Analysis of North‐American Tight oil production

North‐American tight oil production has been on the rise due to the introduction of new drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies. Such advances have dramatically changed the conventional understanding of the hydrocarbon recovery process. A dimensionless study of tight oil production across the United Sates in plays such as the Bakken, Niobrara, Eagle Ford, Woodford, Bone Spring, and Wolfcamp shed light on some of these recovery processes. Production from any well, regardless of geologic attributes and operating conditions, fits into a universal curve during its initial productive period. Subsequently, production becomes a strong function of hydrocarbon thermodynamics and multiphase flow. Results from this analysis help rank important parameters that affect oil recovery in terms of how wells are operated and the reservoir's intrinsic geological and fluid properties. Furthermore, production results are combined with a simple dimensionless economic analysis to determine optimal fracture configurations independent of oil price environment. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 1479–1484, 2018     

Moving boundary approach to forecast tight oil production

A novel semianalytical production predictive tool for tight reservoirs based on the application of material balance on a transient linear flow system is developed in this paper. This method considers two important regions during transient production of oil reservoirs: the saturated region where gas evolves and flows with oil, and the undersaturated region where only oil flows. A zonal moving boundary approach is used to evolve the two regions as the reservoir pressure gradually decreases. A semianalytical method is used to calculate pressures in the various regions and volumetric expansions. For both black oil and volatile oil scenarios, calculations from this analytical framework are able to match reservoir pressures, oil and gas rates, and cumulative gas–oil ratios determined using a reservoir simulator. The model was also applied to wells in tight reservoirs around the United States such as the Bakken (ND) and the Eagle Ford (TX) with reasonable success.     

Modular methanol manufacturing from shale gas: Techno‐economic and environmental analyses of conventional large‐scale production versus small‐scale distributed,modular processing

This article presents comparative techno‐economic and environmental analyses of four representative shale gas monetization options, namely, conventional shale gas processing, large‐scale methanol manufacturing, modular methanol manufacturing with shale gas supplied by pipelines, and modular methanol manufacturing with consideration of plant relocation. We first present shale gas supply models for the four gas monetization options. Next, the process designs for shale gas processing and methanol manufacturing from shale gas are described. We develop detailed process simulation models for shale gas processing and methanol manufacturing with different scales using raw shale gas extracted from the Marcellus, Eagle Ford, and Bakken shale plays. On this basis, techno‐economic analyses and environmental impact analyses are conducted for the four shale gas monetization options to systematically compare their economic and environmental performances based on the same conditions. The results show that modular methanol manufacturing is more economically competitive than conventional shale gas processing, although it leads to higher environmental impacts. Besides, modular methanol manufacturing is better than large‐scale methanol manufacturing for raw shale gas produced from distributed, remote wells from both economic and environmental perspectives. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 495–510, 2018     

Bubble splitting under gas–liquid–liquid three‐phase flow in a double T‐junction microchannel

Gas–aqueous liquid–oil three‐phase flow was generated in a microchannel with a double T‐junction. Under the squeezing of the dispersed aqueous phase at the second T‐junction (T2), the splitting of bubbles generated from the first T‐junction (T1) was investigated. During the bubble splitting process, the upstream gas–oil two‐phase flow and the aqueous phase flow at T2 fluctuate in opposite phases, resulting in either independent or synchronous relationship between the instantaneous downstream and upstream bubble velocities depending on the operating conditions. Compared with two‐phase flow, the modified capillary number and the ratio of the upstream velocity to the aqueous phase velocity were introduced to predict the bubble breakup time. The critical bubble breakup length and size laws of daughter bubbles/slugs were thereby proposed. These results provide an important guideline for designing microchannel structures for a precise manipulation of gas–liquid–liquid three‐phase flow which finds potential applications among others in chemical synthesis. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 376–388, 2018     

Bubble/droplet formation and mass transfer during gas–liquid–liquid segmented flow with soluble gas in a microchannel

