The Oil Shale Transformation in the Presence of an Acidic BEA Zeolite under Microwave Irradiation

The transformation of an oil shale sample from the Autun Basin in the Massif Central, France, was studied using two different heating strategies: microwave irradiation and conventional heating. Microwave heating was performed using a single-mode cavity operating at a frequency of 2.45 GHz under an inert atmosphere. Heating of the sample generated liquid products of similar composition using either microwave or conventional heating. The yields of liquid products were similar in the two cases, while the overall energy requirements were much lower using microwave irradiation. The influence of water vapor on the oil shale decomposition was also studied under microwave energy. In order to simulate conversion of the organic fraction of the oil shale in the presence of an acidic zeolite catalyst, the oil shale sample was mixed with 5 wt % BEA zeolite and heated under microwave irradiation. It was found that the liquid products yield decreased along with an increase in the amount of coke produced. Gaseous and liquid products recovered showed a tendency for the production of lighter components in the presence of zeolite. The aromatic character of the oils was more important when microwaves were used, especially in the presence of zeolite

A microwave cavity resonator sensor for water-in-oil measurements

Online monitoring of Water-Liquid Ratio (WLR) in multiphase flow is key in petroleum production, processing and transportation. The usual practice in the field is to manually collect offline samples for laboratory analysis, which delays data availability and prevents real time intervention and optimization. A highly accurate and robust sensing method is needed for online measurements in the lower end of WLR range (0%–5%), especially for fiscal metering and custody transfer of crude oil, as well as to ensure adequate flow assurance prevention and remedial solutions. This requires a highly sensitive sensing principle along with a highly precise measurement instrument, packaged together in a sufficiently robust manner for use in the field. In this paper, a new sensing principle is proposed, based on the open-ended microwave cavity resonator and near wall surface perturbation, for non-intrusive measurement of WLR. In the proposed concept, the electromagnetic fringe field of a cylindrical cavity resonator is used to probe the liquid near the pipe wall. Two of the cylindrical cavity resonance modes, TM010 and TM011 are energized for measurements and the shift in the resonance frequency is used to estimate liquid permittivity and the WLR. Electromagnetic simulations in the microwave frequency range of 4 GHz to 7 GHz are used for proof-of-concept and sensitivity studies. A sensor prototype is fabricated and its functionality demonstrated with flowing oil-water mixtures in the WLR range of 0–5%. The frequency range of the proposed sensors is 4.4–4.6 GHz and 6.1–6.6 GHz for modes TM010 and TM011, respectively. The TM011 mode shows much higher sensitivity (41.6 MHz/WLR) than the TM010 mode (3.8 MHz/WLR). The proposed sensor consists of a 20 mm high cylinder, with a diameter of 30 mm and Poly-Ether-Ether-Ketone (PEEK) filler. The non-intrusiveness of the sensor, along with the high sensitivity in the resonance shift, makes it attractive for practical applications

Preparation, Proximate Composition and Culinary Properties of Yellow Alkaline Noodles from Wheat and Raw/Pregelatinized Gadung (Dioscorea Hispida Dennst) Composite Flours

The steady increase of wheat flour price and noodle consumptions has driven researchers to find substitutes for wheat flour in the noodle making process. In this work, yellow alkaline noodles were prepared from composite flours comprising wheat and raw/pregelatinized gadung (Dioscorea hispida Dennst) flours. The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of composite flour compositions on the cooking properties (cooking yield, cooking loss and swelling index) of yellow alkaline noodle. In addition, the sensory test and nutrition content of the yellow alkaline noodle were also evaluated for further recommendation. The experimental results showed that a good quality yellow alkaline noodle can be prepared from composite flour containing 20% w/w raw gadung flour. The cooking yield, cooking loss and swelling index of this noodle were 10.32 g, 1.20 and 2.30, respectively. Another good quality yellow alkaline noodle can be made from composite flour containing 40% w/w pregelatinized gadung flour. This noodle had cooking yield 8.93 g, cooking loss 1.20, and swelling index of 1.88. The sensory evaluation suggested that although the color, aroma and firmness of the noodles were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from wheat flour noodle, but their flavor remained closely similar. The nutrition content of the noodles also satisfied the Indonesian National Standard for noodle. Therefore, it can be concluded that wheat and raw/pregelatinized gadung composite flours can be used to manufacture yellow alkaline noodle with good quality and suitable for functional food

