophysicist in Petroceltic International Companies. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geophysics (1995) and a Master degree in Geophysics (2011) and now in progress with his PhD from Heriot Watt University in Reservoir Geophysics. He can be considered as an oil and gas finder by having several oil and gas discoveries in the Western desert and the Nile Delta in Egypt.

Abstract:

The Nile Delta is considered as the most significant gas province in Egypt and one of the most promising areas for future hydrocarbon exploration in North-Eastern Africa. The area lies to the north and south of the Nile Delta hinge zone and geologically comprises a thick sequence of tertiary aged deltaic sediments from recent to Oligocene age overlying older Mesozoic sequences. Predicting sand distribution and reservoir presence are the major exploration and development challenges associated with the complex geological settings in onshore Nile Delta. Different angle stacks have been examined to evaluate the seismic correlation with the lithology, rock properties and fluid characteristics with the emphasis on the Far and Ultra-Far low-impedance responses. The simultaneous AVO inversion has been implemented to shed light on the reservoirs complexity in which seismic reflection amplitude is inverted to P-impedance, S-impedance and density. A rock physics framework has been built for quantitative analysis where elastic properties are derived to describe the reservoir heterogeneity. We have applied the algorithm to West Dikirnis field, a strong correlation was observed between reservoir properties and both impedances as well as density. The results yielded images of reservoir elastic properties that better describe the local distribution of the sand deposits and characterize the gas sand in Qawasim formation.

Biography:

Dr. Qinglin Wu is currently Roy O. Martin Sr. Professor in Composites and Engineered Wood Products at the Louisiana State University. He received a Ph.D. in Wood Science and Engineering (Minor: Mechanical Engineering) from Oregon State University in 1993. His research emphases include wood/natural fiber polymer composites, biomaterials from natural polymers, composite durability and engineering performance, and nano-composite materials. Dr. Wu has received numerous honors and awards including 2009 LSU AgCenter Rogers Excellence in Research Award, 2008 Sigma Delta Gamma Honor Society Research Award, Fellow for International Academy of Wood Science, Markwardt Wood Engineering Award for Excellence in Wood Engineering Research and Wood Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, and Visiting Professorship from Several Universities in China. He has served on various committees and panels for professional societies and government agencies. Dr. Wu’s research is published in over 100 technical papers in journals, books, and proceedings. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Louisiana Board of Regents, USDA National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program (NRICGP), USDA/DOE Biomass Research Program, and wood-products industry. Dr. Wu teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in the School of Renewable Natural Resources. These courses include Wood Science and Forest Products, Wood Composite Manufacturing, and Wood/Wood Composite Mechanics.

Abstract:

Rheological and filtration characteristics of drilling fluids are considered as two critical aspects to ensure the success of a drilling operation. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of cellulose nanoparticles (CNPs), including microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) in enhancing the rheological and filtration performances of bentonite (BT) water-based drilling fluids (WDFs). CNCs were isolated from MFC through sulfuric acid hydrolysis. In comparison with MFC, the resultant CNCs had much smaller dimensions, more negative surface charge, higher stability in aqueous solutions, lower viscosity, and less evident shear thinning behavior. These differences resulted in the distinctive microstructures between MFC/BT and CNC/BT-WDFs. A typical “core-shell” structure was created in CNC/BT-WDFs due to the strong surface interactions among BT layers, CNCs and immobilized water molecules. However, a similar structure wasn’t formed in MFC/BT-WDFs. As a result, CNC/BT-WDFs had superior rheological properties, higher temperature stability, less fluid loss volume, and thinner filter cakes than BT and MFC/BT-WDFs. Moreover, the presence of polyanionic cellulose (PAC) further improved the rheological and filtration performances of CNC/BT-WDFs, suggesting a synergistic effect between PAC and CNCs.

Biography:

Dr. Teng Lu received a Ph.D. in oil-gas field development engineering from China University of Petroleum in 2014. His research emphases include enhanced heavy oil recovery, CO2 EOR and sequestration and foam flooding.

Abstract:

Heavy oil is an important part of the world’s energy supply and is increasingly being exploited as the demand for petroleum increases. There are abundant ultra-heavy oil resources in China. This paper briefly introduces two enhanced ultra-heavy oil recovery techniques in China including CO2 and dissolver assisted steam huff and puff technology for horizontal wells (HDCS) and Gas-SAGD (Adding N2 in the process of SAGD). The HDCS technique is developed to the ultra-heavy oil reservoirs in the Shengli Oilfield because of high oil viscosity, deep and thin layer, high rate of resin and asphaltene. The HDCS combines the techniques of efficient oil-soluble dissolver, CO2 immiscible and steam huff and puff which can effectively reduce the steam injection pressure, expand the steam swept area and improve oil production rate. Field tests show that HDCS is good at reducing viscosity and improving production of super-heavy oil reservoirs. The Gas-SAGD is developed to the Guantao reservoir of Du 84 block in Liaohe oilfield. The oil layer of Guantao reservoir has a direct contact with the top water. As the steam chamber rises in vertical direction, the heat of steam will soften bitumen shell under top water. The Gas-SAGD can improve the condition of steam chamber and prolong the life time of SAGD. As of June 2011, the Gas-SAGD has been applied in three regions which include seven slugs. Field tests show that it is effective in reducing steam 1.391×105 t, increasing oil production 2.07×104 t and improving steam oil ratio 33.3%.

Biography:

Yue Ping has completed his PhD at the age of 30 years from Southwest Petroleum University. He is the associate professor of SWPU. He engages in oil and gas reservoir development theory, method and technology research. His research interests include horizontal and multi-branched well well-bore flow and reservoir seepage coupled model.

Abstract:

It is well-known that barriers have a significant impact on the production performance of horizontal wells developed in a bottom water drive reservoir. Since MUSKAT and WYCKOFF introduced the water coning phenomenon and theory to petroleum engineering, horizontal well’s critical rate calculations, water breakthrough time predictions and water cut reductions have been investigated. The methods reported in literature for controlling water cut include perforating far away from the original water-oil contact (WOC), producing oil below the critical rate, producing oil and water separately with downhole water sink (DWS) or downhole water loop (DWL) technology, and injecting polymers to form a barrier. Barrier impacts on water cut and critical rate of horizontal well in bottom water reservoir have been recognized but not investigated quantitatively. Considering the existence of barriers in formations, this presentation will intuduce our research about horizontal well flow model with barriers when the water cresting forms in bottom water reservoir. The research result shows that barrier increases critical rate and delays water breakthrough. Further study the barrier size, location and permeability shows that the increases of barrier size and barrier height led to the higher critical rate. But the incremental rate more and more litter. For a given barrier size and position, the critical rate and critical potential difference monotonically decrease as the barrier permeability increases. The case study shows the method presented here can be used to predict the critical rate in the bottom water reservoir and applied to investigate the horizontal well behavior of water cresting.

Biography:

Abstract:

In recent years, the largest integral single gas field of the lower Cambrian Longwangmiao formation with proved reserves of 4403×108 m3 was found in Sichuan basin, China and the main production is from Longwangmiao formation grain dolomite. Based on observation of outcrops, cores and thin sections and analysis of logging data and experiment, the features, main controlling factors, evolution and distribution of the Longwangmiao formation reservoirs in the lower Cambrian, Sichuan basin are examined carefully and the distribution of favorable reservoirs is predicted. The Longwangmiao formation reservoirs are grain shoal-dolostone fracture–vug type made up of residual dolarenite, oolitic dolomite and crystal dolomite with vugs and dissolution pores as the main storage space, residual inter-granular pores, inter-crystalline pores and fractures as the secondary storage space, these reservoirs have a porosity of 2% to ~8%, 4.28% on average and a thickness of 20m to ~60 m, 36 m on average. Shoal facies and penecontemporaneous dissolution are the main factors controlling the reservoir occurrence. Grain shoal, the basis of reservoir development controls the phases and distribution of reservoir. Penecontemporaneous dissolution is the key factor affecting the formation of the main reservoir space. In addition, penecontemporaneous dolomitization plays a constructive role in the preservation of the pores formed earlier and generation of micro-fractures in late stage. The reservoirs experienced four evolution stages. The sedimentation and penecontemporaneous dissolution in pore-forming period laid the material basis for reservoir space types and physical property conditions. Supergene karstification and burial dissolution made some contributions to the improvement of reservoir physical properties. Hydrothermal mineral filling and asphalt filling are the main factors making reservoir quality worse. Based on the main controlling factors of the Longwangmiao reservoir, the favorable reservoir zones are ancient high topography areas between Huayingshan Fault and Longquanshan Fault and breakthroughs are expected to make in the Guangan-Nanchong-Jiange area.

Biography:

Saber Mohammadi is currently research assistant at Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), Tehran, Iran. He is also completing his PhD in petroleum engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. He holds MSc degree from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and BSc degree from Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran (all in reservoir engineering). His academic experience includes research on experimental-simulation studies of different EOR processes in heavy oil reservoirs, micro-scale transport phenomena, micro-model experiments, and application of nanoparticles in heavy oil recovery. He has authored/co-authored more than 40 technical papers which have been presented and/or published in international conferences and journals.

Abstract:

Understanding the porous media wettability is crucial for optimizing EOR processes. The oil-water wetting preferences strongly affect all facets of reservoir performance, mainly in waterflooding process as an EOR technique. The use of nanotechnology has recently gained momentum in oil and gas industry. However, the role of nanoparticles on wettability conditions of porous media has remained a topic of debate in the available literature. In this work, the effect of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles on wettability of reservoir rock is investigated through contact angle measurement of oil-water-rock system, and pore-scale water flooding in five-spot glass micro-models at different temperatures and concentration of nanoparticles. Obtained results showed that the wettability of oil-wetted rocks in presence of silica nanoparticles changes from oil-wet to water wet. Furthermore, as the temperature of the system and concentration of nanoparticles increase the effect of nanoparticles on wettability alteration of reservoir rock is much more pronounced. Also, the wettability alteration occurred in less time in this situation. The results of flooding experiments with nanosolution illustrated that the oil recovery factor and breakthrough time of displacing fluid increases in presence of nanoparticles dispersed in water upto concentration of 0.50 wt%; for concentration of nanoparticles more than 0.50 wt%, the recovery factor decreased due to reduction of porous medium permeability as well as plugging of pores-throats by dispersed nanoparticles. Results of this work reveal the potential applications of silica nanoparticles on wettability alteration of porous media as well as on improvement of oil recovery efficiency during water flooding process.

Biography:

Fatma Taktak, PhD in Geological Sciences - Faculty of Sciences, Sfax University – Tunisia. 13 years experience in the oil and gas Exploration and Expert in the analysis of well logging data and developing new well logging techniques, wellbore stability while drilling and basins modelling using 2D seismic technics in different oil companies in Tunisia,. Have some research paper in ISI well known geological journal. Now She is working as a Assistant Professor at University of Modern Sciences UMS, College of Business, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and responsible for the Maters of Science Program in Petroleum Operations Management.

Abstract:

Because of the complexity of the pore network and the high heterogeneity of Ashtart carbonate reservoir in the Gulf of Gabes a study was required for a precise knowledge of the main reservoir parameters including porosity, permeability and irreducible water saturation. The main objective is to present a global petrophysic architecture model of the El Garia Formation reservoir for the Gulf of Gabes basin - GGB - during the Eocene period, using a detailed interpretation of a the petrofacies texture, geometry and petrophysical parameters of which were apprehended using seismic profiles; gamma-ray and sonic lateral logs, as well as cores and cuttings taken in drill wells. Estimation of the initial water saturation and hence variations in the capillary pressure in the reservoir, required compilations of porosity data measured on cores, supplemented by additional but computed porosities based on acoustic log diagrams. Furthermore, Gamma Ray, Sonic log, and well to well correlations tied to core results and well cuttings, help recognize the layered lithologies within the El Garia flat lying but stratified, Ypresian in origin reservoir rocks. Abundant permeability and porosity values compiled in the light of seismic sequence and Gamma Ray and Sonic log details, were integrated in an empirical approach using the Leverett J function, to model the irreducible water saturation depending on the capillary pressure distribution in the whole reservoir. We suggests that diagenesis prevalently controls porosity, due to operative dissolutions of the Nummulitid tests/bioclasts, and cementation; moreover, diagenesis exerts effects on permeability by interconnecting intergranular and intratest pore spaces. In contrast, microfracturing enhances permeability of the reservoir. This is notably the case in the fairly permeable central zone in the Ashtart reservoir with excellent petrophysical parameters, but which were found to degrade gradually towards its peripheries.

Biography:

Shabnam Shahbazi is a PhD Student of Petroleum Reservoir Engineering in Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic). She works as a Teacher in Petroleum Department of Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University. She also has been working in Pars Oil and Gas Company from 2006. She is the Head of Upstream Section of POGC Phase-12 Project; this section is responsible for all upstream issues (geology, reservoir and drilling) regarding Phase-12 Project.

Abstract:

Transient pressure test of horizontal wells compared to vertical wells is more complicated due to the occurrence potential of different transient flow periods. Although various mathematical models were developed to horizontal well test analysis their evaluation in different well and reservoir conditions needs more investigation. In specific, in vertical wells non-Darcy flow which causes an extra pressure drop have a significant impact on well test data but its impact on horizontal well test data needs more investigation. The objective of this paper is to examine transient pressure behavior of horizontal gas wells under various conditions including high velocity flow. The results show that the appearance of elliptical and pseudo-radial flow regimes depends on relative well length and formation thickness. In addition, the effect of off-centered wells respect to upper and lower boundaries in transient pressure data is expressed. The results also show that non-Darcy flow can cause a significant skin in transient data of a horizontal gas well. Magnitude of the skin is mainly affected by reservoir permeability and production rate of the horizontal well.

Biography:

Arian Velayati is a young researcher and engineer born in July 03, 1990. Velayati is a researcher of drilling fluids at Research Institute of Petroleum Industry in Tehran. He earned a BS degree from science and research university of Tehran and MS degree from Shahrood university of tech, both in petroleum engineering and as the top student. He was acknowledged as “Scientific elite” by the national elites foundation of Iran in the year 2014 as a result of his publications, GPA and researches. Velayati is also a lecturer and developer of drilling engineering softwares.

Abstract:

Gas migration through cement slurry is a worldwide challenge. Gas invasion could lead to financial damages and fatal incidents. Major oil companies devised specially designed approaches to face the problem of gas migration, many additives have been introduced and several techniques have been utilized. We have reported on the effect of thixotropic agents on reducing transition time, critical hydration time, modification of the gel strength profile and generally prevention of gas migration through cement slurries. The research was conducted based on a detailed checklist for cement slurry design optimization. Resulted paper was published in journal of natural gas science and engineering (Elsevier). The results of the research indicate advantages of thixotropic agent utilization in cement slurry composition and facing the problem of gas migration. As the final stage of the slurry optimization plan the results were verified using fluid migration analysis (FMA) test. According to the results, total gas migration flow rate of cement slurry optimized using the presented checklist was recorded as 0.23 ml/min. It was also observed that thixotropic agents improved gel strength profile, filtration control, waiting on cement time (WOC) , critical hydration time and cement transition time significantly.

