YoungPetro - 10th Issue - Winter 2014

WIN

TER

/ 2

014

WINTER (10) / 2014

Thank you for helping us create

10th consecutive issue!

Call for PapersYoungPetro is waiting for your paper!

� e topics of the papers should refer to: Drilling Engineering, Reservoir Engineering, Fuels and Energy, Geology and Geophysics, Environmental Protection, Management and Economics

Papers should be sent to papers @ youngpetro.org

For more information visit youngpetro.org/papers

65

SUMMER / 2013

ISSN 2300-1259

WINTER/SPRING / 2012

ISSN 2300-1259

AUTUMN / 2012

WINTER / 2014

3

winter / 2013

3 3 Editor’s Letter 3

NASA notices that a rogue comet in the size of Texas passed through the asteroid belt and pushed forward a large amount of space de-bris. The asteroid is going to collide with the Earth in eighteen days. NASA contacts Harry Stamper who is considered the best deep-sea oil driller in the world, for assistance and ad-vice. Everyone who has watched the Arma-geddon movie knows that Bruce Willis can solve this problem successfully.

So far, over 10,000 Near Earth Objects, which may threaten us someday, have been discov-ered. However, we can’t count on defense against the methods of science-fiction mov-ies. Life has shown that we can’t cope with much simpler problems. Evidence of this could have been a disaster in the Gulf of Mex-ico in 2010, where because of explosion of an oil rig Deepwater Horizon the total discharge has been estimated at 4.9 million barrels. An interesting example of human helplessness

was a Lake Peigneur disaster (1980). By mis-take, oil rig workers in the bottom of the lake created a huge hole through which all of the water was instantly sucked underneath the water reservoir salt mine. In this issue you will find more details about the event in the article prepared by Jan Wypijewski.

While space travel is a dream for someone, traveling 9,000 km is no such a big prob-lem for us. Joanna Wilaszek, our editor who participated in the conference ATCE in New Orleans and Iwona Dereń who went the oppo-site direction – to Moscow, learnt that lesson. In this issue we published the relationship be-tween these trips.

Observing the speed with which vehicles and technologies are being developed I can surely say that in a few decades, our editors will take part in conferences organized in the outer space.

4 4

Editor-in-ChiefMichał [email protected]

Deputy Editor-in-ChiefJan [email protected]

EditorsIzabela BiałoIwona DereńKamil IrnazarowHubert KarońPiotr LewandowskiDominik Homer SkokowskiEdyta StopyraGordon WasilewskiMaciej WawrzkowiczJoanna Wilaszek

Science AdvisorEwa KnapikTomasz Włodek

Art DirectorMarek Nogiećwww.nogiec.org

Proof-readersUrszula ŁyszczarzAleksandra Piotrowska

ITMichał Solarz

LogisticsDawid WierzbickiDawid Bydłosz

MarketingBarbara Pach

AmbassadorsTarun Agarwal, Varanasi, IndiaMostafa Ahmed, EgyptUsman Syed Aslam, Hyderabad, IndiaGreg Bednarczuk, United StatesRakip Belishaku, AlbaniaAniebiet-gutsy James, NigeriaMoshin Khan, TurkeyMehwish Khanam, PakistanFilip Krunic, CroatiaYuri Moroz, UkraineMichail Niarchos, GreeceRohit Pal, UPES, IndiaJoel Lim Min Sheu, Malaysia

PublisherFundacja Wiertnictwo - Nafta - Gaz, Nauka i TradycjeAl. Adama Mickiewicza 30/A430 - 059 Kraków, Polandwww.nafta.agh.edu.pl

issn 2300-1259

Published by

An O�cial Publication of The Society of Petroleum Engineers Student ChapterP o l a n d • www.spe.net.pl

4

5

autumn / 2013

5

Ask Me Anything – Expert RespondsMichał Turek

The Story of Lake Peigneur – How to Drill into a MineJan Wypijewski

In the World of GeophysicistsGordon Wasilewski

About the Industry and StudentsBarbara Pach, Gordon Wasilewski

Rotary Steerable System and its Applications and Advantages in Precise Drilling of Deep Deviated Wells

Muhammad Tauqeer

Impact of Process Variables on the Re-refining of the Used Lube Oil by Solvent Extraction

Muhammad Naveed, Sohail Ahmed Soomro Ph.D., Shaheen Aziz Ph.D., Rashid Hussain Abro, Adeel Mukhtar

Geophysical Properties of Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments Considering Economic-scale Production of Natural Gas

Dominik Skokowski

Gold American DreamJoanna Wilaszek

Young Professionals at the Heart of an Energy RevolutionAllyson Simpson

From Russia with LoveIwona Dereń

History of spe-utmLim Teck Shern, Abang Mohd Faiz, Hii Sing Keat

How it works?Maciej Wawrzkowicz

10

12

18

20

22

35

46

52

55

57

60

62

5

6

Exploring New Technologies:

Statoil – NASA Agreement

Statoil and the National Aeronautical and Space

Administration (NASA) have formed a partnership

to explore how technologies and knowledge from

the space and oil and gas industries can be relevant

to one another. The research will be conducted in

the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena,

California. Statoil and NASA have formed an agree-

ment to support Statoil on the search for oil and gas

exploration and production efforts to be competi-

tive. Statoil has stressed that it is investment in its

research and development capabilities. Lars Høier,

Statoil acting senior vice president of research, de-

velopment and innovation said: “Searching for oil

and gas resources has become so advanced techni-

cally over the past decade that new solutions and

ideas are needed. To Statoil this is a significant op-

portunity to take technologies developed by NASA

and JPL for the harsh and challenging environ-

ments of space and apply them to the equally de-

manding environments of oil and gas production”.

The collaboration can benefit both: the aerospace

and energy industries and will be focused on ma-

terials, robotic technology, communication etc. The

contract between Statoil and NASA has run from

now and will continue until 2018.

Pirates with AK-47 Looting Cargos

Threaten African Oil

Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana and other countries around

the Gulf of Guinea, produce more than 3 million

barrels of oil a day, or about one-third of Africa’s

output, according to data compiled by BP Plc. The

region’s crude, often so-called sweet grades that are

refined into high-value motor fuels, is shipped to

refiners in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Nigeria and

Equatorial Guinea are also leading liquefied nat-

ural gas exporters. According to the Internation-

al Maritime Bureau, this year piracy has spread

through the region of Nigeria, where ships’ thefts

have long been common, and ships have been at-

tacked further offshore. Boardings or hijacks have

been reported off Togo, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone

and Guinea. “They just pushed me into the cab-

in with the guns in my chest and they told me to

stay silent,” Varma said in a phone interview from

India. “They were threatening, they were showing

the guns, pointing at us. They took everything —

everything that we had — including clothes, toilet-

ries, electronics.” West African nations made some

progress on fighting piracy after agreeing on a Code

of Conduct to help protecting trade and shipping.

In October, politicians agreed to develop coordina-

tion mechanisms in 2014, the United Nations Of-

fice for West Africa said.

Schlumberger Introduces Multipole Sonic-

While-Drilling Service for Large Boreholes

Schlumberger, one of the world`s leading supplier of

technology and a key player in providing services in

the exploration phase down to the production phase

in the oil and gas industry, has announced the re-

lease of the Sonicscope multipole sonic-while-drill-

ing service for wells with large boreholes. This com-

putes the real time and records compressional and

shear data in fast and slow formations.

The Sonicscope has been tested in different parts

of the world. The obtained results confirms that

it is a valuable tool in drilling wells more safely by

estimating the pressures in various geological lay-

er and will enable operators to adjust mud weight

windows accordingly to improve drilling risk man-

agement.

On Stream – Latest NewsGordon Wasilewski

Want to join editorial board

and create YoungPetro with us?

