Preliminary List of Abstracts (Alphabetical Order)

1ST INTL. SYMP. ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION: GAS/OIL/SHALE AND NEW RENEWABLE CARBON FREE TECHNOLOGIES

The work to be presented is part of the POEMA project which has the goal of developing new coatings for steels and alloys used in supercritical steam power plants for efficient and clean coal utilization. From the required high temperature mechanical properties perspective (in particular creep strength) steel P92 is one of the chosen materials. It can be used at temperatures up to 650°C. Sol-gel alumina coatings are among the coatings to be produced and tested. Even though such coatings are comparably thin (in the range of few micrometers) they are able to effectively diminish high temperature corrosion. The behavior of the new coatings for protecting materials both from steam oxidation and fire-side corrosion will be studied in steam and oxy-fuel combustion atmospheres.Coatings were applied by dipping the substrates into ethanolic boehmite sols. After heat treatment at 650°C for 30 min up to ~2.5μm thick and well adherent transition, alumina coatings were formed.Coated and uncoated samples were exposed in steam and oxy-fuel atmosphere (60 CO2 - 30 H2O - 2 O2 - 1 SO2 - 7 N2, all in vol. %; Flow rate 3*10-2 m/s, 1 bar,) at 650°C for up to 300 h whereby the influence of ash deposits was also regarded.Samples are characterized by using optical microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, and electron probe microanalysis. Additionally, the mass gain was recorded.The results proved the protective abilities of the thin sol-gel alumina coatings, which did not spall, had no cracks, did not show larger corroded areas, and exhibited a very low mass gain. Hence, such coatings are promising candidates for protection of steel P92 used in power plants.

When hydrocarbons accumulate in reservoirs, the reservoir rocks and a large volume of rock associated with the reservoirs undergo resistance changes. This method relates generally to the field of geophysical prospecting for the purposes of hydrocarbon exploration, development, and production. It also includes measuring magnetic field gradient in at least two orthogonal directions in response to the induced electromagnetic field and determining an electric field response. Specifically, this method is a used for determining the difference between the electrical resistance of a reservoir at an initial time and its electrical resistance at one or more later times, and relating that difference to production of hydrocarbons from the reservoir during the interim period.Electromagnetic methods are now being used to provide images of subsurface resistance on the reservoir scale. These images provide, for the first time, observation of the porosity distribution and fluid content on the same scale as the reservoir. They are being used to identify bypassed oil and unanticipated breakthrough, to monitor sweep efficiency, and to map features.All such information could only be previously inferred from measurements within the well or from production data from the well. For monitoring production and enhanced recovery processes, when it can be assumed that the porosity is essentially constant and when there is a resistivity contrast in the different fluids or phases involved, the imaged resistivity is a direct mapping of the changes in saturation.In this paper, we discuss the methods for electromagnetic measurement approaches and its application in oil and gas industry.

Fiber optic sensor systems have been in the oilfield for a number of years now; However, they have had many shortcomings, including high price points, which have prevented widespread adoption. We can integrate fiber optic sensors into oil and gas companies' products and processes and take advantage of the even more rapid advances in technology both technically and economically speaking. Moreover, we can design all sorts of fiber optic sensors that cover various sections of petroleum industry operations. Most researches have been in this part of technology for this is where most of the applications are. However, other types of sensors have been developed as well. Most of the fiber optical sensors have just one or perhaps a few detectors, but some high resolution imaging systems with large detector element arrays have also been developed. Some fiber optical sensors are frequently incorporated as components in larger products. They are also used independently in process control and other types of applications in petroleum industry. This paper describes various aspects of fiber optic sensors and their applications and it addresses their role in petroleum industry.

