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1. Petroleum Engineering
Engineering is the profession in which knowledge of mathematical and
natural sciences gained by study, experience and practice applied with
judgment to develop ways to utilize, economically, the materials and
forces of nature for the benefit of mankind. Engineers are persons, who,
due to their special knowledge and the use of mathematical, physical and
engineering sciences and the principles and methods of engineering
analysis and design, acquired by education and experience, are qualified
to practice engineering.
The engineer’s role is to bridge the gap between an idea and its physical
reality by solving problems that exist between the two extremes, very
often with little to guide him except intuition. This we have called the
“creativity gap”. The tools of engineer are the scientific principles that
have formulated about the behavior of universe and its contents. Laws of
motion, thermodynamics and matter are among the tools that permit
engineer to fashion a workable solution to a problem.
2. History of Petroleum
Petroleum, in various forms, is not a recent discovery. It is not known
exactly when humankind first used petroleum. It is known, however, that
ancient peoples worshipped sacred fires that were fuelled by natural gas
seeping to the surface through pores and cracks. More than four
thousand years ago, bitumen from natural seepages was employed in the
construction of the walls and towers of Babylon. Ancient writings tablets
indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of petroleum in various societies.
In terms of recovery, the earliest known wells was drilled in China in 347
BC to depths of 800 feet (240 meters) and were drilled using bits attached
to bamboo poles. Asphalt, also used as an embalming age for mummies
and in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids around 3,000 BC.
Petroleum's usefulness, so it seems, recognized from the very beginnings
of civilization.
The use of petroleum in the Middle East was established by the 8th
century, when the streets of the newly constructed Baghdad were paved
with the nonvolatile residue derived from accessible petroleum and
seepages (particularly Hit) in the region. In the 9th century, petroleum
was distilled at Baku, Azerbaijan, to produce naphtha, which formed the
basis of the incendiary Greek fire.
The first commercial oil well drilled in North America was in Oil Springs,
Ontario, Canada, in 1858 by James Miller Williams. The U.S. petroleum
industry began with Edwin Drake’s drilling of a 69-foot (21-meter) oil
well in 1859 at Oil Creek, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, for the Seneca Oil
Company. The well originally yielded 25 barrels per day, and by the end
of the first year, output was at the rate of 15 barrels per day.
The industry grew through the 1800s, driven by the demand for kerosene
and for oil lamps. Petroleum refining became even more popular,
perhaps essential, in the early part of the 20th century with the
introduction of the internal combustion engine, which provided a
demand that has largely sustained the industry during the past 100 years.
The 1973 and 1979 energy crises brought to light the concern that oil is a
limited resource that will diminish, at least as an economically viable
energy source. At the time, the most common and popular predictions
were spectacularly dire.
factor in several military conflicts, including World War II and the more
recent wars in the Persian Gulf.
Approximately 80% of the world’s readily accessible reserves of
conventional petroleum are located in the Middle East, with the majority
in Saudi Arabia.
With oil prices of 50 dollars per barrel or more, ((in spite of oil at a high of
$147 per barrel during the summer of 2008) since some of the most
prolific basins (e.g., Mexico’s Cantrell oil field) have begun to experience
reduced production rates and are reaching or have reached maturity. At
the same time, the world’s demand for oil continues to grow every year,
fueled in part by the rapidly growing economies of China and India. The
declining availability of conventional oil combined with rising demand
has driven up oil prices and put more pressure on the search for alternate
energy sources.
Venezuela and Canada have substantial reserves of heavy oil and tar
sand bitumen that are sufficient to shift the balance of petroleum reserves
from the Middle East to the Americas. Synthetic diesel (syndiesel) from
natural gas and biological sources (biodiesel, ethanol) has also become
commercially viable. These sources may eventually more than triple the
potential reserves of hydrocarbon fuels.
With the price of oil reaching new highs, investments in these more
challenging reservoirs are rapidly accelerating. The worldwide
importance of heavy oils will continue to emerge as the price of oil
remains high and the demand for it remains strong.
Today oil and gas is produced in almost every part of the world, from
small 100 barrel a day small private wells, to large bore 4000 barrel a day
wells; In shallow 20 meters deep reservoirs to 3000 meter deep wells in
more than 2000 meters water depth; In 10.000 dollar onshore wells to 10
billion dollar offshore developments.
