Petroleum Engineering Commons^™

Well-Failure Analysis Of The Devil’S Basin In Musselshell County, Mt., Alexander Koerner

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Central Montana’s Devil’s Basin is the home of the first wildcat well in Montana. However, numerous operators have failed to recover economic oil reserves in the nearly 100- year history of the play. Analysis of the geologic conditions within the Devil’s Basin leads to a modern understanding of the charge, reservoir, and trap potentials of the greater Devil’s Basin petroleum play. Primary focus within the play is the Heath and Tyler Formations. Evaluation of previous exploration guides the end narrative of recommendations to direct future production in the Devil’s Basin.

A representative geologic model describing the southeastern portion of the …

Characterization And Evaluation Of Cordless Nailer Performance For Liquid And Gaseous Fuels, Mark Carioscio

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The Paslode Cordless XP Framing Nailer is a combustion-powered nail gun that operates using a fuel blend of a propylene and 1-butene. This tool is designed to drive nails using a piston driven by a combustion reaction. The current fuel blend is able to fire approximately 1200 shots per fuel cartridge and match the energy output of pneumatic, corded nailers on the market. This thesis is written with the intent to gain a better understanding of the operation of the tool and how its performance varies when the fuel source is altered. A bizonal combustion model was created to simulate …

Numerical Simulation Study On Miscible Eor Techniques For Improving Oil Recovery In Shale Oil Reservoirs, Dheiaa Alfarge, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Shale formations in North America such as Bakken, Niobrara, and Eagle Ford have huge oil in place, 100—900 billion barrels of oil in Bakken only. However, the predicted primary recovery is still below 10%. Therefore, seeking for techniques to enhance oil recovery in these complex plays is inevitable. Although most of the previous studies in this area recommended that CO₂ would be the best EOR technique to improve oil recovery in these formations, pilot tests showed that natural gases performance clearly exceeds CO₂ performance in the field scale. In this paper, two different approaches have been integrated to …

Investigation Of Flow Mechanisms In Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage Process, Iskandar Dzulkarnain

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this study we investigate displacement mechanism for oil recovered using Gas- Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) method. For a typical oil recovery under gravity drainage, the recovery profile can be characterized by an initial bulk flow which occurs rapidly and a later film flow that extends for a longer duration. It is the latter period where film spreading, the ability of oil to spread above water in the presence of gas, is identified as the displacement mechanism responsible for recovering the remaining oil in gravity drainage process. Literature survey indicates that mathematical models for gravity drainage do not account for …

Investigation Of Flow Mechanisms In Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage Process, Iskandar Dzulkarnain

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this study we investigate displacement mechanism for oil recovered using Gas- Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) method. For a typical oil recovery under gravity drainage, the recovery profile can be characterized by an initial bulk flow which occurs rapidly and a later film flow that extends for a longer duration. It is the latter period where film spreading, the ability of oil to spread above water in the presence of gas, is identified as the displacement mechanism responsible for recovering the remaining oil in gravity drainage process. Literature survey indicates that mathematical models for gravity drainage do not account for …

Modeling Fluid Coker Cyclone Fouling, Erica Glatt

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Fluid Coking^TM is a continuous process that thermally converts heavy hydrocarbons, such as oil-sands bitumen, to lighter and higher-value products by horizontal injection onto a fluidized bed of hot coke particles. The deposition of carbonaceous materials in the cyclone sections of commercial Fluid Cokers has been observed throughout each run. The main objective of this work is to improve unit reliability by proposing cyclone fouling mitigation strategies based on a localized phenomenological model using Aspen Plus®. The heavy ends condensation fouling mechanism was studied by incorporating vapour-liquid thermodynamics, thermal cracking reactions, and overall fluid dynamics in the Fluid Coker. …

Development Strategies For A Fractured, Heavy Oil Reservoir - Results From Numerical Simulations, German Albertovich Abzaletdinov

