Showing papers in "Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering in 2018"
165 citations
TL;DR: Nanotechnology has been successfully implemented in many applications, such as nanoelectronics, nanobiomedicine, and nanodevices as mentioned in this paper, but this technology has rarely been applied to the oil and gas industry, especially in upstream exploration and production.
Abstract: Nanotechnology has been successfully implemented in many applications, such as nanoelectronics, nanobiomedicine, and nanodevices. However, this technology has rarely been applied to the oil and gas industry, especially in upstream exploration and production. The oil and gas industry needs to improve oil recovery and exploit unconventional resources. The cost of research and oil production is under immense pressure, and it is becoming more difficult to justify such investment when the crude oil price is weak and depressed. There is a widespread belief that nanotechnology may be exploited to develop novel nanomaterials with enhanced performance to combat these technological barriers. Increasing funding resources from governmental and global oil industry have been allocated to exploration, drilling, production, refining, and wastewater treatment. For example, nanosensors allow for precise measurement of reservoir conditions. Nanofluids prepared using functional nanomaterials may exhibit better performance in oil production processes, and nanocatalysts have improved the efficiency in oil refining and petrochemical processes. Nanomembranes enhance oil, water and gas separation, oil and gas purification, and the removal of impurities from wastewater. Functional nanomaterials can play an important role in the production of smart, reliable, and more durable equipment. In this review paper, we summarize the research progress and prospective applications of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in the oil and gas industry.
67 citations
TL;DR: A enhanced principal component analysis (PCA), termed as Two-step PCA, is proposed to handle the dynamic characteristic of industry processes and can extract the time-uncorrelated components from the dynamic data and use it for process monitoring.
Abstract: In this study, a two-step principal component analysis (TS-PCA) is proposed to handle the dynamic characteristics of chemical industrial processes in both steady state and unsteady state. Differently from the traditional dynamic PCA (DPCA) dealing with the static cross-correlation structure and dynamic auto-correlation structure in process data simultaneously, TS-PCA handles them in two steps: it first identifies the dynamic structure by using the least squares algorithm, and then monitors the innovation component by using PCA. The innovation component is time uncorrelated and independent of the initial state of the process. As a result, TS-PCA can monitor the process in both steady state and unsteady state, whereas all other reported dynamic approaches are limited to only processes in steady state. Even tested in steady state, TS-PCA still can achieve better performance than the existing dynamic approaches.
63 citations
51 citations
48 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed a non-conventional solvent called dimethyl ether (DME) for heavy oil and bitumen recovery, and investigated the performance of the proposed solvent, thermophysical properties of DME/bitumen.
Abstract: Solvent-aided thermal recovery processes have recently gained practical and research interests among other thermal recovery methods due to their reduced environmental footprint and superior energy efficiency. One of the main challenges in design of solvent-based methods is selection of an appropriate solvent that maximizes the bitumen and solvent recoveries. This study attempts to introduce dimethyl ether (DME) as a non-conventional solvent for heavy oil and bitumen recovery. To investigate the performance of the proposed solvent, thermophysical properties of DME/bitumen are studied. Vapour-liquid equilibrium measurements including solubility, density, and viscosity are performed at three temperatures (100, 125, and 150 °C) and pressures up to 6 MPa. The results were compared with propane/bitumen and butane/bitumen systems. All the measured properties fall between propane and butane systems. The solubility and density data were fairly represented using PR-EoS with AARDs of 10.3 and 1.43%, respectively, and viscosity data were correlated applying the Pederson corresponding state model with an AARD of 10.7%. The results suggest that DME is a suitable substitute for solvents such as propane and butane in solvent-aided thermal recovery of bitumen from oil sands. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
44 citations
41 citations
37 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the electrical and dielectric properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films and PVA/starch blend and its nanocomposites with graphene were investigated.
Abstract: Electrical and dielectric properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films, and PVA/starch blend and its nanocomposites with graphene were investigated. The tested materials were prepared via solution mixing and an evaporative casting technique using glycerol as a plasticizer. Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) measurement data was used to calculate the percentage of crystallinity and glass transition temperature (Tg). Distribution of starch and graphene in the PVA matrix was determined from field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Effects of the plasticizer and graphene loading on the DC and AC electrical conductivities of the PVA/starch blend were studied. The impact of graphene loadings on the dielectric permittivity (ϵ′), dielectric loss tangent (tan δ), complex electric modulus (M*), and complex impedance (Z*) as a function of frequency were reported. The DC conductivity of PVA was increased with the addition of glycerol and starch. The permittivity of PVA films and PVA/starch/graphene nanocomposites showed a strong frequency-dependent behaviour in a low frequency zone. The addition of graphene to the PVA/starch blend reduced the area under the semicircles of the Nyquist plot. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
35 citations
35 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an environmentally friendly formulation with a high pH was proposed for the removal of both soft and hard iron sulphide scale from oil and gas wells, which consists of DTPA (di-ethylene tri-amine penta acetic acid) in addition to K2CO3 as a catalyst.