The inclusion of coal and oil shale kerogen in the category hydrocarbon
resources is because these two natural resources (coal and oil shale
kerogen) will produce hydrocarbons on high-temperature processing.
Therefore, if coal and oil shale kerogen are to be included in the term
hydrocarbon resources, it is more appropriate that they be classed as
hydrocarbon-producing resources under the general classification of
organic sediments (Figure 1.2).
Thus, fossil energy resources divide into two classes: (1) naturally
occurring hydrocarbons (petroleum, natural gas, and natural waxes), and
(2) hydrocarbon sources (oil shale and coal) which may be made to
generate hydrocarbons by the application of conversion processes.
The mineral waxes, such as ozocerite, can also be shown on this scheme
(Figure 1.2), but because of their character (solid), fall at the lower end of
the scale.
In summary, the classification of petroleum and natural gas as naturally
occurring mixtures of hydrocarbons occurs by virtue of the fact that they
can separated into their original hydrocarbon constituents that not have
altered by any applied process. The hydrocarbon constituents, separated
from petroleum and natural gas, are the hydrocarbon constituents that
existed in the reservoir. Naturally, occurring hydrocarbons are major
contributors to the composition of petroleum and natural gas. Coal and
kerogen do not enjoy this means of separation and methods of thermal
decomposition must applied before hydrocarbons are produced. In
addition, these hydrocarbon products, generated by the thermal process,
are not naturally occurring hydrocarbons.
Crude oils obtained from different oil reservoirs have widely different
characteristics. Some are black, heavy, and thick like tar, and others are
brown or nearly clear with low viscosity and low specific gravity. The
hydrocarbons found in subsurface formations are made up of five
important elements and can be found in different states.
Formula
Point ºC
Boiling
Point ºC
Melting
State
Normal
Gravity0
API
Compound Gravity
(Density)
At the same time, the boiling points and melting points tend to rise. In
addition, perhaps most obviously, the molecules get bigger, resulting in
the product getting denser. This brings us to the most basic method of
classification of hydrocarbons, by what casually called their ‘weight’, or,
more accurately, their density. The smaller molecules known as ‘light’
hydrocarbons, while the larger molecules known as ‘heavy’
hydrocarbons. Engineers in the oil industry could measure the density of
hydrocarbons using specific gravity, which is simply the weight of some
volume of the compound divided by the weight of an equal volume of
water (or, equivalently, number of kilograms per liter). In these cases,
engineers generally use the American Petroleum Institute (API) Gravity
scale, which for some obscure reason uses a unit of degrees, and defined
to be:
The formula implies that water has an API gravity of 10° and that as the
product gets lighter, the API gravity increases. Since most oil and oil
products are lighter than water, they have an API gravity greater than
10°. There is one more important trend to note in Table 1.3. The third
column shows that, as the number of carbon atoms increase, the ratio of
hydrogen atoms to carbon atoms tends to decrease from 4:1 to around 2:1.
Since the carbon atoms oxidize into carbon dioxide when they burn,
while the hydrogen atoms oxidize into water vapor, this explains why
heavier fuels tend to have higher emissions of carbon dioxide per unit of
energy than lighter fuels.
The third column stops after C10 because there are many alternative
molecular structures for these larger molecules, but the trend to lower
hydrogen to carbon ratios continues. The heavier hydrocarbons tend to
contain ring structures, with hydrogen to carbon ratios closer to 1:1.
Coal, the heaviest of the hydrocarbons, contains many of these rings, and
may have a ratio of hydrogen to carbon in the 1.2 to 1.0 range. Since the
composition of crude oil varies greatly from field to field, the price of
crude oil also varies from field to field and thus (contrary to the
impression one would get from reading most newspapers) there is no
single ‘price of oil’. ‘Light’ crude oil (API gravity greater than 33°8) is the
most valuable, since it contains more of the light hydrocarbons. These
light hydrocarbons can blended directly into liquid fuels. ‘Heavy’ crude
oil (API gravity less than 28°) is less valuable, since it contains more
heavy hydrocarbons that must further processed to produce compounds
useful as liquid fuels.
Crude oil also can contain various impurities, which must remove.
Clearly, the less pure the oil is, the lower the value of the oil. The most
common impurity is sulphur, which often chemically bonded to the
hydrocarbons so it is not easily remove. Sweet crude is low in sulphur
(generally less than 1% by weight), while sour crude is high in sulphur.
