Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Geochemical Study Of The Early Cretaceous Fahliyan Oil Reservoir In The Northwest Persian Gulf, Abbas Khaksar Manshad, Reza Sedighi Pashaki, Jagar A. Ali, Stefan Iglauer, M. Memariani, Majid Akbari, Alireza Keshavarz

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Three crude oil samples from the Fahliyan Formation in ‘KG’ and ‘F’ fields in the northwest Persian Gulf, namely KG-031, F9A-3H and F15-3H for the geochemical study. In this study, the physicochemical properties, gas chromatography (GC, GC Mass) and (Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis) DHA analyses for the collected Fahliyan oils were carried out. The API, Trace Element (Ni, V) and S% parameters indicated that the Fahliyan oil was generated from a source rock which deposited in reducing environment condition with a carbonate-shale compound lithology. Moreover, low pour point, higher S% and low viscosity parameters of “KG” sample confirmed the existence of …

Shale Adhesion Force Measurements Via Atomic Force Microscopy, Nikolai Mitiurev, Michael Verrall, Svetlana Shilobreeva, Alireza Keshavarz, Stefan Iglauer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Wettability of sedimentary rock surface is an essential parameter that defines oil recovery and production rates of a reservoir. The discovery of wettability alteration in reservoirs, as well as complications that occur in analysis of heterogeneous sample, such as shale, for instance, have prompted scientists to look for the methods of wettability assessment at nanoscale. At the same time, bulk techniques, which are commonly applied, such as USBM (United States Bureau of Mines) or Amott tests, are not sensitive enough in cases with mixed wettability of rocks as they provide average wettability values of a core plug. Atomic Force Microscopy …

Characterization And Analysis Of Naturally Fractured Gas Reservoirs Based On Stimulated Reservoir Volume And Petro-Physical Parameters, Ali Al-Rubaye, Ahmed Al-Yaseri, Muhammad Ali, Hisham Ben Mahmud

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021, The Author(s). Fracture is one of the most important geological phenomena that affect the production of hydrocarbon compounds in broken carbonate reservoirs. However, fracture controlling factors must be combined with well data to achieve accurate fracture modeling. Therefore, structural data, drilling data, well flow diagrams, cores data, wells production data, and dynamic reservoir data have been considered here. Finally, by combining the above-mentioned information and through statistical and mathematical methods, the mechanism of fracture creation, general trends, and dominant fracture patterns are determined. These patterns are directly related to the tectonic regime and the stresses governing the region. …

An Improved Foam Modeling Technique And Its Application To Petroleum Drilling And Production Practice, Yanfang Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Foam is one of the most common used multiphase fluid in Underbalanced Drilling (UBD) and Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD). Because of its low density, high capacity of lifting and carrying cuttings, low cost and compatibility with formations, foam has become more superior than the conventional drilling mud when depleted reservoir pressure, severe lost circulation, or unstable borehole are encountered. In general, the success of foam applications rely on the understanding of the fundamentals of foam rheology in downhole conditions.

Foam rheology has been studied for decades. Conventional foam rheological models such as Power Law, Bingham Plastic, Herschel-Bulkley to explain foam …

Well Oiled Machine: Classifying Machinery Performance Reductions Using Work Order Data, Jacob Brionez, Amber Burnett, Cho Kim, Scott M. Whitney, Thomas N. Anderson, Sumeet Treehan

SMU Data Science Review

Work Order (WO) data from System Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP) software contains valuable information about what WOs intend to accomplish. Using SAP work order data, with time-series machinery sensor data combined into the same dataset, provides an opportunity to optimize prediction models to increase performance. Ideally, WO data can be utilized to help predict machinery's anticipated performance and can help prioritize a WO among others based on the anticipated machinery performance. It is possible to identify anomalies in pump sensor data using the Isolation Forest algorithm as the method for anomaly detection. The relationship between the sensor …

