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_ This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 214799, “Novel Janus Carbon Nanofluids From Waste Plastics as Sustainable Nanoagents for Enhanced Oil Recovery: Scaleup Synthesis and Performance Evaluation,” by Wei Wang, Sehoon Chang, SPE, and Ayrat Gizzatov, SPE, Saudi Aramco, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed. _ The complete paper describes nanomaterials—Janus carbon nanofluids—derived from waste plastics and demonstrates the potential of the nanofluids as highly effective alternative nanoagents for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications at reservoir conditions. A novel, sustainable, cost-effective method has been developed to scale up synthesis of Janus carbon nanoparticles (JC-NPs) from waste plastic feedstock by combined pyrolysis, chemical functionalization, and pulverization, which allows for production of the JC-NPs in mass quantities at an industrial scale. Introduction Recent research has demonstrated that nanoparticles with asymmetric surface properties (i.e., Janus nanoparticles) could achieve a much higher efficiency of oil recovery factors with very low concentrations of loading compared with homogeneous nanoparticle fluids. To date, however, major challenges facing the exploration and use of Janus nanoparticles exist, impeding scalability of synthesis, tailored chemical functionalization, and the ability to introduce a diverse set of functionalities. Therefore, new methods for production of Janus nanomaterials on an industrial scale are desired. The authors present a novel technique to convert waste plastic materials into carbon-based nanomaterials for EOR applications. Waste plastics, as a low-cost feedstock, can be converted into high-value-added carbon-based microparticles through the controlled carbonization of polymers. Furthermore, the carbon microparticles (C-MPs) can be surface-functionalized by post-chemical treatment and then their chemical symmetry reduced to nanosize by a ball-milling technique. The resulting asymmetrically surface-functionalized carbon nanoparticles (i.e., Janus C-NPs) exhibit both nanoparticulate and surfactant-like properties that can be used as new nanoagents in nanofluid flooding for EOR applications. Experimental materials and measurement methodology are detailed in the complete paper. Results and Discussion Synthesis of C-MPs From Waste Polymers. Approximately 90% of the plastics produced globally consist of six types: low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Given their widespread use, these waste polymers constitute a substantial proportion of global plastic waste. Therefore, they present an opportunity to be used as precursors in the synthesis of C-MPs. This study offers an approach for repurposing these ubiquitous waste polymers. As depicted in Fig. 1, the authors propose synthesis of C-MPs through carbonization reactions using these waste polymers as feedstock. This methodology offers dual benefits. First, it presents a practical solution to the growing environmental concern posed by plastic waste. Second, it provides a cost-effective way to produce C-MPs, an essential component in many technological applications.
- Materials > Chemicals > Commodity Chemicals > Petrochemicals (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (0.55)
_ This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 211539, “New Low-ECD Organophilic Clay-Free Inverted Emulsion Fluid Weighted With Manganese Tetroxide Showed Superior Performance in Different Fields: Success Story of Drilling With OCIEF in High-Overbalance Environment Without Downhole Problems, Stuck-Pipe Events, and Nonproductive Time,” by Vikrant Wagle, SPE, Abdullah Yami, SPE, and Abdullah Al Moajil, SPE, Saudi Aramco, et al. The paper has not been peer reviewed. _ The complete paper describes the success of using a new low-equivalent-circulating-density (ECD) organophilic clay-free inverted emulsion fluid (OCIEF) in gas reservoirs at elevated temperatures and with differential pressures up to 4,500 psi. The objective of the paper is to highlight the superior performance of OCIEF over barite-based conventional invert-emulsion drilling fluids and formate-based, water-based drilling fluids in the study. The fluid overcame challenges in such an environment without compromising performance. Introduction The new low-ECD OCIEF, using manganese tetroxide as the weighting agent, was developed with an aim to offer improved drilling performance in maturing fields. Its nondamaging nature, the result of the presence of the acid-soluble and micronized manganese tetroxide, would help to complete the well with an openhole design. In an OCIEF, the organophilic clay and organophilic lignite are replaced by a polymeric viscosifier and a polymeric filtration-control agent, respectively. A unique gel structure is provided by the use of the polymeric viscosifier in the oil-based drilling fluid. Also, it not only increases cuttings-carrying capacity but also helps to increase barite sag resistance in the fluid. In the absence of low-gravity solids in terms of organoclay and organolignite, an OCIEF shows low plastic viscosity and a higher rate of penetration compared with conventional organoclay-based oil-based muds. In the OCIEF described in the paper, the solids content has been further reduced by replacing the barite (4.2 SG) with manganese tetroxide (4.8 SG). The acid solubility of manganese tetroxide would make the drilling fluid nondamaging, especially for reservoir zones. Formulation of Low-ECD OCIEF. The OCIEF was designed for long lateral sections where low rates of penetration (ROPs) can be observed in a slimhole drilling environment with a bottomhole temperature (BHT) of approximately 300°F. The OCIEF was tested for drilling in high-static overbalance conditions (3,000–4,500 psi) and had to be resistant to potential contaminants. The OCIEF was formulated with the acid-soluble manganese tetroxide with a water-phase salinity of 200,000–250,000 ppm. Two 95-lbm/ft OCIEFs were formulated. The 95-lbm/ft OCIEF 1 was developed with an engineered bridging package of variously sized ground marbles. This formulation was specifically for short laterals and lower differential pressures. The acid solubility of the ground-marble-based package was an additional benefit of the OCIEF 1 fluid formulation. An alternate, OCIEF 2, was developed for longer intervals with higher overbalance conditions. OCIEF 2 was formulated with a bridging package that included sized resilient graphite, fibers, and sized ground marble. The bridging package was designed for longer laterals because it was expected that the bridging solids would undergo increased mechanical attrition. A single polymeric filtration-control additive was used in both formulations.
