Petroleum Engineering Commons^™

Characteristics Of Co₂ Sequestration In Saline Aquifers, Fang Yang, Baojun Bai, Dazhen Tang, Shari Dunn-Norman, David J. Wronkiewicz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Storage of CO₂ in saline aquifers is a viable option for reducing the amount of CO₂ released to the atmosphere. This paper provides an overall review of CO₂ sequestration in saline aquifers. First, the principles of CO₂ sequestration are presented, including CO₂ phase behavior, CO₂-water-rock interaction, and CO₂ trapping mechanisms. Then storage capacity and CO₂ injectivity are discussed as the main determinants of the storage potential of saline aquifers. Next, a site section process is addressed considering basin characteristics, reservoir characteristics, and economic and social concerns. Three main procedures are then …

Transition Metal Catalysts For Hydrodesulfurization Reactions Applied To Petroleum Industry, Brenda Torres

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Catalysis plays a fundamental role in petroleum refining and basic petrochemical industries creating new routes in the development of industrial processes. Moreover, catalysis has become indispensable to the solution of environmental pollution problems and therefore on public health. World wide concerns for preservation of the environment has motivated the development of "Green" catalyst based technologies, to achieve a better utilization of petroleum resources and demands for cleaner transportation fuels. These environmental concerns have led to increasingly drastic regulations on sulfur, nitrogen and aromatics content in fuels. Sulfur content in the motor and diesel fuels is continuously reduced by regulations to …

Fault Growth And Propagation During Incipient Continental Rifting: Insights From A Combined Aeromagnetic And Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model Investigation Of The Okavango Rift Zone, Northwest Botswana, Baraka D. Kinabo, John Patrick Hogan, Eliot A. Atekwana, Mohamed G. Abdel Salam, Motsoptse P. Modisi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Digital Elevation Models (DEM) extracted from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data and high-resolution aeromagnetic data are used to characterize the growth and propagation of faults associated with the early stages of continental extension in the Okavango Rift Zone (ORZ), northwest Botswana. Significant differences in the height of fault scarps and the throws across the faults in the basement indicate extended fault histories accompanied by sediment accumulation within the rift graben. Faults in the center of the rift either lack topographic expressions or are interpreted to have become inactive, or have large throws and small scarp heights indicating waning …

Natrolitite, An Unusual Rock -- Occurrence And Petrographic And Geochemical Characteristics (Eastern Turkey), Emin Ciftci, John Patrick Hogan, Hasan Kolayli, Emin Cadirli

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Very unusual rocks consisting of natrolite (>95 vol.%) ± pargasite (<5 vol.%) and rare albite (<1 vol. %) have been discovered in the Kop mountain range, eastern Turkey. We propose to call these rocks 'natrolitite' and 'pargasite natrolitite'. They were produced by Na Si metasomatism of dikes and stocks of diorite through replacement of the intermediate primary igneous plagioclase to produce natrolite. The metasomatic alteration produced concentric elliptical zones characterized by distinct mineral assemblages centered on intrusions of diorite. The Central Zone 1 consists of variably albitized diorite with preserved magmatic textures (albite ± andesine ± pargasite ± quartz). Transition Zone 2 comprises natrolite-bearing diorite (natrolite ± albite ± andesine ± pargasite ± calcite ± quartz). Marginal Zone 3 is a rock made up almost entirely of natrolite (natrolite ± pargasite ± albite ± calcite ± chlorite). Outer Zone 4 occurs along the boundary between the natrolitite and the surrounding serpentinite and consists of listvenite, a rock which comprises magnesite, quartz, calcite, mica, talc, and hematite, indicating a role for CO₂ in the metasomatic reactions, consistent with the presence of calcite in the alteration zones. Zone 5 consists essentially of brecciated serpentinite with numerous hydrothermal quartz veins and calcite veins. Whole-rock compositions document an increase in Na₂O, Al₂O₃, and H₂O from the core (central zone) to the margin while CaO, MgO, and SiO₂ decrease. Plagioclase abundance and composition also varies outwards from the central core rocks where it occurs as a primary magmatic phase (~95 vol.% An_41-38) …

Hydrological Monitoring With Hybrid Sensor Networks, Thomas V. Freiberger, Sahra Sedigh, Estella A. Atekwana

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Existing hydrological monitoring systems suffer from short- comings in accuracy, resolution, and scalability. Their fragility, high power consumption, and lack of autonomy necessitate frequent site visits. Cabling requirements and large size limit their scalability and make them prohibitively expensive. The research described in this paper proposes to alleviate these problems by pairing high-resolution in situ measure- ment with remote data collection and software maintenance. A hybrid sensor network composed of wired and wireless connections autonomously measures various attributes of the soil, including moisture, temperature, and resistivity. The mea- surements are communicated to a processing server over the existing GSM cellular …