Toxic metals, including heavy metals, are individual metals and metal compounds that have been shown to affect people's health negatively. In very small amounts, many of these metals are necessary to support life. However, in larger amounts, they become toxic. They may build up in biological systems and become a significant health hazard. Copper is a heavy metal that can be toxic in certain environments. We use copper because it is one of the heavy metals that is easy to find and it is not very toxic to humans. We use copper sulfate as a source of copper that is soluble, meaning it will dissolve, or turn into a solution, when mixed with water. Copper is a very common substance that occurs naturally in the environment and spreads through the environment through natural phenomena. Humans widely use copper. For instance, it is applied in the industries and in agriculture. The production of copper has lifted over the last decades. Due to this, copper quantities in the environment have increased. The world's copper production is still rising. This basically means that more and more copper end up in the environment. Rivers are depositing sludge on their banks that is contaminated with copper due to the disposal of copper-containing wastewater. Copper enters the air, mainly through release during the combustion of fossil fuels. Copper will remain in the air for an eminent period of time, before it settles when it starts to rain.

One of our industry's successes and challenges in heavy oil development is how we can manage heavy oil production and processing operation. Definitely, heavy oilfields are naturally different, but learning from previous experiences, we can deduce how the heavy oil industry will be able to make advances and double or even triple the current heavy oil production in the next decade, especially in Asia.It is only by sharing technical and management knowledge that we can turn current heavy oil challenges into future opportunities. Since each heavy oilfield is different, there are demands for different technological and management necessities. The worldwide heavy oil resources will be a significant contributor to oil production in the decades to come. Extracting these hydrocarbons and commercializing them will be a tremendous technological, environmental, human and financial challenge. Heavy oil reserves in the Middle East are only a part of Asia estimated to have millions of barrels. Thus, the opportunities associated with its exploration and production, the challenges faced in this process and the environmental-friendly recovery techniques of this asset are current issues that need to be addressed. Therefore, proper process management for heavy oil in the world is very important, especially in Asia.New efficient cutting edge technologies must be developed to make these reservoirs attractive investments. This will involve the entire production train from recovery techniques through reservoir management, drilling and completions, separation, transportation upgrading and refining. For this purpose, we must be familiar with opportunities in using techniques to recover, produce, process and manage today and tomorrow's heavy oil resources as well as opportunities associated with heavy oil transportation and upgrading. In this paper, we will discuss these subjects.

One of the most important parameters in oil modeling and gas reservoirs is the Relative Permeability, which is a function that involves wetting/non wetting phase saturations and the mineralogy of reservoir rock relative to the pore size distribution. In this paper, we discuss experimental measuring of relative permeability for a reservoir rock of an oil field formation for two phase flow (Brine and Kerosene). Relative permeability values will be determined at each water saturation value by brine and kerosene injection in core flood apparatus. Furthermore, relevant relative permeability curves for each phase will be plotted as a function of water saturation value and then, the wetting ability condition of the samples will be recognized through these curves. Finally, we will try to find a correlation to determine the relative permeability of this oil field.

A variety of oil recovery methods has been developed and applied to mature and depleted reservoirs in order to improve their efficiency. The microwave radiation oil recovery method is a relatively new method and it has been of great interest in the recent years. Crude oil is typically co-mingled with suspended solids and water. To increase oil recovery, it is necessary to remove these components. The separation of oil from water and solids using gravitational settling methods is typically incomplete. Oil-in-water and oil-water-solid emulsions can be demulsified and separated into their individual layers by microwave radiation.The data also shows that microwave separation is faster than gravity separation and it can be faster than the conventional heating at many conditions. After emulsion separation into water and oil layers, the water can be discharged and the oil is collected. The high-frequency microwave recycling process can recover oil and gases from oil shale, residual oil, drill cuttings, tar sands oil, contaminated dredge/sediments, tires and plastics with significantly greater yields and lower costs than the available ones by utilizing the existing known technologies. This process is environmental-friendly, fuel-generating recycler, it reduces waste, cuts emissions, and saves energy. This paper presents a critical review of Microwave radiation method for oil recovery.

The electrochemical behavior on Cu electrode in the solution of 0.2M NaOH+0.01MPb (NO3)2-0.01M TeO2 was investigated using cyclic voltammetry, and the potentiostat electrodeposition was also carried out at 298K to prepare PbTe thermoelectric material. The results showed that three underlying processes are occurring depending on deposition potential in the system. One process involves the reduction of Pb2+ to Pb, in a potential interval of -0.7V - -0.9V. A second process at more negative reduction potentials involves reduction of TeO3 2- and Pb2+ to PbTe in a potential interval of -0.9V < E < - 1.0V. The third process is the reduction of TeO32- to Te0 from -1.2V to 1.4V (vs. Hg/HgO). The crystalline PbTe, characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope, was deposited electrochemically on Cu substrates at -0.92(vs.Hg/HgO).