Biography:

Dr. Nasvi received his BSc (Eng) degree (First Class Honours and University prizes) from University of Peradeniya, Srilanka in 2009 and after that he worked as a temporary lecturer in the same university for a period of one year. He obtained his PhD degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Monash University, Australia in 2013. His PhD thesis title was “Geopolymer as well cement for geological sequestration of carbon dioxide”. At present, he is working as a senior lecturer at department of Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Srilanka. He has published many journals and conferences in the areas of carbon capture storage, oil adn gas and energy fields.

Abstract:

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is found as a viable method for long-term reduction of greenhouse gases. In a CCS project, mechanical integrity of well cement should be maintained to sustain the required mechanical strength throughout the life of an oil/gas and CO2 sequestration well. One of the major issues with existing OPC based oil well cement is cement degradation in CO2-rich environments. On the other hand, researchers have found that geopolymer cement possesses excellent acidresistant characteristics, shows higher mechanical strength and durability and demonstrates lower permeability. Therefore, this research work focused on studying the mechanical integrity of geopolymers under two different conditions: (1) effect of CO2 on mechanical behaviour of geopolymers and (2) hydraulic fracturing of geopolymers to study the mechanical integrity under down-hole stress conditions. To study the emchanical integrity under CO2 rich environment, fly ash-based geopolymers were tested in CO2 chamber at apressure of 3 MPa for up to 6 months and uniaxial compressive strength testing was conducted to study the mechanical behaviour of geopolymer in CO2. It was noted that there are no significance changes in compressive strength and Young’s modulus of geopolymer in CO2 after 6 months. The variations in compressive strength values in CO2 were within 2% compared to the compressive strength value prior to CO2 exposure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) testing was conducted to study any microstructural changes in CO2, and the SEM results revealed no significance variation in the microstructure of geopolymer after 6 months of CO2 exposure.For hydraulic fracturing experiment, four different tests were conducted by changing the injection pressure (Pin), axial stress (σ1), confining pressure (σ3) and tube length (30 mm and 40 mm). Geopolymers could not be fractured in any of the tests, which employed maximum values of Pin and σ1 as 23 MPa and 59 MPa respectively. Even though maximum ratios of Pin/ σ3 of 3.8 and σ1/ σ3 13.3 were used, fracture development was not observed. The results of this experiment lead to the conclusion that geopolymers can provide the required mechanical integrity in CO2 injection wells, as the absence of fractures in geopolymer under extreme stress conditions eliminates one of the possible CO2 leakage pathways.

Biography:

Sushanta K. Mitra, PhD, PEng is Professor & Chair of Mechanical Engineering Kaneff Professor in Micro & Nanotechnology for Social Innovation Fellow CSME, ASME, EIC, RSC, CAE Fellow, National Institute for Nanotechnology (NRC, Canada) Lassonde School of Engineering York University, Toronto

Abstract:

Biography:

Abstract:

Long-stroke sucker-rod pumping units have polished rod stroke lengths greater than 24 ft and require significantly less torque than beam pumping units. To produce high liquid volumes they can be run at much lower speeds and can thus achieve greater overall system efficiencies. The general advantages of long-stroke pumping over traditional pumping can be summed as: (a) greater liquid producing capacities are achieved, (b) downhole pump problems are decreased, and (c) rod string life is substantially increased due to the reduced number of stress reversals. This paper presents a complete coverage of present-day long-stroke rod pumping methods and discusses the two main types of technologies available: Rotaflex and DynaPump. After a short historical overview of long-stroke pumping these two units are introduced and their technical and operational features are described in detail. The relative advantages and limitations of Rotaflex and DynaPump installations are summarized to facilitate their selection for artificial lift applications.

Biography:

Abstract:

High water production is a major issue for upstream oil and gas operators due to massive water injection. Reducing the water production while improving oil recovery from these fields is a key challenge. Polymer based gels have been widely used to improve reservoir conformance problems and to reduce excess water production. Unfortunately, polymer gels are not suitable for high temperature reservoirs (> 100 °C), because at high temperature polymer gels loss both stability and effectiveness. The present study reports on laboratories experiments carried out to investigate rheological properties and propagation of modified bentonite clay particles in a heterogeneous sand pack. A series of sand pack flooding tests were conducted on modified bentonite clay diluted in brines of various salinities, pH, and various particles concentrations. Propagation, retention and dispersion of modified bentonite were studied in a heterogeneous sand pack represented by three parallel cylindrical cores flow model with different permeability. These tests evaluate injectivity and determine permeability reduction. Results showed that a high flow resistance developed across the sand pack demonstrating high retention and adsorption of modified bentonite in the sand pack. Results also suggested another very significant advantages that modified bentonite could be selectively injected into high permeability zones due to low viscosity of particles dispersion. These positive results bring new promising insights for successful applications of modified bentonite.

Biography:

Abstract:

Ras Fanar oil field is located in the western offshore concession area of Gulf of Suez, some 3 km.east Ras Gharib field in a water depth of about 100 ft. The main reservoir in Ras Fanar Field is the Middle Miocene reefal limestone (Belayim Nullipore). Middle Miocene Shallower Horizons Zeit Formation have locally proved potential in Ras Fanar oilfield, good represented by Zeit Sand Member (basal part of Zeit Formation) as secondary target. Zeit Sand secondary reservoir about 17 ft. average thickness, porosity ranging from 18-35 and average water saturation 15%. KK84-3 old Exploratory well Penetrated 15 ft. thick of Zeit sand and tested 350 BOPD from 10 ft. net Pay thickness , API 28.4 , reservoir driving by solution gas driving mechanism. Mud Gas Data analysis integrated with available logs and oil shows gives good indication to extension and reservoir characterization of Zeit sand. This paper show how you can detect low pay zone thickness while drilling by using Mud gas data analysis by multiple methods graphical and mathematical, it’s give excellent indication to select the interesting interval to run logs or well test and how can we improve reserve by integration between geological data and reservoir engineering data.

Biography:

Dr. Waleed AlAmeri received his B.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Louisiana State University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA, USA, in 2006. Dr. Waleed AlAmeri pursed his graduate studies at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA, and received his M.S. and PhD. degrees in Petroleum Engineering in 2010 and 2015, respectively. He joined the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi (Department of Petroleum Engineering) on May 2015 as an assistant professor. The topic of his PhD was on “Low Salinity Waterflooding in a Low Permeability Carbonate Formation of a Giant Middle East Field”.

Abstract:

Low-salinity water injected into carbonate cores, which have undergone sea-water injection, can produce additional oil more economically if a low-concentration non-ionic surfactant is added to the low-salinity water and injected as chase fluid. One major reason for the additional oil recovery is that low-concentration surfactant effectiveness favors the low-salinity environment. Several coreflooding, contact angle, and IFT experiments were performed to assess the proposed process. The core flooding sequence includes seawater, low-salinity water, and low-concentration non-ionic surfactant. However, for field application, we proposed low-salinity water-alternate-surfactant injection. The surfactant concentration in low-salinity water was 1,000 and 5,000 ppm. The core permeability is 0.5 to 1.5 md, and porosity ranges from 0.18 to 0.25. Cores were aged for eight weeks at reservoir pressure and temperature. The pendant drop oil-brine IFT and captive oil-droplet contact angle measurements were performed at variable brine salinity in the presence of surfactant. Seawater and low-salinity waterflooding corefloods yielded ultimate oil recoveries of up to 57 percent. Up to 6 percent additional oil recoveries was obtained from low-concentration non-ionic surfactant in low-salinity waterflood. With decreasing salinity, in presence of 1,000-ppm surfactant, favorable wettability alteration from intermediate-wet to water-wet was observed by contact angle measurements. Moreover, addition of small concentration of surfactant decreased the IFT and altered the wettability of several one-inch diameter, crude-aged, discs to water wet.

Biography:

Professor Khalil Sarkarinejad is micro-structural and structural geologist graduated at Cardiff University in Wales, head of Structural Geology Group at the Department of Earth Sciences, Shiraz University with extensive publications and reseach in the hinterland, foreland of the Zagros orogenic belt, controlling factors in the inclined curved transpression deformations.

Abstract:

The Abadan plain in southwestern Iran has important petroleum reservoir potential in the Zagros Fordland Folded Belt parallel to the Foreland Fold-and-Thrust Belt of the Zagros orogenic belt. This reservoir despite its gentle anticline is much more complex and poorly defined by its structural setting. It is located at the Mesopotamian fore deep basin, bounded by the marginal part of the Zagros Foreland and the Dezful Embayment inverted graben. The main reservoir in this field is the Fahliyan formation, composed of reef carbonates. Most of the Abadan area is flat and covered by recent alluvial deposits with no outcrops. Studies of the structures in this area have provided information about the structural history and allowed better reservoir and drilling management. For better understanding structure and complexity of this reservoir, seismic spectral decomposition techniques have been utilized as a quick and effective interpretation tool. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) and continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) have been used to convert time to frequency domain, and have been applied to detect fault systems in the reservoir. Application of the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) and continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) indicate that the Abadan reservoir consists inverted thrust system of the reservoir which display an early extensional system and have been inverted to dip-slip thrusting paralleling of contour common depth in two sides of the system in some regions and large displacement between two sides of contours in which hanging wall moved over footwall. Various displacements between sides indicate parallel inverted movements which are associated with later compressional faulting and displacement which indicate inversion tectonics.

Biography:

Mehdi Reza Poursoltani graduated from University of Mashhad, Iran. He obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Iran, and his doctoral thesis was a study of Jurassic depositional environments and petrography, carried out with Dalhousie University in Canada. Much of his subsequent work has been on sedimentary environments and petrography, particularly of formations in Iran. His current interests include assessment of environments, provenance and diagenesis of Cambrian and Devonian rocks in Iran, in part during a sabbatical year at Dalhousie University.

Abstract:

Across a large area of Central Iran, the Lalun Formation rests on older sedimentary rocks. Based on our study, three fluvial to shallow-marine facies associations of shale-sandstone and conglomerate are present. Elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, equivalent Cambrian clastic deposits contain hydrocarbon reservoirs, and this study presents the first analysis of porosity in strata of this age in Iran. The sandstones range from quartzarenite to arkose, feldspathic litharenite and rarely litharenite. Diagenetic events included compaction and pressure solution, cementation, grain fracturing, alteration, dissolution and replacement. Dissolution is prominent in the sandstones. The sandstones show variable degrees of compaction. Based on petrological and geochemical studies, we infer early, deep burial and late stages of diagenesis. A few porosity estimates from thin sections were high, and inspection shows that these more porous samples are either highly fractured or are unusually rich in partially dissolved feldspar. The bulk of the porosity appears to be secondary. Intragranular pores are prominent in feldspathic litharenites, especially as large spaces along cleavage planes and fractures. Intergranular pores are present locally where carbonate cements have been corroded; parts of these pores could be primary. Additional intercrystalline micropores are present between authigenic clay minerals and calcite and dolomite crystals. Microfractures are prominent within many grains. Those in quartz grains generally have been healed with silica, although some are filled with carbonate and iron oxides. Fractures form much of the porosity in some samples, and our assessment of porosity percent and type for these surface samples.

Biography:

Abdollah Esmaeili got his Diploma in Mathematics & Physics, 1986 - 1990, Iran. He attained his BSc and MSc in petroleum engineering from Petroleum University of Technology (PUT), Iran. He is currently pursuing his PhD degree in petroleum engineering at University Technology Petronas (UTP), Malaysia. He has been working as a reservoir engineer in the oil & gas industry for the past 25 years for companies like National Iranian Oil Company (N.I.O.C), National Iranian South Oil Company (N.I.S.O.C), Aghajari Oil & Gas Production Company (AjOGPC). Also, he teaches petroleum reservoir engineering courses in Universities of Iran and Worldwide. He has written several papers in petroleum engineering accepted for presentation in international conferences. He has attended to several international conferences worldwide as speaker. He has lead several international scientific master class and workshops Worldwide.

Abstract:

In formations where the sand is porous, permeable and well cemented together, large volumes of hydrocarbons which can flow easily through the sand and into production wells are produced through perforations into the well. These produced fluids may carry entrained there in sand, particularly when the subsurface formation is an unconsolidated formation. Produced sand is undesirable for many reasons. When it reaches the surface, sand can damage equipment such as valves, pipelines, pumps and separators and must be removed from the produced fluids at the surface. Further, the produced sand may partially or completely clog the well, substantially lead to poor performance in wells and, ultimately, inhibiting production, thereby making necessary an expensive work-over. In addition, the sand flowing from the subsurface formation may leave therein a cavity which may result in caving of the formation and collapse of the casing. Sand production in oil and gas wells can occur if fluid flow exceeds a certain threshold governed by factors such as consistency of the reservoir rock, stress state and the type of completion used around the well. The amount of solids can be less than a few grams per cubic meter of reservoir fluid, posing only minor problems, or a substantial amount over a short period of time, resulting in erosion and in some cases filling and blocking of the wellbore. Although major improvements have been achieved in the past decade, sanding tools are still unable to predict the sand mass and the rate of sanding for all field problems in a reliable form. This paper provides a review of selected approaches and methods that have been developed for sanding prediction. Most of these methods are based on the continuum assumption, while a few have recently been developed based on discrete element model. Some methods are only capable of assessing the conditions that lead to the onset of sanding, while others are capable of making volumetric predictions. Some methods use analytical formulae, particularly those for estimating the onset of sanding while others use numerical methods, particularly in calculating sanding rate.

Biography:

Dr. Nabil M. Al-Areeq is Associate Prof. of Petroleum Geology and Sedimentalogy Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, Department of Geology and Environment Faculty of Applied Science Thamar University, Thamar-Yemen

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to provide information on source organic matter input, depositional conditions and the correlation between crude oils recovered from Sunah oilfield and Upper Jurassic Madbi Formation. A suite of twenty-six crude oils from the Lower Cretaceous reservoirs (Qishnclastic) of the Masila Region (Eastern Yemen) were analyzed and geochemically compared with extracts from source rock of the Upper Jurassic (Madbi Formation). The investigated biomarkers indicated that the Sunah oils were derived from mixed marine and terrigenous organic matter and deposited under suboxic conditions. This has been achieved from normal alkane and acyclic isoprenoids distributions, terpane and sterane biomarkers. These oils were also generated from source rock with a wide range of thermal maturity and ranging from early-matureto peak oil window. Based on molecular indicators of organic source input and depositional environment diagnostic biomarkers, one petroleum system operates in the Masila Region; this derived from Upper Jurassic Madbi organic-rich shales as source rock. Therefore, the hydrocarbon exploration processes should be focused on the known location of the Upper Jurassic Madbi strata for predicting the source kitchen.

Biography:

Abstract:

Condensate drop out and accumulation along with high water saturation near the wellbore region result in a decrease in the gas relative permeability. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of increasing the relative permeability to gas in limestone cores via use of methanol to either eliminate or minimize the impact of condensate accumulation. In this research, the effect of methanol treatment on condensate-blocked rocks was simulated using the Cubic-Plus-Association (CPA) equation of state. The CPA equation of state was applied to the modeling of two-phase flows through cores for methanol hydrocarbon mixtures due to charge transfer and hydrogen bonding, both of which may strongly affect the thermodynamic properties of such mixtures. Differential equations were solved by means of the orthogonal collocation method, a method particularly attractive for solving nonlinear problems. Core flooding experiments were performed on low-temperature fractured carbonate cores; chosen from one of Iranian carbonate gas. Experimental tests were conducted in 1.5 inch Diameter carbonate cores, using reservoir fluid and synthetic/field brine. Moreover, the results show that methanol treatment can improve gas relative permeability varies from a factor of 1.12 to 1.64. A good agreement was achieved between the experimental results and modeling in the prediction of gas relative permeability before and after methanol treatment when the flowing bottom-hole pressure falls below dew point pressure. These results may help reservoir engineers and specialists to restore the lost productivity of gas condensate.

