Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage Eor Process Applicability In A Louisiana Oil Field Through Experiments And Reservoir Simulation, Wagirin Ruiz Paidin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) process was developed as an alternative to conventional gas injection enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes, which suffer from their inherent weakness of combating gravity segregation. The GAGD process, however, is aimed at taking advantage of this phenomenon and consists of using horizontal producers near the bottom of the payzone while injecting gas using vertical injection wells. It is hypothesized that the injected gas will rise to the top, thereby forming a gas cap while displacing reservoir brine/oil downward towards the producers. In this study, a single-well alternative to the multi-well GAGD process was investigated to …

A Large Scale Network Model To Obtain Interwell Formation Characteristics, Seyedmohammadamin Gherabati

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Limited data availability and poor data quality make it difficult to characterize many reservoirs. For reservoirs that have undergone waterflooding, production and injection data are a reliable source of information from which injector-to-producer connections can be inferred. In this research, we use well locations, injection and production rate data and well fractional flow values to develop a reservoir-scale network model. A Voronoi mesh divides the reservoir into a number of node volumes each of which contains a well. Bonds connect each of the nodes with conductance values that must be inferred from the rate data. An inverse problem is formulated …

Multi-Scale Modeling Of Inertial Flows Through Propped Fractures, Ali Takbiri Borujeni

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Non-Darcy flows are expected to be ubiquitous in near wellbore regions, completions, and in hydraulic fractures of high productivity gas wells. Further, the prevailing dynamic effective stress in the near wellbore region is expected to be an influencing factor for the completion conductivity and non-Darcy flow behavior in it. In other words, the properties (fracture permeability and β-factor) can vary with the time and location in the reservoir (especially in regions close to the wellbore). Using constant values based on empirical correlations for reservoirs/completions properties can lead to erroneous cumulative productivity predictions. With the recent advances in the imaging technology, …

Experimental And Modeling Study Of Foam Flow In Pipes With Two Foam-Flow Regimes, Ali Reza Edrisi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The use of foams can be found abundantly in many applications in a wide range of industries, including oil and gas industry. Although understanding foam flow behavior is crucial for the optimization of such applications, the complex flow behavior of foams has been a major challenge. Recent experimental studies with surfactant foams presented a new way to characterize foam flow characteristics by using two flow regimes: the low-quality regime showing either plug-flow or segregated-flow pattern, and the high-quality regime showing slug-flow pattern. This study consists of three main components: (1) experimental investigation of foam rheology in pipes; (2) building up …

Analytical Modeling And Diagnosis Of Penetration Rate Performance Of Pdc Bits, Reza Rahmani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The high cost of drilling deep (15000+ ft) wells, due to slow rate of penetration (ROP) at depth, has severely limited the utilization and economic significance of deep hydrocarbon resources. The overall objective of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the major cause(s) of slow ROP in deep drilling. An analysis of field data demonstrated the impact of the problem and identified shale and limestone as the primary lithologies where slow ROP occurs at depth. Previous researchers have concluded that interactions between rock, drilling fluid, cuttings, and the bit control ROP. More specifically, several researchers have concluded …

Coupled Geomechanical Reservoir Simulation, Amin Amirlatifi

Doctoral Dissertations

"Founded by Department Of Energy, the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership is investigating the Williston Basin as a candidate for sequestering CO₂ emissions from power plants. The State of Missouri, a member of PCOR, lies at the outermost point on the proposed transportation route and consequently faces the highest CO₂ compression and transportation costs. In order to minimize the cost of CO₂ sequestration, it is desirable to find a storage site within the state. The Lamotte sandstone is identified as a suitable sequestration aquifer formation in Missouri with acceptable permeability, porosity, extension, rock strength and water salinity. Using the finite …

Establishing Well Operability Limits For Frac Pack Sandface Well Completions Using A Screen Erosion Model And Well Completion Score Card, Rickey Hendrix

Doctoral Dissertations

"Completion quality has a direct impact upon the maximum production rate at which a frac pack well should be operated. Best practices for frac pack well completions ensure the highest possible quality for the well completion. A novel frac pack well completion score card was developed based on best practices for frac pack well completions identified through consultation with industry experts. The score card systematically combines and assesses completions data readily available standard completion reports. The outcome of the score card process is a numerical completion quality rating, which combines all well design and frac pack operations information.