Matrix stabilized porous medium combustion is an advanced technique in which a solid porous matrix within the combustion chamber accumulates heat from the hot gaseous products and preheats incoming reactants. This heat recuperation allows the burning of ultra fuel-lean mixtures, which conserves energy resources, or the burning of gases of low calorific value, utilizing otherwise wasted resources. The heat generated by the porous burner can be harvested with thermoelectric devices for a reliable method of generating electricity. Thermoelectric devices operate by utilizing the Seebeck effect: A temperature gradient across two joined conducting materials will create a voltage. To optimize the voltage output for any given application, a thermoelectric device with the highest possible efficiency will be chosen for the specific temperature application. Thus, the idea of using thermoelectric elements coupled with a porous burner can provide a reliable source of energy. An experimental study on combustion in porous media and thermoelectric generation was performed in the present work. The reactor was composed of two types of porous media where flame stabilization was reached at the interface of them. Four external thermoelectric modules were placed to harvest the thermal energy produced in the system. Maximum values of voltage, current and power obtained were 5.93 V, 1.59 A and 9.42 W, respectively. Specifically, the following research and analysis were realized in this paper: - Design and develop the porous burner prototype coupled with thermoelectric device which will be used to study porous media combustion as well as power generation utilizing lean fuel mixtures. - Study the current density, voltage and power output dependencies to achieve the maximum power by efficiently using the thermoelectric elements. - Study the effect of the fuel equivalence ratio and velocity filtration of CH4-Air mixture on the combustion and power generation during the reactions.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which uses a highly energetic laser pulse as the excitation source. The laser is focused to form plasma, which atomizes and excites samples. In principle, LIBS can analyze any matter regardless of its physical state, be it solid, liquid or gas. Because all elements emit light of characteristic frequencies when excited to sufficiently high temperatures, LIBS can (in principle) detect all elements, limited only by the power of the laser as well as the sensitivity and wavelength range of the spectrograph & detector. In practice, detection limits are a function of a) the plasma excitation temperature, b) the light collection window, and c) the line strength of the viewed transition. In laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a high power laser pulse is used to ablate a small volume of a sample and excite it to a plasma state. As the ionized particles recombine, they emit light that can be analyzed to determine the composition of the gas. The accuracy of LIBS is dependent on selecting appropriate laser parameters for the application. There is no single LIBS system that will work in all situations. Much of the work done with LIBS is qualitative; It is used to test for the presence of a particular compound without concern for the concentration. The complexity of the plasma plume makes it difficult to get accurate qualitative LIBS results, but it is possible under certain conditions.

Sometimes oil reservoirs may have not enough energy to push the reservoir fluid from the reservoir to the surface. It may be possible to maintain or even increase the production rate by using appropriate artificial lifting. Gas lifting is one of the most effective and cheapest method of artificial lift techniques that is used to reduce the oil density by mixing the oil with the gas which is injected at the lower part of the production string. Gas lift is the method of artificial lift that uses an external source of high-pressure gas for supplementing formation gas to lift the well fluids. Continuous-inflow gas lift is the only method of artificial lift that fully utilizes the energy in the formation gas production. During the lift process, gas is injected into the tubing. Gas injection will lighten the fluid column along the tubing, so it will increase oil production. In this paper, gas lift and its effects on oil production from an oil well have been discussed.