These terms developed in the early days of the oil industry, when people
used actually taste the oil to determine if it had too much sulphur.
Where:
Tav.bo.po. = average boiling point temperature, in Kelvin unit (OK).
Sp. Gr. (60/60) oF = specific gravity of crude oil at 60oF.
The crude oil can be classify as follow as:
i) C.I. = 0 (normal paraffinic based crude oil).
ii) C.I = 0-15 (predominance of n-paraffinic crude oil).
iii) C.I = 15 – 50 (paraffinic and aromatic mixture).
iv) C.I > 50 (predominance of aromatic crude oil).
v) C.I = 100 benzene (Aromatic)
4.1. Viscosity
Is the resistance to flow in a liquid. The lower the viscosity, the more
readily the liquid flows. For example, water has a low viscosity and
flows readily, whereas honey, with a high viscosity, flows poorly. The
viscosity of the oil largely, determined by the amount of lighter and
Types of viscosity:
1- Dynamic viscosity (μ) with units (poise or g / (cm · s)).
2- Kinematic viscosity (υ) with unit (stoke or cm2 / s).
Viscosity Index:
The viscosity index is a number indicating the effect of change of
temperature on the kinematic viscosity of an oil. A high viscosity index
signifies a relatively small change of kinematic viscosity with
temperature. Viscosity index increasing with paraffin and decreasing
with naphthenic.
VI=100 (best oil, paraffinic)
VI=0 (lowest VI oil, naphthenic)
Where:
Y = kinematic viscosity of oil in centistokes at 100 °C.
U = kinematic viscosity of oil in centistokes at 40 °C.
L = kinematic viscosity in centistokes at 40 °C of an oil of 0 viscosity
index and having the same kinematic viscosity at 100 °C as the oil whose
viscosity index is to be calculated.
L determinate from table until Y=70 CST and from the following
equation for Y above 70 CST:
H = 238.2
Gasoline
Diesel
Property Units Light Heavy Intermediate Crude
Crude Crude Fuel Oil Oil
Emulsion
NR = not relevant
4.2. Density
Is the mass (weight) of a given volume of oil and is typically expressed
in grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm3). It is the property used by the
petroleum industry to define light or heavy crude oils. Density is also
important because it indicates whether a particular oil will float or sink
in water. As the density of water is 1.0 g/cm3 at 15°C and the density of
most oils ranges from 0.7 to 0.99 g/cm3, most oils will float on water. As
the density of seawater is 1.03 g/cm3, even heavier oils will usually float
on it. The density of oil increases with time, as the light fractions
evaporate.
Oils with high densities have low API gravities and vice versa. In the
United States, the price of a specific oil based on its API gravity, as well
as other properties of the oil.
Classification According to API Gravity
Fraction
2508C–2708C 2758C–3008C
(4808F–5208F) (5258F–5708F)
API Type API Type Classification
Gravity Gravity
>40.0 Paraffin >30.0 Paraffin Paraffin
>40.0 Paraffin 20.1–29.9 Intermediate Paraffin–intermediate
33.1–39.9 Intermediate >30.0 Paraffin Intermediate–paraffin
33.1–39.9 Intermediate 20.1–29.9 Intermediate intermediate
33.1–39.9 Intermediate <20.0 Naphthene Intermediate–naphthene
<33.0 Naphthene 20.1–29.9 Intermediate Naphthene–intermediate
<33.0 Naphthene <20.0 Naphthene Naphthene
>44.0 Paraffin <20.0 Naphthene Paraffin–naphthene
33.0 Naphthene >30.0 Paraffin Naphthene–paraffin
4.4. Solubility
Solubility in water is the measure of how much of an oil will dissolve in
the water column on a molecular basis. Solubility is important in that the
soluble fractions of the oil are sometimes toxic to aquatic life, especially
at higher concentrations.
As the amount of oil lost to solubility is always small, this is not as great
a loss mechanism as evaporation. In fact, the solubility of oil in water is
so low (generally less than 100 parts per million) that it would be the
equivalent of approximately one grain of sugar dissolving in a cup of
water.
Methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE)
Where:
For example, waxy oils can have very low pour points, but may continue
to spread slowly at that temperature and can evaporate to a significant
degree.
to handle the oil. This data also provides environmentalists with useful
insights into the chemical composition of oils. For example, while 70% of
gasoline will boil off at 100°C, only about 5% of a crude oil will boil off at
that temperature and an even smaller amount of a typical Bunker C. The
distillation fractions correlate strongly to the composition as well as to
other physical properties of the oil.