Microchannels have great potential in intensification of gas–liquid–liquid reactions involving reacting gases, such as hydrogenation. This work uses CO₂–octane–water system to model the hydrodynamics and mass transfer of such systems in a microchannel with double T‐junctions. Segmented flows are generated with three inlet sequences and the size laws of dispersed phases are obtained. Three generation mechanisms of dispersed gas bubbles/water droplets are identified: squeezing by the oil phase, cutting by the droplet/bubble, cutting by the water–oil/gas–oil interface. Based on the gas dissolution rate, the mass transfer coefficients are calculated. It is found that water droplet can significantly enhance the transfer of CO₂ into the oil phase initially. When bubble‐droplet cluster are formed downstream the microchannel, droplet will retard the mass transfer. Other characteristics such as phase hold‐up, bubble velocity and bubble dissolution rate are also discussed. The information is beneficial for microreactor design when applying three‐phase reactions. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1727–1739, 2017     

Intrinsic kinetics of low-temperature oxidation of oil shale kerogen

The kinetics of oxidation of kerogen in the Colorado oil shale were measured using a thermogravimetric analysis technique in a continuously increasing temperature mode. The rate data were analysed based on the assumption that, at the relatively low temperatures at which the kinetics were measured, the oxidation reaction takes place on the surface of solid kerogen and that the decomposition of kerogen is not significant. The oxidation rate was determined to be of first order with respect to oxygen partial pressure. The activation energy of reaction was 11.0 ± 2.3 kJ mol⁻¹, and the pre-exponential factor was (6.8 ± 2.5) × 10⁻⁶ m(kPa · s)⁻¹.     

Bouncing of a bubble at a liquid–liquid interface

Significant industrial relevance of gas–liquid–liquid flows calls for understanding of their various aspects. This study focusing on one of the aspects, i.e., interaction of a single bubble with a liquid–liquid interface, is aimed at providing the experimental evidence of a hitherto unreported phenomenon of conditional bouncing of a bubble at the interface between two immiscible, initially quiescent liquids. Bouncing of the bubble is observed for two of the six pairs of the immiscible liquids used in the experiments. The data, obtained by conducting experiments with different pairs of the lighter and heavier liquid bubble diameters and rise heights, suggest that a bubble crossing a liquid–liquid interface is expected to bounce when its average velocity is less than a threshold value that depends on the interfacial tension between the two liquids and the viscosity of the heavier liquid. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 3150–3157, 2017     

Poly(lactic acid)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) membranes produced by solution blow spinning: Structure,thermal, spectroscopic,and microbial barrier properties

Submicrometric and nanometric poly(lactic acid)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PLA/PVP) fibrous membranes containing 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt % PVP, with or without 20 wt % Copaiba oil (Copaifera sp.), were produced by solution blow spinning (SBS), using polymer injection rate of 120 μL min^?1, gas pressure of 2.4 kPa, working distance of 20 cm, and collector rotation of 200 rpm. The morphological, thermal, and spectroscopic properties of these membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A method for the evaluation of membrane microbial barrier properties based on resazurin colorimetric method was proposed. Results showed that the addition of both PVP and Copaiba oil produced thicker fibers; otherwise, there was no effect on morphology. Thermal analyses (TG and DSC) indicated the immiscible nature of polymer blends produced, also confirmed by the spectroscopic studies. Antimicrobial barrier properties were related to the antimicrobial effect of Copaiba oil, combined with it hydrophobic nature. The hydrophilic nature of PVP favored degradation of fiber mats, impairing barrier property when higher concentrations of PVP were added. Results indicate that produced spun mats can potentially be used in applications such as wound dressing. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44802.     