Natural gas can be used to produce bulk petrochemicals, but these are relatively small users of the gas reserves. Liquid and other petroleum products are cheaper to transport, market, distribute to large markets. These can be moved in existing pipelines or products tankers and even blended with existing crude oil or product streams. A new technology, which is being developed and applied to convert natural gas to liquids, is the gas to liquids technology (GTL). The projects are scalable, allowing design optimization and application to smaller gas deposits. The key influences on their competitiveness are the cost of capital, operating costs of the plant, feedstock costs, scale and the ability to achieve high utilization rates in production. As a generalization, however, GTL is not competitive against conventional oil production, unless the gas has a low opportunity value and it is not readily transported.GTL not only adds value, but it is capable of generating products that could be sold or blended into refinery stock as superior products with less pollutants for which there is growing demand. Reflecting its origins as a gas, gas to liquids processes produces diesel fuel with an energy density comparable to conventional diesel, but with a higher octane number, permitting a superior performance engine design. Another problem emission associated with diesel fuel is particulate matter, which is composed of un-burnt carbon and aromatics, and compounds of sulfur. Fine particulates are associated with respiratory problems, while certain complex aromatics have been found to be carcinogenic. Low sulfur content leads to significant reductions in particulate matter that is generated during combustion, and the low aromatic content reduces the toxicity of the particulate matter reflecting in a worldwide trend towards the reduction of sulfur and aromatics in fuel.

Canada has significant high-temperature geothermal energy resources mainly located in British Columbia and Yukon. Enhanced geothermal energy systems can be created as well in the Northwest Territories and in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Deep-drilling may also be attractive in parts of the Maritimes. Yet, as of today, none of these resources have gone into production. With the increasing emphasis on reducing our energy supply reliance on fossil fuels, it seems counter-intuitive that geothermal energy has not yet been exploited. This paper will examine the state-of-the-art of GES around the world and what factors appear to be holding Canada back from developing this outstanding energy source.Presenter: Dr. Mory Ghomshei

The hybrid renewable energy system is one of the most promising applications of renewable energy technologies in remote areas, where the cost of grid extension is prohibitive and the price of fossil fuels increases drastically the remoteness of the location. It has been demonstrated that hybrid energy systems can reduce significantly the total life-cycle cost of stand-alone power supplies in many situations, while at the same time they can provide a more reliable supply of electricity through the combination of energy sources. Applications of hybrid systems range from small power supplies to remote households, providing electricity for lighting or water pumping and water supply to village electrification for remote communities. Mixed combinations of renewable energy systems are also possible, with applications where different renewable energy technologies are applied in one location without the systems being necessarily interconnected in one electricity grid. Although a range of hybrid system configurations are possible, what we have learned so far is that the choice must suit the community considered.

The main gearbox components are bearings, gears and shafts. In industrial, particularly in wind energy gearboxes, premature failures of rolling bearings are a severe application problem. The fundamental innovation is that gearbox operating conditions critical for premature failures are detected in an early stage before bearing damage by loading induced changes of the lubricant. Existing systems, such as vibration analysis, visual inspection, filters and particle counters, only respond to spalling.These failures are characterized by usually axial raceway cracks, from which deep branching and spreading crack systems develop into the material by corrosion fatigue. The root cause of these premature bearing failures is vibration loading. The basic idea of the new premature failure detection condition monitoring system is the early identification of chemical aging of the lubricant and its additives under the influence of vibration loading.The online diagnostics system measures components of the specific complex impedance of oils. For instance, metal abrasion due to wear debris, broken oil molecules, forming acids or oil soaps, results in an increase of the electrical conductivity, which directly correlates with the degree of oil contamination. Thus, incipient wear is also detected early and efficiently. For additivated lubricants, the stage of degradation of the additives can also be derived from changes in the dielectric constant. The determination of impurities or reduction in the quality of the oil and the quasi continuous evaluation of wear and chemical aging follow the holistic approach of a real-time monitoring of an alteration in the condition of the oil-machine system. The measuring signals can be transmitted to a web-based condition monitoring system via LAN, WLAN or serial interfaces of the sensor system.