Become an

Ambassador

in your country!

MORE INFORMATION: www.youngpetro.org/ambassador / [email protected]

9

winter / 2013

9

For online version of the magazine and news visit us at youngpetro.org

10 Ask Me Anything – Expert Responds

INTERVIEW | with Piotr Kasza

� Ask Me Anything – Expert RespondsMichał Turek

�In June 2013, on the popular social net-working site wykop.pl, the discussion with Mr. Piotr Kasza, Ph. D.–an expert of the Institute Oil and Gas–took place. He was giving his opinion on the subject of the shale gas exploitation. Thanks to courte-sy of the administration service, we gath-ered the most interesting questions asked by users.

MiS114: How often in the process leading to shale gas exploitation from conventional deposits hydraulic fracturing is used? Is it conditioned only by parameters of geologi-cal stratus, in which gas deposits are or oth-er factors influence that as well?

Piotr_Kasza: Great question. Fracturing in unconventional deposits is "compulso-ry practice". In conventional deposits these treatments are done frequently but not every borehole needs them. As you aptly noticed, parameters of layers decide on it. The less per-meable rock is, the more often fracturing in these wellbores is done. If I was to say approx-imately–fracturing is done in at least 40% of conventional wells.

fasfsrheeahgdfhds2: Regarding gas ex-traction: are there used chemicals, which have negative impact on the soil?

Piotr_Kasza: At the beginning a few basic information. In hydraulic fracturing techno-logic fluid is used. Its base is water and the amount of applied chemicals doesn't exceed 0.1%. Usually, the number of these addi-tives–in case of shale stones fracturing–does not exceed three. Among them, we can enu-merate: friction reducer (natural or synthetic polymer), biocide (protective bacteriological decomposition natural polymer) and sur-face-active fluid. The substances are univer-sally used in the food industry, for example: guar gum applied in the production of ice cream, biocide used for treating drinking wa-ter and surface-active fluids, which are the es-sential elements of soaps and shampoos.

Arkadian: Apart from very high pressure during fracturing and possibilities of dam-aging fittings and explosion, can you see some other threats to the employees during the process of the preparation and exploita-tion of the borehole?

Michał Turek 11

winter / 2014

Piotr_Kasza: The maximum pressure we are producing during fracturing is around 1000 atm on the surface. The entire equip-ment was tested on much high pressures and ensures safe work. During this operation, op-erators are very experienced mechanics, who are aware of the danger. From my experience I know that at most unsealing of the pipeline may happen. If so, it results in the outflow of the small amount of fracturing fluid (water + chemical additives), however it doesn't pose a threat to experienced operators, who are mindful of these dangers.

Balian: What is your opinion about the mov-ie "Gasland", concerning problems, which may happen as regards shale gas extraction?

Piotr_Kasza: In my opinion, film "Gasland" is typical, poorly executed provocation and

mystification. As far as I know, many contro-versial examples from this film have already become unmasked.

hultek: In what way the actions in re-lation to shale gas extraction will affect my life within the next few years? Will I be richer? Will I be more susceptible to illnesses?

Piotr_Kasza: Please take my word for it, as I am a person connected with this indus-try for over 25 years–we are doing everything in order for us to be richer. As far as the sus-ceptibility to illnesses is concerned, all the ac-tions in the field are very precisely controlled and checked. If you live in the area, where hy-drocarbons are searched for, you don't need to worry about your health and medical con-dition.

14 -15 marca 2014

UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI WYDZIAŁ GEOLOGII

Partnerzy: Sponsorzy: Patroni medialni:

W IY GI

DZ OIAŁ GEOL

TET WARSSY Z

ER AW

IW SKN IU

www.rocktheshale.eu

SERDECZNIE ZAPRASZA NA KONFERENCJĘ NAUKOWĄ

12 The Story of Lake Peigneur – How to Drill into a Mine

å The Story of Lake Peigneur – How to Drill into a MineJan Wypijewski

�How to lose a rig, a salt mine and a lake in just a few moments? It sounds impossible, but it really happened! Let's go back to the 20th of November 1980. It's 8.00 in the morning. Imagine that we're now sitting on the pier and soaking our legs in the lake's water. Gentle breeze and waking up sun-shine on our faces. Everything is covered with mysterious mist. All workers, from the nearby salt mine, have already descend-ed under the surface. The only sound hear-able to us is birds' chirping from the botan-ic park located on the island. Marvellous scenery, isn't it? What attracts our atten-tion, is intensified rush of the crew on the platform located on the lake. Hmm, it looks

that they have some troubles, but that's not our business. We’re sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying the moment! Keep in mind this heavenly atmosphere, in a few minutes it will turn into hell! The rig and the whole lake with barges and boats will drain into the mine, water from the canal, which con-nects the lake and a bay, will reverse, cre-ating the 45 m waterfall and changing the freshwater reservoir into salt water!

Tough neighborhood�Lake Peigneur, where all these happened, is located near New Iberia, over 220 km west

Jan Wypijewski 13

winter / 2014

of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana. It is connected through Delcambre Canal to Vermilion Bay, which is a part of the Gulf of Mexico. The area of the lake is about 4 km2. At the time of the catastrophe the lake floor was at 1–3 m depth. Of course it has changed after the disaster. Unfortunately, Lake Peigneur, as it turned out later, was an area where dif-ferent types of business crossed their roads. Since 1922, a salt dome, which is located un-der the lake, had been exploited. In 1980, the mine was possessed by Diamond Crystal Salt Company and had four working levels (the shallowest at about 240 m, the deepest at 550 m) and one projected for the future. For 58 years of exploitation, until the Lake Pei-gneur disaster, the mine had given from 23 to 28 million m3 of salt. The dome attracted not only salt miners. The classic geological trap caught also an oil & gas player's eye. It was Texaco. The Texan company, after encourag-ing results of geophysical survey, decided to drill a test well to find gas under the south-ern part of the lake. They picked local Wilson Brothers Corporation as the service company. The third and the last business on the area nearby to Lake Peigneur was the Live Oak Gardens. This botanic park was not only a lo-cal tourist attraction, but also a producer of plants and herbs. Even if it was the smallest player which was affected by the catastrophe, it had sustained a huge loss of property.

Armageddon begins…�It was 7.00 in the morning, when 47 min-ers, ready for another exhaustive shift, to-gether with four visitors from Louisiana State University started their descent to the level at about 450 m below the surface. Until 8.00 am, all of them were under the ground, unaware of danger. Nothing heralded what was going to happen in the next 30 minutes. At the same time, on the surface, Wilson Brothers Corp.'s seven persons crew were up and start-ed running. The drill bit got stuck at about 380 m! They tried to pull it out from rocks.

Vainly. The fact that the whole drilling string started to jump up and down made the situ-ation more complicated. The rig was shaken! They were terrified. After one hour of unsuc-cessful rescuing the drilling equipment, the crew noticed that the platform was listing like a tower made from building blocks. The crew was aware that they are in huge danger and decided to abandon the rig and swim in a boat to the shore. No words can describe their as-tonishment, when they were staring at the oil rig drowning in the 3 meters lake! Let's now return to the mine. A few minutes earlier, at 8.30 am, at about 400 m level the master electrician was observing a 50 cm deep stream of muddy water with rock debris, moving to-wards the shaft. In the whole mine emergen-cy alarms and evacuation lights immediately turned on. Fortunately, all 51 people managed to escape from the flooded mine. The rapid water flow caused landslides and mudflows along the perimeter, which enlarged Lake Pei-gneur. The little hole, small puncture in the bottom of the lake has changed very fast into a huge crater and probably the biggest vortex man-made ever! It swallowed water volume of Lake Peigneur, mud, eleven barges, a tug boat, an oil rig, a few buildings and 0.26 km2 of the Live Oak Gardens into the Jefferson Is-land Mine in just a few hours!

