Search results for: onshore hydrocarbon pipelines

Authors: Masood Abdollahi, Seyed Naser Moghaddas Tafreshi

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Expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam is a cellular geosynthetic material that can be used to protect lifelines (e.g. pipelines, electricity cables, etc.) below ground. Post and beam system is the most recent configuration of EPS blocks which can be implemented for this purpose. It provides a void space atop lifelines which allows settlement of the loading surface with imposing no pressure on the lifelines system. This paper investigates the efficiency of the configuration of post-beam system subjected to static loading. To evaluate the soil surface settlement, beam deformation and transferred pressure over the beam, laboratory tests using two different densities for EPS blocks are conducted. The effect of geogrid-reinforcing the cover soil on system response is also investigated. The experimental results show favorable performance of EPS post and beam configuration in protecting underground lifelines. 

Keywords: beam deformation, EPS block, laboratory test, post-Beam system, soil surface settlement

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Authors: A. O. Mikhailov, N. I. Gerasimov, K. N. Morozov, I. V. Grachev

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The most advanced method of onboard equipment installation on the world shipbuilding practice is modular method, or modularization. The main idea of this is assembly of equipment, pipelines and hull structures in so called assembly units yet at the shopfloor. Those assembly units are thereafter loaded and installed inside the ship's hull. This allows to reduce labour intensiveness and significantly improve assembly quality, due to the fact that a good part of installation work is performed in the shops, instead of restricted onboard premises. Also, this method allows performing equipment installation at very early stages of hull erection. This practice is widely spread in naval submarines building. However, in merchant shipbuilding, equipment is installed mostly individually. To implement modular principles of equipment installation in designing and construction of civil ships and marine rigs, some new technologies are being developed in the following areas. The paper contains main principles and already achieved results in the above mentioned areas.

Keywords: assembly and installation technology, onboard equipment installation, large-scale assembly units, modular method

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Authors: Ashish James, Anusha James

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The impressive predictive performance of deep learning techniques on a wide range of tasks has led to its widespread use. Estimating the confidence of these predictions is paramount for improving the safety and reliability of such systems. However, the uncertainty estimates provided by neural networks (NNs) tend to be overconfident and unreasonable. Ensemble of NNs typically produce good predictions but uncertainty estimates tend to be inconsistent. Inspired by these, this paper presents a framework that can quantitatively estimate the uncertainties by leveraging the advances in transfer learning through slight modification to the existing training pipelines. This promising algorithm is developed with an intention of deployment in real world problems which already boast a good predictive performance by reusing those pretrained models. The idea is to capture the behavior of the trained NNs for the base task by augmenting it with the uncertainty estimates from a supplementary network. A series of experiments with known and unknown distributions show that the proposed approach produces well calibrated uncertainty estimates with high quality predictions.

Keywords: uncertainty estimation, neural networks, transfer learning, regression

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Authors: C. J. Tien, C. S. Chen, S. F. Huang, Z. X. Wang

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Algae in soil ecosystems can produce organic matters and oxygen by photosynthesis. Heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen to increase soil nitrogen contents. Secretion of mucilage by some algae increases the soil water content and soil aggregation. These actions will improve soil quality and fertility, and further increase abundance and diversity of soil microorganisms. In addition, some mixotrophic and heterotrophic algae are able to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to analyze the effects of algal addition on the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), diversity and activity of bacteria and algae in the diesel-contaminated soil under different nutrient contents and frequency of plowing and irrigation in order to assess the potential bioremediation technique using edaphic algae. The known amount of diesel was added into the farmland soil. This diesel-contaminated soil was subject to five settings, experiment-1 with algal addition by plowing and irrigation every two weeks, experiment-2 with algal addition by plowing and irrigation every four weeks, experiment-3 with algal and nutrient addition by plowing and irrigation every two weeks, experiment-4 with algal and nutrient addition by plowing and irrigation every four weeks, and the control without algal addition. Soil samples were taken every two weeks to analyze TPH concentrations, diversity of bacteria and algae, and catabolic genes encoding functional degrading enzymes. The results show that the TPH removal rates of five settings after the two-month experimental period were in the order: experiment-2 > expermient-4 > experiment-3 > experiment-1 > control. It indicated that algal addition enhanced the degradation of TPH in the diesel-contaminated soil, but not for nutrient addition. Plowing and irrigation every four weeks resulted in more TPH removal than that every two weeks. The banding patterns of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed an increase in diversity of bacteria and algae after algal addition. Three petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading algae (Anabaena sp., Oscillatoria sp. and Nostoc sp.) and two added algal strains (Leptolyngbya sp. and Synechococcus sp.) were sequenced from DGGE prominent bands. The four hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria Gordonia sp., Mycobacterium sp., Rodococcus sp. and Alcanivorax sp. were abundant in the treated soils. These results suggested that growth of indigenous bacteria and algae were improved after adding edaphic algae. Real-time polymerase chain reaction results showed that relative amounts of four catabolic genes encoding catechol 2, 3-dioxygenase, toluene monooxygenase, xylene monooxygenase and phenol monooxygenase were appeared and expressed in the treated soil. The addition of algae increased the expression of these genes at the end of experiments to biodegrade petroleum hydrocarbons. This study demonstrated that edaphic algae were suitable biomaterials for bioremediating diesel-contaminated soils with plowing and irrigation every four weeks.