The completion …

Preparation Of Cobalt/Nickel Molybdenum Sulfide Catalysts Supported By Aqueous Media Soluble Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes., Hassan Ahmad Bleibel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been subjected to chemical treatment in order to introduce hydrophilic functional groups on their surfaces. These covalently bonded groups did enhance the solubility of MWCNTs in aqueous media as expected. Functionalized MWCNTs were characterized using FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, TGA, X-ray diffraction, dispersion test and TEM. Then, functionalized MWCNTs were incorporated in the hydrothermal synthesis method of transition metal sulfide catalysts (CoMo, NiMo, and Ethylenediamine-CoMo Sulfides). Catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction, TEM, SEM, N2 Gas adsorption-desorption, elemental analysis, and Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reaction of dibenzothiophene (DBT). The objective was to study the functionalized MWCNTs' effect; being …

Pvt Study Of Selected Uae Reservoir Fluids, Rashid Sher Mohammad

Theses

Phase behavior modeling in crude oil includes prediction of thermodynamic properties (such as saturation pressure, density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, etc.) for the vapor and liquid phases. The aim of phase behavior modeling is to establish the accuracy and reliability of the developed equation of state model to predict various other fluid phase behavior properties at high pressure and temperature conditions.

In the first part of this work, a new and reliable phase behavior apparatus designed in Brazil was used for the two-stage recombination process and phase behavior measurements. The recombination of the surface sample fluids (first-stage separator gas and stock-tank …

Optimization Of Co2 Wag Processes In A Selected Carbonate Reservoir: Laboratory Study, Mohamed Elwy Abdalla Amin

Theses

Miscible gas flooding using carbon dioxide is currently investigated as a possible EOR process for a number of United Arab Emirates (UAE) reservoirs. The major factors affecting the implementation of CO₂ floods are the availability of CO₂ at economic prices and the net utilization ratio of CO₂ per barrel of additional oil recovered.Minimizing net utilization requires controlling the high mobility ratio which causes lower sweep. To control the mobility ratio, the Water-Alternating CO₂-gas (WAG) technique is proposed.

The objective of this work is to experimentally assess the recovery of oil with CO₂ injection in …

Supercritical Co2 Extraction Of Oil From Henna Flower: Experimental, Mathematical Modeling, And Antioxidant Activity, Bushra Saeed Mohammed Dohai

Theses

Henna is a plant that has been used traditionally for coloring nail, skin, and hair, and as medicinal plant. The supercritical fluid technology offers a considerable promise as extraction media due to its advantages over other conventional extraction techniques. The extraction of volatile components from flowers of henna was studied using supercritical carbon dioxide at temperatures and pressures ranging from 35 to 55°C and 80 to 120 bar, respectively. A maximum extraction yield of 31 % from 2g of henna flowers was obtained at 45 °C and 120 bar. The composition of the extracts was investigated by gas chromatography technique. …

Carbon Nanotubes Grown On Glass Fiber As A Strain Sensor For Real Time Structural Health Monitoring, Matthew Boehle, Qiong Jiang, Lingchuan Li, Alexandre Lagounov, Khalid Lafdi

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

In order to more effectively monitor the health of composite structures, a fuzzy fiber sensor has been developed. The fuzzy fiber is a bundle of glass fibers with carbon nanotubes or nanofibers (CNTs or CNFs) grown on the surface. The nanotube coating makes the fiber bundle conductive while the small conductive path increases sensitivity. The fuzzy fiber sensor can replace conventional metal foil strain gauges in composite applications. The electrical response of the sensor is monitored in real time to measure strain, vibration, cracking and delamination. Continuous monitoring provides instant notification of any problems. Implementation of this sensor network in …

Investigation Of Wellbore Stability In A North Sea Field Development, Steven Austin Hilgedick

Doctoral Dissertations

"Planning drilling operations is key to the development of oil and natural gas fields. As part of well design, wellbore stability and pore pressure analysis are main factors in determining the safe operating window for selecting mud density. The motivation for this research was to conduct wellbore stability based on exploration wells as basis for planning new offshore field developments with deviated and horizontal wells. A second objective was to investigate the use of a probabilistic approach to wellbore stability, and compare it to the conventional deterministic methods, in order to evaluate the value of including a probabilistic approach to …

Modeling Carbon Sequestration In Transition Zone To Optimize Storage Potential, Fang Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Shallow aquifers are potential candidates for carbon sequestration because of their wide distribution and low injection cost. Injected CO₂ in a shallow region segregates into two zones according to CO₂ phases within the initial reservoir pressure and the maximum bottom hole pressure: gas zone and transition zone. Transition zone is a better option because of favorable CO₂ properties. This work investigated the CO₂ storage potential in transition zone using the compositional simulator CMG-GEM and a design of experiment software iSIGHT. First, it addressed the basic characteristics of CO₂ sequestration in transition zone, and then modeled CO₂ injection with simultaneous water …

Investigation Of Drillstring Vibration Reduction Tools, Mohammed Fayez Al Dushaishi