聚氨酯软质泡沫的制备、孔结构和排油性能

以聚醚多元醇PPO330和甲苯二异氰酸酯为原料,采用一步法发泡工艺,制备了两种催化剂用量不同的聚氨酯软质泡沫(PUF),研究了它们的孔结构和排油性能。结果表明,PUF的泡孔结构较为规整且泡壁表面光滑均匀。其中PUF–1的孔径较大且开孔率较高,两种PUF的孔隙率都在97%以上;PUF–1,PUF–2对喷气燃料和军用柴油的吸油倍率均随着时间的增大而增大,最后达到最大吸油倍率(Q_(max));对喷气燃料的Q_(max)分别为29.48 g/g和23.76 g/g,对军用柴油的Q_(max)分别为32.62 g/g和25.24 g/g;PUF对军用柴油的离心排油率均达到25%左右,但PUF–2对喷气燃料的离心排油率达35.39%以上;PUF对喷气燃料和军用柴油的排油速率均随压强增大逐渐增大,油残存率则逐渐降低。当压强增大到6.23 k Pa时,PUF对两种油品的排油速率达到最大,油残存率均保持在40%以下。     

Sonochemical effect induced by hydrodynamic cavitation: Comparison of venturi/orifice flow geometries

This study presents comparative assessment of four cavitation devices (three venturis and an orifice) in terms of cavitational yield. A fourfold approach was adopted for assessment, viz. CFD simulations of cavitating flow, simulations of individual cavitation bubble dynamics, high speed photographs of cavitating flow and model reaction of potassium iodide oxidation. Influence of design parameters of cavitation devices on nature of cavitation produced in the flow was studied. Number density of cavitation bubbles in the flow and interactions among bubbles had critical influence on cavitation yield. Orifice gave the highest cavitational yield per unit energy dissipation in flow (despite lower working inlet pressure) due to low density of cavitation bubbles in flow. On contrary, occurrence of large cavitation bubble clouds in venturi flow had adverse effect on cavitational yield due to high interactions among cavitation bubbles resulting in interbubble coalescence and recombination of oxidizing radicals generated from cavitation bubbles. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4705–4716, 2017     

Vapour-liquid equilibrium study of methane and western shale oil

The bubble point pressures, saturated molar liquid volumes, and densities of a shale oil from the Green River formation in Utah, and a distillation fraction of the oil were experimentally determined as a function of temperature and methane mole fraction. These properties were measured in a static VLE apparatus capable of measuring pressures to 34,500 kPa and temperatures to 450 K. The phase change at the bubble point for the mixtures of oil and methane was determined using the statistical method of splines. The densities for the crude shale oil have been extrapolated to 288.7K (60 °F) using a standard API correlation.     

Phase distribution in dispersed liquid–liquid flow in vertical pipe: Mean and turbulent contributions of interfacial force

We applied an Eulerian–Eulerian two‐fluid model on an upward dispersed oil–water flow in vertical pipe with 80 mm diameter and 2.5 m length. The numerical profiles of the radial distribution of the oil drops at 1.5 m from the inflow are compared to the experimental data of Lucas and Panagiotopoulos (Flow Meas Instrum. 2009;20:127–135) This article analyzes the roles of turbulence and interfacial forces on the phase distribution phenomenon. In liquid–liquid flow the relative velocity is low and the distribution of the dispersed phase is mainly governed by the turbulence. This work highlights the important role of the turbulent contribution obtained by averaging the added mass force on the radial distribution profiles of the oil drops. The numerical results present improved profiles of the dispersed phase comparing to the experimental data when this turbulent contribution is taken into account in the momentum balance. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4214–4223, 2017     

Liquid–liquid two‐phase flow in ultrasonic microreactors: Cavitation,emulsification, and mass transfer enhancement