Utilizing A New Eco-Friendly Drilling Mud Additive Generated From Wastes To Minimize The Use Of The Conventional Chemical Additives, Abo Taleb T. Al-Hameedi, Husam H. Alkinani, Mohammed M. Alkhamis, Shari Dunn-Norman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The cost of the drilling operation is very high. Drilling fluid presents 15 to 30% of the entire expense of the drilling process. Ordinarily, the major drilling fluids additives are viscosity modifiers, filtration control agents, and partial loss treatments. In this experimental work, full-set measurements under fresh and aged conditions, as well as high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) API filtration, were conducted to study the impacts of adding 0.5%, 1.5%, 2.5%, and 3.5% of black sunflower seeds’ shell powder (BSSSP) to spud mud. BSSSP of various grain sizes showed their ability to be invested for viscosity modifying, seepage loss controlling, and …

Fluid-Driven Fracture Initiation From Oil And Gas Wells Considering Lifetime Stresses, Andreas Michael

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fluid-driven fracture initiation from oil and gas wells is examined in detail. The dissertation covers three subtopics: drilling, completion (stimulations), and post-blowout capping-induced fracture initiation.

Drilling-induced tensile fractures (DITFs) are located in an azimuth orthogonal to wellbore breakouts and are observed from image logs obtained during drilling operations. Fully analytical criteria for the orientation of DITFs initiating from wells in porous, permeable media are derived considering fluid infiltration from a pressurized wellbore. DITF orientation (longitudinal or transverse-to-the-wellbore) is used to constrain the magnitude of the local maximum horizontal principal stress. The range of the possible stress states is indicated on …

Chicoreus Brunneus Seashells As A Catalyst In Rice Bran Biodiesel Production, Hoora Mazaheri

Student Works (2020-2029)

Environmental pollution and the declining global supply of accessible fossil fuels are the key drivers to search for alternative energy sources. This study focused on developing a “green” and sustainable heterogenous calcium oxide (CaO) catalyst from Chicoreus Brunneus shells for biodiesel production from rice bran oil (RBO). Coastal people frequently collect these shells for food and shell crafts. Thus, by using seashell wastes, cost-efficient catalysts can be achieved for the biodiesel industry. The shells were calcinated, washed and dried to produce pure CaO catalyst. After that, CaO was converted into calcium methoxide (Ca(OCH3)2) and followed by loading onto zeolite support …

The Effect Of Carbonate Rock Wettability On The Performance Of Low Salinity Water Flooding: An Experimental Approach, Hildah Nantongo

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Theses

The performance of low salinity waterflooding (LSWF) in different wettability environment is still unclear for the oil industry. The concessions among researchers are that low salinity does not work in water-wet carbonate oil reservoirs. In this project carbonate core flooding experiments on cores with different wettability’s conditions, including water-wet, oil-wet, and intermediate wettability were performed at reservoir conditions of pressure and temperature. Seawater was selected as a base water and its concentration & composition were modified through dilution and/or spiking with sulfate. The base water was diluted with water 10 and 50 times and spiked with sulfate to 2 and …

Data–Driven Decision–Making For Lost Circulation Treatments: A Machine Learning Approach, Husam H. Alkinani, Abo Taleb T. Al-Hameedi, Shari Dunn-Norman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lost circulation is an expensive and critical problem in the drilling operations. Millions of dollars are spent every year to mitigate or stop this problem. In this work, data from over 3000 wells were collected from multiple sources. The data went through a processing step where all outliers were removed, and decision rules were set up. Multiple machine learning methods (support vector machine, decision trees, logistic regression, artificial neural networks, and ensemble trees) were used to create a model that can predict the best lost circulation treatment based on the type of loss and the reason of loss. 5-fold cross-validation …

A Simplified Method For Experimentally Quantifying Crude Oil Swelling During Immiscible Carbon Dioxide Injection, Sherif Fakher, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Immiscible carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection is one of the highly applied enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods due to its high oil recovery potential and its ability to store CO₂ in the reservoir. The main mechanism of immiscible CO₂ injection is oil swelling. Generally, oil swelling is measured experimentally or measured using modeling methods. This research conducts oil swelling experiments using a simplified method in order to easily and accurately measure oil swelling and determines some of the most significant factors that may impact oil swelling during CO₂ injection. The impact of varying CO₂ injection …

