Petroleum Engineering Commons^™

Preclassic Environmental Degradation Of Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala, By The Early Maya Of Nixtun-Ch’Ich’, Brooke A. Birkett, Jonathan Obrist-Farner, Prudence M. Rice, Wesley G. Parker, Peter M.J. Douglas, Melissa A. Berke, Audrey K. Taylor, Jason H. Curtis, Benjamin Keenan

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Paleolimnological Evidence Indicates the Ancient Maya Transformed Terrestrial Ecosystems by Felling Forest Vegetation to Construct Large Civic-Ceremonial Centers and to Expand Agriculture. Human Settlements Influenced Lacustrine Environments But the Effects of Maya Activities on Aquatic Ecosystems Remain Poorly Studied. Here We Analyzed a Sediment Core from Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala, to Infer Paleoenvironmental Changes Resulting from Maya Occupation of the Archaeological Site of Nixtun-Ch'ich'. Increases in Charcoal and Fecal Stanol Concentrations Indicate Maya Occupation of the Candelaria Peninsula by the Late Early Preclassic Period. Geochemical Proxies Reveal a Period of Lake Ecosystem Alteration during Construction and Expansion of the City's …

Development Of Eco-Friendly Chitosan-G-Polyacrylamide Preformed Particle Gel For Conformance Control In High-Temperature And High-Salinity Reservoirs, Reem Elaf, Ahmed Ben Ali, Mohammed Saad, Ibnelwaleed A. Hussein, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Oil and gas extraction has become challenging nowadays due to the accompanying amount of excess produced water that results in poor recoverability of hydrocarbon, besides other environmental and economic isues. A recent and efficient technology for conformance control is the injection of preformed particle gels (PPGs), which results in a more practical production process. Nevertheless, existing treatments fail in high-temperature reservoirs, are extremely sensitive to salinity, and are hazardous. The characteristics of the designed PPG, such as mechanical strength and thermal durability, is mainly depend on their crosslinking method. Polysaccharides-based gels prepared by physical crosslinking are weaker than the ones …

Landscape Position And Cover Crops Affects Crop Yields In A Terrace-Tiled Field, Harpreet Kaur, Kelly A. Nelson, Gurbir Singh, Gurpreet Kaur, Katherine R. Grote

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cover Crops (CC) Provide Soil Ecosystem Benefits Including Reduced Soil Erosion, Improved Soil Health, and Nutrient Cycling. However, the Effect of CCs on Rotational Commodity Crop Grain Yields and Nutrient Uptake May Vary at Different Landscape Positions and under Different Soil Moisture Dynamics. the Objectives of This Study Were to Determine the Influence of CCs in a Terraced Field on Soil Moisture at Crop Emergence and Reproductive Stages of Corn (Zea Mays L) and Soybean (Glycine Max L. Merr.) Development, and Evaluate CCmix (Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.), Radish (Raphanus Raphanistrum Subsp. Sativus), and Turnip (Brassica Rapa Subsp. Rapa)) and Cereal …

Mantle Flow Underneath The South China Sea Revealed By Seismic Anisotropy, Fansheng Kong, Rui Gao, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Weiwei Ding, Xiongwei Niu, Aiguo Ruan, Pingchuan Tan, Jianke Fan, Shaoping Lu, Zhengyi Tong, Liqun Cheng, Wenfei Gong, Yanghui Zhao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It Has Long Been Established that Plastic Flow in the Asthenosphere Interacts Constantly with the overlying Lithosphere and Plays a Pivotal Role in Controlling the Occurrence of Geohazards Such as Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions. Unfortunately, Accurately Characterizing the Direction and Lateral Extents of the Mantle Flow Field is Notoriously Difficult, Especially in Oceanic Areas Where Deployment of Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) is Expensive and Thus Rare. in This Study, by Applying Shear Wave Splitting Analyses to a Dataset Recorded by an OBS Array that We Deployed between Mid-2019 and Mid-2020 in the South China Sea (SCS), We Show that the …

Experimental Data Supporting Co2 Enhanced Oil Recovery And Storage Potential In The Bakken Petroleum System (Bps), University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet on CO₂ enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Bakken petroleum system. Highlights experimental data concerning CO₂’s role in oil recovery in the region.