Keywords: catabolic gene, diesel, diversity, edaphic algae

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Authors: Mhaned Oubounyt, Jan Baumbach

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Differences in co-expression networks between two or multiple cells (sub)types across conditions is a pressing problem in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). A key challenge is to define those co-variations that differ between or among cell types and/or conditions and phenotypes to examine small regulatory networks that can explain mechanistic differences. To this end, we developed SCANet, an all-in-one Python package that uses state-of-the-art algorithms to facilitate the workflow of a combined single-cell GCN (Gene Correlation Network) and GRN (Gene Regulatory Networks) pipeline, including inference of gene co-expression modules from scRNA-seq, followed by trait and cell type associations, hub gene detection, co-regulatory networks, and drug-gene interactions. In an example case, we illustrate how SCANet can be applied to identify regulatory drivers behind a cytokine storm associated with mortality in patients with acute respiratory illness. SCANet is available as a free, open-source, and user-friendly Python package that can be easily integrated into systems biology pipelines.

Keywords: single-cell, co-expression networks, drug-gene interactions, co-regulatory networks

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Authors: Margarita S. Tikhonova, Alireza Baniasad, Anton G. Kalmykov, Georgy A. Kalmykov, Ralf Littke

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There is a high complexity in the pore structure of organic-rich rocks caused by the combination of inter-particle porosity from inorganic mineral matter and ultrafine intra-particle porosity from both organic matter and clay minerals. Fluids are retained in that pore space, but there are major uncertainties in how and where the fluids are stored and to what extent they are accessible or trapped in 'closed' pores. A large degree of tortuosity may lead to fractionation of organic matter so that the lighter and flexible compounds would diffuse to the reservoir whereas more complicated compounds may be locked in place. Additionally, parts of hydrocarbons could be bound to solid organic matter –kerogen– and mineral matrix during expulsion and migration. Larger compounds can occupy thin channels so that clogging or oil and gas entrapment will occur. Sequential extraction of applying different solvents is a powerful tool to provide more information about the characteristics of trapped organic matter distribution. The Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Bazhenov shale is one of the most petroliferous source rock extended in West Siberia, Russia. Concerning the variable mineral composition, pore space distribution and thermal maturation, there are high uncertainties in distribution and composition of organic matter in this formation. In order to address this issue geological and geochemical properties of 30 samples including mineral composition (XRD and XRF), structure and texture (thin-section microscopy), organic matter contents, type and thermal maturity (Rock-Eval) as well as molecular composition (GC-FID and GC-MS) of different extracted materials during sequential extraction were considered. Sequential extraction was performed by a Soxhlet apparatus using different solvents, i.e., n-hexane, chloroform and ethanol-benzene (1:1 v:v) first on core plugs and later on pulverized materials. The results indicate that the studied samples are mainly composed of type II kerogen with TOC contents varied from 5 to 25%. The thermal maturity ranged from immature to late oil window. Whereas clay contents decreased with increasing maturity, the amount of silica increased in the studied samples. According to molecular geochemistry, stored hydrocarbons in open and closed pore space reveal different geochemical fingerprints. The results improve our understanding of hydrocarbon expulsion and migration in the organic-rich Bazhenov shale and therefore better estimation of hydrocarbon potential for this formation.

Keywords: Bazhenov formation, bitumen, molecular geochemistry, sequential extraction

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Authors: Hammad Aziz

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Intumescent fire retardant coating (IFRC) is applied on the surface of material requiring fire protection. In this research work, IFRC’s were developed using ammonium polyphosphate, expandable graphite, melamine, boric acid, zinc borate, mica, magnesium oxide, and bisphenol A BE-188 with polyamide polyamine H-4014 as curing agent. Formulations were prepared using nano size MgO and compared with control formulation i.e. without nano size MgO. Small scale hydrocarbon fire test was conducted to scrutinize the thermal performance of the coating. Char and coating were further characterized by using FESEM, FTIR, EDS, TGA and DTGA. Thus, Intumescent coatings reinforced with 2 wt. % of nano-MgO (rod shaped particles) provide superior thermal performance and uniform microstructure of char due to well dispersion of nano particles.

Keywords: intumescent coating, char, SEM, TGA

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Authors: S. Ghafoori, A. Al-Harbi, B. Al-Ajmi, A. Al-Shaalan, A. Al-Ajmi, M. Ali Juma

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Seismic methods play an important role in the exploration for hydrocarbon reservoirs. However, the success of the method depends strongly on the reliability of the measured or predicted information regarding the velocity of sound in the media. Speed of sound has been used to study the thermodynamic properties of fluids. In this study, experimental data are reported and analyzed on the speed of sound in toluene and octane binary mixture. Three-factor three-level Box-Benhkam design is used to determine the significance of each factor, the synergetic effects of the factors, and the most significant factors on speed of sound. The developed mathematical model and statistical analysis provided a critical analysis of the simultaneous interactive effects of the independent variables indicating that the developed quadratic models were highly accurate and predictive.

