58 research outputs found

    Alarm Forecasting in Natural Gas Pipelines

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    This thesis examines alarm forecasting methods for a natural gas production pipeline to assure the efficient transportation of high-quality natural gas. Natural gas production companies use pipelines to transport natural gas from the extraction well to a distribution point. Forecasting natural gas pipeline pressure alarms helps control room operators maintain a functioning pipeline and avoid costly down time. As gas enters the pipeline and travels to the distribution point, it is expected that the gas meets certain specifications set in place by either state law or the customer receiving the gas. If the gas meets these standards and is accepted at the distribution point, the pipeline is referred to as being in a steady-state. If the gas does not meet these standards, the production company runs the risk of being shut-in, or being unable to flow any more gas through the distribution point until the poor-quality gas is removed.Sensors are used to collect real-time gas quality information from within the pipe, and alarms are used to alert the control operators when a threshold is exceeded. If operators fail to keep the pipeline’s gas quality within an acceptable range, the company risks being shut¬¬-in or rupturing the pipeline. Predicting gas quality alarms enables operators to act earlier to avoid being shut-in and is a form of predictive maintenance. We forecast alarms by using a 10th-order autoregressive model, autoregressive model with exogenous variable, simple exponential smoothing with drift (Theta Method) and an artificial neural network with alarm thresholds. The alarm thresholds are defined by the production company and are occasionally adjusted to meet current environment conditions. The results of the alarm forecasting method show that we accurately forecast natural gas pipeline alarms up to a 30-minute time horizon. This translates into sensitivity rates that drop from around 100% at one minute to 82.7% at a 30-minute forecast horizon. This means that at 30 minutes, we correctly forecast 82.7% of the alarms. All alarm forecasting models outperform the state-or-the-art forecaster used by the production company, with the artificial neural network performing the best

    Improving the temperature measurement in hydro-processing reactors

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    The world is going to replace renewable and green fuels with fossil fuels to reduce the environmental issues and global warming effects. Bio-based feedstock is a biological source to produce fuel and considered as an alternative that can supersede fossil-based resources in the future. Co-processing is a transition towards green fuel which through a mixture of fossil and bio-based feedstocks are processed. In co-processing, the biomass is blended with fossil-based feed and upgraded through hydro-treating in a catalytic reactor. Since biomass contains high amount of oxygen, the process is highly exothermic releasing heat and causing temperature rise inside the reactor. Hence, reactor temperature needs to be monitored properly to prevent serious accident and retain the required quality of the product. In petro-refineries, use of temperature measurement systems is a need and usually problematic in hydro-processing reactors. When introducing alternative or biomass feedstocks to the process, the problem will be more highlighted due to new reactants and different reactions. The following work has expounded the need for measuring temperature in exothermic reactions. Reactions and products, main hardware and equipment has been described to express the need for temperature monitoring systems. This thesis has considered different approaches and methods in measuring the temperature in reactors mentioning their advantages and disadvantages. Challenges stemmed from the new reactants and new reactions by introducing bio-based feedstocks were identified. The material selection is crucial as almost all available temperature measurement systems has direct contact with the reactants and catalyst. Some widely-used materials in oil and gas industry were compared to choose the proper one for the application. The possible solutions reducing the problematic issues were recommended for design, procurement and installation of the temperature measurement system

    Energy Efficiency

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    This book is one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date books written on Energy Efficiency. The readers will learn about different technologies for energy efficiency policies and programs to reduce the amount of energy. The book provides some studies and specific sets of policies and programs that are implemented in order to maximize the potential for energy efficiency improvement. It contains unique insights from scientists with academic and industrial expertise in the field of energy efficiency collected in this multi-disciplinary forum

    Legal framework for utilisation and emissions-impact mitigation from natural gas production: the case for Nigeria.

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    Environmental concerns dominate every stage of oil and gas operations, from production to consumption stages. At the production stage, there is the problem of waste of associated gas through flaring emissions, while pipeline leakages and tanker accidents are common during transportation of products and services. During consumption, the combustion of these gases also causes environmental pollution and impact negatively on the health of people and communities. In emerging markets, the oil and gas sector is at the centre of the demand for reduction in global carbon emissions because 60 out of 70 per cent of energy-related global emissions are attributed to continuous extraction, processing and burning of oil and gas. Furthermore, 63 per cent of current global emissions have been estimated to come from developing and emerging market areas. As an emerging economy dependent on oil and gas, Nigeria's continuing waste of natural gas through flaring alone accounts for 40 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions from Sub-Saharan Africa. This is due to poor gas infrastructure, an underdeveloped domestic gas market, inefficient regulation of the sector and a lack of a comprehensive HSE regime. Other challenges include insecurity, poor incentives for private sector engagement and an overwhelming focus on crude oil revenue etc. This work therefore focuses on proposing new framework structures to support investment in critical gas infrastructures, drive the development of the domestic gas market and mitigate emissions impact in Nigeria. While this study is generally a doctrinal and non-doctrinal (sociolegal) inquiry, it adopts a comparative and case study analysis to resolve the research question. It does this by relying on primary and secondary sources of laws on oil and gas, including non-legal data on natural gas, impact of gas flaring and challenges to natural gas utilisation