Quantification Of Geodetic Strain Rate Uncertainties And Implications For Seismic Hazard Estimates, Jeremy Maurer, Kathryn Materna

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Geodetic velocity data provide first-order constraints on crustal surface strain rates, which in turn are linked to seismic hazard. Estimating the 2-D surface strain tensor everywhere requires knowledge of the surface velocity field everywhere, while geodetic data such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) only have spatially scattered measurements on the surface of the Earth. To use these data to estimate strain rates, some type of interpolation is required. In this study, we review methodologies for strain rate estimation and compare a suite of methods, including a new implementation based on the geostatistical method of kriging, to compare variation between …

Use Of Photo Isomers To Enhance The Removal Of Lignin From Woody Biomass Hydrolysate, Dipesh J. Karki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this investigation we propose a novel method to enable precipitation of desired solutes using photo-isomers in the extraction solvent. This photo-switchable solvent would enable dissolution or precipitation of desired components using alternating UV or visible light to modify the solubility of the compounds of interest. Three photo-isomers namely native azobenzene, diethoxy azobenzene and diethylamino azobenzene were studied in three different organic solvents: medium chain length alcohol, ethanol and acetone. It was found that among the different combinations of solvent and photo-isomer, acetone and the 4,4’-diethoxy azobenzene solution was most efficient at precipitating dissolved lignin in response to UV light …

Genesis Of The 1.45 Ga Kratz Spring Iron Oxide-Apatite Deposit Complex In Southeast Missouri, Usa: Constraints From Oxide Mineral Chemistry, Brandon Sullivan, Marek Locmelis, Bolorchimeg N. Tunnell, Cheryl M. Seeger, Marilena Moroni, Sarah Dare, Ryan Mathur, Thomas Schott

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seven major and numerous lesser Fe oxide occurrences within the 1.47 Ga St. Francois Mountains terrane in Missouri (USA) have previously been described as iron oxide-apatite (IOA) and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits. Researchers speculate that these contain significant amounts of critical minerals, most notably rare earth elements and cobalt. One of the less-studied deposits in the region is the 1.455 Ga Kratz Spring deposit. The deposit consists of two steeply dipping magnetite bodies beneath 450 m of sedimentary cover. The genesis of the Kratz Spring deposit and its relationship to nearby IOA-IOCG deposits remains poorly constrained. To better understand the …

Distinct Modes Of Aged Soil Carbon Export In A Large Tropical Lake Basin Identified Using Bulk And Compound-Specific Radiocarbon Analyses Of Fluvial And Lacustrine Sediment, Wesley G. Parker, Jason M.E. Ahad, Jonathan Obrist-Farner, Benjamin Keenan, Peter M.J. Douglas

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The 14C content of sedimentary organic matter (OM) and specific organic molecules provide valuable information on the source and age of OM stored in sediments, but these data are limited for tropical fluvial and lake sediments. We analyzed 14C in bulk OM, palmitic acid (C16), and long-chain n-alkanoic acids (C24, C26, and C28), within fluvial and lake sediments in the catchment of Lake Izabal, a large tectonic lake basin in Guatemala. We combined these measurements with bulk and compound-specific δ13C measurements, as well as sediment organic carbon to nitrogen (OC:N) ratios, to understand the source and age of sedimentary OM …

Removing Ilmenite-Based Filter Cakes Using Hydrochloric Acid And Chelating Agent – Experimental Study, Jianping Su, Omar Mahmoud, Hisham A. Nasr-El-Din

Future Engineering Journal

Ilmenite is often used as a weighting agent in drilling fluids to increase the fluid density, but the formation of a filter cake on the borehole wall can impact cementing operations and reduce well productivity. To remove the filter cake, various techniques can be employed such as chemical treatments, mechanical methods, or a combination of both. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of chemical removal of ilmenite-based filter cake using 7.5 wt.% hydrochloric acid (HCl) and hydroxyethyl ethylenediamine triacetic acid (HEDTA) – chelating agent. The filter cakes were generated using API filter press under harsh conditions …