An experimental investigation of paraffin wax deposition in a batch oscillatory baffled column

Problems related to crystallisation and deposition of paraffin waxes on oil pipelines during production and transportation of crude oil caused huge operational and financial losses to petroleum industry. This study is focused on the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of wax deposition and investigates the effect of several major parameters on such deposition in a batch oscillatory baffled column (OBC). The OBC is a relatively new mixing technology and offers more unifoml mixing and particle suspension than traditional reactors. It is the intention of this work to characterise the effect of oscillatory mixing on the wax deposition process perhaps as an alternative way for mitigation of wax deposition pro.blems. Experiments have be~n carried out to examine the effects of aBC's operational parameters, wax-oil volume, paraffin wax content, carbon number of the solvents, baffles materials and structure on the wax deposition. Analyses conducted to evaluate and characterise the wax deposition are: the percentage of waX deposition (8, wt.%); the Avrami exponent (n) which c0l!esponds to the type of wax crystals; and the half time of deposition (tl/2) which is associated with the rateof deposition. On the study ofthe effect of OBC's parameters, it was found that increasing the oscillation frequency and amplitude reduced the overall deposition; baffles oscillation altered the type of wax crystal formed from needle type to clustered plate-like shapes; and accelerated the rates of deposition. On the effect of wax-oil volume, it was observed that increasing the volume reduced the deposition, increased n values and tlfl hence reduced the deposition rates. The study on the effect of paraffin wax content revealed that increasing the wax content increased the deposition, reduced n values and caused higher crystallisation rates. On the effect of solvent carbon numbers, it was found that the higher the carbon numbers, the more the deposition, lower n and t1/2. Lastly on the study of baffles materials and structure, it can be deduced that using different baffles materials had no significant impact on the deposition in the OBC. In summary, oscillatory baffled flow can be an effective means of mitigation of wax deposition problems. This work may also lead to a screening test for wax deposition inhibitors. Since the deposition of viscous materials is common to other sectors of the process industries, the results of this study will provide essential information for understanding and perhaps later implementation of the OBC technology in the related fieldsEThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Measurement of Water in Oil Pipelines using Capacitance Method

This project entitled “Measurement of Water in Oil Pipelines using Capacitance Method” is closely related to oil & gas industry especially from the aspect of safety. To minimize the internal corrosion of oil pipelines due to the presence of water, capacitance method is introduced to detect the amount of water present in oil-water mixture. Being cheap, safe and non- intrusive, this method is suitable for two-phase fluids with low conductivity and large permittivity difference such as oil and water. However, different configurations of electrodes will produce different results in terms of linearity of response. In this project, by utilising ANSYS Maxwell software, two common configurations of electrodes i.e. concave and double rings electrodes are designed to compare their linearity of response towards changes in water content in oil-water mixture