    Laboratory Directed Research and Development FY-10 Annual Report

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    Solid waste composting and the application of compost for biosurfactant production

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    In Canada, about 9 million tonnes of residential waste with over 40% of organic waste was disposed every year. Another major source of organic waste in Canada is from the seafood processing industry. For effective organic waste management, composting serves as a sound, cost-efficient and environmental friendly measure. The selection of bulking agents is of primary importance to adjust the moisture and carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of organic waste during composting. Therefore, initially, the performance of locally available bulking agents (i.e., sawdust and peat in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL)) during organic municipal solid waste (MSW) composting was evaluated. Results indicated that to generate a high temperature and a longer duration of high temperature to kill pathogens and sterilize the compost, peat was considerably more effective. A design of experiment (DOE) based methodology was then adopted to investigate the effects of multiple factors including C/N ratio, moisture content (MC), type of bulking agent (BA) and aeration rate (AR) and their interactions on the maturity, stability and toxicity of compost product. For the first time, enzyme activities were used as indices of maturity and stability during the course of a DOE based composting. The results provided guidance to optimize a MSW composting system that will lead to increased decomposition rate and the production of more stable and mature compost. Thirdly, the feasibility of using enzyme activities for indicating the state of marine fish waste composting was also examined. A good correlation among enzyme activities and different physiochemical parameters including oxygen uptake rate (OUR), C/N ratio, and germination index (GI) led to the conclusion that enzyme activities could be feasible indicators of the state and evolution of the composting process. Raw materials contribute about 30% of the biosurfactant production cost. Evaluation of the feasibility of using fish waste compost (FWC) extract as an unconventional substrate for biosurfactant production was highly desirable to refine the utilization of FWC and achieve the economical biosurfactant production. In this study, the nutrient extraction from FWC was achieved by enzyme hydrolysis and optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The extract was used to produce biosurfactants by Rhodococcus erythropolis sp. P6-4P and bacillus sp. N3-1P strains. FWC extract showed a good potential as an unconventional source of nutrient for microbial growth. The obtained biosurfactants showed excellent properties with high surface tension reduction, high emulsification activity, and exhibited a high level of stability. The research outputs can contribute to the technical and scientific knowledge to design and operate composting system to manage the organic MSW and fish waste by achieving a double benefit of waste reduction while producing marketable products. Additionally, the products and the bioprocess can be of great value to both scientific understanding and industrial applications

    Sustainable Agriculture and Advances of Remote Sensing (Volume 1)

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    Agriculture, as the main source of alimentation and the most important economic activity globally, is being affected by the impacts of climate change. To maintain and increase our global food system production, to reduce biodiversity loss and preserve our natural ecosystem, new practices and technologies are required. This book focuses on the latest advances in remote sensing technology and agricultural engineering leading to the sustainable agriculture practices. Earth observation data, in situ and proxy-remote sensing data are the main source of information for monitoring and analyzing agriculture activities. Particular attention is given to earth observation satellites and the Internet of Things for data collection, to multispectral and hyperspectral data analysis using machine learning and deep learning, to WebGIS and the Internet of Things for sharing and publishing the results, among others

    Factories of the Future

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    Engineering; Industrial engineering; Production engineerin

    Simulating The Impact of Emissions Control on Economic Productivity Using Particle Systems and Puff Dispersion Model

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    A simulation platform is developed for quantifying the change in productivity of an economy under passive and active emission control mechanisms. The program uses object-oriented programming to code a collection of objects resembling typical stakeholders in an economy. These objects include firms, markets, transportation hubs, and boids which are distributed over a 2D surface. Firms are connected using a modified Prim’s Minimum spanning tree algorithm, followed by implementation of an all-pair shortest path Floyd Warshall algorithm for navigation purposes. Firms use a non-linear production function for transformation of land, labor, and capital inputs to finished product. A GA-Vehicle Routing Problem with multiple pickups and drop-offs is implemented for efficient delivery of commodities across multiple nodes in the economy. Boids are autonomous agents which perform several functions in the economy including labor, consumption, renting, saving, and investing. Each boid is programmed with several microeconomic functions including intertemporal choice models, Hicksian and Marshallian demand function, and labor-leisure model. The simulation uses a Puff Dispersion model to simulate the advection and diffusion of emissions from point and mobile sources in the economy. A dose-response function is implemented to quantify depreciation of a Boid’s health upon contact with these emissions. The impact of emissions control on productivity and air quality is examined through a series of passive and active emission control scenarios. Passive control examines the impact of various shutdown times on economic productivity and rate of emissions exposure experienced by boids. The active control strategy examines the effects of acceptable levels of emissions exposure on economic productivity. The key findings on 7 different scenarios of passive and active emissions controls indicate that rate of productivity and consumption in an economy declines with increased scrutiny of emissions from point sources. In terms of exposure rates, the point sources may not be the primary source of average exposure rates, however they significantly impact the maximum exposure rate experienced by a boid. Tightening of emissions control also negatively impacts the transportation sector by reducing the asset utilization rate as well as reducing the total volume of goods transported across the economy
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