Anti-Collision Planning Optimization In Directional Wells, Abdulrahman Mohamed

Petroleum Engineering and Gas

One of the most application of the directional drilling is drilling multiple wells from one location or platform. In drilling multiple wells from one location the major problem that faced is avoiding the collision with the offset wells that drilled near the proposed well in the same region. Therefore, the potential of collison between the wells can cause severe catastrophic accidents such as an explosion or oil spill. Several measurements of proximity calculation or methods have been adopted to control the distance between the wells, avoid the collison, increasing the clearance along with smoothing the trajectory, Reducing the drilling time …

A Scoring Model To Evaluate Offshore Oil Projects: Case Of Eni And Mellitah Oil & Gas, Abdulhakim Giadedi

Dissertations and Theses

Offshore oil projects have many different and unique characteristics, such as larger project size, higher number of scopes, and higher complexity. In fact, offshore oil projects described as mega projects are ones that require significant assessment and acquisition methods in order to reduce risks and failures. Traditionally, cash flow analysis and return on investment are the most known factors to evaluate offshore oil projects. However, there are several other internal and external factors that affect the overall performance of offshore oil projects. A comprehensive approach and advanced tools are required to evaluate these factors that can have a significant impact …

Membrane-Based Removal Of Ammonia From A Waste Stream And Its Recovery, Philip A. Aligwe

Dissertations

At neutral pH levels, ammonia in aqueous streams exists in two forms: ammonium ion (NH₄⁺) and dissolved ammonia gas molecules (NH₃). Membrane separation serves as a viable option for treatment of ammonia containing effluents. This can be achieved via by stripping NH₃ from an ammonia feed solution at feed solution pH > 11 via hollow fiber supported gas membrane (SGM) or removing NH₄⁺ from an ammonia feed solution at feed solution pH < 7 via liquid or polymeric membranes.

The first study reported here examines the influence of feed volumetric flow rates on outlet NH₃ concentrations in parallel flow …

A Comparison Study Using Particle Swarm Optimization Inversion Algorithm For Gravity Anomaly Interpretation Due To A 2d Vertical Fault Structure, Neil Lennart Anderson, Khalid S. Essa, Mahmoud Elhussein

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new approach to the inversion of gravity data utilizing the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to model 2D vertical faults. The PSO algorithm is stochastic in nature; its development was motivated by the communal in-flight performance of birds looking for food. The birds are represented by particles (or models). Individual particles have a location and a velocity vector. The location vectors represent the parameter value. PSO is adjusted with random particles (models) and searches for targets by updating generations. Herein, the PSO algorithm is applied to three synthetic data sets (residual only with and without noise, residual …

Pressure Monitoring For Subsurface Leakage Characterization, Mojtaba Mosaheb

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Undesirable leakage from underground sedimentary formations is a matter of considerable concern due to implications for water resources contamination and greenhouse gas emissions. Leakage in underground formations can remain undetected for a long period. Pressure monitoring is a dynamic method that can be used for leakage detection and characterization. The pressure signals are affected by the hydraulic characteristics of the reservoir media and leakage pathways. Consequently, the pressure data can be interpreted to obtain information about the hydraulic characteristics of the system. Pressure interpretation is useful for early leakage detection, because the pressure signals travel fast in reservoir media. In …

Developing A New Formula For Predicting Oil Recovery Factor In Water Flooded-Heterogeneous Reservoirs, Mohamed Khaled Aljifri

Theses

In this work, two sets of empirical correlations were developed for predicting the recovery factor (RF) in water-flooded layered oil reservoirs. The first set of these correlations encompasses four key parameters believed to have a significant impact on waterflooding performance, namely, reservoir heterogeneity (permeability variation coefficient), injected water viscosity, permeability anisotropy (ratio of vertical permeability to horizontal permeability), and water injection rate. This first set consists of two expanded forms, one for predicting the RF at water breakthrough time (BT) and the other for predicting the RF at the end of the project (EOP). Out of the aforementioned four key …

Data-Driven Modeling And Prediction For Reservoir Characterization And Simulation Using Seismic And Petrophysical Data Analyses, Xu Zhou

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the application of data-driven modeling and prediction in reservoir characterization and simulation using seismic and petrophysical data analyses. Different aspects of the application of data-driven modeling methods are studied, which include rock facies classification, seismic attribute analyses, petrophysical properties prediction, seismic facies segmentation, and reservoir dimension reduction.