Investigation of trace amounts of gas on microvave water-cut measurement

In recent years, the upstream oil and gas industry has dealt with some of the most challenging metering applications. One of these is the measurement of water percentage at the point of allocation. It is an essential requirement when test separators or the newly developed full multiphase meters are utilized for oil well production testing. Water-cut can be obtained from measurement of differential pressure, capacitance/conductance, gamma rays absorption, absorption of infrared light, coriolis mass measurement, or microwave permittivity. The use of microwave permittivity has been shown to be very effective with the added benefit of not requiring a nuclear source, as is the case with a gamma ray densitometers. A common problem encountered in oil well production testing is that of gas Âcarry-under into the liquid stream exiting the test separator. This results in a trace amount of gas entering the water-cut meter, producing errors in the water-cut reading. Gas carry-under may be caused by high liquid viscosity, improper separator operation, or poor separator design. Gas carry-under is believed to be one of the major causes of large allocation factors in oil and gas operations. Problems in clearly defining the three-phase stream as to flow regime and actual gas bubble size have been described in the technical literature. Pertinent references are discussed and compared. The issues in trying to perform such tests in the laboratory and the correlation of the data are disclosed and the difficulties in trying to correlate the effects of the entrained gas are described. Field testing and experience by at least one manufacturer of equipment has verified the effect of entrained gas, but little quantitative data relating gas-cut to increased error of measurement has been published. The objective of this work was to investigate the performance of a microwave water-cut analyzer under three-phase flow conditions to determine the impact of the presence of gas in the liquid stream. Experiments were performed that investigated the effects of entrained gas on a commercial water-cut analyzer. These tests were conducted at the Texas A&M Tommie E. Lohman Fluid Measurement Laboratory at low pressure conditions (< 40 psig). The test fluids were air, water and two types of oil: mineral oil and hydraulic oil. These experiments investigated oil continuous emulsion conditions with the Gas Volume Fraction (GVF) ranging from 0-25% and the water-cut ranging from 5-30%. Liquid flow rates were between 500-3,700 bbl/day. A 2-inch water-cut full range meter was utilized for these tests. The error in water-cut was seen to increase with increasing GVF ranging from 0% to 25%. However, the measurement remained stable over the entire range of tests. A correction was developed to correct water-cut meter readings based on the amount of gas in the liquid stream

IN-SITU GENERATION OF HYDROCARBONS FROM KEROGEN USING ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION

From using surface seeps to modern day exploitation of hydrocarbon source rocks, the petroleum industry is awaiting the next big innovation, accelerated kerogen conversion. In the industry’s history, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) has been used for exploration and now it will be taken to the extreme by determining an effective and efficient method to synthetically generate readily available hydrocarbons. The study starts with examining and defining what kerogen is and its importance as a source material. A strong understanding of what kerogen is, and an analysis of other in-situ projects presents an opportunity to study the finer details of kerogen’s conversion to hydrocarbons. In-situ projects from around the world were studied to eliminate unsuccessful methods of conversion. The unsuccessful methods highlight key details that are needed for developing a successful conversion methodology. To understand the method being developed, it was necessary to build a strong understanding regarding the process of thermal maturation. For this study, samples rich in organic matter were tested in various methods of EMR exposure. Bakken formation samples were used because of their high organic concentrations and proximity to the research center. This study additionally focuses on microwaves, a region of larger waves in the electromagnetic spectrum and their impact on kerogen. Methods of exposure include using dry cores, water-soaked cores, and cores submerged in water baths. Unaltered Bakken cores and water-soaked cores exposed to the microwaves showed better results of hydrocarbon generation than those tested in a water bath. The effectiveness of EMR kerogen conversion was compared to the results of a simple retort analysis conducted within the expected thermal maturation temperature range for 10-hours. Microwave tests were conducted in the same temperature range with evidence of successful hydrocarbon generation. An estimate of the energy requirement for kerogen conversion with EMR was analyzed and the inaccuracy of this requirement value was discussed. Experiments conducted in this study showed that microwaves can be used to generate hydrocarbon fluids. Conclusions of the study acknowledge that the EMR methodology of kerogen conversion is possible but further experimentation is required

Use of Condensate Combined with Hydrocking Palm Oil Products for Improving the Quality of Premium

A research about hydrocracking of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) has been conducted using the catalyst Cr/active natural zeolite. Hydrocracking of CPO was conducted at the temperature variations of 300 oC, 400 oC, 500 oC and 600 oC to determine the optimum temperature based on the density and viscosity of the product of hydrocracking. Hydrocracking of CPO was also varied with the weight of catalysts 0.5 g, 1 g, 1.5 g, 2 g and 2.5 g using an optimum temperature. Products of hydrocraking were vacuum distilled and calculated for the percentage of area products and gasoline fractions. The results showed the optimum temperature at 400 oC the optimum weight of catalyst was 2.5 g with percentage of product was 1.2779 % and the area fraction of gasoline 469.953. Nature additives obtained from hydrocracking products at the optimum conditions blended with premium and condensate to see how it influences on octane number change. Nature additives added to premium increase the octane number from 87.4 to 87.8, while the addition of condensate lower the octane number