Keywords: experimental design, octane, speed of sound, toluene

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Authors: Tareg Omar Mansour, Khaled Omar Elhaji

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Model solutions of pentanol in the salt water of various concentrations were subjected to electrochemical oxidation using a dimensionally stable anode (DSA) and a platinised titanium cathode. The removal of pentanol was analysed over time using gas chromatography (GC) and by monitoring the total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of the reaction mixture. It was found that the removal of pentanol occurred more efficiently at higher salinities and higher applied electrical current values. When using a salt concentration of 20,000 ppm and an applied current of 100 mA there was a decrease in concentration of pentanol of 15 %. When the salt concentration and applied current were increased to 58,000 ppm and 500 mA respectively, the decrease in concentration was improved to 64 %.

Keywords: dimensionally stable anode (DSA), total organic hydrocarbon (TOC), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), electrochemical oxidation

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Authors: S. Mahmoudi, A. Belhaj Mohamed, M. Saidi, F. Rezgui

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Depositional environment and source potential of the different organic rich levels of Devonian age (up to 990m thick) from the onshore EC-1 well (Southern Tunisia) were investigated using different geochemical techniques (Rock-Eval pyrolysis, GC-MS) of over than 130 cutting samples. The obtained results including Rock Eval Pyrolysis data and biomarker distribution (terpanes, steranes and aromatics) have been used to describe the depositional environment and to assess the thermal maturity of the Devonian organic matter. These results show that the Emsian deposits exhibit poor to fair TOC contents. The associated organic matter is composed of mixed kerogen (type II/III), as indicated by the predominance of C29 steranes over C27 and C28 homologous, that was deposited in a slightly reduced environment favoring organic matter preservation. Thermal maturity assessed from Tmax, TNR and MPI-1 values shows a mature stage of organic matter. The Middle Devonian (Eifelian) shales are rich in type II organic matter that was deposited in an open marine depositional environment. The TOC values are high and vary between 2 and 7 % indicating good to excellent source rock. The relatively high IH values (reaching 547 mg HC/g TOC) and the low values of t19/t23 ratio (down to 0.2) confirm the marine origin of the organic matter (type II). During the Upper Devonian, the organic matter was deposited under variable redox conditions, oxic to suboxic which is clearly indicated by the low C35/C34 hopanes ratio, immature to marginally mature with the vitrinite reflectance ranging from 0.5 to 0.7 Ro and Tmax value of 426°C-436 °C and the TOC values range between 0.8% to 4%.

Keywords: biomarker, depositional environment, devonian, source rock

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Authors: Siamack A. Shirazi, Farzin Darihaki

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Solid particles could be found in many multiphase flows, including transport pipelines and pipe fittings. Such particles interact with the pipe material and cause erosion which threats the integrity of the system. Therefore, predicting the erosion rate is an important factor in the design and the monitor of such systems. Mechanistic models can provide reliable predictions for many conditions while demanding only relatively low computational cost. Mechanistic models utilize a representative particle trajectory to predict the impact characteristics of the majority of the particle impacts that cause maximum erosion rate in the domain. The erosion caused by particle impacts is not only due to the direct impacts but also random impingements. In the present study, an alternative model has been introduced to describe the erosion due to random impingement of particles. The present model provides a realistic trend for erosion with changes in the particle size and particle Stokes number. The present model is examined against the experimental data and CFD simulation results and indicates better agreement with the data incomparison to the available models in the literature.

Keywords: erosion, mechanistic modeling, particles, multiphase flow, gas-liquid-solid

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Authors: Pardhasaradhi Gudla, Imanual A.

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The generated electrical power in offshore needs to be transmitted to grid which is located in onshore by using subsea cables. Long subsea cables produce reactive power, which should be compensated in order to limit transmission losses, to optimize the transmission capacity, and to keep the grid voltage within the safe operational limits. Installation cost of wind farm includes the structure design cost and electrical system cost. India has targeted to achieve 175GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 including offshore wind power generation. Due to sea depth is more in India, the installation cost will be further high when compared to European countries where offshore wind energy is already generating successfully. So innovations are required to reduce the offshore wind power project cost. This paper presents the optimized techniques to reduce the installation cost of offshore wind firm with respect to electrical transmission systems. This technical paper provides the techniques for increasing the current carrying capacity of subsea cable by decreasing the reactive power generation (capacitance effect) of the subsea cable. There are many methods for reactive power compensation in wind power plants so far in execution. The main reason for the need of reactive power compensation is capacitance effect of subsea cable. So if we diminish the cable capacitance of cable then the requirement of the reactive power compensation will be reduced or optimized by avoiding the intermediate substation at midpoint of the transmission network.