Biography:

Abstract:

With more than 1500 Tcf of gas reserves discovered in more than 25 fields, Gavbandi province of the Zagros, contains about 15% of the world’s proven gas reserves; discovered in fractured Permo-Triassic carbonates, sealed by the thick Triassic evaporates and originated from Lower Silurian highly organic shales. Anticlines located in the region are potentially prospective regarding burial and migration history, as well as the source, reservoir, and cap rock characteristics; and they are suggested for drilling if structural conditions are provided. Subsurface data sets acquired during the recent and successful hydrocarbon exploration in the Gavbandi area showed that the Triassic Dashtak evaporites form an efficient tectonic detachment horizon, decoupling the post-Triassic succession from the Permo–Triassic rocks as reservoirs for gas. The variations of fold geometry and fold crest location across the detachment horizon complicated the selection of the targets for gas at depth. Exploration wells drilled on the crest of several anticlines in the region indicated the rapid thickness variation of the Dashtak evaporites from one anticline to the next. The main objectives of this study are to Impact of Abnormal Fluid pressure within an Evaporitic Cap Rock on the Planning of Gas Exploration Wells in Zagros. To achieve these objectives, a synthesis of well logs, drilling mud weight data as well as depth-converted seismic profiles were analyzed to figure out anomalous high fluid pressure within the Triassic evaporitic cap rock (the Dashtak Formation) and its impact on the geometry of anticlinal traps in the gas rich Gavbandi area located in the south eastern part of the Zagros. The results indicated that the location of anticlinal traps at the depth of Permo-Triassic reservoir is horizontally shifted with respect to surface crest of many anticlines within the Gavbandi area. This Crestal shift across the Dashtak Formation may induced by abnormally high fluid pressure in the ‘A evaporite’ member of the Dashtak Formation, detected in many exploration wells across the area. When fluid pressure increases due to compaction during folding, the higher shaliness could probably cap more fluids and consequently increase the fluid pressure within the Dashtak Formation. Anomalous high fluid pressure decreases internal friction and shear strength of rock units and facilitates fracturing and faulting within the Dashtak Formation and consequently cause crestal shift of anticlinal traps. This should be taken in consideration when planning a new exploration well in Gavbandi area, in order to prevent out of trap drilling.

Biography:

Shahenaz A. Vahora, age 27 years, born on 6th June 1987 in Vadodara, Gujarat. She received her Bachelor’s in Science with Physics as Major and Mathematics and Chemistry as subsidiary subjects in the year 2009 and Master in Applied Physics in the year 2011 from from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, Gujarat. I have done my project on Nano Technology – study with the aim to increase efficiency of solar cell by doping of magnesium in zirconium. She has also Air – Wing NCC-I training during her Bachelor’s Programme. In August 2011 she joined and currently associated with Parul Institute of Engineering and Technology (Diploma Studies) as a Lecturer in Physics.

Abstract:

Petro physics is the study of physical and chemical rock properties and their interactions with fluids. The most petro physicists work in the hydrocarbon industry, some also work in the mining and water resource industries. The properties measured or computed fall into three broad categories: conventional petro physical properties, rock mechanical properties, and ore quality. Some of the key properties studied in petro physics are(1) litho logy, (2)porosity, (3)water saturation,(4) permeability and(5) density. A key aspect of petro physics is measuring and evaluating these rock properties by acquiring well log measurements - in which a string of measurement tools are inserted in the borehole, core measurements - in which rock samples are retrieved from subsurface, and seismic measurements. These studies are then combined with geological and geophysical studies and reservoir engineering to give a complete picture of the reservoir. Properties of petro physics: (1)Litho logy: A description of the rock's physical characteristics, such as grain size, composition and texture. By studying the litho logy of local geological outcrops and core samples, geoscientists can use a combination of log measurements, such as natural gamma, neutron, density and resistivity, to determine the litho logy down the well. (2)Porosity: The percentage of a given volume of rock that is pore space and can therefore contain fluids. This is typically calculated using data from an instrument that measures the reaction of the rock to bombardment by neutrons or by gamma rays but can also be derived from sonic and NMR logging. (3)Water saturation: The fraction of the pore space occupied by water. This is typically calculated using data from an instrument that measures the resistivity of the rock and is known by the symbol . (4)Permeability: The quantity of fluid (usually hydrocarbon) that can flow through a rock as a function of time and pressure, related to how interconnected the pores are. Formation testing is so far the only tool that can directly measure a rock formation's permeability down a well.[citation needed] In case of its absence, which is common in most cases, an estimate for permeability can be derived from empirical relationships with other measurements such as porosity, NMR and sonic logging. (5) Density: Density is a function of composition, porosity and saturation .Density is calculated from mass and volume measurements. Mass is determined by carefully weighing the sample on an analytical balance. For irregular shaped samples, volume is usually based on Archimedes’s principle. The stereo pycnometer determines volume based on the displacement of gas. Application of petro physics: (1)The determination of litho logy, net pay, porosity, water saturation, and permeability from wellbore core and log data. The chapter deals with "Development Petro physics" and emphasizes the integration of core data with log data; the adjustment of core data, when required, to reservoir conditions; and the calibration and regression line-fitting of log data to core data. The goal of the calculations is to use all available data, calibrated to the best standard, to arrive at the most accurate quantitative values of the petro physical parameters (i.e., lithology, net pay, porosity, water saturation, and permeability). Log analysis, cased-hole formation evaluation, and production logging are not covered here. (2) Petro physical data sources and databases, litho logy determination, net-pay determination, porosity determination, fluid-contacts identification, water-saturation determination, permeability calculations, case studies, other considerations in petro physical calculations, and summary and conclusions. It does not cover the propagation of the wellbore values, or "populating" of static or dynamic reservoir models, vertically and a really over the whole of the reservoir volume.

Biography:

Abstract:

It is well known that NMR is already used in various core laboratory analyses to characterize rock and fluids, obtain pore-size distribution, determine porosity and even evaluate rock wettability qualitatively using different numerical methods. The development of A SINGLE ANALYTICAL expression relating the porosity, permeability, diffusion coefficient, NMR/MRI relaxation parameters and the transverse magnetization will significantly enhance the present understanding of these petro physical properties. Our goal is to apply a generally applicable and simple approach which may yield useful information from NMR signals of different petro-physical properties useful in Petroleum and Gas industry. This presentation is based on a model of the Bloch NMR diffusion equation for complex pore geometries in which the transverse magnetization is obtained as a function of reservoir chemical (relaxation) and physical properties. The NMR signal is also shown to be dependent on the tortuosity and relaxation rate of rocks fluid so that reservoirs comprised of mixed lithology and mineralogy can be easily evaluated. The novel model may open up new research opportunities which can be jointly explored with any Oil and gas Company. For example, it can be used to visualize and track the saturation front during displacement experiments (dynamic measurements). The difficulty in estimating permeability from grain-size distributions or from well logs can be reduced very significantly if the simple analytical expression obtained from the Bloch NMR flow equation as a function of permeability, porosity, tortuosity and diffusion coefficient is fully explored.

Biography:

Abdollah Esmaeili got his Diploma in Mathematics & Physics, 1986 - 1990, Iran. He attained his BSc and MSc in petroleum engineering from Petroleum University of Technology (PUT), Iran. He is currently pursuing his PhD degree in petroleum engineering at University Technology Petronas (UTP), Malaysia. He has been working as a reservoir engineer in the oil & gas industry for the past 25 years for companies like National Iranian Oil Company (N.I.O.C), National Iranian South Oil Company (N.I.S.O.C), Aghajari Oil & Gas Production Company (AjOGPC). Also, he teaches petroleum reservoir engineering courses in Universities of Iran and Worldwide. He has written several papers in petroleum engineering accepted for presentation in international conferences. He has attended to several international conferences worldwide as speaker. He has lead several international scientific master class and workshops Worldwide.

Abstract:

Among existence methods for produced water removal from oil reservoirs, water re – injection into underground layers of reservoir has been considered as suitable method. But solid particles and other pollutants in this water will damage reservoir formations. Scale deposition is one of the most serious oil field problems that inflict water injection systems primarily when two incompatible waters are involved. Formation damage in this process is similar to cross flow filtration. In this paper, external cake formation on well bore has been modeled in unsteady state conditions. For this purpose, first, the forces will be analyzed; then, fluid force and mass balances in unsteady state condition will be written. Finally, cake thickness, invasion and well fluid velocity profiles in unsteady state condition will be obtained.

Biography:

Abstract:

A new logging-while-drilling (LWD) technology has been developed and field-tested, which introduces directional electromagnetic (EM) measurements through the use of tilted and transverse current-loop antennas. The multispacing and multifrequency directional measurements enable monitoring distance to formation boundaries and their orientation to facilitate proactive well placement. In combination with conventional LWD resistivity, these directional EM measurements allow for accurate structure and formation resistivity interpretation around the wellbore, independent of mud type. Furthermore, specific antenna combinations provide the capability to detect and characterize resistivity anisotropy in near-vertical wells while drilling. The directional EM tool is designed with a symmetrical transmitter-receiver configuration that optimizes the sensitivity to the desired formation parameters. While canceling the influence of anisotropy and formation dip, adding the symmetrical directional measurements together maximizes the sensitivity to bed boundaries, which is optimal forgeo steering. The fact that the antennas are mounted on a conductive collar significantly reduces the large borehole effects that are normally associated with transverse EM measurements in conductive mud. In addition to exploring the physics of the new directional propagation measurements, we will demonstrate their unique applications with field test examples. By detecting and tracking, in real time, formation boundaries up to 15 ft around the wellbore, the directional propagation tool allows for sufficient time to make trajectory adjustments and stay within the reservoir. The bedding orientation information also answers the question, in what direction to steer, which is often ambiguous when relying on traditional propagation measurements. Particularly interesting applications are the placement of wells in thin oil rims and in reservoirs with complex structures such as intra-bedded shale silts. Field test examples will also be shown of the enhanced formation evaluation capabilities offered by directional measurements in high-angle and horizontal wells, where formation resistivities can now be determined while accurately accounting for proximate bed boundaries. The ability to measure resistivity anisotropy in near vertical wells will be demonstrated by a field test example where the anisotropy measurement was confirmed by comparing with a conventional propagation resistivity measurement run in a near-by high-angle well.

Biography:

Cuiwei Liu is currently pursuing his PhD in Oil and Gas Storage and Transportation Engineering from China University of Petroleum. His research emphases include leak detection and location for oil and gas pipelines based on acoustic waves and dynamic pressure waves.

Abstract:

In order to study a new leak detection and location method for oil and natural gas pipelines based on acoustic waves, the propagation model is established and modified. Firstly, the propagation law in theory is obtained by analyzing the damping impact factors which cause the attenuation. Then, the dominant-energy frequencies bands of leakage acoustic waves are obtained through experiments by wavelet transform analysis. Thirdly, the actual propagation model is modified by the correction factor based on the dominant-energy frequency bands. Then a new leak detection and location method is proposed based on the propagation law which is validated by the experiments for oil pipelines. Finally, the conclusions and the method are applied to the gas pipelines in experiments. The results indicate that the modified propagation model can be established by the experimental method; the new leak location method is effective and can be applied to both oil and gas pipelines and it has advantages over the traditional location method based on the velocity and the time difference. Conclusions can be drawn that the new leak detection and location method can effectively and accurately detect and locate the leakages in oil and natural gas pipelines.

Biography:

Zhizhong Deng, graduate student of oil & gas well engineering, from the State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University. His research interests are focused on mechanics and chemistry with working fluid of oil and gas well . He has obtained two invention patents and an article listed by SCI.

Abstract:

A new inorganic gel plugging fluid system that is solidifiable as plug in loss zone has been developed, so as to treat the following problems occurring in malignant lost circulation. Blocking material in mud lialbe to accumulating on the wellbore where channels causing circulation loss are existed (Door Sealed Phenomenon), the weak gel fails to improve the stratum bearing capacity substantially, cement plug is susceptible to erosion which results in strength loss in later period and other problems reducing plugging success rate. Unlike adding various conventional chemical treatment agents to plugging fluid system to adjust the mud performance, we studied the impact on the system of sedimentation stability, rheology, compressive strength, etc. by changing the percentage of the component substances, such as bentonite, CaO, MgO, and Al2O3 and analyzing the test samples and microstructure via X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The analysis indicates that: a)bentonite can effectively adjust the sedimentation stability and shear thinning behavior; b)components of the curing agent like CaO and MgO can increase the compression resistance of the sample; c)such activators as NaOH, Na2CO3 and Na2SiO3 adjusts the rheology by changing the hydration film thickness of the charged particles; d)alkaline environment causes the vitreum of the curing agent disperse, dissolve and form the structure of solidifying working fluid to plug. The field case of Well MX001-X proves that the system can be applied in different wells by adjusting the additives in case loss occurs to oil/gas wells.

Biography:

Obi Williams J D is a Lecturer in the School of Industrial and Technical Education of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze in Anambra State Nigeria. He has put in over 15 years in tutoring, research and community service and served the institution as Head of Department, Electrical and Electronics as a research advisor and project supervisor.

Abstract:

Oil and gas resources are Nigeria is located in the Niger Delta which is situated in the Gulf of Guinea. The Niger Delta is a sedimentary basin having only one identified petroleum system (Akata –Agbada). It is formed at the site of a rift triple junction related to the opening of the southern Atlantic starting in the Late Jurassic and continuing into the Cretaceous. It has an accumulated sedimentary cover of up to 10 km at some places. Oil is produced from sandstone facies within the Agbada Formation. An estimated 34.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 93.8 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas have been discovered in the Niger Delta. Due to poor infrastructural development in the area, accessibility is often hampered, exposing valuable assets, equipment and installations to pipeline vandals and oil thieves, with fewer restraints from the law enforcement agencies. The paper discusses a remote monitoring system based on GSM technology that monitors the critical oil and gas industrial parameters and sends alerts and text messages when the preset conditions are reached or exceeded to the designated addresses as an advanced means of circumventing the identified lapses in oil equipment and installation security by the researchers. The work is realised by the interface of three major blocks of input unit, the host controller and the output unit. Software programme were written and developed to drive the system. From the analysis and results of various tests carried out, the paper concluded that the implemented technology for the system is capable of delivering the expected performance and desired reliability level

Biography:

Abstract:

Direct combustion of Jordanian oil shale under oxy-fuel conditions is the first of its kind. Unstaged and staged air-firing as well as combustion at 27% O2/73% CO2 (OF27) was conducted successfully. A 20 kW vertical reactor was used at a combustion temperature of 1200ºC. Oil shale- N conversion rate to NO is higher during unstaged air-firing than oxyfuel combustion; they are 27% and 15% for air-firing and OF27 combustion, respectively. NOx emission can be reduced efficiently by adopting staged combustion technology under oxy-fuel conditions as well as air-firing. In addition, the reduction of simulated recycled NO has been investigated. The actual situation has been simulated by injecting NO in the reactor through the burner. The reduction of the injected NO is more efficient with staging compared to unstaged combustion mode for both air-firing and oxyfuel combustion; the reduction of the injected NO during staged air-firing and OF27 is 100%. During unstaged air-firing the reduction of the injected NO ranges from 61% to 66%, while for unstaged OF27 combustion it ranges from 57% to 65%. The high sulphur content in Jordanian oil shale is considered one of the biggest challenges for its utilization. The oil shale- S conversion rates to SO2 is lower during unstaged oxyfuel combustion compared to air-firing; they are 69% and 49% for air-firing and OF27 combustion, respectively. Direct limestone injection at different molar Ca/S ratios has been investigated under unstaged oxyfuel conditions as well as air-firing. Significant reduction in SO2 emissions is obtained by limestone injection in both combustion modes. At Ca/S molar ratio of 3, the desulphurization efficiencies are 95% and 100% for air-firing and OF27 combustion, respectively.