�Fig. 1 – The salt mine and Texaco's well under Lake Peigneur


�Fig. 2 – Twirling barges on Lake Peigneur

�Fig. 3 – Lake Peigneur's whirlpool

Jan Wypijewski 15

winter / 2014

…and continues�If you think that it is all enough, you are wrong. Do you remember that Lake Peigneur is connected through Delcambre Canal with the Gulf of Mexico? The disaster was followed by a historic moment. For the first time wa-ter from the Gulf flowed to the North! Huge whirlpool on the lake had caused a change of the Delcambre Canal's direction, which filled the empty Lake Peigneur's basin with salt water from the Vermilion Bay. Moreover, it also created the biggest waterfall in Loui-siana, which was 45 m high. From the mine shafts, a few meters high geysers erupted. After the pressure equalization, the Jefferson Island Mine returned 9 out of 11 barges which popped back like corks. After two days, the ca-nal returned to its normal flow, but Lake Pei-gneur was deepened and covered one former lakefront house under the water table.

Juridical bonanza�The disaster was like hitting a jackpot to lawyers. On the 21st of November, just one day after the incident, Diamond Crystal Salt sued Texaco for an unspecified amount of damage. In 1981 owner of the mine said that his company was seeking $219 million from Texaco and the State of Louisiana. On the 25th of November 1980, Texaco took the legal action against Diamond Crystal Salt. Both companies were sued by the Live Oak Gardens. Furthermore, one woman filed a suit against Texaco and Wilson Brothers for injuries received during evacuation for $1.45 million, similarly to miners who were termi-nated and local inhabitants, who lost their properties. The last sued defendant was the State of Louisiana, because the place of the accident belonged to the state. In 1983, one week before the long-awaited trial, major players reached the agreement. Texaco and Wilson Brothers paid $32 million to Diamond Crystal Salt for the destruction of the mine,

unextracted salt and a loss in machinery and equipment, and $12.1 million to the Live Oak Gardens.

Every cloud has a silver lining�As a result of the Lake Peigneur disaster, Louisiana lost 6 000-ton-a-day-capacity salt mine. Diamond Crystal Salt has reduced its crew by 2/3 to 100 workers, but continued their actions in Jefferson Island Mine. They have started pumping brine for the salt recovery. Their former employees found work in locally active oil & gas industry. What's interesting, flooding the shafts drastically slowed the rate of land subsidence over the mine. The lake, af-ter being refilled with ocean water, returned to its normal condition. Now it's a freshwater lake, like it used to be before the disaster. The situation is even better, because it is deeper than before. Owing to the reverse of the ca-nal's water, Delcambre Canal was deepened, what made also the fishing conditions better

�Fig. 4 – Waterfall created on Delcambre Canal


than ever before. The Live Oak Gardens was temporarily closed, due to awaited results of geophysical studies, which aim was to show if

the terrain was safe, but all in all, it returned to normal work as well. Fortunately, no one lost their lives in the disaster.

Who is to blame?�We know the consequences of the disaster, let's now move to possible reasons. Unfortu-nately, nobody knows what exactly happened on the 20th of November 1980 in the Jeffer-son Island Mine. A special commission from Mine Safety and Health Administration was investigating Lake Peigneur disaster right after the incident. They didn't give a precise answer, due to the lack of documentation from the Wilson Brothers' rig, which had gone in the abyss of Lake Peigneur. One of the hypothesizes says that Texaco's engineers had made a mistake in calculations and had placed the rig right over the mine's produc-tion level. Then a drill bit punctured the roof

�Fig. 5 – Cavern locations in Lake Peigneur

�Fig. 6 – Current Lake Peigneur's shore

Jan Wypijewski 17

winter / 2014

of the mine. That sounds incredible, but it might have happened and this is probably the most accurate version. Others indicate that the borehole crossed old production lev-el, that was undefined on maps and then the rapid flow of water leached salt. Excluding direct reasons for the Lake Peigneur disaster, we should focus on these indirect. The cer-tain is that both sides which were involved in businesses near the lake failed in exchanging information among each other. Texaco hadn’t contacted Diamond Crystal Salt before the drilling. Both companies didn't check their maps or compared plans of future actions. At the end, Texaco claimed that only Diamond Crystal Salt knew exactly where the wellbore was planned and where the mine was located. The other side excused themselves that they didn't know how deep the borehole would be. It was so little to do to avoid the catastrophe, but in fact so much.

Current issues�Nowadays, Lake Peigneur electrifies local community once again. AGL Resources has been operating two caverns in the Jefferson Island Salt Dome as a natural gas storage with the working capacity of 7.5 billion cubic feet. Next two are in the phase of projecting, suspended by the local authorities under the pressure of residents. Their report about bubbling water in the lake in the first quar-ter of 2013, caused examination of the water samples by Department of Natural Resourc-es. AGL Resources accepted to put their plans on hold for a year and concentrate wheth-er bubbles follow the instability in the salt dome and possible gas release. Should we be surprised with the opinions and actions tak-en by the local community after the 1980's incident?

References1. (1981, November 24). Cave-In Suit: $219 Million. New York Times, Business Day. Retrieved De-

cember 11, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/24/business/cave-in-suit-219-mil-lion.html

2. Bourne-Vanneck, A. (2013, February 21). State Officials Investigate Bubbling Lake Peigneur. Iberia Parish News. Retrieved December 11, 2013, from http://www.katc.com/news/state-offi-cials-investigate-bubbling-lake-peigneur/

3. Jefferson Island Storage & Hub. Our Business, Energy Investments. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://www.aglresources.com/about/jish_qa.aspx

4. Millhollon, M. (2013, May 20). Lake Peigneur controversy seeks resolution. Capitol news bu-reau. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://theadvocate.com/home/5992123-125/lake-pei-gneur-controversy-seeks-resolution

5. Perrow, Ch. (1999). Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies. Princeton University Press.

6. Ward, A. (1980). Minerals yearbook area reports: domestic 1980. Bureau of Mines.7. Ward, A. (1981). Minerals yearbook area reports: domestic 1981. Bureau of Mines.8. Ward, A. (1982). Minerals yearbook area reports: domestic 1982. Bureau of Mines.9. Ward, A. (1983). Minerals yearbook area reports: domestic 1983. Bureau of Mines.10. Warren, J. (2006). Evaporates: Sediments, Resources and Hydrocarbons. Springer.

Photos È aglresources.com, panoramio.com, thelivingmoon.com

18 In the World of Geophysicists

INTERVIEW | with Michael Thornton, Ph.D.

� In the World of GeophysicistsGordon Wasilewski

YoungPetro: Since your company has 10 years experience in this particular industry sector, how do you feel about Polish shale? As far as you know, how much do they differ from American formations and what does it mean for the geophysical surveys?

Michael Thornton: I think we don’t know how they differ yet. We really haven’t done enough wells. The one thing I have learned for the last few years is that every well is different and it takes the certain body of information to get a lot statistics to understand what’s going on. Since it’s just beginning, I don’t think that anyone knows what the ultimate endgame is going to be. It’s still early days in Polish shale. One of the biggest risks for what we’re doing in terms of monitoring is the size of the signal that we get when the rock breaks. In general, the older rock is better. It’s more brittle, more well consolidated. It tends to snap. So, Silurian is a good sign. The other risk here is the overburden – the rocks be-tween the target from the surface. That would be another factor. It’s very difficult to get 3D seismic through there.

YP: What’s your data collecting equipment? How do you measure a fracking site?

