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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN 978-1-118-59526-8
Preface
As worldwide crude oil and natural gas exploration, production, and refining activities increase, there is a continued need for petroleum engineers and natural gas engineers to be aware of the various aspects of the technologies and processes involved within their function to support crude oil and natural gas operations. A competent understanding of technology and various processes that drive the production and refining of crude oil and natural gas is essential.
Another reason for the book is based on observations of young professionals and graduate students as they prepare to enter the fields of natural gas and crude oil development. While many organizations may offer various versions of software to solve engineering problems, many young engineers and students need to hone their fundamental abilities to tackle problems without using a computer. This book, in addition to addressing a variety of engineering issues related to crude oil and natural gas, also provides explanations and equations relating to fundamental chemical, chemical engineering, and petroleum engineering problems. Thus, the book is a compilation of definitions, descriptions, tables, chemical equations, and formulas of use to petroleum engineers.
To this end, the book has been compiled using a variety of information sources that also reflect the major changes that have occurred in the crude oil and natural gas industries over the past 10 to 15 years. Thus the book offers information relevant to the various sectors of the crude oil and natural gas industries and takes advantage of recent publications related to crude oil and natural gas operations. The contents are arranged alphabetically to provide ready access through an all-inclusive index to recover the desired information.
It is the purpose of this book to provide a ready-at-hand reference book for the office, laboratory, or field that the engineer can consult to help him or her in this task. The book will be a valuable asset for petroleum engineers, experts, and practicing professionals working in the crude oil and natural gas industries.
Dr. James Speight,
Laramie, Wyoming.
October 2016.
About the Author
DR. JAMES G. SPEIGHT
Dr. James G. Speight CChem., FRSC, FCIC, FACS, earned his B.Sc. and PhD degrees from the University of Manchester, England – he also holds a DSC in The Geological Sciences (VINIGRI, St. Petersburg, Russia) and a PhD in Petroleum Engineering, Dubna International University, Moscow, Russia). Dr. Speight is the author of more than 70 books in petroleum science, petroleum engineering, and environmental sciences. Formerly the CEO of the Western Research Institute (now an independent consultant), he has served as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical and Fuels Engineering at the University of Utah and in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Wyoming. In addition, he has also been a Visiting Professor in Chemical Engineering at the following universities: University of Missouri-Columbia, Technical University of Denmark, and University of Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1995, Dr. Speight was awarded the Diploma of Honor (Pi Epsilon Tau), National Petroleum Engineering Society, for Outstanding Contributions to the Petroleum Industry. In 1996, he was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences and awarded the Gold Medal of Honor that same year for outstanding contributions to the field of petroleum sciences. In 2001, the Russian Academy of Sciences also awarded Dr. Speight the Einstein Medal for outstanding contributions and service in the field of Geological Sciences and in 2005 he received the Scientists without Borders Medal of Honor of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2006, he was appointed as the Methanex Distinguished Professor, University of Trinidad and Tobago as well as awarded the Gold Medal – Giants of Science and Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, in recognition of Continued Excellence in Science and Engineering.
Abrasion
Abrasion is the result of wear caused by friction and abrasiveness is the property of a substance that causes surface wear by friction and is also the quality of being able to scratch or abrade another material. Abrasion is the process by which an item or piece of equipment is worn down and can have an undesirable effect of exposure to normal use or exposure to the elements. On the other hand, abrasion can be intentionally imposed in a controlled process using an abrasive.
In operations involving the recovery of natural gas and crude oil, the abrasiveness of the minerals (which may be in the form of highly abrasive particulate matter) in the formation is a factor of considerable importance. Shale, which is the basis for the formation of tight formations, varies widely in abrasiveness and this factor may need to be considered when drilling into such formations for the recovery of natural gas and crude oil. Abrasion taking place in a shale formation can be classified according to the size of the attack angle in places subjected to wear. The attack angle is the angle between the axis of flow and tangent line of the surface. Depending on the angle of fuel moving with respect to contact surfaces, the attacks are classified as straight line attacks (impact to 90°) and oblique or slipping attacks (less than 90°). On the other hand, both carbonate minerals and clay minerals (that also occur in tight formations) have a relatively low abrasive ability while the abrasiveness of quartz is high. In fact, the abrasiveness of shale may be determined more by the nature of its associated impurities, such as the individual grains of sandstone, a common impurity in some shale or formations, which are render the mined shale harder and more abrasive.
Comparison of abrasion index of any formation is an important aspect of the recovery of natural gas and crude oil from tight shale formations. However, some formations are less abrasive than others because the abrasive minerals in the formation may be diluted by comparatively nonabrasive organic matter and relatively nonabrasive mineral matter.
The abrasion index (sometimes referred to as the wear index) is a measure of equipment (such as drill bit) wear and deterioration. At first approximation the wear is proportional to the rate of fuel flow in the third power and the maximum intensity of wear in millimeters) can be expressed:
δpl – maximum intensity of plate wear, mm.
α – abrasion index, mm s3/g h.