Biography:

Amin Soleimani mehr has completed his M.sc at the age of 23 years from Petroleum University of Technology and Starts cooperating with National Iranian Gas Co-Department of Operation. Considering his deep studies on MTO process and catalyst had several successful academic and industrial projects such as SAPO-34 Industrial Catalyst production used in MTO in Petroleum University of Technology ordered by National Iranian Petrochemical Co.-Research and Technology.http://oil-gas.conferenceseries.com/

Abstract:

Concerning Natural Gas reserves all around the world, Syngas -as a product- was decided to be the most important intermediate cut. Transport difficulties, hazards and safety made main Energy suppliers to replace and Supply Methanol for production and Export. This policy changed the balance in Global consumption and production of Methanol leads to a serious change in its pricing. Polymer demand in industrial countries prepared a powerful desire for new Methanol to Hydrocarbon (especially Ethylene and Propylene) processes desire. Lurgi, first proposed a process generates Dimethylether at the first reaction, then converts it to alpha olefins (Propylene mainly) and a light liquid cut. Two main catalysts were used for this process were Gamma-Alumina and ZSM-5. This process was also modified to a direct synthesis form leads to Methanol to H.C. Mobil developed this process to a qualified process which was supposed to use a continuous regeneration fluidized bed reactor in 1977. This new developed process was later managed and redesigned by UOP. The main Catalyst used for MTO was SAPO-34 (Chabazite). After 2000 hours literature study, our team in Petroleum University of Technology started its work on MTO over alkali modified ZSM-5 leads to a main process study and finalizing the optimum reaction condition. Resulted paper was published in Fuel (Elsevier). Then promotion was performed using Se, Ce, K and Cs. Then SAPO-34 synthesis was finalized in 20 main methods and process was studied delicately. Finally, the best Catalyst batch and method was promoted using 12 main active metals

Biography:

E. Nemati Lay, Assitant professor of chemical engineering at the department of chemical engineering at the University of Kashan

Abstract:

This study presents a new pressure gradient correlation for oil-water dispersed flow in horizontal pipes. The new model was derived from 225 experimental pressure gradient data points for variety range of Reynolds number (Rem =2300-1×105) and mixture velocities (Um=0.5-4 m/s). The accuracy of this new model has been evaluated against the homogeneous model. The comparison indicates that the new proposed correlation predicts the pressure gradient with higher accuracy than the homogeneous model.

Biography:

Abstract:

Corrosion tests of carbon steel in two phase flow of liquid–gas (CaCO3 solution -CO2 gas) under different operating conditions of temperatures, agitation velocity, gas flow rate, and time were investigated using electrochemical polarization technique. Flat blade disc turbine mixer was used to simulate the two phase flow conditions. Cathodic protection was used to protect carbon steel in salt solution-CO2 mixture by using zinc as sacrificial anode under different operating conditions of flow rate of CO2, agitation velocity, and temperature by measured corrosion potential and weight loss method. The corrosion rate represented by limiting current density (iL) in two phase brine-CO2 mixture, decreases with the increase in agitation velocity depending on flow rate of CO2, temperature, and time. In general, increasing CO2 gas flow rate caused a clear decrease in corrosion rate especially at high agitation velocity. Good corrosion protection percent was attained which under not sever corrosion conditions reached to 85%. In addition, the variations of corrosion potential with time for both metals (CS and Zn) were determined as well as the loss in weigh for each metal.

Biography:

Abstract:

Natural gas is the clean energy that has been extensively used for several purposes primarily in transportation and generation of electricity. The major constituents of natural gas are CH4 and CO2. The absorption/stripping of carbon dioxide is an important task in the operation of gas–liquid membrane contacting processes. The removal of CO2 from natural gas prior to use is essential. The presence of CO2 reduces the heating value of the natural gas and causes pipe corrosion. The conventional absorption processes are packed columns. The packed towers are usually large in size, require high investment cost and suffer from several operational limitations include flooding, entrainment and foaming. Recently hollow fiber membrane contactor has attracted the attention of many researchers. Absorption of CO2 takes place in a membrane contactor when the gas stream contacts with the liquid phase flowing on the opposite side of the membrane. Various absorbents on CO2 absorption/stripping were investigated; potassium glycinate (PG), monoethanolamide (MEA), di-ethanolamine (DEA), and 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) were applied as absorbent/stripping solutions. The membrane used for the experiments was hollow fiber Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) membrane fabricated via thermally induced phase separation method. The performances of various amine solutions on the CO2 absorption/stripping capability were investigated. CO2 stripping experiments revealed that regardless of type of solvent the CO2 stripping flux and efficiency rapidly increases with liquid temperature, pressure and initial CO2 concentration.

Biography:

Leema Al-Makhadmeh, Associate Professor, the Head of the Department of Environmental Engineering. B.Sc. degree M.Sc. degrees from Jordan University of Science and Technology. Ph.D. (Dr. Ing.) Degree in Energy and Environmental Engineering from Institute of Combustion and Power Plant Technology, Stuttgart University/Germany.
Research areas:Oxyfu el Technology/Combustion, Pyrolysis and Char combustion, Oil-Shale Combustion and Utilization, Emission control technologies (NOx, SOx, PM), CO2 Capture technologies

Abstract:

Direct combustion of Jordanian oil shale under oxy-fuel conditions is the first of its kind. Unstaged and staged air-firing as well as combustion at 27% O2/73% CO2 (OF27) was conducted successfully. A 20 kW vertical reactor was used at a combustion temperature of 1200ºC. Oil shale- N conversion rate to NO is higher during unstaged air-firing than oxyfuel combustion; they are 27% and 15% for air-firing and OF27 combustion, respectively. NOx emission can be reduced efficiently by adopting staged combustion technology under oxy-fuel conditions as well as air-firing. In addition, the reduction of simulated recycled NO has been investigated. The actual situation has been simulated by injecting NO in the reactor through the burner. The reduction of the injected NO is more efficient with staging compared to unstaged combustion mode for both air-firing and oxyfuel combustion; the reduction of the injected NO during staged air-firing and OF27 is 100%. During unstaged air-firing the reduction of the injected NO ranges from 61% to 66%, while for unstaged OF27 combustion it ranges from 57% to 65%. The high sulphur content in Jordanian oil shale is considered one of the biggest challenges for its utilization. The oil shale- S conversion rates to SO2 is lower during unstaged oxyfuel combustion compared to air-firing; they are 69% and 49% for air-firing and OF27 combustion, respectively. Direct limestone injection at different molar Ca/S ratios has been investigated under unstaged oxyfuel conditions as well as air-firing. Significant reduction in SO2 emissions is obtained by limestone injection in both combustion modes. At Ca/S molar ratio of 3, the desulphurization efficiencies are 95% and 100% for air-firing and OF27 combustion, respectively.

Biography:

Vartanyan Genrikh, Dr, Sci., PhD (geology), Professor, Member of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Director of the Russian National Institute for Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology (1983 -2003), Vice-President of LSK. Inc.
Dr. Vartanyan is one of the leading specialists in the areas of hydroseismology and geodynamics. He established and developed the new branch of modern geology namely regional hydrogeodeformatcs. This discipline deals with the newly discovered hydrogeodeformation field of the Earth (the Vartanyan-Koulikov hydrogeological effect) and allows defining fast changes in the stress-strain conditions which could cause earthquakes. Based on the principles and methodology of this new discipline, specialized hydrogeodeformation monitoring network has been established in several countries. The monitoring results obtained are widely used for predicting dangerous changes in geodynamic conditions within the huge seismically active regions.


Dr.E.Zaltsberg has extensive knowledge of the theory, principles, and practices of groundwater monitoring, assessment and forecasting techniques. He coordinated and conducted hydrogeological reviews of complex applications for permitting and decommissioning or closure of industrial and municipal waste disposal sites and liquid waste disposal wells in Canada. Dr.Zaltsberg established impacts on groundwater movement and base flow due to residential development, cut-off walls and pumping wells. He compiled numerous hydrogeological maps for solving regional and site specific problems.
He has considerable experience dealing effectively with the public, Government officials, Municipalities, industry and consulting and legal firms regarding landfill sites, exploration and disposal wells. He provided expert testimony at various public hearings in Canada. Dr.E.Zaltsberg is the author of two mono¬graphs and approximately one hundred papers in English, Russian and Czech on groundwater regime, balance, forecasting and mapping..

 

Abstract:

Geodynamic processes could negatively influence development of oil and gas fields’ exploration by destructing technological processes and well constructions, transportation systems and other infrastructures. In particular, such destruction could result in lost of well construction integrity resulted in hydrocarbon fuel blows. In addition, significant and even irreparable damage could be made to the environment. Due to lack of tools for timely defining dangerous geodynamic developments, such damages are usually unexpected and very often accompanied by tremendous human and financial losses. During the last 30-35 years the methodology of regional hydrogeodeformatics as well as principles of hydrogeodeformation (HGD) field monitoring were tested and developed. They are based on the discovery of the new kind of the geophysical field of the Earth – the HydroGeoDeformation field. Special parameters characterizing stress-strain conditions within geological massifs have been developed which allow monitoring changes in these conditions at any time scale (hourly, daily, monthly, etc.) These parameters could also be used for monitoring the areal changes in deformation conditions within the huge geological regions. Therefore, the HGD monitoring provides valuable information on the areas and timing of the potential dangerous geodynamic process occurrences. The paper contains the results of HGD monitoring conducted in various regions of the Earth which allowed making predictions of potentially dangerous geodynamic conditions threatening the safety of infrastructures and personnel within the huge regions. Based on the existing experience, some practical recommendations regarding establishing HGD monitoring system and interpretations of its results are given. Their implementation would be of help in making timely strategic decisions which in many cases could prevent catastrophic consequences of dangerous geodynamic development at main oil and gas fields and transportation systems.

Biography:

Dr Narjes Abul has 17 years experience in petroleum refining hydroprocessing operations in pilot plant scale from Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. Dr Narjes has worked in characterization of petroleum fractions using gas chromatography, catalysts evaluation and characterization also on Gas chromatographic techniques and other analytical techniques such as TGA, Elemental analysis. Specialized in coke and wax deposition especially in regeneration of used catalysts. She also worked on projects related to asphaltene nitrogen and sulfur separation from heavy oils

Abstract:

Investigation on the life cycle of hydrotreating catalysts in pilot plant unit are focused on the end of run and fouling problems. The one of the non conventional way of regenerating the spent catalyst is using in-situ non-oxidative regeneration of spent hydroprocessing catalyst from Kuwaiti refinery was studied. The non-oxidative regeneration treatments, including 1) washing the spent catalyst with a straight run gas oil (SRGO) at 150 and 200 oC respectively, 2) accelerated solvent extraction technique and 3) regeneration at temperature 450o C under 50 bar using H2 diluted with 0.4% of H2S. The spent catalyst and regenerated catalysts were characterized by elemental analysis, solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) techniques. The regenerated catalysts were evaluated with a feedstock containing 30 vol % of coker gas oil and 70 vol % of straight run gas oil in a microreactor system. Three type of catalysts are loaded for comparison of their activity test: fresh catalyst and oxidative and non-oxidative regenerated catalysts. The results indicate that in-situ non-oxidative regeneration is able to regenerate the spent hydroprocessing catalysts under similar operation conditions of the refinery. This treatment overcomes the disadvantages of the oxidative regeneration method.

Biography:

Collins N. NWAOKOCHA is a Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Environmental Studies, Ibogun Campus of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Mechanical Engineering from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye in 2008. He completed his Master of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in 2012. His research interests include Renewable & Sustainable Energy and Emission studies. He is a member of the Nigeria Society of Engineers; African Wind Energy Association & Council for Renewable Energy in Nigeria.

Abstract:

Unabated gas flaring in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is of local and global concern and contributes considerably to climate change and global warming due to the release of greenhouse gases. This paper presents an inventory of the CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere via gas flaring in Nigeria from 1965 to 2013, which is lacking before now. The data utilized in this study were sourced from national agency for information on gas production, utilization and flaring in Nigeria. This work was carried out based on Association of Petroleum Institute compendium of GHG emissions estimation for the oil and gas industry. From this present study, it was estimated that 1.87 × 109 tons of CO2 were released into the region through the flaring of 895.01 billion cubic metre of gas (55.6% of total gas produced) in Nigeria for a period of 49 years. The average yearly emission of CO2 (38.1 million tons) obtained in this study is slightly higher than the 35 million tons of CO2 previously reported in literature. Using Tier 2 approach, the uncertainty associated with the estimated CO2 emission was in the range -85.02% and 54.46%. The homogeneity test conducted for the CO2 emissions estimated from the satellite and national agency data on gas flaring in Nigeria showed that they are statistically equal. Conclusively, increased domestic utilization and export development of natural gas in the country is important to reducing gas flaring and its associated emissions.

Biography:

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study was to screen various Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies for a number of selected matured reservoirs and perform a feasibility investigation of using Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technology by miscible CO2 injection. The candidate hydrocarbon reservoirs were simulated to compare the EOR methods and also evaluate economically the aspects of CCS-EOR. This study has been done by assessing the production results such as oil recovery as well as gas-oil ratio accompanied with economic parameters. In this work, lab experiments have been performed on reservoir core sample based on an incremental pressure algorithm approaching the miscible conditions to monitor the miscible CO2-EOR injection and also validate the MMP value obtained by slim-tube apparatus. Lab-scale simulation has been used to estimate the field operational parameters for CO2-EOR processes. Based on the field scale simulation, comparison among different gas injection methods (N2, CH4, and CO2) has been done to find the best technical processes. An economic model was constructed to assess the required costs of CO2 capturing, transportation, compression and injection. Capturing cost was evaluated using the current technologies from power plants, refineries and gas processing plants. A Techno-economic analysis was performed on the CCS-EOR methods to evaluate their Net Present Value (NPV). The results obtained showed that the CO2-EOR method is the best selected EOR method for higher oil recovery and lower gas production. Additionally, the economic evaluation (NPV analysis) showed that the use of miscible CO2 injection in the candidate reservoirs was more economical compared to the other scenarios. By reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emission to the atmosphere, the CCS- EOR method has a great potential in reducing the causes of Global warming.