MT: The equipment is the same kind of gear as we use for 3D seismic. We lay out in pat-terns large 2D arrays with standard, seismic geophones, 10 Hz phones and record con-tinuously. It’s easy to get the geophysical contractors. Here, in Poland, we have good equipment, which is ready to go. It’s a mat-ter of just doing the work and figuring out what’s going on with the shale. We do both

borehole and surface measurements. There are a lot of advantages of surface, it gives you more consistent picture and that’s our prefer-ence. When the signal’s weak, there’s a lot of transmission problems and you have to start thinking about going down the hole and get the geophones closer.

YP: The 19th century was the century of coal and the 20th of oil. Some say that the 21st century will be dominated by natural gas, especially produced in unconventional way. Do you find this thesis true or not and why?

MT: I certainly hope so! That looks like the trend. We have to worry about carbon emis-sions and the hydrocarbons gas is the clean-est. The other thing that’s intriguing is the geopolitical aspect. If every country has its own energy supply that’s going to change the balance of power in the World, probably for the good.

YP: A Few years have passed and Poland still doesn’t have shale regulation policy. Do you think this neglection of Polish gov-ernment and also big production costs have made ExxonMobil, Talisman Energy and Marathon Oil drop out of race?

MT: In Europe, generally, there are more regulations than in the US, it’s going to slow

Gordon Wasilewski 19

winter / 2014

things down. But I think given the number of people in the energy market here it’s go-ing to happen. It’s just the matter of time. Regulation is a good thing, we have to be conscious and aware of the contamination issues and induced seismicity. You have to be patient!

YP: Personally what’s your motor, motiva-tion, that made you one of the pioneers in the industry?

MT: I was just looking for something new to do. I was doing reflection seismic and I was intrigued by something different and it’s been interesting. I had no idea shale formations are going to be that far accomplished. Things have really taken off.

YP: As an enormously experienced profes-sional, what advices can you provide for the future engineers and scientists?

MT: It’s a very practical manner to start writ-ing. It took me 10 years to finish my PhD be-cause I was working. My job now is to oversee

and R&D group and I tell them they need to get working on the things I give them and I think it’s important, they also need to be working on things they think it’s important. You need to have something that motivates you that looks interestingly, even if it’s a sim-ple problem. That’s how I fell into this and got interested in passive seismic. Find things that interest you!

YP: How do you feel about conference like this one? Do you find this important?

MT: These are very important, particularly talking to students give them opportunity to see what’s in the future, what things are pos-sible.

It’s good to get up and see what’s new gener-ation is thinking about. Professional confer-ences are not so much likeable as students conferences!

YP: Thank you very much, Dr Thornton!

MT: Thank you!

20 About the Industry and Students

interview | with Gregory Jackson

� About the Industry and StudentsBarbara Pach, Gordon Wasilewski

YoungPetro: Since we have big expecta-tions about production of unconventional natural gas in Europe, how do you see the future of Polish shale gas?

Gregory Jackson: Ultimately, it is very early in the game. In today’s world we often have little patience, but we are exploring a vast area in the country of Poland and this process was not fast in North America. I think Polish shale gas has a bright future, but the world is future. There have been some posi-tive technical stories in the Baltic Basin that are often trumped by the more publicly an-nounced corporate exits. Shale gas can have profound impact on all aspects of life and many industries outside oil and gas, so I do believe efforts will continue to be made and success will ultimately come.

YP: It has been estimated that in 2015 al-most 50 percent of today’s engineers would be eligible to retire. That seems to be a diffi-cult situation for the industry to cope with. How is Weatherford going to face it, if at all?

GJ: This is a big question that involves all aspects of every company–not only Weather-ford. I can only speak for myself and not the company as a whole or any other company. I think we will find mankind is resilient and talented. People will have to step up and they will, in my opinion. Training and mentoring are very important today and that will prob-ably only increase, but equally important are high quality university educations. If we pre-pare ourselves to be more advanced at earlier career stages, perhaps we will accelerate the

closing of the skills gap. Also, I wouldn’t ig-nore many of the people in the industry that are not ready to retire but are highly qualified. They will probably have a larger burden, but there are some very talented people that, I think, can handle the extra load of acceler-ating our competencies growth and bridging that gap.

YP: What’s the most important personal trait for a petroleum industry engineer?

GJ: Someone who wants to learn. You have probably heard it before and you will defi-nitely hear it again, but every field is differ-ent. Not only that, many people shift from production to reservoir engineering to well construction, etc. Your careers can and will change along with the fields you will work on. Someone who is nimble and has an insatiable desire to learn and improve will have many opportunities in all parts of the globe and, most likely, a very rewarding long career.

YP: How did your career get started and why did you choose the industry?

GJ: My undergraduate education was me-chanical engineering. My favorite course was fluid dynamics (hence my graduate work in reservoir engineering). I have an influential uncle, who told me about the petroleum in-dustry and attempted to paint a very rosy

Barbara Pach, Gordon Wasilewski 21

winter / 2014

picture. At the time, I lived in Florida, where there is no petroleum industry and the only thing we heard was big oil destroyed beaches. After a bit of research, I discovered not only does the petroleum industry have a much better record than they are given credit for, but the industry is essential to the quality of life on this planet as of today. I wanted to be a part of something that was big, exciting, challenging and beneficial for mankind and, I truly believe, the petroleum industry is ex-actly that.

YP: What is the key issue concerning off-shore and onshore in the next few years?

GJ: I will go with safety/ responsibility both: offshore and onshore. For the most part, we have the technical capability to safely produce any known oil and gas resources. The Artic and some ultra, ultra deepwater, will present challenges in the next 10-30 years, but it all comes back to responsibility. We are an essen-tial industry and a good industry. However, we must continue to behave in a socially re-spectful way. For instance–shale gas. Poland to date has done a very good job of being so-cially responsible in its shale gas exploration because the companies have taken the work very seriously. There are social issues relat-

ed to shale gas that we must address as an industry and we can address them without question. It all comes back to wellsite safety and responsibility, as the petroleum indus-try is probably more visible today than it was 50 years ago.

YP: If you could predict, how will the energy market look in 2020?

GJ: I must preface this by saying: this will ul-timately be horribly wrong. All predictions of impossible events are horribly wrong. Also I am going to focus on the “petroleum related energy market” as I have little to no useful knowledge of global energy policies regarding other fuel types. I personally think the indus-try will be very similar to today. I think you will continue to see unconventional growth around the world. You will see more difficult reservoirs like heavy oil become more impor-tant. I think Russia and Saudi Arabia will still be the world’s largest oil producers. I think we will continue to improve in our EOR tech-niques allowing us to maximize recoveries around the world in a more cost-effective manner. Ultimately, I think petroleum will play a huge role in the energy mix and I think outstanding career opportunities will exist for college graduates even in 2020.

22 Rotary Steerable System

· Rotary Steerable System and its Applications and Advantages in Precise Drilling of Deep Deviated Wells – Case StudyMuhammad Tauqeer

�Drilling deep horizontal wells and extend-ing reached wells is becoming common nowadays. These deep wells face challeng-ing problems such as better well place-ment, smoother wellbores and increasing non-productive time (NPT). Local geology might dictate a complex well trajectory. Ad-hering to planned trajectory in such condi-tions is extremely difficult, time consum-ing and risky using conventional steerable drilling applications. This paper provides the answer to drill these types of wells in a proficient and cost effective manner.

�It is the study of the state of the art Rotary Steerable System which can change its direc-tion within 360° down hole. Rotary Steerable System (RSS) is today one of the best choices for reaching a specific target, located in deep and difficult locations to achieve. They are capable of forming difficult trajectories such as round salt dome and intersecting multiple faults horizontally etc.