Keywords: offshore wind power, optimized techniques, power system, sub sea cable

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Authors: Hasan Aydogan

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The changes in the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of bioethanol-safflower biodiesel and diesel fuel blends used in a common rail diesel engine were investigated in this experimental study. E20B20D60 (20% bioethanol, 20% biodiesel, 60% diesel fuel by volume), E30B20D50, E50B20D30 and diesel fuel (D) were used as fuel. The tests were performed at full throttle valve opening and variable engine speeds. The results of the tests showed decreases in engine power, engine torque, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC) and smoke density values with the use of bioethanol-biodiesel and diesel fuel blends, whereas, increases were observed in nitrogen oxide (NOx) and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) values. When combustion characteristics were examined, it was seen that the values were close to one another.

Keywords: bioethanol, biodiesel, safflower, combustion characteristics

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Authors: Shin Je Lee, Go Bong Choi, Jeong Cheol Seo, Jong Min Lee, Gibaek Lee

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Water pipe network is installed underground and once equipped; it is difficult to recognize the state of pipes when the leak or burst happens. Accordingly, post management is often delayed after the fault occurs. Therefore, the systematic fault management system of water pipe network is required to prevent the accident and minimize the loss. In this work, we develop online fault detection system of water pipe network using data of pipes such as flow rate or pressure. The transient model describing water flow in pipelines is presented and simulated using Matlab. The fault situations such as the leak or burst can be also simulated and flow rate or pressure data when the fault happens are collected. Faults are detected using statistical methods of fast Fourier transform and discrete wavelet transform, and they are compared to find which method shows the better fault detection performance.

Keywords: fault detection, water pipeline model, fast Fourier transform, discrete wavelet transform

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Authors: M. Sadique, S. Ainane, Y. F. Yap, P. Rostron, E. Al Hajri

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The presence of sand in production lines in the oil and gas industries causes material degradation due to erosion-corrosion. The material degradation caused by erosion-corrosion in pipelines can result in a high cost of monitoring and maintenance and in major accidents. The process of erosion-corrosion consists of erosion, corrosion, and their interactions. Investigating and understanding how the erosion-corrosion process affects the degradation process in certain materials will allow for a reduction in economic loss and help prevent accidents. In this study, material loss due to erosion-corrosion of mild steel under impingement of sand-laden water at 90˚ impingement angle is investigated using a submerged impingement jet (SIJ) test. In particular, effects of jet velocity and sand loading on TWL due to erosion-corrosion, weight loss due to pure erosion and erosion-corrosion interactions, at a temperature of 29-33 °C in sea water environment (3.5% NaCl), are analyzed. The results show that the velocity and sand loading have a great influence on the removal of materials, and erosion is more dominant under all conditions studied. Changes in the surface characteristics of the specimen after impingement test are also discussed.

Keywords: erosion-corrosion, flow velocity, jet impingement, sand loading

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Authors: Mahsa Ja’fari, Mohammad R. Khosravi-Nikou, Mohsen Motavassel

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A comprehensive development towards the production of ultra-clean fuels as a feed stoke is getting to raise due to the increasing use of diesel fuels and global air pollution. Production of environmental-friendly fuels can be achievable by some limited single methods and most integrated ones. Oxidative desulfurization (ODS) presents vast ranges of technologies possessing suitable characteristics with regard to the Fenton process. Using toluene as a model fuel feed with dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a sulfur compound under various operating conditions is the attempt of this study. The results showed that this oxidative process followed a pseudo-first order kinetics. Removal efficiency of 77.43% is attained under reaction time of 40 minutes with (Fe⁺²/H₂O₂) molar ratio of 0.05 in acidic pH environment. In this research, temperature of 50 °C represented the most influential role in proceeding the reaction.

Keywords: design of experiment (DOE), dibenzothiophene (DBT), optimization, oxidative desulfurization (ODS)

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Authors: Amares Chattopadhyay, Akanksha Srivastava

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A unified approach to study the reflection of a plane wave in three-dimensional model comprised of the triclinic viscoelastic medium. The phase velocities of reflected qP, qSV and qSH wave have been calculated for the concerned medium by using the eigenvalue approach. The generalized method has been implemented to compute the complex form of amplitude ratios. Further, we discussed the nature of reflection coefficients of qP, qSV and qSH wave. The viscoelastic parameter, polar angle and azimuthal angle are found to be strongly influenced by amplitude ratios. The research article is particularly focused to study the effect of viscoelasticity associated with highly anisotropic media which exhibits the notable information about the reflection coefficients of qP, qSV, and qSH wave. The outcomes may further useful to the better exploration of all types of hydrocarbon reservoir and advancement in the field of reflection seismology.