Abstract: Iron sulphide scale, which exists in different forms, is common in sour oil and gas production wells. Iron sulphide hard scales are difficult to remove with acids, requiring mechanical intervention or the replacement of the production tubing. An environmentally friendly formulation with a high pH is proposed for the removal of both soft and hard iron sulphide scale from oil and gas wells. The formulation consists of DTPA (di-ethylene tri-amine penta acetic acid) in addition to K2CO3 as a catalyst. High pressure high temperature solubility experiments were performed under both static and dynamic conditions in the temperature range of 70–150 °C and a constant pressure of 3447.38 kPa. Several combinations of the catalyst and DTPA chelating agent were used to optimize the catalyst/DTPA ratio to achieve maximum scale solubility. Field scale samples were collected and analyzed using XRD. The scale removal efficiency of the proposed formulation outperforms that of the current formulations used in the oil industry, with the added advantage of not releasing H2S. The optimum DTPA concentration is 20 wt% and the optimum catalyst concentration is 9 wt%, which provides a solubility of 90 % of the field scale. In addition, the ecotox profile of the proposed formulation is better than that of the currently used formulations because toxic corrosion inhibitors are not used. The maximum reported corrosion rate for the new formulation is 0.036 kg/m2, which is well below the acceptable limit (
TL;DR: In this article, a two-dimensional advection-diffusion model accompanied with a parabolic velocity profile of Poiseuille flow is considered for the chemical species transport in a tube with a constant wall concentration.
Abstract: A two-dimensional advection-diffusion model accompanied with a parabolic velocity profile of Poiseuille flow is considered for the chemical species transport in a tube with a constant wall concentration. The Reynolds decomposition technique is applied to reduce it to an equivalent one-dimensional model for advective-dispersive transport in a tube through which the effective advection coefficient, the dispersion coefficient, and the effective Sherwood number are developed for the problem under study. The derived and the classical Taylor models are also compared in order to find the difference between the two arrangements. The reduced-order model for transport equation shows that the effective advection coefficient increases, whereas the dispersion coefficient in the tube decreases as compared to the classical Taylor equation. The effective Sherwood number for the steady state form of the developed model is found to be only a function of the Peclet number, which varies in the range of 3.215 ≤ Sh ≤ 4. These results find application in design of experiments and improve our understanding of mass transfer in microfluidic devices. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
TL;DR: In this paper, a robust design of a hybrid iterative learning fault-tolerant guaranteed cost control scheme was proposed for a class of multi-phase batch processes under faults and disturbances.
Abstract: A robust design of a hybrid iterative learning fault-tolerant guaranteed cost control scheme is proposed for a class of multi-phase batch processes under faults and disturbances. Firstly, based on an equivalent two-dimensional Fornasini-Marchsini (2D-FM) switched system with actuator faults varying within an allowable range, a 2D robustly hybrid controller that includes a robust hybrid extended feedback control to ensure performance over time and a hybrid iterative learning control to improve the tracking performance from cycle to cycle is formulated to guarantee the closed-loop convergence and the H∞ performance level with a cost function bearing the upper bounds for all admissible uncertainty and actuator failures. Secondly, 2D system theory and the average dwell time strategy are adopted to derive conditions for guaranteeing exponential stability of the corresponding system in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), where the suboptimal hybrid guaranteed cost controller, which minimizes the quadratic performance index and rejects external disturbances, is designed using a convex optimization under LMI constraints. Finally, the proposed method is further verified by simulation on an injection molding process in comparison with traditional methods. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative study is conducted on two industrial fluorinated chemicals, MariSeal 800 and SurfaPore M. Static and dynamic contact angle measurements, spontaneous imbibition, and core flooding tests were conducted to investigate the effect of utilized chemical agents on surface wetting behaviour and fluid flow characteristics of rock samples.