The effects of ultrasound on the hydrodynamic and mass transfer behaviors of immiscible liquid–liquid two‐phase flow was investigated in a domestic ultrasonic microreactor. Under ultrasonic irradiation, cavitation bubble was generated and underwent violent oscillation. Emulsification of immiscible phases was initiated by virtue of oscillating bubbles shuttling through the water/oil interface. The pressure drop was found to decrease with increasing ultrasound power, with a maximum decrement ratio of 12% obtained at power 30 W. The mass transfer behavior was characterized by extraction of Rhodamine B from water to 1‐octanol. An enhancement factor of 1.3–2.2 on the overall mass‐transfer coefficient was achieved under sonication. The mass transfer performance was comparable to passive microreactor at similar energy dissipation rate (61–184 W/kg). The extraction equilibrium was reached under a total flow velocity 0.01 m/s and input power 20 and 30 W, exhibiting its potential use in liquid‐liquid extraction process. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 1412–1423, 2018     

Polyisoprene modified poly(alkyl acrylate) foam as oil sorbent material

Biorenewable polyisoprene latex obtained from natural rubber, Hevea brasiliensis, was used to prepare the reusable polyisoprene–poly(alkyl acrylate) foam for petroleum‐based liquid absorption. The foam was produced via latex vulcanization and cured by steaming. The effect of various types of poly(alkyl acrylate) such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA), and poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) on oil sorption capacity of the foam were studied. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed interconnected open‐cell macrostructure with the foam porosity greater than 75% and good compression set. The oil sorption capacity of the foam was in the range of 2.0–16.6 g g^?1. The addition of poly(alkyl acrylate) enhanced hydrophobicity and oil sorption capacity of the foam. The absorbed oil was easily recovered by squeezing and the foam can be reused up to 30 sorption–desorption cycles and still preserve high quality sorption. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42688.     

Effect of confinement on the bubble points of hydrocarbons in nanoporous media

The bubble point of reservoir petroleum fluids in nanoporous media is an important parameter in shale oil production. We present experimental results on the bubble points of octane and decane confined in controlled‐pore glasses (CPGs) with pore sizes of 4.3 and 38.1 nm. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is used to measure the temperature at which the vapor phase begins to form (i.e., the bubble point). We find that the bubble point is dramatically affected by pore diameter: at 38.1 nm the confinement effect is insignificant, but at 4.3 nm two distinct bubble points appear, suggesting two distinct populations of evaporating fluid. Deviations are as great as ±15 K for both peaks relative to the bulk bubble point for 4.3 nm CPGs. Thermogravimetric analysis is consistent with DSC, supporting the validity of these results. Based on these experiments and previous simulations, we propose a two‐state model for the nanoconfined hydrocarbons. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1772–1780, 2016     

Preparation and properties of magnetic–photoresponsive oil‐absorption resins

A novel magnetic–photoresponsive oil‐absorption resin (MPOAR) was synthesized via the suspension polymerization technique. Scanning electron microscopy surface morphology analysis indicated that the surface of MPOAR exhibited pore structures with different sizes. The effects of various factors in the preparation of MPOAR on the oil absorbency were studied. We found that the amount of the crosslinking agent 4′4‐bis‐(methacryloylamino)azobenzen (Azo‐CL‐M), porogenic agent (ethyl acetate), initiator (azobisisobutyronitrile), and modified Fe₃O₄ had great effects on the oil absorbencies of the prepared polymer resins. The saturated absorption capacities of MPOAR for various organic solvents were determined, and we found that MPOAR could absorb 19.7 times its dry weight in CH₂Cl₂, 18.4 times its dry weight in CCl₄, and 16.7 times its dry weight in CHCl₃, respectively. In addition, the oil‐absorbent beads could absorb the oils floating on water well. In particular, the saturated absorbed MPOAR could be easily collected from water by an external magnetic field. More importantly, the photoresponsive properties of the MPOAR materials could be used to accelerate the release of the absorbed oil under UV irradiation. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45756.     