Improving Database Quality Through Eliminating Duplicate Records, Mingzhen Wei, Andrew H. Sung, Martha E. Cather

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Redundant or duplicate data are the most troublesome problem in database management and applications. Approximate field matching is the key solution to resolve the problem by identifying semantically equivalent string values in syntactically different representations. This paper considers token-based solutions and proposes a general field matching framework to generalize the field matching problem in different domains. By introducing a concept of String Matching Points (SMP) in string comparison, string matching accuracy and efficiency are improved, compared with other commonly-applied field matching algorithms. The paper discusses the development of field matching algorithms from the developed general framework. The framework and corresponding …

Hydrogeophysical Investigation At Luxor, Southern Egypt, Ahmed Ismail, Neil Lennart Anderson, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Over the past 35 years, the exposed stone foundations of the ancient Egyptian monuments at Luxor have deteriorated at an alarmingly accelerated rate. Accelerated deterioration is attributable to three principal factors: 1) excavation and exposure of foundation stone; 2) construction of the Aswan High Dam; and 3) changes in the regional groundwater regime. In an effort to better elucidate the hydrostratigraphy in the Luxor study area that extends from the River Nile to the boundaries of the Nile Valley and covers about 70 km², a geophysical/hydrological investigation was conducted. Forty Schlumberger vertical electrical soundings (VES), two approximately 6 …

Fourier Transform Raman Spectroscopy For Process Control In The Petroleum Industry, Kent Lawson Wise

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

As early as 1950, Raman spectroscopy was proposed as a method to determine aromatics and olefins in hydrocarbon mixtures. Until recently, extensive use of Raman spectroscopy in the characterization of hydrocarbons has not been practical due to several limitations. One early limitation to Raman analysis was the absence of a high intensity and stable excitation source. This problem has been overcome with the advent of lasers. Another limitation was the presence of fluorescence in hydrocarbon fuels when excited by visible lasers. However, the development of Fourier-transform Raman spectrometers now allows Raman spectra to be collected using near-IR lasers (e.g …

Calibration Of Optical Digital Fragmentation Measuring Systems, Norbert H. Maerz, Wei Zhou

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Optical granulometry systems like WipFrag are required to measure fragments in situ. That is to say, the fragments are in piles where sorting takes place, where fragments are partially overlapped, and where fines may not be seen because they fall in and behind the coarser fragments, or where the fines are simply too small to be seen. As a result, optical systems tend typically to overestimate the size of the distribution, and underestimate the variability of the distribution. The wider the size distribution being measured, the more severe the problem is. This paper presents the results of a study that …

Magma Traps And Driving Pressure: Consequences For Pluton Shape And Emplacement In An Extensional Regime, John Patrick Hogan, Jonathan D. Price, M. Charles Gilbert

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The level of emplacement and final form of felsic and mafic igneous rocks of the Wichita Mountains Igneous Province, southwestern Oklahoma, U.S.A. Are discussed in light of magma driving pressure, lithostatic load, and crustal magma traps. Deposition of voluminous A-type rhyolites upon an eroded gabbroic substrate formed a subhorizontal strength anisotropy that acted as a crustal magma trap for subsequent rising felsic and mafic magma. Intruded along this crustal magma trap are the A-type sheet granites (length/thickness 100:1) of the Wichita Granite Group, of which the Mount Scott Granite sheet is typical, and smaller plutons of biotite bearing Roosevelt Gabbro. …

Optical Digital Fragmentation Measuring Systems -- Inherent Sources Of Error, Norbert H. Maerz, Wei Zhou

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Automated optical imaging systems of measuring fragmentation are increasingly being used in the mining, comminution, and materials handling industries. These methods have been well received in many of the industries involved. Considering that in many of these applications there are no alternative ways of sizing material, having even a rudimentary measurement of size distributions allows evaluations of explosive, blast design, detonator performance, crusher and milling performance, and material degradation due to transport.

Optical methods have inherent limitations, which reflect on accuracy, precision, and reproducibility of measurement results. This stems from the fact that there are myriads of variables, which affect …

Petrochemical Analysis By Remote Fiber-Optic Raman Spectroscopy And Partial Least Squares Regression Analysis, Philip Edmund Flecher Jr.