The recent development of sustainable products with extremely high added value obtained using knowledge acquired by materials science indicates the need of using new science-based approaches to achieve appropriate values of all factors influencing product sustainability. Nowadays, the main objective of scientists in an effort to reduce the environmental impact is to increase the research potential focused on new, environmentally acceptable renewable energy sources. The complete reorientation of future research activities towards improving properties of highly advanced engineering materials for the efficient use of renewable energy is thus foreseen.Novel heating/cooling panels made from aluminium foam have been developed by the Institute of Materials & Machine Mechanics (IMSAS). The panels were successfully tested in pilot application in 260 m2 open space office room. The low heat capacity of aluminium foam allows changing the temperature very quickly, whereas the temperature of the entire foam volume is always very uniform due to excellent thermal conductance of aluminium cell walls. The heat is transferred into or from the foam using foamed-in tubes, which are completely embedded in the foam, keeping excellent contact to cell wall aluminium. The developed panels provide an excellent alternative for large built-in ceiling radiators for efficient heating or cooling of rooms using low potential energy resources.The testing "Smat Grid" laboratory oriented to study effective management of production and consumption of renewable energy equipped with 29 kW photovoltaic power station, concentrated thermo-solar panels, heat pumps for conversion of geothermal energy from four 100 m deep drill holes, heat storage vessels and advanced control units has been launched recently in the experimental hall of IMSAS in Bratislava. The potential use of "Smat Grid" for testing of advanced materials for photovoltaic systems as well as testing of materials used in a new type of thermo-magnetic engine in order to verify opportunities of new method for conversion of low-potential heat into mechanical and then to electrical energy in a temperature range of 30-50°C will be presented in this contribution.

Policy makers around the world are grappling with issues related to energy security, energy poverty, and an expected increase in future demand for all energy sources. As a clean-burning fuel, many policy leaders have suggested that liquefied natural gas, LNG, can play an important role as the world struggles to meet growing energy demand using more environmentally sustainable fuels. Others claim that the safety and environmental impact, including life-cycle emissions of LNG, may nullify any clean burning benefit LNG might otherwise provide. This paper analyzes whether LNG is a fuel for a sustainable energy source in meeting energy needs of Asia.

Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is a tested and increasingly applied method of oil treatment in the industry. MEOR uses microbes to ferment hydrocarbons and to produce a by-product useful in the recovery of oil. The MEOR process works by channeling oil through preferred pathways in the reservoir rock by plugging off small channels and forcing the oil to migrate through the larger pore spaces. Nutrients such as sugars, phosphates or nitrates must be frequently injected to stimulate the microbes' growth and aid their performance. The microbes generate surfactants and carbon dioxide (CO2) that help to displace the oil. Microbial growth can be either within the oil reservoir (in situ) or on the surface where the by-products from microbes grown in vats are selectively removed from the nutrient media and then injected into the reservoir. For in-situ MEOR processes, the microorganisms must not only survive in the reservoir environment but they must also produce the chemicals necessary for oil mobilization. Field results prove that Microbial EOR increases production and reserves while decreases water cut. Microbes can improve the oil recovery by generating gases that increase the reservoir pressure and reduce oil viscosity; By generating acids that dissolve rock and improve absolute permeability and reduce the permeability in channels, thereby improving the displacement conformance, altering the wettability, producing bio-surfactants that decrease surface and interfacial tensions and reducing the oil viscosity by degrading long chain saturated hydrocarbons. The only costs are for the microbes and for performing the treatments.

In oil and gas exploration and production operations worldwide, injecting water into a reservoir to provide pressure support and sweep efficiency is essential to maximize economic levels of oil recovery. If the bacterial activity associated with water injection is not controlled, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is generated which ultimately 'sours' the reservoir and the oil and gas produced. Microbial reservoir souring can decrease the value of the oil and gas asset, increase operational costs and, in the worst case, result in shut-in of the well due to materials incompatibility. Generic computer-based predictive models currently exist which, although based on the same fundamental principles, take different approaches to assessing the level of H2S generation. Each model has its own strengths and weaknesses. The souring of normally sweet production systems is a significant problem. It can have implications in terms of reduced quality of produced hydrocarbons relative, the reduced productivity of wells and increased corrosivity of produced fluids. In cases where remedial action is not taken, it can also have implications related to the potential for sulfide stress cracking and selection of materials for down hole, flow lines and surface facilities. Therefore, it is important to be able to properly characterize field situations and make accurate recommendations for remedial actions in order to minimize the impact of souring and to prevent the manifestation of similar occurrences in other related field operations.In an assessment of reservoir souring, field analysis provides an important technical basis for engineering decision making through their supporting scientific evidence. Such tests can yield useful information in determining the sources and the potential severity of souring and the selection and confirmation of successful remedial actions.

