Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Tracer-Surfactant-Foam Processes In Shallow Subsurface Environmental Remediation: History-Matching And Performance Prediction, Hazem Fleifel

LSU Master's Theses

In-situ subsurface remediation has been widely used as an efficient means of cleaning up non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) from contaminated soils and aquifer. The use of tracer, surfactant, and foam are often considered to keep track of the propagation of injected fluids in the medium, dissolve and mobilize contaminants trapped by capillary forces, and overcome the level of heterogeneity and improve displacement and sweep efficiencies.

This study shows an actual remediation process to reduce NAPL within a military base in South Korea, by injecting tracer and surfactant solutions together for a duration of 10 days. The site consists of 5 …

Molecular Simulation Study Of Oil Hydrocarbons, Dispersants And Other Organics In Atmospheric Air/Water Interfaces, Zenghui Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The main objective of this dissertation is to study the interfacial properties of organic contaminants, in particular green leaf volatiles (GLVs), oil hydrocarbons [mainly intermediate-volatile organic compounds (IVOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)], as well as surfactant species (i.e. DOSS and Span 80) from Corexit dispersants at atmospheric air/water and air/seawater interfaces. All these compounds can significantly contribute to the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). Furthermore, our simulation work on IVOCs, SVOCs and Corexit surfactants, combining with experiments from the Valsaraj group, suggests that these compounds can be adsorbed on the surface of seawater droplets and aerosolized into the …

Ambit Of Multiphase Cfd In Modelling Transport Processes Related To Oil Spill Scenario And Microfluidics, Abhijit Rao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

During the ‘Deepwater Horizon’ accident in the deep sea in 2010, about 4.9 million barrels of oil was released into the Gulf of Mexico, making the spill one of the worst ocean spills in recent times. To mitigate the ill effects of the event on the environment, subsea injection of dispersants was carried out. Dispersant addition lowers the interfacial tension at oil/water interface and presence of local turbulence enhances the droplet disintegration process. The oil droplets contain a plethora of hydrocarbons which are soluble in water. In deep spill scenarios, droplets spend large amounts of time in water column; hence, …

Development Of A Framework For Scaling Surfactant Enhanced Co₂ Flooding From Laboratory Scale To Field Implementation, Gbolahan I. Afonja

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The efficiency of the use of CO2 as a displacement fluid in oil recovery is hampered by the existence of an unfavorable mobility ratio that is caused by the large difference in viscosity between the injected fluid (CO2) and the reservoir fluids. This viscosity contrast results in early CO2 breakthrough, viscous fingering, gas channeling, and consequently, the inability of CO2 to effectively contact much of the reservoir and the oil it contains. Improvement of sweep efficiency and mobility control in CO2 injection require solutions to these problems. The use of surfactants and other chemical means for mobility control has been …

Measurement Of Interfacial Tension In Hydrocarbon/Water/Dispersant Systems At Deepwater Conditions, Mohamed Abdelrahim

LSU Master's Theses

The events of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico were associated with great water depths that made it difficult to understand the behavior of the spilled oil as it came in contact with the seawater. The remedial subsea application of chemical dispersants draws interest to evaluate the interfacial interactions between the oil and water at such great water depths. Most importantly, a quantification of the interfacial tension (IFT) between the spilled oil and seawater at deepwater conditions can provide insight into the effectiveness of the chemical dispersion of spilled oil. In this study, Macondo crude oil …

Surfactant-Induced Flow Behavior Effects In Gas Condensate Reservoirs, Bikash Deep. Saikia

LSU Master's Theses

Natural gas, which accounts for a quarter of world’s energy, has been a major energy source because of its abundance and less impact on environment. With explorations at higher depth, pressure and temperature, the share of gas condensate reservoirs to global gas production is increasing. A unique production challenge associated with these reservoirs is the condensate blockage problem, which is the buildup of condensate liquid saturation around wellbore as a result of drawdown below dew point pressure. Mitigation of this problem requires in depth understanding of the multiphase flow of liquid and gas. Surfactants are well known in the literature …

Experimental Study Of A Foam Flow In Horizontal Pipes: Two Flow Regimes And Its Implications, Miodrag Bogdanovic

LSU Master's Theses

Although foam has been widely used in many scientific and engineering applications, the current understanding of foam rheology in pipes is still very limited because of its complex nature. This experimental study, for the first time, investigates the flow rheology of foams in pipes by placing a special emphasis on two distinct foam flow regimes. A wide range of experimental conditions are examined in this study, which include five different surfactant formulations (Cedepal FA-406, Petrostep CG-50, Stepanform 1050, Aquet TD-600, and Ultra-Palmolive), three different surfactant concentrations (0.1, 1, and 5 wt %), two different pipe diameters (0.5 and 1 inch …

Fabrication Of Core-Shell Nanoparticles, Zhanhu Guo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Metallic Cu and Au shells were fabricated around cobalt nanoparticles. A new technique to coat nanoparticles with carbon coatings and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was developed. The copper shell formation is a self-limiting process. A thin copper shell (0.82 nm) around the cobalt nanoparticle (1.56 nm) enhanced the magnetic property by increasing the blocking temperature from 124 K to 235 K for nanoparticles with a copper shell. The formed gold shell (0.67 nm) enhanced the cobalt nanoparticle magnetic property by increasing the blocking temperature above room temperature. The magnetic moment in the Co-Cu and Co-Au core-shell nanoparticle is much higher than …

The Effects Of Rock And Fluids Characteristics On Reservoir Wettability, Chandra S. Vijapurapu

LSU Master's Theses

Wettability is the ability of a fluid to spread or adhere on a rock surface in the presence of other immiscible fluids. Knowledge of wettability is important to decide what production strategy needs to be employed for optimum oil recovery. Wettability is affected by rock mineralogy, rock surface roughness, and brine compositions. Previous studies have dealt with solid-liquid-vapor systems and those involving wettability characterization in solid-liquid-liquid systems have used contact angle techniques known to have reproducibility problems. In this study, a new technique called the Dual-Drop-Dual-Crystal (DDDC) Technique has been used to characterize wettability in terms of dynamic contact angles. …