Biography:

Abstract:

The Bakken is a very tight formation with the oil contained mostly in siltstone and sandstone reservoirs with low porosity and permeability. There could be an estimated 25 to 100 billion barrels of Bakken oil in place. At present, the combination of horizontal well drilling and the new multi-stage fracturing and completion technologies has been the solution to economically produce from the Bakken formation. The primary recovery factor however remains rather low due to high capillary trapping. While waterflooding could result in unfavorable infectivity issues, carbon dioxide (CO2) or natural miscible flooding provides a promising option for increasing the recovery factor. Higher oil recovery factor can be achieved with gas injection through multi-contact miscibility that results in vanishing interfacial tension, viscosity reduction and oil swelling. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of the miscible gas flooding using compositional reservoir simulation approach. Different strategies were tested to compare the effects on oil recovery of injection well pattern and heterogeneity. The simulation results show that gas flooding presents a technically promising method for recovering the vast Bakken oil.

Biography:

Abstract:

In this work, reduced crude residue derived from Kirkuk crude oil using a commercial nickel-molybdenum on alumina (Ni-Mo/γ-Al2O3) catalyst pre-sulfided at specified conditions in an experimental scale is considered. A series of experiments were carried out in a continuous flow trickle bed reactor by varying the reaction temperature from 380 to 420°C, the liquid hourly space velocity from 0.3 to 1.0 hr-1 and the hydrogen pressure from 60 to 100 bar at constant hydrogen to oil ratio of 1000 L/L. The hydrocracking products were distillated into the following fraction: naphtha (IBP-160°C), kerosene (160-225°C), light gas oil (225-345°C), heavy gas oil (345-540°C) and vacuum reside (+540°C).

Biography:

Abstract:

A series of gas-oil hydro treating experiments were carried out under different operating conditions. The runs were conducted in a fixed bed-cata test unit. A commercially CoO MoO3 / Al2O3 – hydro treated catalyst was used. The catalyst was used divided to three zones each is separated from another by glass beads/glass wool. The total weight per cent of coke deposited on the catalyst was also studied in each catalyst zone inside the reactor after the runs carried out with each operating variables (reaction temperature, hydrogen pressure, liquid hourly space velocity). The results indicated that the coke deposition on the on the catalyst of the reactor zones can be arranged as follow: First zone > second zone > third zone. Regeneration of coke by two methods (burn off and THF extraction) was studied. The coke removal on using the burn off method was increased with TOS from 3 to 24 h for HVGO, while in case of THF extraction method the coke removal was decreased.

Biography:

Abstract:

A series of gas-oil hydro treating experiments were carried out under different operating conditions; reaction temperatures 300-425°C, hydrogen pressures 15- 65 bar, liquid hourly space velocities 0.5-1.50 h-1, while H2/feed ratio and time of products collection was kept constant at 250 L/L and 9 hours respectively. A commercially CoO MoO3 / Al2O3 - hydro treated catalyst was used in the catalytic activity tests. The runs were conducted in a fixed bed-cata test unit. HDS of HVGO was improved at reaction temperature 400°C which reached (98.88), at pressure 50 reached (79.92) and at LHSV 0.5 reached (83.26). Main characteristics and the product quality as diesel index (DI), color and pour point was improved but the total aromatics content was decreased with the reaction temperature, pressure increase and increase with decrease LHSV.

Biography:

Abstract:

With increased time of usage, lubricating oil loses its lubrication properties and thus must be evacuated and a fresh one replaced. Recovery of waste oil is environment friendly and economic. The waste lube oil was treated by N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) + 1% KOH at different conditions as temperatures from 50 to 70 0C and solvent feed ratio from 1/1 to 7/1. The best conditions which produce good quality raffinate with high yield at 70 0C and solvent feed ratio 5/1. The fresh catalyst NiMoAl2O3 that consist of NiO =5.2 wt.% , MoO3=23 wt.%, Al2O3 balance was applied for re-refining of the best raffinate at different reaction temperature range from 320 to 4100C, hydrogen pressure range from 30 to 50 bars and liquid hour space velocity (LHSV) range from 0.3 to 0.7 h-1. The best conditions of hydrotreating to produce the high quality lube oil are (temperature = 350 0C, pressure = 50 bar and LHSV = 0.5 h-1). The catalytic testes carried out using both spent and rejuvenated catalyst (using 4 % oxalic + Fe(NO3)3 at continuous modes) under the constant temperature, hydrogen pressure and liquid hour space velocity (350 0C, 50 bar, 0.5 h-1) respectively, in order to compare the hydrodesulfrization (HDS) activity of fresh, rejuvenate and spent catalyst. The result indicated that oxalic acid treatment are improved the equilibrium HDS activity of the catalyst (nearly close to the equilibrium of fresh) , and also improved the quality of waste lube oil.

Biography:

Professor A.Y. Zekri received his B.Sc., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern California. He has spent more than two decades in the petroleum industry. Professor Zekri worked as a consultant to the management committees of Waha Oil Co., and Agip Oil Company. He has authored and/or co-authored more than 90 papers on new developments and technical issues in the areas of improved oil recovery, flow through porous media, and environmental aspects of petroleum production, petroleum contracts, and Enhanced Oil Recovery. He has edited and refereed technical papers in widely respected journals. Prof. Zekri has completed a number of research projects in the area of IOR/EOR to UAE and International Petroleum Industries. Professor Zekri is currently working as Coordinator of Oil and Gas Technologies, Emirates Center for Energy and Environment Research and Professor of petroleum engineering at the United Arab Emirates University.

Abstract:

The effect of injection brine salinity on the displacement efficiency of low water salinity flooding was investigated using sea water at 35,000 ppm, and two field injection waters, namely, Um-Eradhuma (UER) at 171,585 ppm and Simsima (SIM) at 243,155 ppm. The salinity of the employed waters was varied from original salinity to 1000 ppm and used in the displacement of oil in selected core samples. The results of this set of experiments revealed that UER salinity of 5000 ppm is the optimum system for the candidate reservoir. Um-Eradhuma original water and its optimum water were then used in this project as the high and low salinity waters in the CO2-WAG flooding experiments. Displacement efficiencies were evaluated under three injection modes: carbon dioxide WAG miscible flooding (CO2-WAG, 1:1, 2:1, and 1:2), continuous CO2 injection (CCO2I), and waterflood (WF). The WAG performance parameters, such as secondary and tertiary displacement efficiencies, CO2 flood utilization factor, and CO2 performance during different WAG flood cycles were determined. To insure miscibility condition between the injected gas and the employed oil, all of the flooding experiments were conducted at 3200 psia (which is 300 psia above the minimum miscibility pressure of CO2 & used oil) and 250 °F. Experimental results indicated that core length is a critical parameter in determining the optimum WAG process, and that a minimum core length of 29 cm is required to insure the generation of miscibility before breakthrough in CO2-WAG flooding experiments. On the other hand, core length had no effect on the performance of the low salinity flooding experiments. Using single core flooding low salinity CO2-WAG of 1:2 flooding produced an improvement in the displacement efficiency of 29% over the high salinity system. Also, composite core flooding experiments showed that the high salinity CO2-2:1 WAG achieved a displacement efficiency of 98%. These results indicate that achieving miscibility at the reservoir conditions is the dominant mechanism and that low salinity will have no major effect on the displacement efficiency of CO2-Miscible WAG flooding. Results also indicate that oil recovery during different CO2-WAG cycles is a function of WAG ratios.

Biography:

Weian Huang, his research of 14 years from China University of Petroleum and Starts cooperating with National Science Foundation of China in 2013. Considering his deep studies on Formation Damage and Protection successful in China University of Petroleum.

Abstract:

The output process of shale gas undergoes three closely connected segments of desorption, diffusion and seepage. To enhance shale gas recovery the damage of working fluids on gas reservoir in every segment should be prevented or minimized by adding reservoir protection agent. One kind of micro emulsion agent as a shale gas reservoir protection agent is becoming more and more attractive, which has been applied in shale gas drilling and stimulation for improving the shale gas well production by changing the wettability of reservoir, decreasing water influx and decreasing the damage rate of permeability. However, desorption and diffusion of adsorbed gas should be promoted to improve the shale gas production. Therefore，it is necessary to develop a novel reservoir protection agent to improve shale gas recovery. A novel shale gas reservoir protection agent VSPA was developed, and its major compositions included gemini quaternary ammonium surfactant GTN, Tween 80, n-butyl alcohol, N-octane and water. The anti-water block behavior of VSPA in bicontinuous area was studied. A varied of methods including measurements of surface tension, contact angle, distribution of micelle size and anti-swelling ability, high temperature and high pressure adsorption experiment, spontaneous imbibition test and pressure pulse decay method were used to evaluate the reservoir protection properties of VSPA such as surface activity, wettability, inhibition, cleanup performance, effect on permeability of free gas and desorption of adsorbed gas. Results showed that the VSPA reduced the surface tension of fluid, increased contact angle, weakened pore throat shrinkage caused by hydrous swelling, decreased the capillary pressure, reduced liquid trap and water block damage by substantially decreasing liquid spontaneous imbibition, lowered the damage rate of permeability and promoting desorption of adsorbed gas from shale. The micelle blocked water incursion and slowed down transmission of pressure deforming and squeezing into micropores.

Biography:

Dr. Kirat joined Qatar University in 2012. Previously, he served as Head of the Public Relations Department and Dean of the College of Communication at the University of Sharjah, UAE (2007-2011). Dr. Kirat has published more than 50 articles and book chapters on journalism, mass media and public relations in scholarly journals. He has also written several books on mass media and public relations. His areas of research cover corporate image building, reputation management, crisis management, media coverage of international conflicts, press freedom in the Arab world, and social media and the Arab public sphere.

Abstract:

In the last few years the state of Qatar, as well as various national and international corporations and firms, paid a great attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) to face a score of challenges namely sustainable development, globalization, governance, corporate sector impact, communications, finance, ethics among others. Through in depth interviews and the analysis of companies' websites and annual CSR reports this study looked at the perceptions and practices of CSR in Qatar. Findings of the study suggest that Qatar oil and gas companies engage in corporate social responsibility activities focusing on health, sports, education and environment, while neglecting other important areas such as human rights, labor rights, work conditions, anti-bribery and anti-corruption measures, accountability, transparency and performance reporting. They allocate minimum budgets and resources, they perform no research and assessments before or after they engage in CSR activities. CSR should be enforced by law, through regulations and international standards in order to improve its performance and to meet local and international challenges. With barely a decade of practice and experience, CSR in Qatar oil and gas industry is developing fast and has to move to the next step where the focus should be given to developing policies and strategies through scientific and systematic inquiry and research.

Biography:

Engr. Uzoh, Chigozie Francolins is a lecturer in Chemical Engineering Dept., Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. He is in terminal stage of his Ph.D at the same department and university. He is a very dynamic and skilled researcher with excellent analytical and problem solving skills and strong aptitude for conducting research related to our current needs. He has published a number of research articles in different ISI-indexed journals. He has demonstrated outstanding strength of character in area of moral rectitude, integrity, tenacity, dedication and capacity for hard work. His Ph.D research topics is novel approach to synthesize oxy-polymerizable alkyd resin from some inedible non-drying oil for surface coating application. He is a registered member of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN); a corporate member of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) and the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE); and International Association of Engineers (IAENG). His research and teaching interests are alkyd resins, experimental process design, response surface methods and process dynamics, control and optimization. He has designed many processes for product and process synthesis using design of experiment and statistical screening analysis.

Abstract:

Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-Genetic Algorithm (GA) interface and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) have been compared as tools for simulation and optimization of gmelina seed oil extraction process. A multi-layer feed-forward Levenberg Marquardt back-propagation algorithm was incorporated for developing a predictive model which was optimized using GA. Equally, Design Expert simulation and optimization tools were also incorporated for a detailed simulation and optimization of the same process using RSM. It was found that oil yield increased with increase in temperature, time and volume of solvent but decreased with increase in seed particle size. Optimal yield of 47.93% and 43.52% were observed for ANN-GA and RSM respectively under the same parameter design space of; 200μm particle size, 40C temperature, 100ml volume of solvent and 40mins extraction period. The performance of the models in predicting the responses was evaluated by mean square error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R2), and the results show that the models were very efficient. Models validation experiments indicate that the predicted and the actual were in close agreement. Overall, ANN-GA hybrid was found to be more efficient by 10.13%. The extract was analyzed to examine its physico-chemical properties (acid value, iodine value, peroxide value, viscosity, saponification value, moisture and ash content, refractive index, smoke, flash and fire points and specific gravity) and structural elucidation by standard methods and instrumental techniques. Results revealed that the oil is not edible but find potential in biodiesel and alkyd resin production.

Biography:

2014/2015: Masters of Business Administration (MBA) – Oil & Gas Management, at UCSI University Faculty of Business & Information Science – Malaysia. September 2003: Master of Arts (MA) in Economics, Management, and Business Management at Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM). 1997-2001: BA in Economics and Management, UCM.

Abstract:

Natural gas has turned into a vitality energy source around the globe. Gas-to-Liquid (GTL process) is a system that changes natural gas to liquid fuels. Recent discovery of huge proved reserved of Natural gas in Mozambique can alleviates the dependence on import refined liquid fuel. The study aims to identify the effect on local economy when Mozambique substitutes traditional fuel derived from crude oil to a local GTL fuel production. With current advanced technology, GTL fuels cost per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) was proved less than the traditional. The local petroleum law stated, 25% of natural oil & gas explored will be used in domestic economy under government control. The data of fuels consumption (2000 to 2013) for the economic effects comparison showings the results in regression analysis that the amount spent for import fuels occupies 15.108% of GDP. Distillate fuel (diesel) represents 67% of the total, gasoline 18% and jet fuel 9%. The study proved and concluded that, local projected GTL fuels production plant and the quote for using in Mozambique exceed in 167,5% annual BOE imported and can substitute for imported refined fuels under actual economic factors, with extra barrels for export or reserve. Due to country policies implications and GTL plant is unfixed, further study may need for better perception on domestic economy implications of Mozambique.

Biography:

M. S. Hosseini, MSc student of chemical engineering at the University of Kashan. E. Nemati Lay, Assitant professor of chemical engineering at the department of chemical engineering at the University of Kashan

Abstract:

In this research work, a new pressure gradient correlation for oil-water separated flow in horizontal pipes has been developed. The proposed correlation was derived from 371 experimental pressure drop data points for variety range of Reynolds number (Rem =800-35000), pipe diameters (14-82.8 mm), mixture velocities (Um=0.09-5.46 m/s), oil-water density ratio (ρo/ρw =0.780-0.875) and oil-water viscosity ratio (µo/µw =1.3-28). The accuracy of the new empirical correlation has been compared with commonly used existing models. The comparison indicates that the new proposed correlation predicts with better accuracy than the Al-Wahaibi (2012) and two fluid models.

Biography:

Abstract:

The study area lies in the southern part of the Hazara Kashmir Syntaxis sub-Himalayas Pakistan. The Hazara Kashmir Syntax is an antiformal structure. The core of syntaxis comprises of Himalayan molasse deposits. These molasse deposits ranging from Early Miocene to Recent are exposed in the area. This study deals with the structure and stratigraphy of Nawan and Ghoi areas of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan. The Himalayan molasse deposits are exposing in the southern Hazara Kashmir Syntaxis. The formations exposed are the Chinji Formation, Nagri Formation, Dhok Pathan Formation, Soan Formation, Mirpur Formation and Recent alluvium. The area is highly deformed into folds and faults due to Himalayan orogeny. The area is highly deformed into folds and faults. The folds are northwest-southeast trending or southwest-northeast trending. The folds are asymmetric, tight, open, gentle and close in nature. The folds are southwest, northeast or southeast, northwest vergent. The Jhelum Fault truncates the northeast, southwest, southeast and northwest trending structures. The major folds are Jabran syncline, Shikraanticline, Haveli syncline, Band anticline and Chanas anticline. The major faults in the project area are Jhelum Fault and Malikpur-Diljaba fault. The Jhelum Fault is a left lateral strike-slip fault with reverse motion. The Jhelum Fault truncates the northwest and southeast trending Himalayan structures. The Malikpur-Diljaba fault is the back thrust splay of the Jhelum Fault. The folds and faults are the result of northeast southwest or northwest southeast Himalayan compression in the area.