η – coefficient, determining the number of probable attacks on the plate surface.
k – concentration of fuel in flow, g/m3.
m – coefficient of wear resistance of metal;
ω – velocity of fuel flow, meters/sec.
τ – operation time, hours.
The resistance of materials and structures to abrasion can be measured by a variety of test methods (Table) which often use a specified abrasive or other controlled means of abrasion. Under the conditions of the test, the results can be reported or can be compared to items subjected to similar tests. These standardized measurements can be employed to produce two sets of data: (1) the abrasion rate, which is the amount of mass lost per 1,000 cycles of abrasion, and (2) the normalized abrasion rate, which is also called the abrasion resistance index and which is the ratio of the abrasion rate (i.e., mass lost per 1,000 cycles of abrasion) with the known abrasion rate for some specific reference material.
Table Examples of selected ASTM standard test method for determining abrasion*.
ASTM B611 Test Method for Abrasive Wear Resistance of Cemented Carbides
ASTM C131 Standard Test Method for Resistance to Degradation of Small-Size Coarse Aggregate by Abrasion and Impact in the Los Angeles Machine
ASTM C535 Standard Test Method for Resistance to Degradation of Large-Size Coarse Aggregate by Abrasion and Impact in the Los Angeles Machine
ASTM C944 Standard Test Method for Abrasion Resistance of Concrete or Mortar Surfaces by the Rotating-Cutter Method
ASTM C1353 Standard Test Method for Abrasion Resistance of Dimension Stone Subjected to Foot Traffic Using a Rotary Platform, Double-Head Abraser
ASTM D 2228 Standard Test Method for Rubber Property – Relative Abrasion Resistance by the Pico Abrader Method
ASTM D4158 Standard Guide for Abrasion Resistance of Textile Fabrics, see Martindale method
ASTM D7428 Standard Test Method for Resistance of Fine Aggregate to Degradation by Abrasion in the Micro-Deval Apparatus
ASTM G81 Standard Test Method for Jaw Crusher Gouging Abrasion Test
ASTM G105 Standard Test Method for Conducting Wet Sand/Rubber Wheel Abrasion Tests
ASTM G132 Standard Test Method for Pin Abrasion Testing
ASTM G171 Standard Test Method for Scratch Hardness of Materials Using a Diamond Stylus
ASTM G174 Standard Test Method for Measuring Abrasion Resistance of Materials by Abrasive Loop Contact
*ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; test methods are also available from other standards organizations.
Absorption
In the gas processing industry, absorption is a physical or chemical process by which the gas is distributed throughout an absorbent (liquid); depends only on physical solubility and may include chemical reactions in the liquid phase (chemisorption). Absorption is generally used to separate a higher-boiling constituent from other components of a system of vapors and gases. The absorption medium is usually a liquid and the process is widely employed in the recovery of natural gasoline from natural gas streams and of vapors given off by storage tanks.
Liquid absorption processes (which usually employ temperatures below 50 °C (<120 °F) are classified either as physical solvent processes or chemical solvent processes. The former processes employ an organic solvent, and low temperatures, or high pressure, or both enhance absorption; regeneration of the solvent is often accomplished readily. On the other hand, in chemical solvent processes, absorption of the acid gases is achieved mainly by use of alkaline solutions such as amine derivatives (Figure 1) or carbonate derivatives (Figure 2) in which a chemical reaction occurs between the solvent and the contaminant(s). Regeneration (desorption) can be brought about by use of reduced pressures and/or high temperatures, whereby the acid gases are stripped from the solvent.
If absorption is a physical process not accompanied by any other physical or chemical process, it usually follows the Nernst partition law in which the ratio of concentrations of solute species in two bulk phases in contact is constant for a given solute and bulk phases, i.e.:
The value of constant KN, the partition coefficient, is dependent upon temperature and the value is valid if concentrations are not too large and if the species x does not change its chemical or physical form in either phase-1 or phase-2. In the case of gas absorption, the concentration a solute (c) in one of the phases can be calculated using the Ideal gas law (e.g., c = p/RT). Alternatively, partial pressure may be used instead of concentration.
In a gas processing plant, the absorption oil has an affinity for the natural gasoline constituents. As the natural gas or refinery gas (or mixture thereof) is passed through an absorption tower, it is brought into contact with the (lean) absorption oil which soaks up a high proportion of the liquid hydrocarbons. The rich absorption oil now containing the hydrocarbons exits the absorption tower through the base after which it is fed into lean oil stills, where the mixture is heated to a temperature above the boiling point of the absorbed hydrocarbons but below that of the oil. This process allows for the recovery of approximately 75% v/v of butanes, and 85 to 90% v/v of pentanes and higher boiling hydrocarbons from the stream.
The process above can be modified to improve its effectiveness, or to target the extraction of specific hydrocarbons. In the refrigerated oil absorption method, where the lean oil is cooled through refrigeration, propane recovery can be upwards of 90% v/v and around 40% v/v of any ethane present in the gas stream. Extraction of higher molecular weight hydrocarbons approaches 100% v/v using this process.