Evaluation Of Hybrid Prediction Models For Accurate Rate Of Penetration (Rop) Prediction In Drilling Operations, Abdelhakim Khouissat, Mohamed Riad Youcefi, Ghoulem Ifrene, Doina Irofti

Petroleum Engineering Posters and Presentations

The precise prediction of the rate of penetration (ROP) is of utmost importance for optimizing drilling operations and minimizing costs while increasing efficiency. However, the complex and nonlinear nature of the drilling process can pose significant challenges in achieving accurate ROP predictions. To address this challenge, multiple hybrid prediction models have been developed, and their accuracy in ROP prediction has been compared.

To accomplish this objective, we created three different hybrid models, including Artificial Neural Network – Genetic Algorithm (ANN-GA), Artificial Neural Network-Particle Swarm Optimization (ANN-PSO), and Support Vector Regression (SVR) to estimate ROP. These models were trained and tested …

Comparing Fishbone Drilling And Hydraulic Fracturing In Ultra-Low Permeability Geothermal Reservoirs, Aimene Aihar, Nassim Bouabdallah, Ghoulem Ifrene, Doina Irofti

Petroleum Engineering Posters and Presentations

Harnessing geothermal energy through Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) offers a sustainable and renewable means of tapping the Earth's subsurface heat. However, in ultra-low permeability formations like those found in the Williston Basin, the effectiveness of conventional hydraulic fracturing techniques is limited. This study evaluates the potential of fishbone drilling technology as an alternative approach, focusing on the efficiency and engineering aspects of both methods in the context of geothermal reservoirs with extremely low permeability.

We carried out an extensive literature review, numerical simulations, and case studies to compare fishbone drilling and hydraulic fracturing in EGS applications. Fishbone drilling, which involves …

Exploring Underground Hydrogen Storage Options In North Dakota: A Review, Aimen Laalam, Olusegun Stanley Tomomewo

Petroleum Engineering Posters and Presentations

As the world shifts towards a low-carbon future, the demand for efficient, safe, and cost-effective energy storage solutions has become increasingly critical. Hydrogen has emerged as a promising energy carrier with numerous advantages, such as high energy density, zero emission combustion, and versatile applications. Nevertheless, the challenge of effective hydrogen storage remains. This study examines the potential of underground hydrogen storage (UHS) in North Dakota, assessing its opportunities and challenges in supporting the region's renewable energy objectives. North Dakota's unique geological features, abundant renewable energy resources, and growing energy demands make it an ideal location for UHS implementation. This review …

Reasons Why Oil Reserves Remain Unproductive-A Case Study, Mohamed Al-Saho

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

By studying the production plans of some wells of Al Furat Petroleum Company, the researcher noticed that the rate of production increases to reach a peak and then falls back sharply. The deformation of the area around the well due to the decrease in the formation pressure (after production for a certain period) may have caused a change in the storage properties (porosity, permeability) and thus lower production rate. However, from the point of view of the geomechanics of the oil formation, which includes the study of the stress situation and its effect on the rock tissue, we will notice …

Advancing Our Understanding Of Non-Linear Flow Behavior In X-Crossing Fractures Through 3d Printing Technology, Ghoulem Ifrene, Sven Egenhoff, Doina Irofti, Nicholas Bittner, Tyler Newman

Petroleum Engineering Posters and Presentations

Fractured reservoir systems play a critical role in the efficient management of hydrocarbon resources, CO2 storage, and geothermal energy extraction. Understanding the behavior and characteristics of these systems is essential for optimizing recovery, reducing carbon footprint, and increasing efficiency. However, fractures within reservoir systems create complex geometries and can make fluid flow behavior complex and difficult to predict. Replicating these complex geometries in the laboratory has been challenging, but advancements in 3D printing technology have made it possible to create accurate models of rough-walled fracture geometries. In this study, the impact of geometric characteristics on fluid flow behavior in connected …

Novel Investigation Of Catalytic Hydrogenation And Oxidation Of 1,3-Butadiene, Ali M. Alabedkhalil

Theses

The hydrogenation of 1,3 Butadiene (BD) is an important industrial process that is generally used to generate butene, which is a key feedstock to produce a variety of chemicals such as polymers, plastic, and synthetic rubber. This process involves reacting BD with hydrogen using different metallic Ni-based catalysts. In this study, Ni/Al₂O₃ and Ni/Nb₂O5 catalysts were used and investigated to perform the hydrogenation reaction because of their commercial availability, effective hydrogenation activity, and affordability compared to Platinum Group Metal (PGM) catalysts.