- Geology > Mineral > Sulfate > Barite (0.66)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Organic-Rich Rock > Coal (0.55)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (0.55)
At the recent SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by SPE, Aramco Americas, and Houston-based software company i2k Connect Inc. to explore the development of a large language model (LLM) that is energy-industry specific. The goal is to advance SPE's current artificial intelligence (AI)-driven research portal, which includes technical literature from OnePetro, to help energy professionals with research, identify industry experts, and solve E&P problems others may have previously encountered. OnePetro is considered the definitive resource on upstream oil and gas with contributions from 22 publishing partners and access to more than 314,000 items. SPE manages the multisociety library and contributes approximately 50% of the technical content. ChatGPT and other similar natural language processing tools mimic human conversations to assist people with questions and tasks.
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (0.99)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (0.67)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (0.69)
Abstract This paper will discuss methods, best practices, and lessons learned to optimize a highly successful Saudi Aramco Upstream Professional Onboarding Program (UPOP), meeting the business needs to deliver the same program in a shorter time frame. The need to optimize the program emerged due to an influx of new hires in conjunction with a global pandemic that reduced the number of participants per class due to social distancing measures. UPOP was originally designed to walk newly hired Upstream professionals through the upstream lifecycle by using a project that demonstrates the upstream workflow. Participants in this program gain confidence by working on real projects and are expected to give presentations to senior employees explaining the key decisions at each stage of the upstream lifecycle. These activities enhance their skills in leadership, networking, presentation, and communication. This project-based onboarding program was originally designed by the Upstream Professional Development Center (UPDC) as an 8-week program. As the program has reached a mature stage with over forty (40) successful deliveries and multiple opportunities to apply participant feedback, it was recently optimized to five (5) weeks for in-class delivery without sacrificing quality. The global pandemic pushed the need for a 3-week Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) version. The development process involved updating and developing program content to remove scrap learning while enhancing key outcomes. The UPDC team of geoscience subject matter experts (SMEs), petroleum engineering SMEs, soft skills instructors, and learning technology professionals identified and removed course content that was planned to be covered in other courses planned in the young professionals’ prescribed learning curriculum. The revised UPOP optimized participant in-class training to maximize participants’ on-the-job performance by removing redundancies and providing new hires with an overview of the company's upstream lifecycle. Additionally, creating an optimized version of the onboarding program has made it possible to offer the program four times per year to meet the increasing demand for onboarding new hires. The current customized UPOP is designed to minimize the amount of time required for new hires to complete the program without sacrificing content for on-the-job tasks and objectives. The number of sessions per year has doubled, and the number of participants has increased by 75% since the program's inception in 2010.
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Seismic processing and interpretation (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reserves Evaluation > Estimates of resource in place (1.00)
- Management > Professionalism, Training, and Education > Personnel competence (1.00)
- (2 more...)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (0.47)
It's not exactly what the doctor ordered, but expired medications may help treat one of the oil and gas industry's costliest ailments--corrosion. This is according to a new study from Saudi Aramco and its EXPEC Advanced Research Center in Dhahran that put several common medications through standard industry corrosion testing. Published this week at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi, SPE 216036 shows at least one of the unnamed drugs passed those tests with flying colors and is being investigated by the national oil company as a possible alternative to conventional corrosion inhibitors. The proposal comes as the oil and gas industry faces an annual corrosion bill of more than 1.3 billion, according to figures from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers. The particular focus of the Aramco study was to identify medications that could be deployed downhole during acid stimulation treatments, a common technique in Saudi Arabia for enhancing permeability within deep carbonate reservoirs.