Paper gives a brief introduction to the con-struction assembly, the operation of this sys-tem and its working for achieving the specific steering mode for specific direction through a Measurement While Drilling system (MWD) present in it. Its use in drilling slim-hole dog-leg wells, extended reach wells and drilling through hard rocks will be discussed. It will discuss that how this system not only increases rate of penetration as compared to convention-al steerable motors but also much more exact

in its trajectories. A comparison of the steer-able motor and RSS shows how RSS is much better than conventional steerable system’s ef-ficiency and cost effectiveness. A case study is presented regarding the RSS usage. In the end of this paper conclusion is to be given regard-ing the use and placement of this technology.

Introduction�At present the production from deep and deviated wells is taking peak. Operators are going for complex trajectories to decrease drilling per barrel costs. It is quite possible that the trajectory decided might have very difficult and complex path. Drilling such trajectories with conventional and obsolete methods can result in precious time and ef-forts wastage. In such situation the drilling system selection becomes really important. At that point, the operator must decide what to do for the achievement of planned trajec-tory. To achieve a deviated and complex tra-jectory steerable system is used since a long time. But now the state of the art revolution-ary Rotary Steering System has been intro-duced for steering the well in much more effi-

* Lahore Univ. of Engineering & Technology

Þ Pakistan

[email protected]

* University Þ Country E-mail

Muhammad Tauqeer 23

winter / 2014

cient and perfect way. Like other drilling and production operations, there is also a need for cost-effective performance in deep and direc-tional well drilling. Drilling expenses account for as much as 40% of the finding and devel-opment costs what was reported by explora-tion and production companies. Offshore, eliminating a day of rig time can save up to $100,000 or even more. Using RSS we can plan extended reached wells and complex paths.

The Odoptu OP-11 well reached a total meas-ured depth of 40.502 feet (12.345 meters or 7.67 miles) to set a world record for extend-ed-reach drilling (ERD). This well is drilled using RSS [10].

In this paper introduction to steerable and Rotary Steerable System is given with their relative advantages and disadvantages.

Conventional Steerable Motor Drilling�A typical steerable motor assembly consists of a power-section, through which drilling mud is pumped to turn the drill bit, a bend section of 0 to 3°, a drive shaft and the bit to initiate a change in the wellbore direction, the rotation of the drill string is halted in such a position that the bend in the motor points in the direc-tion of the new trajectory with reference to in-clination and direction angle. This mode, also known as sliding-mode, refers to the fact that the non-rotating portion of the drill string slides along with the steerable assembly.

Problems Encountered in Conventional Steerable Motors�While this technology has performed ad-mirably, it requires some great precision to

correctly orient the bend in the motor be-cause of the torsional compliance of the drill string, which behaves almost like a coiled spring, twisting to the point of being diffi-cult to orient. Lithological variations and other parameters also influence the ability to achieve the planned drilling trajectory. Slid-ing-mode drilling decreases the horsepower available to turn the bit, which is combined with sliding friction and decreases the Rate of Penetration (ROP). Eventually, in extreme ex-tended reach drilling projects, frictional forc-es during sliding, build to the point that there is insufficient axial weight to overcome the drag of the drill pipe against the wellbore, and further drilling is not possible. Numerous un-dulations or doglegs in the wellbore increase wellbore tortuosity, which in turn increases apparent friction while drilling and running casing.

Steerable motor drilling is inefficient. With a requirement to slide the bottom hole assem-bly, in order to steer the well path drilling becomes slower and more difficult. ROP is impacted as a result of wellbore friction and Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) configuration. Borehole cleaning, without drill string rota-tion, is adversely affected, as cuttings drop out of mud/suspension to the lower side of the hole. The transition from slide back to rotate requires rotating the motor bend through the section steered. This can result in borehole spiraling. Steering a steerable motor requires maintaining the orientation of the bend in the desired tool face setting. Reactive torque from the motor itself works against good tool face control with the force turning the string in a counterclockwise di-rection. The magnitude of reactive torque will depend on the torque being generated at the bit which itself is a function of bit aggressive-ness, motor torque output and the formation being drilled. Tool face control using a light set PDC bit with large cutter diameter run on a low speed high torque motor can be ex-tremely difficult. As a result a compromise on bit selection is made for steerable motor drill-


ing. It is not unusual for a roller cone bit to be run for a critical directional section of the well due to problems controlling tool face with a PDC bit. Orienting a PDC bit can be time-con-suming with frequent time spent off-bottom in order to control reactive torque [2,8].

The rotary sections with a steerable motor can also result in inefficient drilling. As with a rotary bottom-hole assembly the direction-al behavior of a steerable motor assembly is function of stabilizer gauge and spacing as well as drilling parameters used. As a result, the drilling parameters are set to control the directional tendency of the assembly as op-posed to maximizing ROP. Penetration rate in case of steerable systems can be very low as 0.3–0.4 m/hr, but in case of other Rotary Steerable System one can go up to 15–20 m/hr initially.

For the measurement of the angle in the steerable system one has to run Gyro Tool which sets in the grooves present in the Uni-versal Bore Hole Orienter (UBHO) present at the high side of the Steerable motor. This job also increases the NPT.

Micro-tortuosity associated with a slide ro-tate sequence is of particular significance in many regional reservoirs. Coiled tubing acces-sibility can be severely impacted by a tortuous well path in the reservoir.

Compared to steerable motor system, the Rotary Steerable System should be able to deliver:

Increased ROP

È No sliding intervals È More aggressive bits È Optimized use of drilling parameters.

Reduce trip time through better borehole quality

È Improved borehole cleaning

È Reduced tortuosity È Improved borehole gage È Rotary Steerable System (RSS)

These systems allow continuous rotation of the drill string while steering the bit. The surface communications system uses pulse-telemetry to deliver drilling commands rapidly to the Rotary Steerable System, to hold or to change given trajectory without any interruption to the drilling process. The Downhole system can transmit control sig-nals to the RSS in a matter of seconds, and a complete control instruction can be delivered and verified in less than a minute.

When drilling with air, foam or any compress-ible drilling fluid, where mud-pulse telem-etry cannot be used, some systems also use electromagnetic pulse-telemetry to transmit both LWD and RSS data continuously.

Currently, the industry divides Rotary Steer-able Systems into two groups, the “push-the-bit” systems and the “point-the-bit” systems [3, 4]:

È push-the-bit type applies side force to in-crease the side-cutting action of the bit

È point-the-bit type introduces an offset to the drilling trajectory similar to a bent housing but allowing continuous rota-tion.

Push-the-bit system is much more mature and used more in the industry.

Push-the-bit RSS, Construction and Working�Bias or directing and control unit are the two basic parts of RSS. The bias unit, lo-cated directly behind the bit, applies force to the bit in a controlled direction while the entire drill string rotates. The control unit, which resides behind the bias unit, contains

Muhammad Tauqeer 25

winter / 2014

self-powered electronics, sensors and a con-trol mechanism to provide the average mag-nitude and direction of the bit side loads required to achieve the desired trajectory, as shown in Fig. 1.

The bias unit has three external, hinged pads that are activated by controlled mud flowing through a valve. The valve exploits the differ-ence in mud pressure between the inside and outside of the bias unit. The three-way rotary disk valve actuates the pads by sequential-ly diverting mud into the piston chamber of each pad as it rotates into alignment with the desired push point to the point opposite the desired trajectory in the particular well. After a pad passes the push point, the rotary valve cuts off its mud supply and the mud escapes through a specially designed leakage port. Each pad extends approximately to 3⁄8 in. [1 cm] during each revolution of the bias unit.

An input shaft connects the rotary valve to the control unit to regulate the position of the push point. If the angle of the input shaft is geostationary with respect to the rock, the bit is constantly pushed in one direction, the direction that is opposite to the push point. If no change in direction is needed, the system is operated in a neutral mode, with each pad extended in turn, so that the pads push in all directions and effectively “cancel” each other.

