Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Petroleum Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Petroleum Engineering

Surface Tension, Interfacial Tension And Phase Behavior: Interactions Of Surfactant/Polymer Solutions With Crude Oil, Michael A. Steinerd, Jaeyub Chung, Bryan W. Boudouris, Nathan C. Schultheiss, Elias I. Franses Aug 2017

Surface Tension, Interfacial Tension And Phase Behavior: Interactions Of Surfactant/Polymer Solutions With Crude Oil, Michael A. Steinerd, Jaeyub Chung, Bryan W. Boudouris, Nathan C. Schultheiss, Elias I. Franses

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Advanced oil recovery techniques, beyond primary and secondary recovery, are required in order to produce additional oil in existing reservoir rock. Here, we evaluated a combination of polymer and surfactant aqueous solutions, in order to generate a working fluid capable of achieving high-performance enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In this recovery process, surfactant is added to the water flooding mixture in order to lower the interfacial tension between the oil and the water. If the interfacial tension can be decreased by ~1,000-fold, then the aqueous solution can mobilize and displace the oil. Moreover, a polymer is added to the aqueous solution …


Exploring The Effects Of Aromatic Molecules In Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jacob M. Crain, Cliff Johnston, Rituraj Borgohain Aug 2016

Exploring The Effects Of Aromatic Molecules In Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jacob M. Crain, Cliff Johnston, Rituraj Borgohain

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) methods are being used as a viable contributor to the world’s growing energy demands. Due to the complex chemical composition of crude oil, attempting to optimize the surfactant concentration and salinity of formulations is done empirically. This process can be very time intensive due to the wide variety of surfactant structures available for cEOR. Surfactant selection is typically done by matching the average chain length of the oil with that of the surfactant. In this study, we are trying to understand how aromatic structures present in Illinois Basin crude oil interact with surfactants. This will …


Oil Recovery In Low Temperature And Salinity Reservoir Rock Using Anionic And Anionic/Cationic Surfactant Formulations, Alec D. Bokhart, Ryan Mulvenna, Bryan Boudouris, Rituraj Borgohain, Cliff Johnston Aug 2015

Oil Recovery In Low Temperature And Salinity Reservoir Rock Using Anionic And Anionic/Cationic Surfactant Formulations, Alec D. Bokhart, Ryan Mulvenna, Bryan Boudouris, Rituraj Borgohain, Cliff Johnston

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

As oil reserves are being depleted in the United States, there is an increasing need to recover the trapped oil in the reservoir rock which accounts for up to 60% of the total oil available. This oil may be recovered using chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques. In our case study, we investigated viable EOR surfactant/polymer formulations for conditions conducive to high efficiency oil recovery in ultra-low salinity, low temperature, and high hardness reservoirs. Formulations were screened for Winsor Phase I (microemulsions) or Winsor Phase III (bicontinuous emulsions),: both of which are conducive to high efficiency oil recovery. Strong emulsion …


Catalysis In Petroleum Coking, Robert Khakimov, Anya Heinimann, Enrico Martinez, Hyun-Tae Hwang Aug 2014

Catalysis In Petroleum Coking, Robert Khakimov, Anya Heinimann, Enrico Martinez, Hyun-Tae Hwang

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The petroleum industry is challenged with the processing of present heavy crudes caused by high composition of sulfur and metals, which lead to a higher yield of unfavorable bottom product as vacuum residue. Vacuum residue is the least valuable fraction of four, such as saturates, aromatics, resins and asphaltenes. However, it can be upgraded to recover more valuable products such as light hydrocarbons. The Delayed Coking process is going to be used to transform the vacuum residue at different experimental conditions. First of all, the behavior of the vacuum residue needs to be analyzed with no additions in feedstock. Secondly, …


The Catalysis Of Delayed Petroleum Coking, Anya M. Heinimann, Robert Khakimov, Hyun-Tae Hwang, Enrico N. Martinez Aug 2014

The Catalysis Of Delayed Petroleum Coking, Anya M. Heinimann, Robert Khakimov, Hyun-Tae Hwang, Enrico N. Martinez

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Due to the decreasing crude oil quality (heavier crudes and increasing contaminant concentrations) methods for upgrading residues from the refining process, such as coking, are becoming increasingly important. Delayed coking, a method by which residues are thermally cracked (large heavy molecules broken into smaller lighter molecules), produces liquid products and solid coke which can both be sold for further profit. In order to increase the amount of liquid products produced since they are the most value added product of the coking process catalysts (platinum on 0.5% alumina and nickel (skeletal),molybdenum promoted (1 wt%)) were tested to see how they would …