Keywords: amplitude ratios, three dimensional, triclinic, viscoelastic

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Authors: Solanki Ravirajsinh, Kudo Kuniaki, Sharma Ankit, Devi Sherine, Kuboshima Misaki, Tachi Shuntaro

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In software development life cycles, the absence of scalable CI/CD significantly impacts organizations, leading to increased overall maintenance costs, prolonged release delivery times, heightened manual efforts, and difficulties in meeting tight deadlines. Implementing CI/CD with standard serverless technologies using cloud services overcomes all the above-mentioned issues and helps organizations improve efficiency and faster delivery without the need to manage server maintenance and capacity. By integrating scalable CI/CD with scalable automation testing, productivity, quality, and agility are enhanced while reducing the need for repetitive work and manual efforts. Implementing scalable CI/CD for development using cloud services like ECS (Container Management Service), AWS Fargate, ECR (to store Docker images with all dependencies), Serverless Computing (serverless virtual machines), Cloud Log (for monitoring errors and logs), Security Groups (for inside/outside access to the application), Docker Containerization (Docker-based images and container techniques), Jenkins (CI/CD build management tool), and code management tools (GitHub, Bitbucket, AWS CodeCommit) can efficiently handle the demands of diverse development environments and are capable of accommodating dynamic workloads, increasing efficiency for faster delivery with good quality. CI/CD pipelines encourage collaboration among development, operations, and quality assurance teams by providing a centralized platform for automated testing, deployment, and monitoring. Scalable CI/CD streamlines the development process by automatically fetching the latest code from the repository every time the process starts, building the application based on the branches, testing the application using a scalable automation testing framework, and deploying the builds. Developers can focus more on writing code and less on managing infrastructure as it scales based on the need. Serverless CI/CD eliminates the need to manage and maintain traditional CI/CD infrastructure, such as servers and build agents, reducing operational overhead and allowing teams to allocate resources more efficiently. Scalable CI/CD adjusts the application's scale according to usage, thereby alleviating concerns about scalability, maintenance costs, and resource needs. Creating scalable automation testing using cloud services (ECR, ECS Fargate, Docker, EFS, Serverless Computing) helps organizations run more than 500 test cases in parallel, aiding in the detection of race conditions, performance issues, and reducing execution time. Scalable CI/CD offers flexibility, dynamically adjusting to varying workloads and demands, allowing teams to scale resources up or down as needed. It optimizes costs by only paying for the resources as they are used and increases reliability. Scalable CI/CD pipelines employ automated testing and validation processes to detect and prevent errors early in the development cycle.

Keywords: achieve parallel execution, cloud services, scalable automation testing, scalable continuous integration and deployment

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Authors: Penrug Pengsombut, Worawut Hamarn, Teerawuth Suwannasri, Kittiphong Songrukkiat, Kanatip Ratanachoo

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PTT Public Company Limited or simply PTT has played an important role in strengthening national energy security of the Kingdom of Thailand by transporting natural gas to customers in power, industrial and commercial sectors since 1981. PTT has been constructing and operating natural gas pipeline system of over 4,500-km network length both onshore and offshore laid through different area classifications i.e., marine, forest, agriculture, rural, urban, and city areas. During project development phase, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is conducted and submitted to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) for approval before project construction commencement. Knowledge and experiences gained and revealed from EIA in the past projects definitely are developed to further advance EIA study process for newly 5th Transmission Natural Gas Pipeline Project (5TP) with approximately 415 kilometers length. The preferred pipeline route is selected and justified by SMARTi map, an advance digital one-map platform with consists of multiple layers geographic and environmental information. Sensitive area impact focus (SAIF) is a practicable impact assessment methodology which appropriate for a particular long distance infrastructure project such as 5TP. An environmental modeling simulation is adopted into SAIF methodology for impact quantified in all sensitive areas whereas other area along pipeline right-of-ways is typically assessed as an impact representative. Resulting time and cost deduction is beneficial to project for early start.

Keywords: environmental impact assessment, EIA, natural gas pipeline, sensitive area impact focus, SAIF

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Authors: Maryam Ehsanpour, Majid Afkhami ‎

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This study investigated the presence of hydrocarbon pollution in industrial waste water sediments found in west coast of Bandar Abass (northern part of Hormoz strait). Therefore, six transects from west of the city were selected. Each transect consists of three stations intervals 100, 600 and 1100 meter from the low tide were sampled in both the summer and winter season (July and January 2009). Physical and chemical parameters of water, concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and soil tissue deposition were evaluated according to standard procedures of MOOPAM. Average results of dissolved oxygen were 6.42 mg/l, temperature 26.31°C, pH 8.55, EC 54.47 ms/cm and salinity 35.98 g/l respectively. Results indicate that minimum, maximum and average concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in sediments were, 60.18, 751.83, and 229.21 µg/kg respectively which are less than comparable studies in other parts of Persian Gulf.