Biography:

Nanne Brunia and Wim Westerman are affiliated with the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. This paper owes much to the helpful contributions of Dirk Dijksma, Maurits van Maren and Pieter Melching. However, the authors are fully and completely responsible for the current text.

Abstract:

We study the case of a large Dutch firm, having conventional and non-conventional energy business, with also some presence in Europe and even beyond. Valuing energy firms does in principle not differ from valuing firms in general, although multi-level regulation issues and energy market developments blur the picture. Key value drivers include growth of revenues (prices x volumes), earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization margins to net sales (“EBITDA margins”), capital expenditures (“CAPEX”) and costs of capital. The actual valuation requires processing an array of data on regulation, market and firm specifics and much economically relevant as well as precise calculation work. We show with a checklist a vast number of relevant inputs to be taken into account for a transaction valuation. While our case valuation has decreasing practical relevance in the present energy markets, our methodology is still largely valid under the current technology driven circumstances.

Biography:

Daniel Davoodian studying his PhD research at University of Southern Queensland. The research title is “The perceived barriers of innovation and technology transfer in Australian on-shore drilling”. The research explores the effect and the extent of the barriers and aims to identify how these barriers have influenced the growth and development of and within the drilling industry. It is hoped that the research will help industry leaders to improve efficiency and performance. Daniel has been working for the oil and gas industry for 10 years in different faculties such as business development consultancy, maintenace planning, drilling operations as well as oil and gas trade.

Abstract:

Studying and analysing the oil and gas industry’s supply chain can be complex and sometimes unclear. A supply chain strategy and policy for this industry, comprises the improvement of boundaries and parameters that controls the interactions between different sectors. However, regardless of how good the current supply chain of the oil and gas is, and how well the policies, strategies and technologies are placed, it still can be improved. On the other hand, improvement requires innovation especially in the operational environment. Operational innovation can simply be a different procedure in dealing with old problems. Over years, oil and gas companies including the drilling sector, develop through merger, acquisition and business divergence. Whereas, growth, development and financial improvement can be achieved through innovation in the operation sector as well. However, the researcher’s approach is to review the impact of the value, and effect of the technology transfer on organisational policies, operational policies, knowledge based economy and innovation management of the value chain. In this regard the objective of this chapter is to study the extensive technology transfer management issues from the point of knowledge-based economy. The main hypothesis suggests the transformation of the traditional model of the technology transfer to a modern approach. The necessity to improve, grow and expand the knowledge-based economy towards a more efficient system, the lack of transparency amongst operation and knowledge transfer, and lack of focus on vertical and horizontal organizational knowledge transfer, are profound invitations for the remodelling and reinterpretation of the basics of the technology transfer.

Biography:

Dr. Mohammad Abdulhameed AlKazimi is a Senior Reliability and Equipment Support Engineer at Kuwait Oil Company in Kuwait. He holds a Bachelor degree in mechanical engineering and Masters degree in Industrial Engineering; both earned at the University of Toledo in Ohio, USA. As part of professional development program by the oil sector in Kuwait, he was one of the first of employees to be selected to pursue his PhD with focus on risk assessment and mitigation in the petroleum industry. During his graduate studies, he earned his Masters degree in petroleum engineering along with certificates in Safety Engineering, Leadership in Engineering Organizations, and Project Management, respectively. In addition, Dr. AlKazimi is a member of multiple professional societies.

Abstract:

The currently used of both qualitative and quantitative risk assessment tools “fall short in identifying and ranking potential risks” in the petroleum industry and they “fail to demonstrate that risks have been reduced as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP)” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 3). Moreover, the tools are “limited to large, complex, and expensive studies” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 3). Because accidents due to both human errors and electromechanical failures still occur and result in various consequences, critics have raised concerns about the petroleum industry’s safety and risk mitigation credentials and question its ability to prevent major accidents. My main focus in my research is to introduce new methods that provide more detailed and structure information to decision makers. They are more robust and easier-to-use so that novice engineers can successfully apply them without experts’ need. In addition, In addition, implementing an effective safety culture is essential to protect employees as well as enhancing the students’ safety awareness. Students need to be able to identify hazards, assess the risk associated with them, and respond to an emergency situation, should they occur. Therefore, The proposed launch of Health, Safety, and Environment focus area in the Petroleum Engineering Department at Kuwait University will boost the credentials of both the department and the university as pioneers in that in that field within academia in the Gulf region.

Biography:

Abstract:

With the discovery of the Pre-Salt reserves, the exploration of oil and gas is being extended to great depths in Brazil, thereby generating increasing demand for drilling capabilities. This study examines the impact of this discovery accomplished by Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) on patent applications in Brazil associated with drilling fluid technologies. Then, this article provides empirical evidence that the pre-salt discovery significantly affected patent strategizing of Multi-Nationals Companies (MNCs) operating in the upstream oil and gas industry.

Biography:

Dr. Javier Holzmann is Chief Engineer of the Full Scale Testing Lab and Lecturer for topics related with OCTG technology since 2006 and has worked as an R&D Engineer for six years (2001-2006) in the R&D Center of Tenaris-Siderca, Argentina. Dr. Holzmann has an equivalent M.Sc. degree (2001) from the Academy of Engineering, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a PhD degree (2013) from the Technical University of Clausthal, Germany. Since 2001 he is involved in research activities related with OCTG design, testing and optimisation, makeup procedures, and development of laboratory testing devices and facilities.

Abstract:

As a fundamental condition towards making use of the maximum performance of a threaded connection, the make up process bears great importance for getting the necessary preloading of the joint, which enables a determined tubular string to be tight and to withstand all static and dynamic load modes present during the whole life of the well. However, due to the design nature of premium connections, it can be somewhat complicated to determine the optimum amount of applied torque which is big enough to make up the connection and achieve service tightness, but also small enough to avoid the development of some failure modes, like those related to excessive plastic deformation and galling . The purpose of this work aims to better understand the elastoplastic phenomena present during make up procedures by means of experimental validation of an axial-symmetric model for bilinear materials, that is typically used for FE models during the design phase of OCTG proprietary connections.

Biography:

Tom Leeftink is currently in his final month of the MSc. Petroleum Engineering (Delft University of Technology). He is performing a thesis research on assessing new shale permeability measurements and novel history match inversions at EBN in cooperation with the University of Leeds and Delft. He started his MSc. in September 2013 after finishing his BSc. in Applied Earth Sciences (also at Delft University of Technology). For his BSc. thesis, he conducted this research on modelling foam EOR under supervision of Prof. W.R. Rossen. This paper was earlier presented at the EAGE on IOR in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2013

Abstract:

Injectivity is a key factor in the economics of foam enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. Poor injectivity of low-mobility foam slows the production of oil and allows more time for gravity segregation of injected gas. The conventional Peaceman equation makes two substantial errors in estimating foam injectivity: it ignores the rapidly changing saturations around the wellbore and the effect of non-Newtonian mobility of foam. This paper considers the two problems in turn: non-Newtonian effects and foam dry-out. In studying non-Newtonian effects we use the method-of-characteristics approach, which resolves both changing saturations and non-Newtonian rheology with great precision near the wellbore, and compare to conventionally computed injectivity using the Peaceman equation in a grid block. By itself, the strongly non-Newtonian rheology of the “low-quality” foam regime makes a significant difference to injectivity of foam. However, one could estimate this effect using the equation for injectivity of power-law fluids, i.e. without accounting for changing water saturation near the well, without much error. In SAG processes, however, non-Newtonian rheology is less important than accounting for foam collapse in the immediate near-wellbore region. Averaging water saturation in a large grid block misses this dry-out very near the well and the Peaceman equation grossly underestimates the injectivity of gas. This error is similar in kind to, but much greater than, that in conventional gas-injection EOR. The magnitude of the effect on the overall simulation decreases as the simulation grid is refined around the well. We illustrate with examples using foam parameters fit to laboratory data.

Biography:

Mohd Hafiz Fazalul Rahiman completed his PhD degree in electrical engineering and Post-doctoral studies from Universiti Teknologi. In 2006, he joined Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia as teaching staff member and at present he holds senior lecturer position. His research interests include process tomography, sensors and instrumentations and embedded system.

Abstract:

In this paper, we carried out a tomographic investigation on a column using ultrasonic sensor. The ultrasonic tomography sensing array was constructed and clamped onto the exterior circumference of the column. The time-of-flight and arrival-time analysis was studied to obtain the signal information in real-time. The cross-section images were then reconstructed using image reconstruction algorithm. Some experiments were carried out using known static profiles and were compared with the actual profiles. The findings showed promising results where the sensing array could detect the void fractions.

Biography:

Abstract:

With the rapid development of chemical flooding technologies during recent decades, great success has been achieved in the fundamental studies and field tests of chemical combination flooding in recent years. In China, a low concentration ASP formula was employed to achieve ultralow interfacial tension by the synergistic effect of alkali and surfactant. The viscosity of polymer solution prepared from produced water could meet the technological requirements when salt tolerance polymer was applied. ASP or SP flooding could increase both oil displacement efficiency and sweep volume. ASP pilot tests and industrial field tests in Daqing Oilfield have resulted in an oil recovery increase of 18.5%-26.5%. The chemical combination flooding has entered into the industrial promotion and application stage, with a series of supporting techniques formed in the field tests. Chemical combination flooding has become a cost effective EOR technology in recent years. The overall tendency of chemical combination flooding is turning from strong alkali ASP flooding to weak alkali ASP or even alkali free SP flooding. The conditions and types of applicable reservoirs are also broaden, from high permeability to low permeability reservoirs; from sandstone to conglomerate, carbonate and complex fault block reservoirs; from low temperature low salinity to high temperature high salinity reservoirs. The main challenges in this technique include short pump-checking period and difficulty in produced liquid handling and high cost. Micelle-polymer flooding as the major chemical combination flooding technique was applied abroad in the early stage of chemical flooding tests. However, the micelle-polymer flooding has not been applied widely due to its high cost. Thus low concentration chemical combination flooding has drawn more attention. Because of high temperature and high salinity in most reservoirs abroad where chemical combination flooding is going to be used, the temperature resistance and salt tolerance oil displacement agents are the bottleneck for application of chemical combination flooding. There are some major technological problems need to be solved in future application of chemical combination flooding. Firstly, high-performance, low-cost surfactants for chemical combination flooding should be developed. Secondly, new salt-tolerance, temperature-resistance polymers and surfactants should be developed. Thirdly, chemical combination flooding supporting technology in field tests and application should be improved. Fourthly, monitoring, tracking adjustment and optimizing technology in chemical combination flooding field tests should be improved.

Biography:

Abstract:

Sulige gas field is a typical tight sand gas field in China．Well type and pattern optimization is the key technology to improve single well estimated reserves and recovery factor and to achieve efective field development．In view of the large area，low abundance and high heterogeneity of Sulige gas field，a series of techniques have been developed including hierarchical description for the reservoir architecture of large composite sand bodies and well spacing optimization，well paaem optimization，design and optimization for horizontal trajectory and deliverability evaluation for diferent types of gas wells．These technologies provide most important technical supports for the increases of class Ⅰ and Ⅱ wells proportion to 75%-80% with recovery factor enhanced by more than 35％ and for the industrial application of horizontal drilling．To further improve individual well production an d recovery factor, attempts and pilot tests in various well types including side tracking of deficient wells，multilateral horizontal wells，and directional wells，and horizontal well pattern and combined well pattern of various well types should be carried out throughout the development．

Biography:

Dr. Samer Ahmed, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has obtained his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cambridge in the UK in 2007. He got his MSc and BSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Helwan University in Egypt. He worked as a post doctor research associate at Cambridge University for nearly two years. Then, he joined King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia as an assistant professor for three years. Dr. Ahmed joined Qatar University in 2011. In 2013, he has been promoted to Associate Professor rank. His research interest is in the area of combustion and emissions, alternative fuels and carbon capture technologies. He is currently the lead principle investigator of a number of research projects funded by QNRF and local industry. His extensive research has resulted in many publications in the top journals of the field and refereed conference proceedings.

Abstract:

Global warming and the ever increasing emission levels of combustion engines have forced the engine manufacturers to look for alternative fuels for better engine performance and low emissions. Gaseous fuel mixtures such as natural gas , syngas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are examples of new alternative fuels that have great potential to be used with combustion engines. Combustion characteristics such as ignition and flame speeds of these alternative fuels should be studied extensively before they are fully employed in engines. Recent published results have shown that high bulk velocities decrease the ignition probability in all locations and for all flames. Ignition is sometimes possible even in locations where there is negligible probability of finding flammable mixture and is sometimes impossible in locations with high probability of flammable flow. Failed ignition has been viewed close to the extinction flow conditions of the flame. Igniting the flame away from the extinction conditions results in 100% ignition probability regardless of the ignition location. However, close to extinction, ignition probability decreases gradually and achieving ignition is not possible at certain locations. Measurements of laminar flame speeds of CH4/LPG-air mixtures have found to be higher than those of pure fuels at the same mixture strength. Moreover, the addition of H2 and O2 to the fuel mixtures increase laminar flame speeds notably, while the addition of CO2/N2 mixture to the fuel decreases laminar flame speeds of CH4/LPG-air mixtures.

Biography:

Ateeq Rahman is working as Visiting Professor at Bindura University in Zimbabwe. He has worked in the area of catalysis for 13 years and has vast experience in the synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts, characterization, study its applications for fine chemical synthesis and he published 25 papers, worked as Postdoctoral Fellow in Germany, Canada, South Africa; Ni SiO2 catalysis for oxidation, reduction Knoevenegal, Bromination reactions from which 6 papers were published. He also worked as Assistant Professor at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia; where the project was sponsor by SABIC and 2 patents on Nano Carbon from agricultural based materials. Nano Carbon was used as filler in LDPE and HDPE and studies its characterization and applications.

Abstract:

Microporous and Mesoporous silica catalysts, MCM-41, derived from zeolite type catalysts are easily synthesized in lab scale and commercially available SiO2 have applications in reduction reactions. Ni-B silica catalysts denoted as Cat A are characterized by XRD, IR, SEM, BET surface area and chemisorption studies. Nickel boride generated in situ on silica is found to be a super-active catalyst for reduction of nitro aromatics, aldehdyes, ketones, alkenes, phenols and in reductive amination of aldehydes and ketones at low temperatures whereas Ni-SiO2 Cat A and Pd-(II) MCM-41 denoted as Cat B exhibited catalytic activity for reduction of nitroaromatics, aldehdyes, and hydrodehalogenation reactions. Ni-Al hydrotalcite is a solid base catalyst active for a variety of organic reactions i.e oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds and reduction of aldehydes to alcohols which exhibited as redox catalysts. From TPR characterization it is evident that Ni in association with oxide of aluminium is active oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds in molecular oxygen. The IR, XRD, DTTGA characterization of Ni HT catalysts gave excellent results which confirms that Ni HT active catalysts for organic transformations. The catalysts showed reusability after the reaction. The efficient catalytic activity was exhibited for Ni-SiO2, Ni HT and Pd catalysts for reduction reactions which is reusable, atom economy, reproducibility and environmentally friendly catalysts. Comparative study of Ni-SiO2 and Pd (II) MCM-41 catalysts is presented in this article.