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

A dispersive Raman system with charge coupled device (CCD) detection, distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) diode laser excitation, and a fiber optic probe has been developed for the rapid analysis of petrochemicals and fuels. Initially, mock petroleum fuels with analyte concentrations from 1.S - 16% were prepared and analyzed with the system. The inability of the original index guided diode laser to maintain a constant frequency during the mock petroleum analysis was a recurrent problem. The DBR laser was subsequently shown to have stability superior to index guided lasers, and was used in the remainder of the research.

Real gasoline samples …

Sporomorphs And Palynological Interpretations Of Lower Oligocene Strata From The Eastern Gulf Coast, U.S.A., Lisa M. Reeves

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The Vicksburg Group in the eastern Gulf Coast of the United States belongs to one of the most complete and continuous Paleogene strata in the world. Previous studies in this region have neglected the rich palynomorph assemblages of the Lower Oligocene units of the Vicksburg Group. Four samples from Wayne County Mississippi were analyzed for palynological information on the Vicksburg Group. The initial objective of the study was to understand the principles of palynology and the basis for sporomorph identification. A minimum of 300 specimens were counted per slide to determine the distribution of sporomorphs in the sediments. Two hundred …

Structural, Depositional, And Diagenetic Controls On Reservoir Development: St. Peter Sandstone, Newaygo County, Michigan, Mark S. Caldwell

Masters Theses

Enhanced reservoir quality in the Middle Ordovician St. Peter Sandstone is observed in gas bearing zones in wells located on domal structures. Geometry and degree of this enhanced porosity development is the result of the interplay of structural, depositional, and diagenetic controls. An integrated subsurface study of the Woodville/Goodwell field area was performed in order to document controls on hydrocarbon accumulation.

Recurrent structural growth of domal features throughout the Paleozoic is well documented by isopach mapping. Burial and thermal history studies indicate that hydrocarbons were generated in Ordovician aged source rocks during late Devonian to early Mississippian time, and accumulated …

Removal Of Chlorine From Chlorine-Nitrogen Mixture In A Film Of Liquid Water, Sarwan S. Sandhu

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

In industry there are many examples of absorption of a gas with or without chemical reaction in the liquid phase. In physical absorption, a particular gaseous component is removed from a gas mixture due to its larger solubility in the liquid phase solvent. The removal of butane and pentane from a refinery gas mixture by a heavy oil in the liquid phase is an example of physical absorption. In absorption with chemical reaction, the gaseous component to be removed transfers across the gas-liquid interface due to a difference in the bulk chemical potentials or concentrations in the two phases. The …

Sedimentology Of The Bedford-Berea Sequence (Early Mississippian), Williams Field, Michigan, David Alan Balthazor

Masters Theses

The Berea Sandstone has produced in excess of 1.6 million barrels of oil in the Williams field since discovery in 1980. Seven lithofacies are identified from conventional core in the Bedford-Berea sequence. These facies are interpreted as deltaic deposits comprising prodelta (Bedford Shale), delta front, destructive marine shale, abandoned distributary channel-fill, interdistributary bay-fill, transgressive marine sandstone, and marine shale (Sunbury Shale) facies. Passive channel-fill facies truncate reservoir sandstone bodies and compartmentalize the field NW-SE across the trend of the northwestplunging anticline.

The two reservoir facies in the Williams field are the delta front and transgressive marine sandstones. The sandstone framework …

Statistical Analysis Of A Compound Power-Law Model For Repairable Systems, Max Engelhardt, Lee J. Bain

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Conclusions - A compound (mixed) Poisson distribution is sometimes used as an alternative to the Poisson distribution for count data. Such a compound distribution, which has a negative binomial form, occurs when the population consists of Poisson distributed individuals, but with intensities which have a gamma distribution. A similar situation can occur with a repairable system when failure intensities of each system are different. A more general situation is considered where the system failures are distributed according to nonhomogeneous Poisson processes having Power Law intensity functions with gamma distributed intensity parameter. If the failures of each system in a population …

On The Mean Time Between Failures For Repairable Systems, Max Engelhardt, Lee J. Bain

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Much of the recent work on modeling repairable systems involves Poisson processes with nonconstant intensity functions, viz, nonhomogeneous Poisson processes. Since times between failures are not identically distributed when the process is nonhomogeneous, it is not clear what concept should take the place of the mean time between failures in assessing the reliability of a repairable system. A number of alternate concepts can be found in the literature. We investigate the relationship between two of the most frequently considered alternatives: the reciprocal of the intensity function, and the mean waiting time from t until the next failure. Theorem 1 states …

Approximate Tolerance Limits And Confidence Limits On Reliability For The Gamma Distribution, Lee J. Bain, Max Engelhardt, Wei Kei Shiue