Keywords: oil pollution, Bandar Abbas, costal sediments, TPH ‎

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Authors: Azar Mahmoudi

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Despite the rise of global anti-corruption movements and the strong emergence of international and national anti-corruption laws, corrupt practices are still prevalent in most places, and countries still struggle to translate these laws into practice. On the other hand, in most countries, political and economic elites oppose anti-corruption reforms. In such a situation, the role of external actors, like the other States, international organizations, and transnational actors, becomes essential. Among them, Transnational Corporations [TNCs] can develop their own regime-like framework to govern their internal activities, and through this, they can contribute to the regimes established by State actors to solve transnational issues. Among various regimes, TNCs may choose to comply with the transnational anti-corruption legal regime to avoid the cost of non-compliance with anti-corruption laws. As a result, they decide to strenghen their anti-corruption compliance as they expand into new overseas markets. Such a decision extends anti-corruption standards among their employees and third-party agents and within their projects across countries. To better address the challenges posed by corruption, TNCs have adopted a comprehensive anti-corruption toolkit. Among the various instruments, anti-corruption clauses have become one of the most anti-corruption means in international commercial agreements. Anti-corruption clauses, acting as a due diligence tool, can protect TNCs against the engagement of third-party agents in corrupt practices and further promote anti-corruption standards among businesses operating across countries. An anti-corruption clause allows parties to create a contractual commitment to exclude corrupt practices during the term of their agreement, including all levels of negotiation and implementation. Such a clause offers companies a mechanism to reduce the risk of potential corruption in their dealings with third parties while avoiding civil and administrative penalties. There have been few attempts to examine the role of anti-corruption clauses in the fight against corruption; therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap and examine anti-corruption clauses in a specific sector where corrupt practices are widespread and endemic, i.e., the petroleum industry. This paper argues that anti-corruption clauses are a positive step in ensuring that the petroleum industry operates in an ethical and transparent manner, helping to reducing the risk of corruption and promote integrity in this sector. Contractual anti-corruption clauses vary in terms of the types commitment, so parties have a wide range of options to choose from for their preferred clauses incorporated within their contracts. This paper intends to propose a categorization of anti-corruption clauses in the petroleum sector. It examines particularly the anti-corruption clauses incorporated in transnational hydrocarbon contracts published by the Resource Contract Portal, an online repository of extractive contracts. Then, this paper offers a quantitative assessment of anti-corruption clauses according to the types of contract, the date of conclusion, and the geographical distribution.

Keywords: anti-corruption, oil and gas, transnational corporations, due diligence, contractual clauses, hydrocarbon, petroleum sector

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Authors: Hooman Fallah

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Seawater injection and produced water re-injection are presently the most commonly used approach to enhanced recovery. The dominant factors for total oil recovery are the reservoir temperature, reservoir pressure, crude oil and water composition. In this study, the production under water injection in Soroosh, one of the southern Iranian heavy oil field has been simulated (the fluid properties are focused). In order to reveal the dominant factors in this production process, the sensitivity analysis has been done for the following effective factors, fluid viscosity, initial water saturation, gravity force and injection well strategy. It is crystal clear that the study of the dominant factors in production processes will help the engineers to design the best production mechanisms in our numerous hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Keywords: water injection, initial water saturation, oil viscosity, gravity force, injection well strategy

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Authors: Zhiqiang Cheng, Qingliang He, Lu Li, Jie Ren

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The safety of pipelines in the condition of frost heave or thaw settlement is necessarily evaluated. A full-scale experiment pipe with the typical structure configuration in station pipeline is constructed, the residual stress is tested with X-ray residual stress device, and the residual stress field of pipe is analyzed. The evolution of pipe strain with pressure in the scope of maximum allowable operation pressure (MAOP) is investigated by both strain gauge and X-ray methods. Load caused by frost heave or thaw settlement is simulated by two ways of lifting jack. The relation of maximum stress of pipe and clearances between supporter and pipe is studied in case of frost heave. The relation of maximum stress of pipe and maximum deformation of pipe on the ground is studied in case of thaw settlement. The study methods and results are valuable for safety assessment of station pipeline according to clearances or deformation in the condition of frost heave or thaw settlement.

Keywords: frost heave, pipeline, stress analysis, thaw settlement

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Authors: Daehyun Baek, Seungmin Lee, Minju Kim Jangik Park, Hyeong-Soon Moon

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SPM (Single Point Mooring) is one of the mooring buoy facilities installed on a coast near oil and gas terminal which is not able to berth FPSO or large oil tankers under the condition of high draft due to geometrical limitation. Loading and unloading of crude oil and gas through a subsea pipeline can be carried out between the mooring buoy, ships and onshore facilities. SPM is an offshore-standalone system which has to withstand the harsh marine environment with harsh conditions such as high wind, current and so on. Therefore, SPM is required to have high stability, reliability and durability. Also, SPM is comprised to be integrated systems which consist of power management, high pressure valve control, sophisticated hardware/software and a long distance communication system. In order to secure required functions of SPM system, a simulation model for the integrated system of SPM using MATLAB Simulink and State flow tool has been developed. The developed model consists of configuration of hydraulic system for opening and closing of PLEM (Pipeline End Manifold) valves and control system logic. To verify functions of the model, an integrated simulation model for overall systems of SPM was also developed by considering handshaking variables between individual systems. In addition to the dynamic model, a self-diagnostic function to determine failure of the system was configured, which enables the SPM system itself to alert users about the failure once a failure signal comes to arise. Controlling and monitoring the SPM system is able to be done by a HMI system which is capable of managing the SPM system remotely, which was carried out by building a communication environment between the SPM system and the HMI system.