Biography:

Dr. Younes Noorollahi received his PhD from Kyushu University-Japan in 2008, and postdoctoral studies also from Kyushu University School of Earth Resources Engineering. Presently he is Head of Renewable Energies and Environmental Engineering Department in University of Tehran. He has vast experience in field of energy resources assessment and evaluation. Geothermal energy exploration and resources assessment and its application on different industrial fields is his main activities. He was working in Renewable Energy Organization of Iran (SUNA) for 14 years as a geothermal energy resources assessment project manager. He has published more than 25 papers in reputed International journals and more than 100 papers in national and international conferences and has been serving as an editorial board member of more than 10 international journals.

Abstract:

Abandoned oil and gas wells can be used as low temperature geothermal resources for heat extraction from geological formations and have valuable potential that avoids the elevated cost of deep drilling in geothermal projects. In this study, an oil wells in southern Iran were modeled using a 3D technique. The bottom-hole temperature of wells AZ was 138.7°C. The circulating fluid is not in direct contact with the hot rock, as in a double-pipe heat exchanger; thus, heat transfer occurs without mass transfer. The fluid circulates in the well by means of a concentric double pipe. Cold water is injected into the well through the outer pipe, heat transfers from the hot rock to the fluid during injection, and the hot fluid is extracted through the inner pipe. To avoid heat transfer between the outer and inner pipes, extruded polystyrene thermal insulation surrounds the outer surface of the inner pipe Heat transfer between fluid injected into the well and the surrounded hot rock was simulated. Well casing geometry for two real abandoned oil wells was considered. The simulation results were optimized for parameters such as input and output fluid flow rate and temperature. The results showed that, in addition to thermal gradient and mass flow rate, well casing geometry and the size of injection and extraction pipes were essential to the output heat extraction rate and clean water production. Total producible clean and fresh water from well AZ-II was 600 m3/day.

Biography:

Abstract:

Considerable research efforts have been reported in both pinch technology and Mixed-Integer-Nonlinear-Programming (MINLP) techniques for the synthesis of heat exchanger networks (HENs). In these methods, the effect of temperature and pressure on physical properties, phase change, and pressure drop in heat exchangers is not considered to produce the real industrial HENs. This paper presents a ASPEN HYSYS simulator, Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Linear Programming (L new efficient and robust method by combination of P) for calculation of HENs. Structural parameters are optimized by GA whereas continuous variables are handled using a modified LP formulation for maximum energy recovery (MER). The simulator is used for consideration of temperature and pressure effect on physical properties and phase change calculation. Results show that presented method has higher ability than previous methods in generation of actual HENs.

Biography:

Abstract:

In this study, dynamic analysis of functionally graded nano composite pipe reinforced by singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with simply supported boundary condition subjected to moving mechanical loads is investigated. The material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTRCs) are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction and are estimated through a micromechanical model. In this paper polymeric matrix considered as isotropic material and for the CNTRC, uniform distribution (UD) and three types of FG distribution patterns of SWCNT reinforcements are considered. The system equation of motion is derived by using Hamilton's principle under the assumptions of first order shear deformation theory (FSDT).The thin piezoelectric layers embedded on inner and outer surfaces of FG-CNTRC layer are acted as distributed sensor and actuator to control dynamic characteristics of the FG-CNTRC laminated pipe. The modal analysis technique and Newmark's integration method are used to calculate the displacement and dynamic stress of the pipe subjected to moving loads. The effects of various material distribution and velocity of moving loads on dynamic behavior of the pipe is presented. This present approach is validated by comparing the numerical results with the published numerical results in literature. The results show that the above mentioned effects play very important role on dynamic behavior of the pipe .This present work shows that some meaningful results that which are interest to scientific and engineering community in the field of FGM nano-structures.

Biography:

Katarzyna Jarmołowicz-Szulc has been a Scientific Worker in Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute in Warsaw, Poland, Europe. In her career she was the Head of the Petrological, Mineral Deposits Departments, the Group of Rocks and Mineral Collections, the Centre of Excellence. She coordinated many projects. She is the author of over 120 papers, a Reviewer and an Editor. She has an experience in fields of isotope studies, fluid inclusions and hydrocarbon migration in the Carpathians in the marine deposits from the Baltic Sea, other hydrocarbon-bearing regions as well. At present she has been the Head of the National Geological Archives in PGI-NRI, Poland.

Abstract:

Three case examples may be shown at present from the basins in the Central European area (in Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia). The study areas are: the marine area of the Baltic Sea (Polish sector), a part of the Polish Lowlands in central Poland, and the fragment of the Carpathian Mts. at the Polish/Ukrainian/Slovak frontier region. These areas have different geological history, different geological structures, different ages of the deposits, ranging from the Middle Cambrian through the Rotliegend to the Tertiary, and different rock types. Still they are good and interesting examples for a presentation of the science significance. Detailed research in the Baltic Sea rocks shows a presence of petroleum in the Middle Cambrian sandstones and points to directions of potential oil migration in the reservoir, and is an important tool for a prediction of hydrocarbon search directions. Data showing low and high temperature cement generations in the Rotliegend rocks in different boreholes in the Polish Lowlands result in a further discussion on hydrocarbons in the area. A general trend of an increase in oil content trapped in fluid inclusions in the quartz and carbonates in the Carpathian rocks and a reverse gas direction have been pointed out by the research.

Biography:

Yassir Makkawi obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh (2003). Prior to that, he worked as a process engineer for eight years, serving the oil and gas industry sectors in the Middle East. His first academic post was at Heriot-Watt University, where he worked as a Research Associate. he then moved to the University of Edinburgh as a Research Fellow, then to the University of Sheffield as a Teaching and Research Fellow. He joined the academic staff at Aston University as a lecturer in 2008. His research is focused on the broad areas of particle technology and biomass thermochemical conversion. He has particular current interest in wet suspension and particle-particle interactions, experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modelling of biomass gasification and pyrolysis in fluidized bed reactors, adsorption for gas separation and purification.

Abstract:

In seeking methods to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the CO2 emission, considerable research and development efforts is currently focused on renewable energies to serve both sectors of transportation fuel and electricity generation. Currently, biomass contributes 10% to the global annual energy production and this is expected to considerably increase in the next decades. The biomass can be thermally treated in a controlled environment (reactors) to produce three main bio‐fuel products in the form of gas, liquid and char. The nature of the dominant product depends strongly on the reactor temperature and the gas residence time. A high temperature (>650 °C) and medium residence time ~2 s favours the formation of gas (gasification), while a low temperature (<600 °C) and short residence time <2 s in the absence of oxygen favours the formation of liquid oil (pyrolysis). In this study, a comprehensive chemical reactions model for the biomass gasification and pyrolysis is implemented in a CFD software (ANSYS‐FLUENT) for the simulation of the biomass conversion to fuel in a downer reactor. The proposed chemistry scheme includes reactions for devolatilization, tar cracking and a range of homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction, thus bridging the gap between biomass pyrolysis and gasification reactions in one unified model. The model has the advantage of being computationally fast and easy to implement as a user defined function (UDF) in wide ranges of CFD commercial software, hence, benefiting both academic and industry sectors. Finally, based on the model predictions, the study present concluding remarks on the potential of the proposed process for industrial scale processing and recommend optimum conditions for a targeted product (i.e. liquid oil, gas or char).

Biography:

Abstract:

The heterogeneous catalytic hydrocracking process of residues convert heavy hydrocarbons, including asphaltenes into light distillates, removes sulfur and nitrogen, saturates aromatics and olefins and retains heavy metals (Ni, V, Fe, Cu, etc.). One of the greatest problems of the hydrocracking process is the high catalyst consumption due to its fast deactivation, the logistic of the supply of fresh catalyst and disposal of wasted catalyst may become very complicated because of the environmental regulations. In order to overcome this problem it has been proposed the use of more active poisoning resistant, however, this has only solved partially the problem. As an alternative, we propose the use of a liquid catalyst which has a strong acid function for cracking heavy hydrocarbons and a hydrogenation function to promote sulfur and nitrogen removal. This catalyst can be recovered and reactivated to be used again in the process with the additional advantage of being cheaper than solid catalysts. Experimental results show that by hydrocracking heavy oil using this liquid catalyst, more than 60 wt % of asphaltenes and heavy molecules were transformed into lighter hydrocarbons in the boiling range of gasoline, diesel and gasoil. Likewise, sulfur and nitrogen were removed by 60 and 30 wt % respectively. In this work the experimental results are presented and discussed.

Biography:

Ehssan Nassef, has completed his PhD at the age of 30 years from Alexandria University and postdoctoral studies from Alexandria University (Petrochemical Dept.). She is a Consultant in Gas and Petrochemical Processing Engineering. She has published more than 15 papers in international journals in Environmental Engineering and Petroleum Eng. Journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.

Abstract:

Oil shales are defined as fine grained sedimentary rocks containing abundant mainly sapropelic organic matter which produce oil on distillation. The present study highlights the characterization of Egyptian origin oil shale using various analytical techniques such as Elemental analysis, Infrared spectroscopy (IR), and the Morphology Study of oil shale (SEM). The study is focused on the characterization of shale oil samples obtained by solvent extraction method from oil shales Shale oil seems a promising alternative, because of the high prices for oil and the increased demand for oil in many organizations and governments. In the present work, Crude shale oil can be obtained by either solvent extraction method or by steam processing. In production of oil by steam, water is heated to 80ÌŠ C and steam first passed through fixed bed of shale, then to condenser. After that, the oil and water were collected and separated by heating. The studied shale show significant enrichment in organic matter in the black shale. The results showed that in case of oil recovery by steam, the oil recovery increased with increasing the steam flow rate. In contrast, the yield of oil was un measurable, by using toluene after steam condensation. Another point worth mentioning is that steam flow rate in case of using powder shale is lower than flow rate in case of using pellets shale. In case of the solvent extraction process, a distillation unit is connected with a three neck conical flask that provided with a mechanical stirrer and a heating element was used. The experimental results revealed that with the increase of the solvent-oil shale fraction, the yield of oil increased. In addition, it can be noted that toluene is better than xylene for extracting oil. However, n hexane and carbon tetra chloride gave no oil recovery. It was also found that, the oil obtained by retorting at 300 ÌŠ C for 3 hours followed by extraction of toluene is the highest compared to the oils obtained by extraction of toluene or xylene.

Biography:

Shahab D Mohaghegh is Pioneer in the application of Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining in the Exploration and Production industry, he is the President and CEO of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. (ISI) and Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering at West Virginia University. He holds BS, MS and PhD degrees in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. He has authored more than 150 technical papers and carried out more than 50 projects for NOCs and IOCs. He is a SPE Distinguished Lecturer and has been featured in the Distinguished Author Series of SPE’s Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT) four times. He was the Founder and the Program Chair of Petroleum Data-Driven Analytics, SPE’s Technical Section dedicated to data mining. He has been honored by the US Secretary of Energy for his technical contribution in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon (Macondo) incident in the Gulf of Mexico and was a member of US Secretary of Energy’s Technical Advisory Committee on Unconventional Resources (2008-2014). He represents the United States in the International Standard Organization (ISO) on carbon capture and storage.

Abstract:

Advanced Data-Driven Analytics provide much needed insight into hydraulic fracturing practices in Shale. Unlike traditional modeling, Advanced Data-Driven Analytics incorporate “Hard Data” rather than “Soft Data”. Using this technology, synthetic geo-mechanical well logs can be generated, impact of reservoir quality can be meaningfully assessed and contribution of completion and hydraulic fracturing practices to production from shale can be modeled and optimized. Advanced Data-Driven Analytics are the result of more than two decades of focused research and development to address upstream E&P related problems with unique and innovative implementation of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data mining. Data-Driven predictive models are trained, calibrated and validated using “Hard Data”. They are used to design frac jobs by optimizing design parameters such as: Distance between laterals and between stages, number of clusters per stage, amount of water (clean and slurry) and proppant to be injected as well as injection rate and pressure. Application of this technology is demonstrated using case studies in multiple Shale assets (Marcellus, Eagle Ford and Niobrara)

Biography:

Engr. Uzoh, Chigozie Francolins is currently a PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.His research topics is novel approach to synthesize oxy-polymerizable alkyd resin from some inedible non-drying oil for surface coating application.He has published a number of research articles in the different ISI-indexed journals. Expected to be completed his PhD by 2015/16. He is a very dynamic and skilled researcher with excellent analytical and problem solving skills and strong aptitude for conducting research related to our current needs. He has demonstrated outstanding strength of character in area of moral rectitude, integrity, tenacity, dedication and capacity for hard work. He is a registered member of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN); a corporate member of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE); the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE); and International Association of Engineers (IAENG). His research and teaching interests are alkyd resins, experimental process design, response surface methods and process dynamics, control and optimization. He has designed many processes for product and process synthesis using design of experiment and statistical screening analysis.

Abstract:

An appropriate kinetic law that governs some important conditions of the reaction process for dehydrated castor monoglyceride (CSO) modified alkyd resin has been developed. A kinetic experiment was conducted following a standard procedure. The classical third order conversion rate model was utilized in determining the rate parameters while the viscosity-conversion model suggested by the free-volume theory was applied for the viscosity kinetics studies. The kinetic model considered for this study adequately predicts the reaction progress even beyond the actual gelation point. The effects of the system parameters on both the predicted yields and the corresponding conversion rates were documented in a well-designed sampling space implemented by statistical screening optimization paradigm. The effects of system parameters on the reaction rates further investigated based on Arrhenius equation detect a heavy mass transfer resistance during the esterification process. A detailed analysis of the response reveals a deviation from linear first order kinetics and possible transition to second and higher order kinetics in the later stages of the esterification reaction.

Biography:

Aya Soliman Mohammed Moustafa Mohammed has completed her Master’s degree at the age of 25 years from Chemical Engineering Department Alexandria University. She is a teaching assistant at Petrochemical Engineering department pharos University. She has published 1 paper in Journal of Surface Engineered Materials and Advanced Technology.

Abstract:

Shale oil seems a promising alternative fuel source, because of the increasing demand for oil in many organizations and governments. In the present work, the yield of shale oil extracted by mechanical agitation was used in the solvent extraction of Quseir’s oil shales. The present study highlights the characterization of Quseir's oil shales using various analytical techniques such as Elemental analysis, Infrared spectroscopy (IR), and the Morphology study of oil shale (SEM). In case of the mechanical agitation, the effect of solvent type on the extraction of oil from Quseir's oil shales was studied. The experimental results revealed that the extraction yield obtained by toluene and the mixture of (n-hexane+methylene chloride) are compartively high compared to other solvents. The thesis also studied the effect of amount, type of solvent, particle size of oil shale and time of the contact. The study also is focused on the analysis of shale oil samples by gas chromatography (G.C) and thermal analysis (T.G.A) which revealed that the oil has a high content of hydrocarbons.