Non-destructive testing can perform measurements or tests on materials without damaging or altering those materials. There are several types of non-destructive testing methods, including Magnetic Particle Inspection (MT), which is one of the best-known and commonly used methods of NDT. Its aim is to detect the presence of surface braking discontinuities (cracks) in the part under inspection. Only Ferromagnetic materials can be inspected by the MT method. This is because Ferromagnetic materials develop strong internal magnetic fields when an electrical current is passed through them. An electric current can be introduced in the test part in several ways. It can be wrapped in encircling coils and rods or the current can be applied directly with the use of the yoke, producing a magnetic field perpendicular to the current flow. When these internal magnetic fields encounter a change in permeability, the magnetic field is forced outside of the materials surface, and produces flux leakage. This leakage will attract any other Ferromagnetic materials that may be close to the leakage site.For this operation, depending on the face of the material or part under test magnetized, discontinuities that lie in a direction generally transverse to the direction of the magnetic field will cause a leakage field, and therefore, the presence of the discontinuity is detected by the use of finely divided ferromagnetic particles applied over the surface. Some of these particles, being gathered and held by the leakage field, this magnetically held collection of particles form an outline of the discontinuity and indicate its location, size, shape and extent. In this paper, we discuss this method.

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 therein 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 and 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 entering production wells is one of the oldest problems faced by oil companies and one of the toughest to solve. The production of sand during oil production causes severe operational problems for oil producers. Several techniques have been used for sand production control in sandstone reservoirs. These techniques are divided into four groups including; Standard rig operation with retrievable packer; Tubing-conveyed string; Coiled tubing and long zone/selective treatment. Several consolidating materials, such as crude oil coke and nickel plating, have been used in the past by researchers. At present, the chemical binders, such as; Phenol resin, phenol-formaldehyde, epoxy, and furan or phenol-furfural provide cementation. In this paper, we discuss sand control method for an oil well.

The productivity of oil wells decreases over time due to varied reasons. The two main causes of this decrease have to do with a decline in relative permeability of crude oil, thus reducing its fluidity and progressive plugging of pores of a reservoir in a well bore region of a well due to accumulation of solids (clays, colloids, salts) that reduce the absolute permeability or interconnection of the pores.The dirt that oil wells extract can block up and reduce their flow. This reduction in efficiency means an oil well is no longer efficient at sucking up oil. Each one of the reasons mentioned above may cause a decrease in the permeability or a restriction of flow in the region surrounding the well bore. To remove the debris, most of the techniques used rely on aggressive chemicals to dissolve the small debris particles. Electro acoustic waves will allow well bores to be periodically cleaned, without using toxic chemicals and without stopping the production of the oil well to increase its production capacity. The electro acoustic device produces vibrations stimulating occurrence of mass transfer processes within the well. The resultant acoustic flow generated in porous media, produced by superposition of longitudinal and shear waves, is developed over a characteristic frequency threshold value specific to water, normal oil and heavy oil, with an acoustic energy density capable of establishing higher fluidity zones in the porous media, promoting mobility and recovery of desired fluid and formation damage reduction in a well bore. In this paper, we will discuss stimulation and enhancement of oil in an oil well by electro acoustic wave and determine the dependence on reservoir properties, fluid properties, acoustic frequency and power.

Water injection is used in petroleum industry as a means to retain the reservoir pressure and to improve oil production. The water is injected into the reservoir via one or more than one injection well. The location of injection well/wells in oil field is very important. Selecting the location of such wells has always been a question among researchers. It must be allocated in a proper way to enhance oil recovery as much as possible. Using traditional methods to optimize such well locations is infeasible due to the complexity of the reservoir equations. By depleting the underground reserves, oil companies are inclined to preserve the production of oil and gas. In this paper, a case has been studied and finding optimal well location has been investigated in order to increase the recovery factor. In this case study, a non-uniform (irregular size grids) sector of an oil reservoir with two dimensional two phase (oil and gas) flow regime has been considered. In this reservoir, there is a strong aquifer which maintains border pressures at a constant amount. In a simulated part of this study, we use IMPES (Implicit Pressure, Explicit Saturation) method to solve equations and to obtain grid pressures and water saturation during time steps. We use MATLAB mathematical package for simulation and programming. Our main purpose in this study is to find the best location for water injection well on this oil field in order to increase oil production as much as possible.

