Showing papers by "Sonatrach published in 2013"

Diversity of Microbial Communities in Production and Injection Waters of Algerian Oilfields Revealed by 16S rRNA Gene Amplicon 454 Pyrosequencing.

Abstract: The microorganisms inhabiting many petroleum reservoirs are multi-extremophiles capable of surviving in environments with high temperature, pressure and salinity. Their activity influences oil quality and they are an important reservoir of enzymes of industrial interest. To study these microbial assemblages and to assess any modifications that may be caused by industrial practices, the bacterial and archaeal communities in waters from four Algerian oilfields were described and compared. Three different types of samples were analyzed: production waters from flooded wells, production waters from non-flooded wells and injection waters used for flooding (water-bearing formations). Microbial communities of production and injection waters appeared to be significantly different. From a quantitative point of view, injection waters harbored roughly ten times more microbial cells than production waters. Bacteria dominated in injection waters, while Archaea dominated in production waters. Statistical analysis based on the relative abundance and bacterial community composition (BCC) revealed significant differences between production and injection waters at both OTUs0.03 and phylum level. However, no significant difference was found between production waters from flooded and non-flooded wells, suggesting that most of the microorganisms introduced by the injection waters were unable to survive in the production waters. Furthermore, a Venn diagram generated to compare the BCC of production and injection waters of one flooded well revealed only 4% of shared bacterial OTUs. Phylogenetic analysis of bacterial sequences indicated that Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria were the main classes in most of the water samples. Archaeal sequences were only obtained from production wells and each well had a unique archaeal community composition, mainly belonging to Methanobacteria, Methanomicrobia, Thermoprotei and Halobacteria classes. Many of the bacterial genera retrieved had already been reported as degraders of complex organic molecules and pollutants. Nevertheless, a large number of unclassified bacterial and archaeal sequences were found in the analyzed samples, indicating that subsurface waters in oilfields could harbor new and still-non-described microbial species.

Multiphased tectonic evolution of the Central Algerian margin from combined wide-angle and reflection seismic data off Tipaza, Algeria

Abstract: [1] The origin of the Algerian margin remains one of the key questions still discussed in the Western Mediterranean sea, due to the imprecise nature and kinematics of the associated basin during the Neogene. For the first time, the deep structure of the Maghrebian margin was explored during the SPIRAL seismic survey. In this work, we present a N-S transect off Tipaza (west of Algiers), a place where the margin broadens due to a topographic high (Khayr-al-Din Bank). New deep penetration seismic profiles allow us to image the sedimentary sequence in the Algerian basin and the crustal structure at the continent-ocean boundary. Modeling of the wide-angle data shows thinning of the basement, from more than 15km in the continental upper margin to only 5-6km of oceanic-type basement in the Algerian basin, and reveals a very narrow or absent transitional zone. Analysis of the deep structure of the margin indicates features inherited from its complex evolution: (1) an oceanic-type crust in the deep basin, (2) similarities with margins formed in a transform-type setting, (3) a progressive deepening of the whole sedimentary cover, and the thickening of the Plio-Quaternary sediments at the margin foot, coeval with (4) a downward flexure of the basement in the basin. These features argue for a multiphased evolution of the margin, including (1) an early stage of rifting and/or spreading, (2) a late transcurrent episode related to the westward migration of the Alboran domain, and (3) a diffuse Plio-Quaternary compressional reactivation of the margin.