LSU Master's Theses

This research is focused on studying reservoir “N” in the Yarega heavy oilfield (YHOF) for development strategies and production optimization. YHOF is a naturally fractured heavy oil field where only very recently SAGD technology has been introduced. The motivation for this research is derived from the fact that SAGD employed in this field has so far resulted in early steam breakthrough leading to producer abandonment and new drilling, thus increasing costs. This study explores numerically different static and dynamic reservoir characterization models (single porosity versus dual porosity systems), and subsequent pressure-production history matched reservoir simulation for understanding heat and mass …

Insights Into Low Salinity Water Flooding, Hasan N. Al-Saedi, Ralph E. Flori, Patrick V. Brady

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In our previous work, we examined the potential of divalent cations (Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺) in formation water (FW) for low-salinity (LS) EOR effect, where the increase in divalent cations in FW lowered the impact of LS water EOR.

In this paper, we demonstrate the importance of the same divalent cations in the injected water (both FW and LS water). We also try to relate the percentage of the divalent cations in the injected water to that in the FW to engineer the optimum concentration of the injected water and obtain the maximum oil recovery from sandstone reservoirs. …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Liquid-Assisted Gas-Lift Unloading, Renato Peixoto Coutinho

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The case for a unique form of gas-lift unloading, termed “Liquid-Assisted Gas-Lift (LAGL),” is presented. This work demonstrates that the injection of a gas-liquid mixture allows transport of gas to a deep injection point utilizing injection pressure considerably lower than single-phase gas injection. The LAGL is demonstrated in a 2,880 ft deep test well. The test well is kicked-off using an injection pressure that would normally be lower than the pressure for single-point single-phase gas injection at this depth. Experimental results indicate that the LAGL can lower the injection pressure by up to 75%.

This work breaks the LAGL system …

Comparison Between Cold/Hot Smart Water Flooding In Sandstone Reservoirs, Hasan N. Al-Saedi, Ariel Williams, Ralph E. Flori

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The incremental oil recovery has been investigated and approved by many laboratory and field projects using water flooding in tertiary stage. The salinity of the injected water is an important factor observed by many researchers. The more salinity decreases the more oil recovery obtained. The investigations on the hot low salinity water flooding have been conducted by many researchers and they found out that it is useful for increasing oil recovery especially heavy oil due to reducing oil viscosity and make it easy to produce to the surface. The thermal expansion of water plays an important role in the incremental …

Thermogenic Gas Hydrate Formation In Gulf Of Mexico Offshore Environment- Results From Numerical Simulation, Sulav Dhakal

LSU Master's Theses

Development of civilization and the resulting quest for energy have led us to previously uncharted territory in exploration and production of fuel. As the demand continues to grow and conventional oil reserves become depleted, we are looking into unconventional resources such as gas hydrates. However, due to the volatile nature of the energy market and production technology yet to perfected, we are not able to fully utilize the potential of gas hydrates yet.

Reservoir characterization of hydrates have so far been limited to seismic mapping, well log interpretation and laboratory scale studies. This research uses numerical simulation to understand the …

Mobility Of Nano-Particles In Rock Based Micro-Models, Jagannath Upadhyay

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A confocal micro-particle image velocimetry (C-μPIV) technique along with associated post-processing algorithms is detailed for obtaining three dimensional distributions of nano-particle velocity and concentrations at select locations of the 2.5D (pseudo 3D) Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and ceramic micro-model. The designed and fabricated 2.5D micro-model incorporates microchannel networks with 3D wall structures with one at observation wall which resembles fourteen morphological and flow parameters to those of fully 3D actual reservoir rock (Boise Sandstone) at resolutions of 5 and 10 μm in depth and 5 and 25 μm on plane. In addition, an in-situ, non-destructive method for measuring the geometry of …

Simulating Fluid Flow And Gas Expansion In The Marine Riser Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd) Software, Ross Teichman

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Integrated Stratigraphic Controls For Flow Simulation Of The Wall Creek Member Of Frontier Formation: Western Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Tuan Le

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Frontier Formation in the Powder River Basin has been re-discovered for oil and gas potential with the development of long horizontal wells and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. Over the last decade, the Upper Cretaceous Wall Creek Member (WCM) of the Frontier Formation has proven to be a successful hydrocarbon-producing target, yet a full understanding of the flow behavior in this complex stratigraphic unit has not been fully achieved.