Predicting the flow of fractured reservoir fluids is a key factor in making the right field development decision, such as the placement of future wells. In any field, accurate flow models are difficult to achieve simply because of the scarcity of data from existing wells and outcrops. In fractured reservoirs, the problems are compounded by the highly heterogeneous nature of the rocks. So, predicting fluid flow behavior in naturally fractured reservoirs is a challenging area in petroleum engineering. Successful extraction of hydrocarbons from many remaining domestic exploration and development targets depends on the creation of new approaches to predicting natural fracture attributes. So, we must develop new understanding and new technology for prediction of fracture-pattern attributes related to subsurface fluid flow. In recent years interest has increased considerably on flow and transport in low-permeability fractured rock. Two classes of models used to describe flow and transport phenomena in fracture reservoirs are discrete and continuum (i.e. Dual porosity) models. The discrete model is appealing from a modeling point of view, but the huge computational demand and burden in porting the fractures into the computational grid are its shortcomings. On the other hand, the diagonal representation of permeability, which is customarily used in a dual porosity model, is valid only for the cases where fractures are parallel to one of the principal axes. This assumption cannot adequately describe flow characteristics where there is variation in fracture spacing, length, and orientation.

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a promising technology for energy production with inherent capture of carbon dioxide at minimal energy penalty. In CLC, oxygen is transferred from an air reactor to a fuel reactor by means of a solid oxygen carrier. Direct contact between air and fuel is avoided resulting in an undiluted CO2 exhaust stream.The technological concept was first developed in the 1980's to produce CO2. Recently, it was picked up as a high potential carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. While initial focus was on storage projects, CO2 is more and more considered as a valuable chemical substance for enhanced oil/gas recovery projects as well as for the production of chemicals, plastics or building materials. A critical aspect of the technology is the oxygen carrier performance which has a very strong impact on the economic viability. Parameters such as particle size, density, porosity, strength, attrition resistance, reactivity, environmental aspects and cost, define the performance of the oxygen carrier. Spray-drying is a suitable technique for the preparation of oxygen carrier particles with high sphericity, high attrition resistance, good free-flowing properties and homogeneity on micro-scale. The first generation oxygen carriers was Ni-based. However, due to cost of nickel and toxicity, a search for Ni-free oxygen carriers was conducted with similar or superior performance in CLC.In this contribution, it is shown that spray-drying is a very versatile and scalable technique for the preparation of new and promising oxygen carriers with varying compositions. Different categories of materials have been produced and tested, such as perovskite type materials based on calcium-manganate, magnesium manganates, copper based materials and iron manganates.

The production of hydrocarbon fluids is obtained via production system, which has different parts with different features. An assurance in optimized performance of this system is required in order to obtain a precise knowledge of its different parts. The production system can be categorized into:1- Inflow that related to fluid flow through porous media2- Vertical well flow (from sand face to the wellhead choke) 3- Flow through surface facility.By using available models, any part of the production system can be modeled. Inflow information of the production system, such as reservoir pressure and temperature, fluid type and porous media characteristics and vertical well flow information, like well geometry and pressure control devices can be used to model the production system. After modeling the production system, any problem can be specified and then proper methods are applied to remove them.Selecting proper tubing and wellhead choke sizes are essential to maximize the reserve recovery in the drive oil reservoirs in depletion. In this study, two wells of an oil reservoir were analyzed to determine optimum tubing and choke sizes for production optimization. The databases consisting of flowing, static and buildup test data were analyzed with PANSYS and PIPSEIM software's. Nodal analysis technique was used to analyze tubing and choke sizes for these wells. The effects of skin damage change on IPR curve and well deliverability were also examined.