Abstract: Productivity of gas condensate reservoirs reduces significantly due to the near wellbore condensate/water blockage phenomenon. A novel, permanent solution to alleviate this problem is near wellbore wettability alteration of reservoir rocks to preferentially gas wetting conditions; industrial chemical materials are good candidates for this purpose, because of their eco-friendly characteristic, economical price, and mass production. In this paper, a comparative study is conducted on two industrial fluorinated chemicals, MariSeal 800 and SurfaPore M. Static and dynamic contact angle measurements, spontaneous imbibition, and core flooding tests were conducted to investigate the effect of utilized chemical agents on surface wetting behaviour and fluid flow characteristics of rock samples. Contact angle measurements demonstrate that the liquid phase is changed to a non-wetting phase after chemical treatment and MariSeal 800 has a greater potential to decrease the surface free energy of the calcite surface. Although both chemicals reveal great potential in static contact angle measurements, further experiments were conducted to distinguish between their abilities. Spontaneous air liquid imbibition tests and endpoint relative permeability measurements approved the potential of utilized chemicals to improve liquid phase mobility and decrease critical condensate saturation, which improve production parameters and reservoir productivity. Liquid phase endpoint relative permeabilities of sandstone core samples were improved by factors of 1.74 and 2.62; furthermore, irreducible liquid phase saturations were decreased by factors of 0.68 and 0.5 using MariSeal 800 and SurfaPore M chemicals. The results of this research help efficient selection of chemical agents for further field applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of surface-active starch nanoparticles on catastrophic phase inversion of Pickering emulsions by continuous addition of a dispersed phase was studied, where two types of experimental-grade nanoparticles (HSNP and VOFHS) were used.
Abstract: Understanding the effects of interfacial additives such as surface-active nanoparticles on phase inversion of Pickering emulsions is important from a practical point of view. In this work, we studied the effects of surface-active starch nanoparticles on catastrophic phase inversion of Pickering emulsions by continuous addition of a dispersed phase. Two types of experimental-grade starch nanoparticles were used: hydrophilic starch nanoparticles (HSNP) and vegetable oil functionalized hydrophobic starch nanoparticles (VOFHS). The dynamic oil-water interfacial tension was measured using the pendant drop method at varying starch concentrations in the aqueous phase while the contact angles were measured using the sessile drop method of the Axisymmetric Drop Shape Analysis-Profile (ADSA-P). Both types of starch nanoparticles (HSNP and VOFHS) were effective in delaying the phase inversion of emulsions from water-in-oil (W/O) type to oil-in-water (O/W) type. This delay in phase inversion was directly correlated with the concentration of starch nanoparticles. The interfacial tension decreased as the drop aged at a given starch nanoparticle concentration. The contact angles for both types of starch nanoparticles were within the intermediate wettability range that confirmed the irreversible adsorption of starch nanoparticles at the oil/water interface leading to an increased stability of emulsions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
TL;DR: In this article, a concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient (CDDC) is adopted for viscous fingering mechanisms and its effect on the development of frontal instabilities is examined through highly accurate nonlinear numerical simulations.
Abstract: Mass transfer plays an important role in influencing the efficiency of miscible displacements in solvent-based processes in enhanced oil recovery. The mass transfer rate because of the pure molecular diffusion is very slow. However, this process can be greatly enhanced by the appearance of frontal instabilities called viscous fingering mechanisms, which are beneficial for improving the mixing and mass transfer between the injected solvent and oil. Instead of a piston-like displacement, the interface between solvent and oil is very convoluted with intricate finger-like patterns of the less viscous solvent intruding into the highly viscous oil. This intrusion significantly increases the surface area of contact of the two fluids and leads to more efficient mass transfer and mixing. Experimental measurements on the diffusion coefficients of two miscible fluids indicate that, instead of a constant diffusion coefficient (CDC), a concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient (CDDC) is more realistic. In the present study, a CDDC relation in which the diffusion coefficient is exponentially proportional to concentration is adopted. Its effect on the development of frontal instabilities is examined through highly accurate nonlinear numerical simulations. The differences between the CDDC case and the widely assumed CDC case are discussed. Furthermore, the enhancement of frontal instabilities on mass transfer when the CDDC is considered is investigated at various mobility ratios and Peclet numbers. The special characteristics for the CDDC case indicate its important role in miscible displacements. Eventually, the relation of breakthrough time to parameters is correlated to accurately predict the breakthrough time in any CDDC scenario. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a multi-objective optimization method for a specific growth rate of algae in the context of CO2 biofixation, which can achieve maximum specific growth rates.
Abstract: Algae; Biofuels; Biomass; Carbon dioxide; Design; Growth rate; Microorganisms; Multiobjective optimization; Nitrogen; Optimization; Phosphorus; Productivity; Box-Behnken experimental design; CO2 biofixation; Controlling parameters; Maximum specific growth rates; Micro-algae; Multiresponse optimization; Parameter optimization; Specific growth rate; Ecology