Masters Theses

"Drilling related problems such as drillstring vibration is an important cause of premature failure of drillstring components and drilling inefficiency. The vibration of drillstring interferes with measurement collected while drilling. In severe cases, drillstring vibration will lead to wellbore instability that will result in an increase in the operation cost. In the late 1980's, a lot of studies and techniques were developed to mitigate drillstring vibration and downhole vibration measurements were introduced to the industry in two forms; real time measurements and memory devices measurements

A study of drillstring vibration of three different wells located in the Norwegian North Sea …

Hydraulic Fracturing Experiments To Investigate Circulation Losses, Maximiliano Liberman

Masters Theses

"In recent years the oil and gas industry has been drilling more challenging wells due to long deviated wells, drilling through already depleted reservoirs, sub salt wells and increasing water depth. A major challenge these wells create is to prevent fluid loss into the formation and wellbore breakouts by having accurately determined the mud weight operational window. In addition to accurately determine the fracture gradient, additives in the drilling fluid have been used to enhance the fracture gradient in an industry process named wellbore strengthening. In order to study the phenomenon of fracture gradient alteration, a hydraulic fracturing apparatus was …

Investigation Of Geosteering In Non-Trivial Geological Settings, Anuroop Pandey

Masters Theses

"The well placement technology has advanced to a stage where we can explore small tolerance targets such as thin reservoirs. Well placement with geosteering, which is the real time adjustment of the well path based on the geological responses to place and maintain the well within the best part of the reservoir, is the technology that has made this progress possible. Geosteering however can get very complex with the increasing heterogeneities of the formations and there is no fixed methodology to devise a steering strategy in such complex geological settings. To accommodate this challenge, we investigated three methods to verify …

Surfactant Enhanced Oil Recovery By Wettability Alteration In Sandstone Reservoirs, Omar Elmofty

Masters Theses

"Recovering more oil from existing oil reservoirs using enhanced oil recovery methods holds the key for meeting future energy demands. Even though wettability is a cornerstone in oil recovery, few studies have focused on increasing oil recovery in sandstone reservoirs through wettability alteration. The objective of this thesis is to prove that altering the wettability of a sandstone rock to preferentially water-wet condition will reduce the remaining oil saturation and thus increase the percentage of recovered oil.

Two commercial surfactants were selected after studying both the phase behavior and the interfacial properties of 30 surfactants with oil and 1.00% sodium …

Geomechanical Characterization Of Reservoir & Cap Rocks For Co₂ Sequestration, Sudarshan Govindarajan

Masters Theses

"Geological sequestration of CO₂ has been identified as one method to reduce global emissions of CO₂ and achieve lower levels of CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere. Geological formations have to be assessed in terms of their capacity, sealing capabilities and economic feasibility before CO₂ sequestration can commence. Potential leakage of injected CO₂ from the reservoir formation could occur due to natural or injection induced faults or fractures in the reservoir or sealing formations. As part of a potential leakage investigation a geomechanical characterization which refers to the assessment of the in-situ stress conditions, rock strength and stiffness properties of the …

Development Of A Shared Earth Model To Investigate Potential For Carbon Dioxide Sequestration In The Springfield Area, Mo, Imowo Celestine Akpan

Masters Theses

"Carbon dioxide (C0₂) sequestration has been extensively implemented and explored predominantly in depleted oil reservoirs and deep saline aquifers where the C0₂ is stored under supercritical conditions. A lesser explored option with great potential is based on injection into shallow reservoirs where the C0₂ may not always be in its denser supercritical state. The research evaluates the potential for injecting C0₂ into saline aquifers at depths of ~550-650 meters and formation temperatures of -22⁰C.

To evaluate injectivity and cap rock integrity, reservoir and geomechanical simulations need to be conducted separately and subsequently coupled. A Shared Earth Model is developed utilizing …

Experimental Investigations In Co2 Sequestration And Shale Caprock Integrity, Abiola Olukola Olabode

LSU Master's Theses

More than sixty percent (60%) of conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs which are potential CO2 repositories are sealed by tight shale caprock. The geochemical reactivity of shale caprock during CO2 diffusive transport needs to be included in the reservoir characterization of potential CO2 sequestration sites as slow reactive transport processes can either strengthen or degrade seal integrity over the long term. Several simulation results had predicted that influx-induced mineral dissolution/precipitation reactions within shale caprocks can continuously reduce micro-fracture networks, while pressure and effective-stress transformation first rapidly increase then progressively constrict them. This experimental work applied specific analytical techniques in investigating changes in …

Risk Of Well Integrity Failure Due Sustained Casing Pressure, Koray Kinik

LSU Master's Theses

Sustained casing pressure (SCP) is considered a well integrity problem. The approach of this study is to look at SCP as environmental risk due hydrocarbon release. Currently, the risk is qualified by the value of surface pressure (Pcsg) that may cause failure of casing head. However, the resulting rate of gas emission to the atmosphere is not considered. Also not considered is a possibility of breaching the casing shoe due transmission of Pcsg downhole. The objective of this study is to develop methods for maximum possible air emission rates (MER) and risk of subsurface well integrity failure due SCP. Mathematical …