The control unit maintains the proper angular position of the input shaft relative to the for-mation. The control unit is mounted on bear-

ings that allows it to rotate freely about the axis of the drill string. Through its onboard actuation system, the control unit can be commanded to hold a fixed roll angle, or tool face angle, with respect to the rock formation.

Three-axis accelerometer and magnetometer sensors provide information about the incli-nation and azimuth of the bit as well as the angular position of the input shaft. Within the control unit, counter-rotating turbine impellers mounted at opposite ends of the control unit develop the required stabilizing torque by carrying high-strength permanent magnets that couple with torque coils in the control unit. The torque transmission from the impellers to the control unit is controlled by electrically switching the loop resistance of the torque coils.

The upper impeller, or torquer, is used to torque the platform in the same direction as drill string rotation, while the lower impeller turns it in the opposite direction. Additional coils produce power for the electronics. The tool can be customized at surface and prepro-grammed according to the expected ranges of inclination and direction. If the instructions need to be changed, a sequence of pulses in the drilling fluid transmits new instructions downhole.

The steering performance of the system can be monitored. A highly efficient Digital Signal Processor in the tool continuously monitors the data stream and diagnoses the occurrence

�Fig. 1 – The figure shows the basic parts of the Push the bit system, Control and Bias units


and severity of vibration related problems such as BHA whirl, stick-slip, bit bounce, etc. The dynamics diagnostics are transmitted to the surface via mud-pulse telemetry along with static measurements such as downhole weight, torque, bending moment, and annu-lus pressure (ECD). The transmitted data is dis-played alongside surface acquired data at key locations at the rig site including the rig floor.

The datum used to set the geostationary an-gle of the shaft is provided either by a three axis accelerometer or by the magnetometer mounted in the control unit. For near-vertical holes, an estimate of magnetic North is used as the reference for determining the direction of deviation. For holes that deviate more than a few degrees from vertical, the accelerome-ters provide the steering reference.

The near-bit stabilizer provides the fulcrum point for rotary-steerable tool deflection. The stabilizer increases bit stability, further improving directional control and borehole quality [3, 4, 9].

Point-the-bit RSS, Construction and Working�This system delivers all the benefits of a push-the-bit system with reduced sensitivity

to the formation, resulting in more consistent steering, and generally higher dogleg capabil-ity.

The system is centered on a universal joint that transmits torque and weight on bit, but allows the axis of the bit to be offset with the axis of the tool as shown in Fig. 2.

The axis of the bit is kept offset by a mandrel that is maintained in a geostationary orien-tation through the use of a counter rotating electrical motor. Where the push-the-bit system keeps a control valve geostationary to divert mud behind the pads, the point- the-bit system keeps a mandrel geostation-ary.

Due to the high power requirements the sys-tem has its own power generation capabilities through a high power turbine and alternator assembly. The system also contains power electronics to control the motor, and sensors that monitor the rotation of the collar and motor.

These sensors provide input and feedback for the control of the system.

As with the push the bit system, the direc-tional driller controls the dogleg by down-linking to the tool to change the proportion of steering versus neutral time [4].

�Fig. 2 – This figure shows the basic parts of Point the Bit system

Muhammad Tauqeer 27

winter / 2014

Extra Equipments that can be added to RSSAzimuthal Focused Resistivity Sensor

�The Azimuthal Focused Resistivity (AFR) is one of the systems that are added to RSS to have better understanding of formation. It is a sensor that delivers high-resolution LWD borehole imaging for improved pro-duction and better understanding of the res-ervoir structure. Fig. 3 shows a typical AFR sensor. It also provides laterolog-type re-sistivity measurements for quantitative resistivity in environments where the ratio of formation resistivity to mud resistivity (Rt/Rm) is very high by investigating with high resolution imaging insight into the res-ervoir [4].

The AFR sensor provides four types of data:

1. Omni-directional, laterolog-type resistiv-ity data

2. Azimuthal laterolog-type resistivity data3. Electrical images of the formation4. At-Bit Resistivity (ABR) measurement.

One of the most commonly practiced and rec-ommended out of these is at bit inclination and gamma ray sensor located just 16 to 20 inches away from the bit.

This sensor provides different services for timely evaluating the bottom-hole environ-ment for active decisions during well place-ment and geosteering.

Downhole Motor as a part of RSS

�Because there is no rotation provided downhole by the rotary steerable systems, the entire drill string must be continuously rotated from surface. If additional downhole RPM is desired, or surface rotation must be kept to a minimum (such as when casing wear is a concern), a mud motor (without the bent housing, means zero degree tool face) can be used above the RSS to provide downhole rota-tion of the RSS assembly. This form of drilling is known as performance drilling. This mostly used with conventional rotary system but can also be made as a part of RSS. This makes the RSS providing more torque at the rock face.

Case StudyBackground

�The following case study describing how the use of RSS system increases the ROP de-scribing the optimizing efforts that went on in field “A”. A typical well in field “A” started as a vertical in 12 ¼” section and inclination built up to 40 degrees. Some wells also needed a drop after the initial build, to achieve sepa-ration from nearby wells. Around 4000 ft of borehole is drilled in these sections (previous wells) with rotating ROP of 25 ft/hr and slid-ing ROP of 15 to 20 ft/hr as typical values.

Because of the requirement to build and drop angle a directional Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) was used to drill these sections. The build and drop activity covered around 10–15% of the footage drilled.

�Fig. 3 – Azimuthal Resistivity Sensor


Rotary Steerable Systems would not offer any advantage if the aim was only to improve the sliding ROP and were therefore considered costly for this application.

A Typical BHA consists of a tricone bit, a mud motor with bent housing and a MWD tool. Due to different formations encountered one or two bit trips were common and the com-plete section took about 133 hrs to drill. The usage of tricone bits required cautious ap-proach as any damage or excessive use could

increase the possibility of bit damage and cones being left in borehole.

As a solution to this problem, PDC bits were considered to drill this section. Not only PDC bit was more suitable to drill this section due to formations encountered, it was also safer as there were no moving parts which could be lost downhole. A well was selected and a PDC bit was picked up to drill the 12 ¼” section. From the onset of drilling, sliding in the de-sired direction tend to be extremely difficult.

Component Gauge OD [in] OD [in] ID [in] Lenght [ft] Total Len [ft]

Drill collar x2 8 8 2 13/16 61.9 415.0

Jar 8 8 3 1/16 32.0 353.1

Drill collar x7 8 8 2 13/16 216.0 321.1

Drill collar 8 8 4 28.2 105.1

Pulser 8 8 4 5.0 76.9

MWD 8 8 4 27.8 71.9

Drill collar - short 8 8 2 7/8 8.1 44.1

Motor 12 1/8 8 2 35.0 36.0

Bit - mill tooth - roller cone 12 1/4 12 1/4 1 1/2 1.0 1.0

�Fig. 4 – BHA Motor with Tricone Bit

Component Gauge OD [in] OD [in] ID [in] Lenght [ft] Total Len [ft]

Drill collar 8 8 2 13/16 30.0 192.5

Jar 8 8 3 1/16 32.0 162.5

Drill collar 8 8 2 13/16 30.0 130.5

Sub - X/O 9 3/16 9 3/16 3 2.3 100.5

Sub - float 9 7/16 9 7/16 3 1/4 2.1 98.2

MWD 9 1/2 9 1/2 3 30.0 96.1

Stab - string 12 1/8 9 1/2 2 13/16 5.8 66.1

Pulser and Power Module 9 1/2 9 1/2 2 12.7 60.3

Drilling Dynamics Sensor 8 1/4 8 1/4 2.840 8.1 47.6

Motor 9 1/2 9 1/2 3 30.0 39.5

Rotary Steerable System 9 1/2 9 1/2 1.543 8.5 9.5

Bit - PDC - fixed cutter 12 1/4 12 1/4 2 1.0 1.0

�Fig. 5 – RSS Assembly with PDC Bit

Muhammad Tauqeer 29

winter / 2014

The PDC bit produced highly varying torque which caused the motor bend to change its orientation frequently as it tried to drive the bit to cut the formation. After trying for a few hours the attempt was abandoned and assem-bly was pulled out of hole.