Keywords: HMI system, mooring buoy, simulink simulation model, single point mooring, stateflow

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Authors: Osamu Igawa, Hiroshi Kouchiwa, Yuji Ito

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In recent years, a reconstruction project for sewer pipelines has been progressing in Japan with the aim of renewing old sewer culverts. However, it is difficult to secure a sufficient base area for shafts in an urban area because many streets are narrow with a complex layout. As a result, construction in such urban areas is generally very demanding. In urban areas, there is a strong requirement for a safe, reliable and economical construction method that does not disturb the public’s daily life and urban activities. With this in mind, we developed a new construction method called the 'shield switching type micro-tunneling method' which integrates the micro-tunneling method and shield method. In this method, pipeline is constructed first for sections that are gently curved or straight using the economical micro-tunneling method, and then the method is switched to the shield method for sections with a sharp curve or a series of curves without establishing an intermediate shaft. This paper provides the information, features and construction examples of this newly developed method.

Keywords: micro-tunneling method, secondary lining applied RC segment, sharp curve, shield method, switching type

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Authors: Ismail Bin Mohd Saaid, Abubakar Abubakar Umar

Abstract:

Despite the successes recorded by Alkaline/Surfactant/Polymer (ASP) flooding as an effective chemical EOR technique, the combination CEOR is not unassociated with stern glitches, one of which is the scaling of downhole equipment. One of the major issues inside the oil industry is how to control scale formation, regardless of whether it is in the wellhead equipment, down-hole pipelines or even the actual field formation. The best approach to handle the challenge associated with oilfield scale formation is the application of scale inhibitors to avert the scale formation. Chemical inhibitors have been employed in doing such. But due to environmental regulations, the industry have focused on using green scale inhibitors to mitigate the formation of scales. This paper compares the scale inhibition performance of Polyaspartic acid and sodium polyacrylic acid, both commercial green scale inhibitors, in mitigating silicate scales formed during Alkaline/Surfactant/polymer flooding under static conditions. Both PASP and TH5000 are non-threshold inhibitors, therefore their efficiency was only seeing in delaying the deposition of the silicate scales.

Keywords: alkaline/surfactant/polymer flooding (ASP), polyaspartic acid (PASP), sodium polyacrylate (SPA)

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Authors: R. S. Rajpurohit, N. C. Santhi Srinivas, Vakil Singh

Abstract:

Asymmetric stress cycling leads to accumulation of plastic strain which is called as ratcheting strain. The problem is generally associated with nuclear fuel cladding materials used in nuclear power plants and pressurized pipelines. In the present investigation, asymmetric stress controlled fatigue tests were conducted with three different parameters namely, mean stress, stress amplitude and stress rate (keeping two parameters constant and varying third parameter) to see the plastic strain accumulation and its effect on fatigue life and deformation behavior of Zircaloy-2 at 400°C. The tests were conducted with variable mean stress (45-70 MPa), stress amplitude (95-120 MPa) and stress rate (30-750 MPa/s) and tested specimens were characterized using transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental results show that with the increase in mean stress and stress amplitude, the ratcheting strain accumulation increases with reduction in fatigue life. However, increase in stress rate leads to improvement in fatigue life of the material due to small ratcheting strain accumulation. Fractographs showed a decrease in area fraction of fatigue failed region.

Keywords: asymmetric cyclic loading, ratcheting fatigue, mean stress, stress amplitude, stress rate, plastic strain

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Authors: C. A. Sharma, Birendra P. Singh

Abstract:

We recovered 40 well preserved ribbon-shaped, meandering specimens of S. ningqiangensis from the Earthy Dolomite Member (Krol Group) and calcareous siltstone beds of the Earthy Siltstone Member (Tal Group) showing closely spaced annulations that lacked branching. The beginning and terminal points are indistinguishable. In certain cases, individual specimens are characterized by irregular, low-angle to high-angle sinuosity. It has been variously described as body fossil, ichnofossil and algae. Detailed study of this enigmatic fossil is needed to resolve the long standing controversy regarding its phylogenetic and stratigraphic placements, which will be an important contribution to the evolutionary history of metazoans. S. ningqiangensis has been known from the late Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) of southern and central China (Sichuan, Shaanxi, Quinghai and Guizhou provinces and Ningxia Hui Autonomous region), Siberian platform and across Pc/C Boundary from latest Neoprterozoic to earliest Cambrian of northern India. Shaanxilithes is considered an Ediacaran organism that spans the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary, an interval marked by significant taphonomic and ecological transformations that include not only innovation but also probable extinction. All the past well constrained finds of S. ningqiangensis are restricted to Ediacaran age. However, due to the new recoveries of the fossil from Nigalidhar Syncline, the stratigraphic status of S. ningqiangensis-bearing Earthy Siltstone Member of the Shaliyan Formation of the Tal Group (Cambrian) is rendered uncertain, though the overlying Chert Member in the adjoining Korgai Syncline has yielded definite early Cambrian acritarchs. The moot question is whether the Earthy Siltstone Member represents an Ediacaran or an early Cambrian age?. It would be interesting to find if Shaanxilithes, so far known from Ediacaran sequences, could it transgress to the early Cambrian or in simple words could it withstand the Pc/C Boundary event? GC-MS data shows the S. ningqiangensis structure is formed by hydrocarbon organic compounds which are filled with inorganic elements filler like silica, Calcium, phosphorus etc. The S. ningqiangensis structure is a mixture of organic compounds of high molecular weight, containing several saturated rings with hydrocarbon chains having an occasional isolated carbon-carbon double bond and also containing, in addition, to small amounts of nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen. Data also revealed that the presence of nitrogen which would be either in the form of peptide chains means amide/amine or chemical form i.e. nitrates/nitrites etc. The formula weight and the weight ratio of C/H shows that it would be expected for algae derived organics, since algae produce fatty acids as well as other hydrocarbons such as cartenoids.