Semianalytical method of two-phase liquid transport in shale reservoirs and its application in fracture characterization

This study presents a new semi-analytical method to simulate the two-phase liquid transport in hydraulic fractures (HF) and matrix system, which can be applied to characterize HF attributes and dynamics using the flowback data from hydraulically fractured shale oil wells. The proposed approach includes a fracture model for HF properties calculation and a matrix model capable of considering multiple liquid transport mechanisms in shale nanopores. The proposed method is first validated with the numerical simulation then applied to a field example in Eagle Ford shale. The numerical validation confirms that our method can accurately characterize fracture attributes and closure dynamics by closely estimating the initial fracture permeability, pore-volume, compressibility, and permeability modulus. Furthermore, the analysis results from numerical simulation and a field example both indicate a clear flow enhancement and deficit for oil and water transport, respectively, due to the slippage effect and variation of fluid properties inside nanopores.     

A novel direct-contact condensation pattern of vapour bubbles in an immiscible liquid

In addition to the two different condensation patterns revealed respectively in n-pentane (bubble)/glycerol and water (bubble)/silicone oil systems in the authors' previous study (1979), a third pattern has been found in methanol (bubble)/silicone oil system: a condensate appears at the rear part of the bubble surface as several blunt drops, turns into a conical tail through coalescence to each other, and finally drops out from the bubble. The possible mechanism as well as the heat transfer characteristics of the condensation process are discussed.     

Mixing dynamics in bubbling fluidized beds

Solids mixing affects thermal and concentration gradients in fluidized bed reactors and is, therefore, critical to their performance. Despite substantial effort over the past decades, understanding of solids mixing continues to be lacking because of technical limitations of diagnostics in large pilot and commercial‐scale reactors. This study is focused on investigating mixing dynamics and their dependence on operating conditions using computational fluid dynamics simulations. Toward this end, fine‐grid 3D simulations are conducted for the bubbling fluidization of three distinct Geldart B particles (1.15 mm LLDPE, 0.50 mm glass, and 0.29 mm alumina) at superficial gas velocities U/Umf = 2–4 in a pilot‐scale 50 cm diameter bed. The Two‐Fluid Model (TFM) is employed to describe the solids motion efficiently while bubbles are detected and tracked using MS3DATA. Detailed statistics of the flow‐field in and around bubbles are computed and used to describe bubble‐induced solids micromixing: solids upflow driven in the nose and wake regions while downflow along the bubble walls. Further, within these regions, the hydrodynamics are dependent only on particle and bubble characteristics, and relatively independent of the global operating conditions. Based on this finding, a predictive mechanistic, analytical model is developed which integrates bubble‐induced micromixing contributions over their size and spatial distributions to describe the gross solids circulation within the fluidized bed. Finally, it is shown that solids mixing is affected adversely in the presence of gas bypass, or throughflow, particularly in the fluidization of heavier particles. This is because of inefficient gas solids contacting as 30–50% of the superficial gas flow escapes with 2–3× shorter residence time through the bed. This is one of the first large‐scale studies where both the gas (bubble) and solids motion, and their interaction, are investigated in detail and the developed framework is useful for predicting solids mixing in large‐scale reactors as well as for analyzing mixing dynamics in complex reactive particulate systems. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4316–4328, 2017     

Effect of demineralization and heating rate on the pyrolysis kinetics of Jordanian oil shales

The effect of mineral matter content on the activation energy of oil shale pyrolysis has been studied. Kerogen was isolated from raw oil shale by sequential HCl and HCl/HF digestion. Oil shale and kerogen samples were pyrolyzed in a Thermogravimetric Analyzer at different heating rates (1, 3, 5, 10, 30, and 50 °C/min) up to a temperature of 1000 °C. Total mass loss of all oil shale samples remained almost constant irrespective of the heating rate employed, whereas it decreased with the increase of heating rate for kerogen (74.5 to 71.4%). From the pyrolysis profile activation energy (Ea) was found to vary between 70 and 83 kJ/mol for oil shale, while 82-112 kJ/mol has been determined for isolated kerogen. An increase of both Ea and pre-exponential factor was observed with an increasing heating rate. It is concluded that the mineral matter in oil shale enhances catalytic cracking as is evident from the reduced Ea values of oil shale compared with those for kerogen.