Production of biosurfactant on crude date syrup under saline conditions by entrapped cells of Natrialba sp. strain E21, an extremely halophilic bacterium isolated from a solar saltern (Ain Salah, Algeria)

Abstract: A bacterial strain E21 was isolated from a sample of water collected in the salt lake located close to Ain Salah, Algeria. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence had indicated that the strain had 93 % sequence similarity with the genus Natrialba sp. strain E21 (GenBank, FR750525.1) and was considered extremely halophilic. Production of biosurfactant by the strain E21 with free and entrapped cells was investigated using soluble starch in the saline conditions. Biosurfactant synthesis was followed by measuring the surface tension and emulsifying index 9 days under optimal conditions (40 °C, pH 7). Some diffusional limitations in alginate and agar beads affected the kinetics of biosurfactant production when compared to that obtained with free cells culture. The minimum values of surface tension were 27 and 30 mN m−1 achieved after 9 days with free and immobilized cells, respectively, while the corresponding maximum E24 values were 65.3 and 62.3 %, respectively. The re-use of bacterial cells along with the limited cell losses provided by the immobilized system might lead to significant reduction of the biosurfactant production cost.

Attenuation of multiple waves using the continuous wavelet transform (CWT)

Abstract: This paper describes how the continuous wavelet transform is used to filter multiple waveforms in both time and frequency domains. It is well suited to process the stationary signals, and it shows the signal in both time and frequency scales. This new approach was tested first on synthetic data and then on real data. The results obtained on both cases were good. The method consists of identifying the multiples on which we apply a normal move out using the multiple velocity law. The multiples will be aligned and the primary reflections will not be aligned. This operation allows locating the multiples in the time-scale domain. We compute the continuous wavelet transform (CWT for short) in order to focus on the patterns relative to seismic events. To filter the multiples, we define a zone with frequency and time bounds. These bounds are deduced from the projection of the seismic trace. Then an automatic mask is applied to the pattern to be isolated. Filtering in time–frequency domain is done by keeping only the wavelet coefficients that are outside the mask and assigning zero to the coefficients larger than a threshold amplitude inside the defined zone. The mask shape does not matter, which is not the case in classical filtering, where both the window size and shape play a key role. The mask is defined from three parameters: time, frequency, and the wavelet coefficients. To go back to the time domain, one has to compute the wavelet transform inverse of the trace. This procedure is repeated for all traces. To reset the traces to their initial positions, we apply the dynamic correction inverse with the same velocity law as the multiples. It turns out that the attenuation of multiples by the CWT works fine, in particular, the two identified multiples were quasi eliminated (Fig. 10).

Aspen hysys simulation and comparison between organic solvents (sulfolane and dmso) used for benzene extraction

Abstract: Due to the high increase of the production of aromatic hydrocarbons: benzene, toluene and xylenes BTX from oil because of the large activity of their big markets especially with the availability of great quantities of these aromatic fractions in the oil. This study has two main parts the first presents a general vision of the aromatic hydrocarbons, the second is going to focus on the liquidliquid extraction with the selected solvents as a separation method. The solvent selection depends on many properties. In this second part there will be a simulation (conception and execution) of the liquid-liquid extraction of aromatics by two different organic solvents Sulfolane and DMSO followed by a comparison between the results obtained by the simulation. The simulator used will be ASPEN HYSYS 7.2. The results of the simulation showed that the use DMSO is better than Sulfolane because of the separation efficiency the economic value and the regeneration rate although its use is more dangerous (more toxic) than the Sulfolane

Regularity analysis of oil exploration borehole logs: A case study from Algeria

Abstract: Due to their local regularity properties, well logs are successfully modeled using multifractional Brownian motions. These local fractal processes provide a consistent framework to explore regularity of the logs, measured by the Holder exponent (H), at all depths in the logged interval. This paper presents the results of a regularity analysis carried out on datasets recorded in three Algerian oil boreholes located in different geological settings. This analysis allows to draw valuable information related to the well formations. The regularity profiles, or the Holder exponent functions, mainly those obtained from the “porosity-dependent” logs (sonic, density and neutron), exhibit a strong correlation with the lithology. Each lithological change is marked by a jump in H value. In addition, for a given well, the computed regularity profiles show a very significant correlation between them. That is, the regularity is a robust property which can be successfully used to characterize lithological heterogeneities of layers. On the other hand, this study does not reveal any relation between the recorded physical property and its estimated regularity degree for each log, and low correlation coefficients are generally observed between these parameters.