Keywords: GC-MS Analysis, lesser himalaya, Pc/C Boundary, shaanxilithes

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Authors: Mutadi

Abstract:

Pipes laying on an unstable slope of soft soil are prone to movement. Pipelines that are buried in unstable slope areas will move due to lateral loads from soil movement, which can cause damage to the pipeline. A small-scale laboratory model of the reinforcement system of piles supported by retaining walls was conducted to investigate the effect of lateral load on the reinforcement. In this experiment, the lateral forces of 0.3 kN, 0.35 kN, and 0.4 kN and vertical force of 0.05 kN, 0.1 kN, and 0.15 kN were used. Lateral load from the electric jack is equipped with load cell and vertical load using the cement-steel box. To validate the experimental result, a finite element program named 2-D Plaxis was used. The experimental results showed that with an increase in lateral loading, the displacement of the reinforcement system increased. For a Vertical Load, 0.1 kN and versus a lateral load of 0.3 kN causes a horizontal displacement of 0.35 mm and an increase of 2.94% for loading of 0.35 kN and an increase of 8.82% for loading 0.4 kN. The pattern is the same in the finite element method analysis, where there was a 6.52% increase for 0.35 kN loading and an increase to 23.91 % for 0.4 kN loading. In the same Load, the Reinforcement System is reliable, as shown in Safety Factor on dry conditions were 3.3, 2.824 and 2.474, and on wet conditions were 2.98, 2.522 and 2.235.

Keywords: soft soil, deflection, wall, pipeline

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Authors: Emmanuel O. Ezim, Idowu A. Olayinka, Michael Oladunjoye, Izuchukwu I. Obiadi

Abstract:

Monitoring of reservoir properties prior to well placements and production is a requirement for optimisation and efficient oil and gas production. This is usually done using well log analyses and 3-D seismic, which are often prone to errors. However, 4-D (Time-lapse) seismic, incorporating numerous 3-D seismic surveys of the same field with the same acquisition parameters, which portrays the transient changes in the reservoir due to production effects over time, could be utilised because it generates better resolution. There is, however dearth of information on the applicability of this approach in the Niger Delta. This study was therefore designed to apply 4-D seismic, well-log and geologic data in monitoring of reservoirs in the EK field of the Niger Delta. It aimed at locating bypassed accumulations and ensuring effective reservoir management. The Field (EK) covers an area of about 1200km2 belonging to the early (18ma) Miocene. Data covering two 4-D vintages acquired over a fifteen-year interval were obtained from oil companies operating in the field. The data were analysed to determine the seismic structures, horizons, Well-to-Seismic Tie (WST), and wavelets. Well, logs and production history data from fifteen selected wells were also collected from the Oil companies. Formation evaluation, petrophysical analysis and inversion alongside geological data were undertaken using Petrel, Shell-nDi, Techlog and Jason Software. Well-to-seismic tie, formation evaluation and saturation monitoring using petrophysical and geological data and software were used to find bypassed hydrocarbon prospects. The seismic vintages were interpreted, and the amounts of change in the reservoir were defined by the differences in Acoustic Impedance (AI) inversions of the base and the monitor seismic. AI rock properties were estimated from all the seismic amplitudes using controlled sparse-spike inversion. The estimated rock properties were used to produce AI maps. The structural analysis showed the dominance of NW-SE trending rollover collapsed-crest anticlines in EK with hydrocarbons trapped northwards. There were good ties in wells EK 27, 39. Analysed wavelets revealed consistent amplitude and phase for the WST; hence, a good match between the inverted impedance and the good data. Evidence of large pay thickness, ranging from 2875ms (11420 TVDSS-ft) to about 2965ms, were found around EK 39 well with good yield properties. The comparison between the base of the AI and the current monitor and the generated AI maps revealed zones of untapped hydrocarbons as well as assisted in determining fluids movement. The inverted sections through EK 27, 39 (within 3101 m - 3695 m), indicated depletion in the reservoirs. The extent of the present non-uniform gas-oil contact and oil-water contact movements were from 3554 to 3575 m. The 4-D seismic approach led to better reservoir characterization, well development and the location of deeper and bypassed hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Keywords: reservoir monitoring, 4-D seismic, well placements, petrophysical analysis, Niger delta basin

Procedia PDF Downloads 95