A standard tricone bit was picked up and the section was drilled with multiple runs of tri-cone bits. It became clear that although the selected bit was suitable for drilling the en-countered formation, the incompatibility be-tween the bit and driving mechanism did not allow the use of this bit. Either the old tricone bits need to be used with the motor based sys-tem or a different system is needed to achieve the full benefits of the PDC bit [6].

Solution

�The problem was identified as the inability to steer in the desired direction due to aggres-sive torque generated by the given PDC bit. This torque would cause fluctuations in the

reactive torque from motor and would not allow the motor bend to point in the desired direction.

A system was needed that would not only de-pend on pointing a bend in a certain direction or could control this reaction automatically. A Rotary Steerable System was considered suitable for this purpose.

All steering is performed down hole accord-ing to the commands given from the sur-face. Since the Rotary Steerable System had no bend to point in drilling direction, it was free from the effects of reactive torque. It worked by pushing the three ribs to push the bit in desired direction. After initial side cutting the three point geometry of the sys-tem will point the bit in the desired direction and only corrective actions by system was re-quired.

This would form a complete system which could deliver the maximum performance

�Graph 1 – ROP vs. Steering system used


�Fig. 6 – Showing the effects of using RSS on the Cost per Barrel

Steady deviationcontrolled by downhole motor;

Independent of bit torque; problems of controlling toolface through elastic

drillstring are avoided

Continuous rotation while steering

Cleaner holeeff ect of hight inclination is off set by

continuous rotation

Smooth holetortuosity of well bore is reduced by

better steering

Less dragimproves control of wob

Less risk of stuck pipe

Longer extended reachwithout excessive drag

Longer extended reachwithout excessive drag

Completioncost is reduced

and workover is made easier

Longer horizontal

rangein reservoir with

good steering

Fewer platformsto develop a fi eld

Lower cost per foot

Fewer wellsto explot a reservoir

Lower cost per barrel

Muhammad Tauqeer 31

winter / 2014

from the PDC bit. Furthermore the rotary steerable system was to be used with a motor to achieve the maximum benefit.

A well was selected for this deployment and a PDC bit was picked up according to the plan. A total of 3590 ft of 12 ¼” section was drilled in 95.9 drilling hours with a single bit being used throughout the section.

Savings consisted of 8 hours of rig time for a bit trip, and time saved due to faster drilling of 12 ¼” section due to increased ROP from PDC bit. Faster ROP produced a saved rig time of 25 hours what was a significant improvement. Additionally the section was completed in one run thus saving the cost of additional bit.

Following Fig. 4 and 5 are showing the type of assembly used. Their results in changing ROP are shown in graph.

ROP comparison of different Wells in Field “A”�In this case the selected PDC bit was the proper solution to drill the formation with maximum efficiency and speed with conven-tional motor BHA, however, this solution could not be implemented and thus the drill-ing had to be performed with reduced effi-ciency.

The cost of Rotary Steerable System was pro-hibitive if only sliding time was to be reduced and tricone bit was to be used. Similarly the use of conventional BHA and tricone bit was inefficient as it needed extra bit trip along with the cost involved.

Rotary Steerable System in this case proved to be an enabling technology that made the use of PDC bit possible. This enabling the use of PDC bit proved to be highly beneficial even though the well profile was simple and was previously drilled with motor based systems.

Following Fig. 6 presents some of the effects of different factors on ultimate decrease in per barrel cost by the use of RSS. It should be kept in mind that the selection of RSS should be done using the economic analysis.

Thousands of successful runs have been made by the Rotary Steerable System up to date by different countries worldwide, both offshore and onshore.

Results of these runs are presented in num-ber of technical papers and case studies show-ing the high degree of success by this state of the art system.

There are some cases where the use of conven-tional steering system turned into a complete failure after a certain depth due to hardness of rock [2]. It is also possible to drill by RSS coupled with mud motor using coiled tubing as a successful run have been done in San Juan Basin [7].

Conclusion�Viewing the above facts, explanations and feature of the RSS, we can conclude that the use of this system helps us a lot in drilling precisely in many wells where excessive trip-in and trip-out is needed and where there is difficulty of maintaining the desired direction because of reactive torques. Some bits which are dictated to be more precise (as PDC in above case) for particular formation might not suite the Conventional Steering system. In such cases the use of RSS results in not only saving money from less no. of bits used, less Rig time but also saving of precious time. Saved time can start early production gener-ating early revenue. Especially when we have to achieve a target located at relatively larger depth that has a complex planned wellbore trajectory.

There are some advantages that can be ac-quired using Rotary Steerable Systems as


compared to conventional steerable system [2,3,4].

Better well placementAllows better well bore placement by follow-ing the planned path.

Smoother wellboresReduce the wellbore tortuosity by drilling and building smoother well path.

Enhanced productivityAs well bore is placed in more precise position and targeted point in the reservoir with the help of RSS due to planned trajectory and real time monitoring, the productivity is en-hanced as a result.

Reduced Non-Productive Time (NPT)Since the time required to set angle on surface running in and again changing it by the time is not wasted in RSS as compared to conven-tional steerable system.

Minimizing sticking and borehole stability problems.Continuous drill string rotation reduces the risk of stuck pipe and resulting wellbore sta-bility issues.

Expanding wellbore construction optionsBy drilling a smooth vertical wellbore, the RSS enables to choose among a wider range of wellbore construction options.

Cutting the cost of staying verticalWhen drilling vertical wells through dip-ping beds, especially in tectonically stressed environments, the drilling assembly often tends to build angle along the path of least resistance. This technology is set to maintain zero-degree inclination automatically to pre-vent any deviation. This feature ensures that vertical wells can be drilled on target with higher weight on bit, thereby increasing the ROP.

Better formation evaluation measurementsBorehole washouts, rugosity and spiraling contribute to environments that make pet-ro-physical measurements difficult. Smooth boreholes drilled with RSS eliminate these issues.

Acknowledgments�I would like to thank my teacher Rizwan Muneer for his time and help, my seniors Hammad Ali and others who helped me. I would like to thank my Department for their belief in me.

References1. Armagost, W.K., Pafitis, D., & Wernig, M. (2003). Development and application of a large-hole

rotary steerable system: accelerating new technology introduction through successful collaboration. SPE/IADC 79916, SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands. February 19–21, 2003.

2. Cavallaro, G., Concas, A., Enis, P.A., Heisig, G., D’alessandro, D., Di Felice, C., Sudiro, P., & Koehrmann, F. (2007). Motor-powered rotary steerable systems resolve steerability problems and improve drilling performance in Vald’agri re-entry application. The Offshore Mediterranean Con-ference and Exhibition, Ravenna, Italy. March 28–30, 2007.

3. Downton, G., & Hendricks, A. (2000, Spring). New Directions in Rotary Steerable Drilling. OilField Review.

4. Griffiths, R. (2009). Well Placement Fundamentals. Schlumberger.

Muhammad Tauqeer 33

winter / 2014

5. Hawkins, R., Jones, S., O'Connor, J., & Sugiura, J. (2013). Design, Development and Field Test-ing of a High Dogleg Slim-Hole Rotary Steerable System. SPE/IADC 163472, 2013 SPE/IADC Drill-ing Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. March 05–07, 2013.