5. Oil Products
Oil is important to us because there are so many useful products that can
made from it. Each product has properties which make it useful
applications, and which determine how it must be processed, distributed,
and consumed. Due to its high energy density, convenient liquid form,
and historically low cost, oil has a special role as a transport fuel.
Crude oil not used directly as a fuel but as a feedstuff for the
petrochemical factories to produce commercial fuels, synthetic rubbers,
plastics, and additional chemicals. Oil refineries originally placed near
the oil fields, in part because natural gas, which could not then be
economically, transported long distances, was available to fuel the
highly energy-intensive refining process, but since 1950, for strategic
reasons crude oil was transported by tankers and oleoducts to local
refineries.
5.2. Petrol
Motor petrol is a mixture of hydrocarbons in the C5 to C12 range. It also
known as gasoline, especially in North America, where the word often
confusingly shortened to ‘gases in casual usage. In fact, petrol is a liquid,
but it does need to vaporize easily, since in a petrol engine the fuel
vaporized and mixed with air (either by a carburettor or fuel injector)
before it ignited. Petrol generally comes in two grades: regular and
premium. Contrary to popular belief, premium petrol does not contain
significantly more energy than regular petrol. In fact, the major difference
between the two is that premium petrol is harder to ignite.
This is because in a petrol engine, the combustion of the air and petrol
vapor mix is supposed to spread smoothly though the cylinder following
ignition by the spark plug. However, as the mix gets compressed when
the piston reaches the top of its cycle, it heats-up, much like the air in a
bicycle pump. If the fuel ignites too easily, this heat of compression will
cause the mix to ignite prematurely in some parts of the cylinder. The
result will be pressure waves that reverberate through the cylinder,
known as engine ‘knock’ or ‘ping’. Engine knock causes an annoying
noise, reduces the engine’s power, and can cause damage to the engine.
Under generally accepted geologic theory, oil and gas are believed to
have originated from organic matter deposited in sedimentary rocks.
Pressure, temperature, and bacterial action over long periods reduce the
organic material into carbon and hydrogen molecular combinations
called hydrocarbons. The organic material from which the oil is derived
probably consisted of single-celled plants, blue-green algae, and single-
celled animals, which lived in aquatic environments 540 million years
ago.
The rapid burial of these organisms within sediments preserved them for
later biological, chemical, and physical changes into a material called
The Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Mexico, for example, are parts of such
ancient seas. Over the years, rivers flowing down to these seas carried
large volumes of mud and sedimentary materials into the sea. The mud
and sedimentary materials were distributed and deposited layer upon
layer over the sea floor.
The very large amount of small plant and animal life, which came into the
sea with river mud and sedimentary materials, and the much larger
amount of small marine life remains already on the sea floors constituted
the source of petroleum. These small organisms died and buried by the
depositing silt and, thus, protected from ordinary decay.
Inorganic Theory:
A number of scientists adhere to the concept that inorganic oil and gas have
originated in the earth’s interior as the result of chemical reactions between
hydrogen and carbon under conditions of high temperature and high pressures in
the absence of organic matter. Inorganic theory; attempt to explain the formation
of petroleum by assuming chemical reactions among water, carbon dioxide, and
various inorganic substances, such as carbides and carbonates in the earth.
Organic Theory:
The organic theory of the origin of oil – the most accepted theory- maintains that
the hydrogen and carbon source for petroleum was organic material from
decaying plants and animals forming and accumulating in oceanic sediment. The
acceptance of the organic theory of the origin of petroleum dictates that, the
search for oil is directed to areas underlying by thick sections of sedimentary
rock. Now most authorities favor the organic approach.
Natural Gas:
Natural gas is not an oil product. However, since it is the lightest of the
hydrocarbon fuels and often found in association with oil. The natural
gas used by consumers is generally well over 90% methane (C1), with
Methane and ethane are gases, and like to stay that way. In fact, no amount of
pressure can liquefy them at ordinary temperatures. Consequently, natural gas
typically transported and distributed in gaseous form by pipeline. However,
super cooling it to around –161°C to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) may
liquefy methane.
Table 1.7: Properties of 21 Selected Crude Oils