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Sequential Probability Ratio Tests For The Shape Parameter Of A Nonhomogeneous Poisson Process, Lee J. Bain, Max Engelhardt

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Sequential probability ratio tests for the shape parameter of one or more nonhomogeneous Poisson processes, with power intensity functions, are provided. The tests can be performed when the scale parameter is an unknown nuisance parameter; the effective loss of not knowing the scale parameter is one observation per process. The resulting tests can be expressed in terms of the maximum likelihood estimators of the shape parameters for the usual fixed sample procedure. A further advantage of the present approach is that the scale parameters for different processes, in the multiple sample procedures, need not be equal. Approximations for the operating …

The Price Of Oil, R. W. Clack

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

An examination of major forces in the petroleum market with primary emphasis on the decade of the 1970s. The market force (s) responsible for the factor-of-ten increase in the price of crude oil is isolated, if not identified. The market's "message" is set forth for energy policy planners.

The Oil Industry And Antitrust Merger Policy, Pauline Weber

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

This paper examines the trends in merger activity in the petroleum industry in light of over-all merger activity and of the Justice Department's merger guidelines. Supreme Court precedents and economic conditions within the petroleum area are discussed. Some conclusions concerning the Justice Department's merger policy are included.

4th Annual Umr-Dnr Conference On Energy -- Entire Proceedings, University Of Missouri--Rolla

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

No abstract provided.

A Systems Study Of Oil Pollution Abatement And Control For Portland Inner And Outer Harbor, Casco Bay, Maine, Arthur D. Little, Inc.

Maine Collection

A Systems Study of Oil Pollution Abatement and Control for Portland Inner and Outer Harbor, Casco Bay, Maine

to State of Maine, Department of Environmental Protection, State House Augusta, Maine 04330

Appropriation Number 4320-4001

by Arthur D. Little, Incorporated, 20 Acorn Park, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140 (March 15, 1976).

Contents: Executive Summary / 1. Introduction / 2. Identification of Vulnerable Resources / 3. Potential Oil Spill Locations / 4. Oil Spill Movement / 5. Containment and Disposal Systems / 6. Oil Monitoring Systems / 7. Marine Navigation In Portland Inner and Outer Harbors / Appendices

The Role Of Natural Gas And Lng In Supplying Our Energy Needs, D. L. Caldwell

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The domestic natural gas industry experienced a spectacular growth during the two decades from 1950 to 1970. Demand for gas continues to rise and production has peaked at a time when the price for other energy sources is escalating. A price increase can stimulate production over the short term. Massive LNG imports can help the intermediate term supply. The long term natural gas situation is bleak and substitute natural gas sources must be employed. A conservation program and reordering of priorities for energy sources is essential for the United States as well as most industrial nations.

Oil Shale And Its Potential Utilization, G. U. Dineen

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The large deposits of oil shale in the Green River Formation in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming offer a potential source of significant quantities of liquid fuels. This paper discusses the location and potential of the resource; the present state of technology for producing shale oil by both aboveground and in situ processes; the characteristics of shale oil; environmental aspects of oil-shale utilization; and recent developments, particularly results of the Department of the Interior’s Prototype Oil Shale Leasing Program, that suggest inauguration of commercial oil-shale processing.

Energy Saving Projects Recently Completed At A Large Petroleum Refinery, J. A. Marshall, A. D. Kiehne

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

A significant reduction in energy consumption per barrel of crude oil processed has been effected at Shell Oil's Wood River, Illinois, Refinery during the past two years. Some of the projects which have resulted in reduced energy consumption are:

1. Improved furnace efficiency through closer surveillance and through installation of optimizing controllers on certain furnaces.

2. Lowered reflux-to-feed ratios on certain fractionating columns following reoptimization of operating conditions with current fuel values.

3. Additional heat exchangers purchased and installed on plants originally designed and optimized at lower fuel values.

This paper discusses examples of each of the above projects and …

A Technique For Improving Stability Of Petroleum Reservoir Simulation Models, M. D. Arnold, T. C. Wilson, A. Herbert Harvey

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Computational instability may occur in the mathematical simulation of hydrocarbon reservoirs when small inaccuracies in the calculated pressures cause loss of diagonal dominance in the matrix of coefficients. The problem can be resolved by the use of a more precise technique for computation of pressures. However, this stability problem is still troublesome to users of certain types of reservoir simulators. A computational technique which has been found effective in resolving the problem is presented.

1st Umr-Mec Conference On Energy Resources -- Entire Proceedings, University Of Missouri--Rolla

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

No abstract provided.

Umr Journal: Alaska -- Its Mineral Potentials And Environmental Challenges, University Of Missouri--Rolla

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

No abstract provided.