- Asia > Middle East > UAE > Abu Dhabi Emirate > Abu Dhabi (0.25)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Dhahran (0.25)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
Berri Increment Project Approach to Improve Hydrocarbon Condensate Quality
Al-Zahrani, Talal A. (Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) | Al-Hajri, Ali M. (Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) | Al-Ghanem, Hashem H. (Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) | Salu, Samusideen A. (Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) | Al-Otaibi, Fahad M. (Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
Abstract As part of Berri Crude Increment Project, 40 MBD of Hydrocarbons (HC) Condensate will be separated in the new associated gas gathering system of Abu Ali oil producing facility. The condensate will be collected and exported via a 70 km pipeline. The extent and impact of water presence in the condensate was thoroughly evaluated during the FEED stage of the project, as it is common among similar oil and gas processing plants, and contributed to difficulties — for downstream pipelines and receiving facilities, especially at turndown operations — with such problems as corrosion, solids deposition, sludging and hydrate formation. The objective is to develop a robust and cost-effective process designed to tackle this challenge and ensure production reliability. The team evaluated several options to resolve this design challenge, including the following mitigations: Chemical injection of hydrates and corrosion inhibitors in the export condensate pipeline Installation of liquid/liquid coalescers to filter the export condensates Installation of a condensate stripping system at Abu Ali to boil water Relocating the TEG system to upstream all condensate removal drums in the gas plant to ensure collecting only "dry" condensate to the export condensate drum. Installation of a liquid dehydration package for the export condensates. The package mainly includes a molecular sieve and solid desiccant adsorption beds. A combination of three options were selected for the design of the Abu Ali export condensate system. Free water removal by liquid/liquid coalescer with full redundancy to improve the efficiency of the molecular sieve. Dissolved water removal by liquid dehydration package. Backup methanol injection and corrosion inhibitor for emergency operations. This new process design has some unique aspects that are worth of highlighting, such as: The first installation of its kind in Saudi Aramco upstream facilities for raw hydrocarbon condensate. The first installation of a molecular sieve dehydration process for sour condensate in Saudi Aramco.
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Midstream (1.00)
Saudi Aramco, as the world's leader in energy supply, spares no effort to explore innovative approaches and techniques to ensure a sufficient supply of energy to the world. This arises while ensuring to manage the carbon footprint that will be resulted oil production, and to maximize the value creation from the operating facilities. This also includes the relentless efforts to unlock the full potential of the Kingdom's resources. Therefore, Saudi Aramco strives to reduce flaring and minimize carbon footprint at its premises. In spite of all the exerted efforts, strict policies, challenging targets and investments to achieve a continual improvement in environment protection, it would be hard to avoid a performance plateau without breakthrough solutions. This is particularly true in Saudi Aramco, considering the large geographical area in which different facilities are scattered. In addition, environment protection and flaring reduction is an increasingly important topic that needs to be considered today more than ever to minimize the side effects of our operation in order to achieve circular carbon economy and net zero. One of the best areas to protect our environment at industrial facilities is to minimize flaring during our normal operation. This is especially if flaring in correlated to some mode of operation that will entail production and wells performance.
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Sustainability/Social Responsibility > Sustainable development (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment > Climate change (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment > Air emissions (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Processing Systems and Design > Separation and treating (1.00)
Abstract Southern Area Oil Operations (SAOO) of Saudi Aramco Upstream Business line, where energy is harnessed to create a better tomorrow, is a crucial part of the company’s jigsaw puzzle of operations, and encompasses some of the largest hydrocarbon producing and processing facilities in the world, including numerous gas Oil Separation Plants (GOSPs). SAOO is spread over 200,000 Km2, and include Ghawar field, the world’s largest oil field, Abqaiq Plants, which are the world’s largest oil processing facilities, SWID, the world’s largest seawater treatment plant, and Khurais Central Processing Facility, which is the largest single increment oil project ever undertaken. Southern Area Oil Operations is on a continuous journey of sustainability, where every department works very hard to meet its production targets safely, while not over consuming resources and minimizing its impact on the environment. A continuous journey of sustainability means that SAOO strives to do its best with changing business demands, changing regulations and changing allocation of resources. It is a journey, since the dynamics of doing business change very frequently and where an agile and nimble business running model is a must for continuous success; and SAOO is successful. The world is witnessing a groundbreaking transformation as technology continues to revolutionize the globe around us. SAOO does not want to merely keep pace with this digital evolution, but rather aspire to be at the forefront and drive the change within the oil & gas industry. SAOO has established a strong digital strategy with well-defined strategic priority areas aligned with cooperate-wide goals. These strategic priority areas are aimed at addressing key operational challenges faced during SAOO digital transformation journey and ensuring that the utilized digital solutions work together seamlessly. SAOO leadership and workforce is actively engaged in the digital transformation journey, and has established a steering committee and developed a technology framework to ensure smooth strategy execution. SAOO strategy addresses four key challenges; technology deployments that are NOT Fit-For-Purpose, a lack of enablers, technologies’ duplication, and 4IR knowledge gap. The strategy will alleviate these challenges by creating a modular business-based digital model through a connected digital transformation approach, while building SAOO’s workforce digital skills and knowledge to become future-ready.
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Abqaiq (0.25)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Al-Ahsa Governorate (0.25)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Asia Government > Middle East Government > Saudi Arabia Government (0.91)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Al-Ahsa Governorate > Arabian Basin > Widyan Basin > Ghawar Field > Lower Fadhili Formation (0.99)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Al-Ahsa Governorate > Arabian Basin > Widyan Basin > Ghawar Field > Khuff D Formation (0.99)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia > Eastern Province > Al-Ahsa Governorate > Arabian Basin > Widyan Basin > Ghawar Field > Khuff C Formation (0.99)
- (4 more...)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Robots (0.70)
- Information Technology > Data Science (0.69)