The fluid and rock properties have uncertainty and are not well defined due to the low permeability rocks. This study aims to describe the fluid flow behaviors of these features and create …

Pore-Scale Analysis Of Interfacial Instabilities And Impact Of Heterogeneity On Relative Permeability By Lattice Boltzmann Method, Zhipeng Zhu

LSU Master's Theses

Interfacial instabilities occur often during immiscible fluid flow through porous media and their understanding is essential for waterflooding operations or other oil recovery processes. Although many studies including experimental and numerical have been done to reproduce and analyze the interfacial instabilities in porous median, there is still significant knowledge gap in fundamental understanding of these flow instabilities at the pore-scale. In order to better understand the interfacial instabilities phenomenon, the pore-scale simulations are performed. In this study, Lattice Boltzmann Method is used to simulate two different types of interfacial instabilities: viscous fingering and capillary fingering in irregular sphere packs by …

Magnetic Gradient Drilling, Garrett Lowry Nielsen

LSU Master's Theses

The drilling industry has always had difficulties with staying within the mud weight window. The problems associated with failure to stay within the mud weight window include uncontrolled influxes and wellbore collapse on the low pressure side of the window, and fluid losses and wellbore damage on the high pressure side of the window. When the risk for getting outside of this mud window becomes too great, casing must be set in order to isolate formations from each other. If too many strings of casing are set, or if the damage from getting out of the mud weight window is …

Effect Of Pipe Rotation On Casing Pressure Within Mpd Applications, Zahrah Ahmed Al Marhoon

LSU Master's Theses

Well control is one of the most crucial sectors in drilling engineering. Human lives and safety depend on the correct execution of the engineering design. Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) is a new technology that has recently emerged in the oil and gas industry. It has special well control abilities supported by the RCD to continue drilling or carry operations that involve pipe rotation, while circulating out a gas kick. This thesis examines the effect of pipe rotation on casing pressure profiles within MPD kick circulation application. The analysis was carried on real scale kick experiments. These experiments were carried in …

Optimization Of A New Array Noise Tool; Analysis & Interpretation Of Case Studies Of Down- Hole Leak Detection, Moustafa Mahmoud Hassan Ismail

Theses

This thesis is concerned with the optimization and analysis of new array noise tools. Various lab and field case studies are analyzed to test the capabilities and determine the optimum operating conditions of the new tool for leak detection purposes. The purpose of this study is to optimize the logging procedure of real-time array noise tool, selecting adequate gain parameters and frequency band in the processing phase, and to analyze the data acquired through multiple labs and field tests. The study methodology involved the following steps:

1. Performing lab and field tests for the tool in a range of different …

Image-Based Modeling Of Flow Through Porous Media: Development Of Multiscale Techniques For The Pore Level, Timothy Wayne Thibodeaux

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Increasingly, imaging technology allows porous media problems to be modeled at microscopic and sub-microscopic levels with finer resolution. However, the physical domain size required to be representative of the media prohibits comprehensive micro-scale simulation. A hybrid or multiscale approach is necessary to overcome this challenge. In this work, a technique was developed for determining the characteristic scales of porous materials, and a multiscale modeling methodology was developed to better understand the interaction/dependence of phenomena occurring at different microscopic scales. The multiscale method couples microscopic simulations at the pore and sub-pore scales. Network modeling is a common pore-scale technique which employs …

Study Of Gas Production From Shale Reservoirs With Multi-Stage Hydraulic Fracturing Horizontal Well Considering Multiple Transport Mechanisms, Chaohua Guo, Mingzhen Wei, Hong Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Development of unconventional shale gas reservoirs (SGRs) has been boosted by the advancements in two key technologies: horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. A large number of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells (MsFHW) have been drilled to enhance reservoir production performance. Gas flow in SGRs is a multi-mechanism process, including: desorption, diffusion, and non-Darcy flow. The productivity of the SGRs with MsFHW is influenced by both reservoir conditions and hydraulic fracture properties. However, rare simulation work has been conducted for multi-stage hydraulic fractured SGRs. Most of them use well testing methods, which have too many unrealistic simplifications and assumptions. Also, no …