The catalytic reactions were conducted using a quartz tube reactor between a temperature range …

Dual Crosslinked Poly(Acrylamide-Co-N-Vinylpyrrolidone) Microspheres With Re-Crosslinking Ability For Fossil Energy Recovery, Jingyang Pu, Baojun Bai, Jiaming Geng, Na Zhang, Thomas P. Schuman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Microspheres have been proposed to be applied in controlling wastewater production for mature oilfields and migrating leakage for gas and nuclear waste storage. However, it remains challenging for stacked microspheres to maintain strong blocking ability in micron-sized small pores or fractures. In this study, a novel microsphere was developed with comprehensive properties including high deformability and long re-crosslinking time upon tunable swelling ratio for the applications. A dual covalent and physical crosslinking strategy was used to develop novel microspheres reinforced by a hydrogen bond (H-bond, between pyrrole ring and amide group) and coordination bond (between chromium acetate (CrAc) and carboxyl …

Biodegradable Preformed Particle Gel (Ppg) Made Of Natural Chitosan Material For Water Shut-Off Application, Reem Elaf, Ahmed Ben Ali, Mohammed Saad, Ibnelwaleed A. Hussein, Hassan Nimir, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Oil and Gas Extraction Frequently Produces Substantial Volumes of Produced Water, Leading to Several Mechanical and Environmental Issues. Several Methods Have Been Applied over Decades, Including Chemical Processes Such as In-Situ Crosslinked Polymer Gel and Preformed Particle Gel, Which Are the Most Effective Nowadays. This Study Developed a Green and Biodegradable PPG Made of PAM and Chitosan as a Blocking Agent for Water Shutoff, Which Will Contribute to Combating the Toxicity of Several Commercially Used PPGs. the Applicability of Chitosan to Act as a Crosslinker Has Been Confirmed by FTIR Spectroscopy and Observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Extensive Swelling Capacity …

Laboratory Comparative Study Of Anionic And Cationic High-Viscosity Friction Reducers In Moderate To Extremely High Total Dissolved Solids Environments, Xiaojing Ge, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

High-Viscosity Friction Reducers (HVFRs) Have Been Recently Gaining More Attention and Increasing in Use, Not Only as Friction-Reducing Agents But Also as Proppant Carriers. Reusing Produced Water Has Also Been Driven by Both Environmental and Economic Benefits. Currently, Most Friction Reducers on the Market Are Anionic Friction Reducers, Which Are Fully Compatible with Most Produced Water with Low to Medium Level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) But Show a Significant Drop at High TDS Conditions in Terms of their Friction Reduction Performance in Most Cases. on the Contrary, Cationic Friction Reducers Are Believed to Have Better TDS Tolerance and Friction …

Organic Matter Assessment And Paleoenvironmental Changes Of The Middle Jurassic Main Source Rocks (Khatatba Formation) In The North Western Desert, Egypt: Palynofacies And Palynomorph Perspectives, Ahmed Mansour, Sameh S. Tahoun, Aya Raafat, Mohamed S. Ahmed, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, Thomas Gentzis, Xiugen Fu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Middle Jurassic in the north Western Desert, Egypt, was a time of complex tectonics and increased environmental perturbations attributed to the predominant sedimentation of organic carbon-rich fine siliciclastic and carbonate deposits of the Khatatba Formation. Although some studies have addressed the hydrocarbon potential and source rock characteristics of the Khatatba Formation, a regional-scale investigation of the prevalent paleoenvironmental conditions and organic matter characteristics is still necessary. In this study, the Khatatba Formation is investigated for detailed palynofacies analysis and palynomorph composition to assess organic matter kerogen types and reconstruct the depositional paleoenvironmental patterns on a regional scale. For this …