Biography:

Ajit V Pandya is working with Gujarat’s leading science college C U SHAH SCIENCE College since last 23 years, he is head of the department in Biochemistry at same institute. He is academician and eminent research scientist having 3 Ph.D students submitted thesis and 4 doing research under his guidance. He has found out petrochemicals degrading microbes and pesticides degrading microbes whose gene sequencing was accepted by USA - gene bank. He was awarded eminent environmentalist of the year-2005 by national environmental science academy, New Delhi. He has published more than 65 research papers in various international journals with ISSN and ISBN number. He has Ph.D guide ship from 6 Indian and 1 foreign university (Taxila American University ). He claims that his research ideas can work for the treatment of all kinds of cancers and also his immunological knowledge help in elimination of blood group systems in nearest future. His dream is to provide useful and truthful research to the Global Society.

Abstract:

The effects of four different additives for viscosity enhancement of diesel were studied. Two different additive used are namely Ethylene-propylene copolymer, T-818C Copolymer of maleic acid ester, acrylic ester and vinyl acetate, both of these additives were added in different proportion and studies its relative effect on viscosity of base diesel. It is difficult to adjust the small quantity addition of viscosity modifier because of its high viscosity. Hence it was diluted with higher concentration. And then different dilution was made by diluting this mother concentrate. Raise in viscosity of base diesel observed were from 2.6 to 12.8% in case of EPC and 1.95 to 9.76% in case of T-818C Copolymer of maleic acid ester, acrylic ester and vinyl acetate . After each addition of viscosity modifier it s effect on remaining key parameter of diesel were studied. Keywords- EPC (ethylene-propylene copolymer), viscosity, viscosity index.

Biography:

Abstract:

Government of India in 2009 mandated a 10% ethanol blending target in gasoline across 20 states and 4 union territories and has further proposed to replace fossil based gasoline and diesel by using 20% biofuels by 2017. Due to limited supply of molasses, the 10% blending target could not be met and therefore, Indian government reduced mandatory blending to 5% ethanol in gasoline. Indian government and industry is focusing on implementing an ethanol blending programme (EBP) for part replacement of fossil derived gasoline and reduction of emissions. However, the positive impact of biofuels depends on emissions released and the energy consumed during the process for their production. LCA of ethanol, based on molasses, with a focus on GHG emissions and energy balance has been conducted in different countries like Brazil, Australia, Thailand, Mexico, Argentina and Nepal but, the conclusions derived from these studies are not comparable due to a huge disparity in the design of system boundaries, fertilization, irrigation, harvesting and application of different methods for allocation. This kind of study will throw a light on the environmental benefits of the fuel ethanol programme in India. This is the first study carried out in India, wherein, the comparison of LCA is done in two distinct parts of the country. To handle the impact and credit of co-products, allocation is applied based on mass, energy and the market price of the product and co-products. India’s biofuel programme relies on the ethanol from molasses for blending in gasoline. Therefore, quantification of GHG emissions and the energy consumed during the process of ethanol production is desirable to help policy makers to take meaningful decisions. In order to establish the environmental impact of the biofuels, life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted for 1 ton of fuel grade ethanol in the northern region (NR) and western region (WR) of India. Four different allocation approaches, without any allocation (WA), mass allocation (MA), energy allocation (EA) and market price allocation (MPA) are used to distribute emissions and energy consumption between product and co-products. GHG emissions reduction with respect to gasoline ranged from -262.7% to 75.9% in the NR and -225.6% to 75.8% in WR. Similarly, the net energy ratio (NER) also varies with different allocation approaches and ranged from 0.38 to 3.39 in the NR and 0.48 to 4.23 in WR. Using MA approach, maximum GHG emissions reduction of 75.9% and 75.8% and NER of 3.39 and 4.23 in NR and WR respectively indicates the environment friendly and surplus net energy benefits of ethanol. It is observed that MA and EA approaches give more acceptable and real life results. Details of the results will be discussed in the conference.

Biography:

Anjali Patel has received her PhD degree in 1993 from Chemistry Department, The M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, India and she has pursued Post-Doctoral from IRC, CNRS, Lyon, France during 1993-94. Since 1997 she is working as a faculty member and at present she is a Professor of Chemistry at the same University. Her current research interests cover Material Science, Polyoxometalates, Heterogeneous Catalysis, and Green Chemistry. She has about 92 papers in international journals and two books (Springer House Publication) with 05 book chapters. She has one US process patent (US 762047 B2) and two catalysts (Indian Patent Filed: 2078; 3280/MUM/2010) to her credits. She has visited UK, Italy, Germany, Shanghai, Moscow and Nepal to present her research work at various international Conferences.

Abstract:

Production of biodiesel, “a green fuel” will be discussed via transesterification of (Jatropha oil, soybean oil and waste cooking oil) over the solid acid catalysts comprising of polyoxometalates (based on phosphotungstate and silicotungstate) and various porous supports (MCM-41, MCM-48 and Zeolite beta). The talk will focus especially on an alternative for low cost biodiesel production by using feedstocks such as low cost raw material-waste cooking oil obtained from canteens, restaurants and from houses. The superiority of the present work lies in getting 90% conversion for biodiesel production under mild conditions. The catalyst shows the potential of being used as a recyclable catalytic material after simple regeneration without significant loss in conversion up-to four cycles. Novelty of the present reaction system was emphasised by obtaining high conversion and identical optimization conditions as compared to the batch scale for transesterification reactions using up to 250 g feedstock. Depending on the requirements, the size of the unit can be scaled up to get higher production capacity without changing any mechanistic requirement of the system. A possible scheme of this integrated process using present catalysts will also be discussed. The overall production process will be economical as the catalyst can be used up to many cycles, total steps can be reduced and methanol can be recycled and reused for subsequent runs. Furthermore, it minimizes the production cost as obtained glycerol can be converted to value added products via various organic transformations.

Biography:

Abstract:

Biodiesel is considered as the most possible renewable energy and it can be used as an alternative of petrol based fuel. Jatropha curcas plant oil (JCPO) is the most cost effective sources of biodiesel. The plant can be cultivated in wastelands and grows on almost any type of territory, even on sandy and saline soils. Suitable plantation and defense from disease of JCP is very much requisite to get maximum amount of qualitative oil. Moreover, production of biodiesel through transesterification of Jatropha oil significantly depends on four reaction parameters for instance reaction time, temperature, oil to alcohol molar ratio and stirrer speed. In this research work, initially we have formulated a mathematical model of Jatropha curcas plant, which describes the disease of JCP through mosaic virus with the aim to control the spread of this disease. Here we have focused on insecticide spraying in impulsive way as the controlling measure to reduce the disease for getting the maximum yield of Jatropha fruits, which gives Jatropha oil. We have also shown the effect of different variants on mass transfer in biodiesel production from JC oil and how the control theoretic approach paves the maximum production of biodiesel under the mathematical understanding. Our analytical results provide an idea of describing the cost effective faster rate of biodiesel production, which satisfies our numerical outcomes.

Biography:

Abstract:

This paper reports a study on the performance assessment of di-functional magnetic Fe–Ca oxide catalyst in biodiesel production using hemp oil. In situ co-precipitation procedure was used for synthesis of difunctional magnetic solid base catalyst. The resultant catalyst had good magnetic property with relatively high saturation magnetism (45.6 emu/g) and the reused catalyst status is quite functional. The catalyst was characterized using various techniques including XRD, TG–DTA, SEM and VSM. The produced biodiesel was characterized and conformed by GC/MS, NMR and FT/IR. The synthesis of biodiesel was carried out at constant temperature (60oC), reaction time (2 h) oil alcohol molar ratio (1:6), agitation (600 rpm) and catalyst concentration (2.25%) w/w. The maximum biodiesel yield was achieved 92.16% using di-functional magnetic Fe–Ca oxide catalyst.

Biography:

Prof. Mohamed S. Nasr received his B. Sc., M. S. in petroleum engineering from the University of Southern California, in 1975 and 1979 respectively and Ph. D. degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Wyoming in 1983. He has spent more than 25 years providing consulting services to NOC’SIOC’S in Libya. Dr. Nasr has participated in several research projects for the major oil companies, universities and research institutes, and authored more than 30 technical papers in the areas of drilling engineering, well completion, formation damage, production engineering, fluid flow in porous media and improved oil recovery.
Dr. Nasr is currently professor and research coordinator of petroleum engineering at University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya, where he was chairman from 1991 until 2006. Dr. Nasr is also a part time professor at the French Institute of Petroleum in Paris and also a part time professor at the Clausthal Technical University in Germany. Dr Nasr is the chairman of the petroleum engineering scientific committee at the Libyan Petroleum Institute, Tripoli, Libya.

Abstract:

Secondary oil recovery represents a major part of oil production in many local oil fields. It involves injection of a source water to maintain the reservoir pressure. The source water will eventually mixed with formation water as it breakthroughs to production wells. Mixing of incompatible brines leads to precipitation of various types of mineral scaling compounds such as barium sulphate, strontium sulphate, calcium sulphate or calcium carbonate. The precipitation is also the result of pressure drop or temperature change in the reservoir. These formed scales deposit at formation face, production tubing, and subsurface valves. The most effective way to avoiding this scaling problem is by using scale inhibitor that generally fall into one of the four main classes, polyphosphates, phosphate esters, phosphonates and polymers.
The objective of this paper is to investigate the suitability of the injection of fresh water compared with the reinjection of formation water for three carbonate oil reservoirs. Displacement experiments, for actual core samples collected from sandstone from Abutafel oil field in Sirte Basin, Libya, were utilized for permeability measurements using formation water and fresh water and a combination of the two as the displacing fluid. Scale inhibitors of different types were added to both the formation water and the injection water for the prevention of scale formation in either water alone or a combination of both waters. The investigation is done by conducting relative permeabilitires measurements to oil and to water for both waters. The effect of scale inhibitor in the injection water on the relative permeability curves at ambient and reservoir conditions is also investigated.
The chemical composition of the water to be injected is of great importance because of its influence on the scaling tendency of the water and also on its interaction with the reservoir environment. Chemical equilibrium scale prediction methods were used to predict the scaling tendency of the said waters each one to be used alone or when mixed at various ratios. These methods have been completed by experimental tests (bottle testing) at ambient temperature and also at 185 oF reservoir temperature. The experimental results were obtained from carbonate core samples collected from a giant oil reservoir in Sirte basin, Libya. The reservoir was put on water injection since the start of the pressure decline which was the result of excessive oil withdrawal rates.
The compatibility tests of the two waters indicated that the formation water alone has a higher tendency to form calcium carbonate scale than the fresh water at either ambient or reservoir temperature. It was also found that the scaling tendency increases with increasing the percentages of the formation water in the mixture at either temperature. The fractional displacement flow curve for the injection water yielded better results than formation water when both waters were used as the displacing fluid.

Biography:

Akbar Ali Asif has received his MSc degree in Geophysics from Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad in 2003. He has over 12 years of Oil and Gas Industry experience. Currently he is working as a Senior Geophysicist with KUFPEC Pakistan since 2013. Previously he has worked for OGDCL for 9 years and LMK Resources for 1 year. In his career he has remained focused on Seismic data interpretation of both onshore and offshore blocks. His main fields of interest are seismic interpretation, prospect generation seismic attribute analysis and 3D visualization.

Abstract:

There are a number of discontinuity attributes that are considered useful for identifying faults and small fractures that cannot be fully delineated using seismic amplitude data. Out of the many available discontinuity attributes, curvature and coherence have been selected because of their proven abilities to delineate faults/fractures effectively and also their suitability to the subsurface structures present in case of volumes used. This paper highlights the practical importance of curvature and coherence attributes applied on two seismic data sets (3-D volumes) from Indus basin, Pakistan, both exhibiting extensional tectonics. Curvature attributes can be measured in different directions but most-positive and most-negative curvature are found to be of best use in highlighting extensional regime’s geometry very effectively. Apart from highlighting faults across a 3-D cube, curvature attributes also give useful information about the highs and lows present in the data set that can be well correlated with the subsurface geology. Coherence checks for similarity between adjacent seismic traces and can be calculated using different techniques like cross-correlation, semblance and eigenstructure measures after analyzing dips and azimuths. Coherence and curvature (most negative & most positive) cubes have been extracted using conventional Pre-stack seismic volumes after a careful selection of parameters. Different examples have been included, compared and explained with reference to coherence and curvature results. The use of mentioned attributes effectively demarcated faults’ orientations and their lateral and vertical extents. Many of the small faults that were not clearly visible on conventional seismic data were well highlighted using attributes’ results viewed and analyzed along time-slices as well as horizon slices.

Biography:

Aileen Zaballero, MS, CPLP, is a senior partner at Rothwell & Associates and a dual-title PhD candidate in workforce education and development and comparative international education at PSU. She is a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) and is currently developing a career map for the Department of Energy.

Abstract:

The demographics of the workforce are rapidly shifting and technological advancements are imposing a greater demand for skilled workers. Not only is attracting the right individual for the right job a challenge, but retaining, developing, and optimizing their performance is a major concern, particularly in the petroleum industry. The presenters will focus on the value of implementing a competency-based approach to close skills gap, help fast-track talents in high demand positions, and as a strategy to develop the capabilities necessary for sustaining talent pipeline. By identifying the right competencies, firms will be able to recruit and manage talents in the most effective way, hiring the right people with the right skills and putting them in the right roles with the abilities to perform at their maximum potential. Every day organizations are seeking solutions to an ever-growing obstacle, building and sustaining a strong talent pipeline. However, not only do companies have trouble filling their talent pipelines due to shifting demography and workforce preferences, but they also must develop new capabilities as they invest in new technologies, develop new partnerships, and globalize their operations (Palmisano, 2006). Based on the work of the world-renowned author Dr. William J. Rothwell, this presentation will provide an overview of a competency-based system as a strategy to develop and manage an effective talent pipeline. Presenters will provide tools so that participants will be able to not only attract and hire the right people, but also can educate and develop the right people for the right job.

Biography:

Abstract:

Mineral scale deposition in near wellbore regions of injection wells is one of the main challengeable issues during the water injection process which magnify the importance of robust model in predicting the amount of mineral scale deposition such as calcium sulfate. One of the main challenges of CaSO4 scale is in carbonated reservoirs in which sensitive behavior was observed in related to contribution of both calcium and sulfate ions in carbonated and sulfated scale reactions. This defect is mirror of wrong procedure and value in estimation of first kind/value of precipitant contributed in scale deposition reactions (ions competition) as well as inconsistent temperature/pressure dependent coefficients of prediction model. The objective of this study is to develop a model that can accurately predict the formation and amount of CaSO4 scale as the dominant scale in multicomponent aqueous systems by three major tools; utilization the best temperature and pressure dependent thermodynamic interactive ion coefficients (MSE Model: Pitzer), developing our fine-tuned iterative mathematical solver and verification the results of model by accurate experimental data. The results showed that at the optimum value of precipitant (10%) in scale deposition reactions and by defining the best temperature and pressure dependent coefficients, we can attain the best accuracy in prediction of CaSO4 scale deposited amount (less than 0.06 percentages as relative error compared to commercial software with 36 percentages overestimation and 22 percentages underestimation). The output of this study is developed software leading to more accurate prediction the amount of promising scales in near wellbore regions or pipeline.