The application of using petrophysical well logs to predict rock facies is explored using different data analytics methods including decision tree, random forest, support vector machine and neural network. Different models are trained from a set of well logs and pre-interpreted rock facies data. Among the compared methods, the random …

Flow Of Carbon Dioxide In Micro And Nano Pores And Its Interaction With Crude Oil To Induce Asphaltene Instability, Sherif Fakher, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study presents an investigation of the flow mechanism of carbon dioxide (CO₂) through nano and micro pores and the impact of this flow on oil mobilization and asphaltene instability in the crude oil. The flow mechanism of CO₂ is determined using numerical modeling through the Knudsen number to determine the flow regimes under different thermodynamic conditions. Following this, the oil production and asphaltene stability are studied using a filtration vessel supplemented with nano and micron sized filter membranes. The effect of varying CO₂ injection pressure, oil viscosity, porous media pore size, and porous media thickness …

An Experimental Investigation Of Asphaltene Stability In Heavy Crude Oil During Carbon Dioxide Injection, Sherif Fakher, Mohamed Ahdaya, Mukhtar Elturki, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection is one of the most applied enhanced oil recovery methods in the hydrocarbon industry, since it has the potential to increase oil recovery significantly and can help reduce greenhouse gases through carbon storage in hydrocarbon reservoirs. Carbon dioxide injection has a severe drawback, however, since it induces asphaltene precipitation by disrupting the asphaltene stability in crude oil that bears even the slightest asphaltene concentration. This can result in severe operational problems, such as reservoir pore plugging and wellbore plugging. This research investigates some of the main factors that impact asphaltene stability in crude oil …

Stress-State And Injection-Rate Dependent Damage Processes During The Hydraulic Fracturing Of Granite, Gayani Sasendrika Gunarathna

Dissertations

Hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique that is employed in field applications, such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and shale oil/gas extraction. This research experimentally investigates the effect of the state of stress and injection rate on the hydraulic fracturing processes. In addition, a displacement discontinuity method (DDM) code, FROCK, is used to model the crack initiation and propagation in a granite specimen under hydraulic fracturing conditions. In order to conduct the experimental work, a test setup capable of applying a triaxial state of stress and water pressure inside pre-fabricated flaws cut in prismatic granite specimens is developed. Additionally, the …

Upgrading Cracking Waste To Rubber Precursors Via Oxidative Dehydrogenation, Andrew Mason, Delaney Franck, Firdvas Nasimov, Lindsey Jarema, Gitau Wambugu

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Funded Proposals

To: Dr. Yasar Demirel, Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

As the result of process changes within an ethylene cracking plant, the amount of a C4 byproduct waste stream has significantly increased (Fabiano, Nedwick 1999). A system of extractive distillation and catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation can be used to add value to this C4 waste stream by producing high purity 1,3-Butadiene, an important rubber precursor. 1,3-Butadiene is a critical component of multiple consumer goods, including automobile tires and synthetic rubber and has a steadily increasing demand, reaching 10 million metric tons in 2012 (Biddy, Scarlata, Kinchin, 2016). The simulation assumes a feed flow …

Modeling Unconventional Water Production In The Northeast Elm Coulee Field, Bakken Formation, Jan Branning

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Wells within the Northeast (NE) Elm Coulee produce significantly higher water cuts than wells within Elm Coulee Proper. The purpose of this work was to identify the source of produced water in the NE Elm Coulee. An area within the NE Elm Coulee was selected for a numerical flow simulation analysis, and a total of three models of the project area were constructed by isolating production mechanisms to determine the source of produced water in the NE Elm Coulee. A Separate Tank model was constructed to determine if the source of the produced water was matrix water saturation in the …