Removing sulfur is an unpleasant-smelling proposition for oil refineries. Petroleum industry is tightening limits on the sulfur content of gasoline and at the same time, the crude oil coming out of the ground is becoming increasingly "sour" or sulfurous.The success in applying today's sulfur-removal methods to heavy crude oil depends primarily on the oil's polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons' concentration and not on the nature of the oil's sulfurous molecules. On the basis of newly developed analytical methods, pilot-scale hydrotreating tests and kinetics investigations of several heavy oils, researchers conclude that three-ringed and larger polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, such as anthracene, reduce the effectiveness of heavy-oil desulfurization by blocking the access of sulfur compounds to catalysts' active sites. Refineries separate crude oil by boiling point, which is related to density. Heavier fractions contain more sulfur and a large concentration of it makes the petroleum useless. Decades ago, oil refineries adopted a process called hydrodesulfurization (HDS) to strip sulfur atoms from oil molecules. Sulfurous fractions are mixed with hydrogen and a cobalt-molybdenum catalyst, yielding hydrogen sulfide. Alternative technologies floated in recent years including sulfur-eating bacteria and sulfur-oxidizing reagents. Some experts see room for better-designed catalysts, too. These methods tend to operate on the distilled fractions, but a pre-treatment of the crude oil itself may be an attractive option. One pre-treatment option may be ultrasound. When blasted with ultrasonic waves, liquids can undergo a process called acoustic cavitation, in which bubbles are formed and implode violently.Refineries would have to integrate such units into their process, combining pre-treatment and post-treatment. This paper will review some of the technologies for removing sulfur from heavy crude oil.

Second-generation fuels are made from ligno-cellulosic biomass feedstock using advanced technical processes. Ligno-cellulosic sources include 'woody', 'carbonous' materials that do not compete with food production, such as leaves, tree bark, straw or woodchips. However, in the long term, many envisage biofuels being made from materials that are not even dependent on arable land, such as algal materials growing in water. The processes for developing second-generation biofuels are much more complex than those used for first-generation fuels and both the technologies and the logistics are still at a very early stage. While with first-generation biofuels, natural oils are extracted from the plants to produce fuel, second-generation processes, working with waste and 'woody' materials require complex catalysis and chemical alteration procedures to create the oils in the first place. From various processes currently being developed to produce second generation biofuels are: 1-the bio-chemical method: Transformation of ligno-cellulosic materials into ethanol 2- The Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) method (also known as the thermo-chemical method or gasification) 3- Hydrogenation and cracking 4- flash pyrolysis. The enzymatic approach works to recover sugars in lignocellulosic materials. The thermochemical technologies are able to use heterogeneous material as feedstock, using heat to convert these carbon-rich materials into gas. The gasification process converts carbon-rich residues into a synthetic gas. In a new technology which uses flash pyrolysis, biomass is heated for less than 2 seconds to produce liquid bio-oil that retains 60% of the carbon in the biomass (also known as carbon efficiency). In this paper, we discuss various technologies to make 2nd generation biofuels.

Underbalanced drilling (UBD) is defined as the practice of drilling a well with the wellbore fluid gradient less than the natural formation gradient. It differs from conventional drilling for the bottomhole circulating pressure is lower than the formation pressure, thereby permitting the well to flow while drilling proceeds. Underbalanced drilling technology is a valuable method for minimizing formation of invasion-related problems. Because the majority of hydrocarbons today are found in existing fields with depleting pressures, or in complex and low quality reservoirs, the economical use of UBD becomes more and more popular. This technology can save the industry millions of dollars by increasing the amount of recoverable oil within a shorter time frame. Historically, most underbalanced drilling (UBD) projects were undertaken to eliminate drilling problems and cost. However, recently, the reduction of formation damage has become a main focus for underbalanced operations. This has the greatest potential in directly increasing the profit to the operating company. Potential benefits include increasing the production rate, the ultimate recovery, and enabling accelerated production. Underbalanced technology, while still on a sharp growth curve, is finally becoming accepted as a normal method for handling the drilling and completion of wells. This paper details the benefits and limiting factors of UBD technology, underbalanced fluid system selection, and UBD techniques.

« Back To Technical Program