Experimental Study Of The Effect Of Drilling Fluid Contamination On The Integrity Of Cement-Formation Interface, Nnamdi Charles Agbasimalo

LSU Master's Theses

Well cementing is one of the key processes performed during drilling and completion of wells. The main objective of primary cementing is to provide zonal isolation. Failure of cement to provide zonal isolation can lead to contamination of fresh water aquifers, sustained casing pressure, or blowout. For effective cementing, the cement slurry should completely displace the drilling fluid. In practice, this is hard to achieve and some mud is left in the wellbore where it contaminates the cement after cement placement.

This study investigates the effect of mud contamination of cement on the integrity of cement-formation interface. Flow-through experiments were …

Simulations Of The Primary Cement Placement In Annular Geometries During Well Completion Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd), Muhammad Zulqarnain

LSU Master's Theses

Effective zonal isolation during primary cementing is only possible when drilling mud in the annulus is completely displaced with cement, while the spacers aid in this process. During the displacement process the rheological properties of fluids used and the operating conditions control the motion of different fluids interfaces; desired stable interfacial displacement leads to piston like motion. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool with the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) has been validated against experimental and used to conduct numerical experiments in a virtual well model consisting of 50 ft vertical section of 8.765" x 12.5" annulus having initially mud and this mud is …

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 …

A Review Of Offshore Blowouts And Spills To Determine Desirable Capabilities Of A Subsea Capping Stack, Louise Matilde Smith

LSU Master's Theses

The events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon disaster have changed the face of deepwater operations. In order to continue drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the regulatory body, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), has required that applications to conduct work in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) include a plan to stop, capture, or contain any uncontrolled release of fluids. The capping and containment systems built and implemented by BP during the event are an excellent starting point for minimizing pollution from deepwater subsea blowouts, but the system has limitations. The industry recognizes these limits but is currently focused …

An Experimental And Theoretical Critique Of Flow Model Accuracy, Shannon Ray Chollett

LSU Master's Theses

In today’s exploration and production environment it is required that engineers must collect and use vast amounts of data for flow model construction and calibra- tion, as well as reservoir estimation and optimization. With modern technology, the data volume can be overwhelming. It is necessary that data monitoring and calibration are highly efficient. It is also essential that physical and mathematical models can be tested in repeatable, inexpensive experiments. The experiments described in this thesis will develop and perform verification of algorithms and can generate prior geomodels, collect and process seismic refraction data, collect and process production data, and calibrate …

Evaluation Of The Reagan And Lamotte Sandstones In Southwestern Missouri For Carbon Dioxide Sequestration, Todd Jeffrey Miller

Masters Theses

"Carbon dioxide sequestration has been proposed as a way to reduce anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Several characteristics are required in order for a geologic formation to be suitable for sequestration. There must be an impermeable confining layer to restrain CO₂ migration toward the surface, the porosity and permeability must be high enough to allow for long term injection and substantial storage capacity, and the formation must be strong enough for long term injection to occur without inducing fractures. In this work, The Reagan and Lamotte Sandstones near Springfield, Missouri were evaluated for the potential for carbon dioxide sequestration. The Derby-Doe …

Numerical Study Of Downhole Heat Exchanger Concept In Geothermal Energy Extraction From Saturated And Fractured Reservoirs, Yin Feng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Geothermal energy has gained a lot of attention recently due to several favorable aspects such as ubiquitously distributed, renewable, low emission resources while leveraging the advances in the associated technologies such as directional drilling and low enthalpy power generation plant. However, there are still many challenges such as the high initial capital cost of drilling and surface facilities, environmental risk of seismicity due to the induced disequilibrium in the formation, and sustainability of project over designed operational life. Traditional downhole heat exchangers (DHE) could potentially reduce the capital cost and the risk of seismicity, but they are unable to maintain …

Effect Of Surfactants And Brine Salinity And Composition On Spreading, Wettability And Flow Behavior In Gas-Condensate Reservoirs, Yu Zheng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The well-known condensate blockage problem causes severe impairment of gas productivity as the flowing bottom-hole pressure falls below the dew point in gas-condensate reservoirs. Hence, this study attempts to investigate the concept of modifying the spreading coefficient and wettability using low-cost surfactants in the near wellbore region, to prevent the gas flow problems associated with condensate buildup. This study also examines the effect of brine salinity and composition on wettability, spreading and adhesion in condensate buildup regions, to evaluate the ability of brine salinity/composition for enhanced gas productivity in gas-condensate reservoirs. In this study, experiments were performed at both ambient …