Production Of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuel Via Titanium Oxide-Alumina (Tio2-Al2o3) Catalytic Deoxygenation Reaction, Xian Yih Ooi

Student Works (2020-2029)

The renewable hydrocarbon-like biofuel from biomass is crucial to substitute fossil fuel. Catalytic deoxygenation is a biofuel upgrading process to eliminate the high oxygen content in biofuel which will lead to corrosion, instability and lower heating value problems. The choice of support is significant to provide the maximum acid strength for the hydrogenolysis of C-O bonds. Al2O3 supported catalyst has drawn attention due to the high acidity. However, the high acidity leads to coke deposition, unstable and deactivation of the catalyst. Thus, it is important to develop methods to improve catalyst performance, reduce catalyst coking and enhance catalyst lifetime. Recently, …

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 …

Microfluidic Study Of The Electrocoalescence Of Aqueous Droplets In Crude Oil, Thomas Leary, Mohsen Yeganeh, Charles Maldarelli

Publications and Research

In electrocoalescence, an electric field is applied to a dispersion of conducting water droplets in a poorly conducting oil to force the droplets to merge in the direction of the field. Electrocoalescence is used in petroleum refining to separate water from crude oil and in droplet-based microfluidics to combine droplets of water in oil and to break emulsions. Using a microfluidic design to generate a two-dimensional (2D) emulsion, we demonstrate that electrocoalescence in an opaque crude oil can be visualized with optical microscopy and studied on an individual droplet basis in a chamber whose height is small enough to make …

Re-Crosslinking Particle Gel For Co₂ Conformance Control And Co₂ Leakage Blocking, Yifu Long, Baojun Bai, Thomas P. Schuman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The present invention generally relates to the composition of particle gels for CO₂-EOR and CO₂ storage. More particularly, CO₂ resistant particle gels are provided that can re-crosslink at subterranean conditions. These particle gels can be deployed to improve the conformance of CO₂ flooding, CO₂ huff-puff, or Water-Alternative-Gas (WAG). The applications may also involve CO₂ storage, such as the blocking of CO₂ leakage and similar CO₂ processing.

Critical Review Of Asphaltene Properties And Factors Impacting Its Stability In Crude Oil, Sherif Fakher, Mohamed Ahdaya, Mukhtar Elturki, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Asphaltene is a component of crude oil that has been reported to cause severe problems during production and transportation of the oil from the reservoir. It is a solid component of the oil that has different structures and molecular makeup which makes it one of the most complex components of the oil. This research provides a detailed review of asphaltene properties, characteristics, and previous studies to construct a guideline to asphaltene and its impact on oil recovery. The research begins with an explanation of the main components of crude oil and their relation to asphaltene. The method by which asphaltene …

Insights Into The Applications Of Waste Materials In The Oil And Gas Industry: State Of The Art Review, Availability, Cost Analysis, And Classification, Abo Taleb T. Al-Hameedi, Husam H. Alkinani, Hussein W. Albazzaz, Shari Dunn-Norman, Mohammed M. Alkhamis

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigates different types of waste materials and their applicability in the oil and gas industry as well as analyzing various applications of these waste materials in the petroleum industry. This study also explores the availability of these waste materials by performing a statistical analysis in a good number of countries worldwide. The statistical study was performed starting with a study on which countries generate waste the most overall, followed by examining multiple countries and investigating their top three most available waste. The results showed that the USA is the leading country in terms of municipal solid waste generation …

A Data Analysis Of Immiscible Carbon Dioxide Injection Applications For Enhanced Oil Recovery Based On An Updated Database, Sherif Fakher, Abdulmohsin Imqam

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection is an enhanced oil recovery technique used worldwide to increase oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs. Immiscible CO₂ injection involves injecting the CO₂ into the reservoir at a pressure below which it will become miscible in the oil. Even though immiscible CO₂ injection has been applied extensively, very little research has been conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism and the applications of immiscible CO₂ injection. This research performs an in-depth data analysis is performed based on more than 200 experiments and 20 field tests from more than 40 …