6. Nurzai, J., & Butt, I. (2013). Rotary steerable system delivers significant performance and cost benefits for the operator by enabling the use of PDC bit in drilling 12 ¼” section. SPE 164026, 2013 SPE Middle East Unconventional Gas Conference & Exhibition, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. January 28–30, 2013.

7. Pink, T., Neves, M., Seyler, Ch., Allcorn, M., O’Leary, J., Noynaert, S., & Hartensteiner, F. (2007). Drilling With a Positive-Displacement Motor and a Rotary-Steerable System on 3½-in. Coiled Tubing in the San Juan Basin. SPE 107115, SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing and Well Interven-tion Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA. March 20–21, 2007.

8. Pratten, Ch., El Kholy, K., Naganathan, S., & Sharaf, E. (2003). Rotary Steerable System Appli-cations in the Middle East. SPE/IADC 85285, SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Con-ference and Exhibition, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. October 20–22, 2003.

9. Revolution Rotary-Steerable System Revolutionizing drilling efficiency in all types of environments. Weatherford.

10. Sakhalin-1 Project Drills World’s Longest Extended Reach Well. News and updates. News re-leases. Retrieved August 16, 2013, from http://news.exxonmobil.com/press-release/sakhalin-1-project-drills-worlds-longest-extended-reach-well

Muhammad Naveed 35

winter / 2014

· Impact of Process Variables on the Re-refining of the Used Lube Oil by Solvent ExtractionMuhammad Naveed, Sohail Ahmed Soomro Ph.D., Shaheen Aziz Ph.D., Rashid Hussain Abro, Adeel Mukhtar

�Lubricating oil is the most important liq-uid that is used in almost all vehicles and machines. This oil is used to ensure the smooth performance and prolong the good condition of vehicles and machines. Basi-cally, the ingredient of used oil is base oil, which is refined from crude oil. The origin of base oil is the crude oil, which is non-re-newable resource. However, the base oil molecular structure remains at its initial condition although it has gone through particular usage in vehicles. Thus, re-refin-ing of the used oil after consumption, with intention to recover the base oil is a big po-tential in overcoming the shortage of lubri-cant oil sources in the future.

�Moreover, re-refining reduces the contri-bution of used oil, which is one of the carcino-genic sources polluting the environment. In the current work, two types of used lube oils were used for extraction treatment: type A drawn from lighter vehicles and type B drawn from heavy vehicles. Lubricating oil is re-re-fined to get base oil by the solvent extraction method. The process variables were such as: temperature and pressure. Several experi-ments were performed to investigate the op-timum solvent to oil ratios. Used oil is dehy-drated by the vacuum distillation — the best vacuum pressure and temperature observed were 4 mbar and 200°C, respectively. The composite solvent is made of 25% 2-propanol, 37% 1-butanol and 38% butanone (Volume %).

Various solvents to oil ratios are used in the solvent extraction of used lubricating oil, it is observed that the best solvent to oil ratio is 3:1. The solvent is stripped of 40 mbar pres-sure and 200°C temperature.

Introduction�Lubricating oils from petroleum consists essentially of complex mixtures of hydrocar-bon molecules. They are mainly composed of isoalkanes having slightly longer branches and the monocyclic alkanes and monoaro-matics which have several short branches on the ring. These hydrocarbon molecules gener-ally range from low viscosity oils having mo-lecular weights as low as 250, up to very vis-cous lubricants with molecular weight as high as 1000. The carbon atoms range from 20 to 34. Lubricating oils are viscous liquid and are used for lubricating moving parts of engines and machines. Grease, which is semi-solid, also belongs to this group. There are three major classes of lubricating oils, namely: lu-bricating greases, automotive oils and indus-trial lubricating oil.

*Mehran Univ. of Engineering & Technology

Þ Pakistan

[email protected]


36 Re-refining of the Used Lube Oil

When lubricating oils are used in service, they help to protect rubbing surfaces and promote easier motion of connected parts. In the process, they serve as a medium to remove high build-up of temperature on the moving surfaces. Further build-up of temperature degrades the lubricating oils, thus, leading to reduction in properties such as: viscosity, specific gravity, etc. Dirt’s and metal parts worn out from the surfaces are deposited into the lubricating oils. With increased time of usage, the lubricating oil loses its lubricating properties as a result of over-reduction of the desired properties, and thus, it must be evac-uated and a fresh one placed.

Lubricating oil is the most important liquid that is used in almost all vehicles and ma-chines. This oil is used to ensure the smooth performance and prolong the good condition of vehicles and machines. Basically, the ingre-dient of used oil is base oil, which is refined from crude oil or synthesized in laboratory. Base oil is mixed with additives to enhance the ability of the oil to act as a layer between contact surfaces. However, the base oil molec-ular structure remains at its initial condition although it has gone through particular usage in vehicles. Thus, re-refining the used oil after consumption, with intention to recover the base oil is a big potential in overcoming the shortage of lubricant oil sources in the future. Moreover, re-refining reduces the contribution of used oil, which is one of the carcinogenic sources, polluting the environment. Especial-ly, the water sources and the marine life are damaged. Therefore, re-refining of the base oil from the used lubricating oil is considered as tremendous contribution to the saving of crude resources as well as to the well-being of the environment and human being.

Waste lubricating oil has been re-refined us-ing many techniques such as: chemical treat-ment [16], physical treatment by distillation and thin film evaporation [5], and solvent extraction [2]. Since the chemical (acid/clay) treatment creates environmental problems,

therefore, solvent extraction was introduced as a self-alternate to replace it [15]. This sol-vent extraction treatment has received con-siderable attention in recent years; because it overcomes the problems associated with acid sludge produced from chemical treatment and its cost is one third of the cost of physical re-refinery.

In the solvent-extraction process the solvents were composite. The composite solvent of (2-propanol, 1-butanol and butanone) differ-ent proportion at various solvent oil ratios was used as the 2-propanol, is a polar com-pound that segregates the impurities in the form of sludge. Whereas, the basic compound of the composite solvent is 1-butanol that extracts the spent lubricant oil and the bu-tanone known as MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) is the catalyst that expedites the reaction. The performance was predicted through the tem-perature ranging 20–30°C. The solvent ratios were used, 25% 2-propanol, 37% 1-butanol and 38% butanone.

In the solvent extraction process, the impact of process variables (i.e. temperature and pressure) of the vacuum distillation, atmos-pheric distillation of the composite solvent and the optimum solvent to oil ratios were investigated.

Three process stages were studied, namely: dehydration (vacuum distillation), solvent extraction, and atmospheric distillation. The study was carried out on a used oil mixture drained from different automobiles (from light and heavy vehicles). All gasoline and water fractions were separated using vacuum distillation up to 4 mbar at 200°C for the de-hydration process.

The basic steps in any solvent extraction pro-cess are:

1. Dehydration of the used oil to remove gasoline and water fractions that result from the automobile engine operation.

Muhammad Naveed 37

winter / 2014

2. Solvent treatment of dehydrated oil.3. Stripping of the solvent from solvent-oil

mixture.

MethodologyGeneral characteristics of lubricating oils

All lubricants are characterized by some prop-erties, such as: viscosity, flash point, pour point, ash content, water content, density, specific gravity, etc.

Viscosity

Viscosity is defined as a force acting on a unit area where the velocity gradient is equal at a given density of the fluid. Viscosity strongly depends on the temperature. With increasing temperature, the viscosity has to be stated for a certain temperature. The most important fluid characteristic of a lubricant is its viscosi-ty under the operation condition to which it is subjected in the unit. It is the characteristic of a liquid which relates a shearing stress to the viscosity gradient it produces in the liquid.

Lubrication oils are identified by Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) number. The SAE viscosity numbers are used by most auto-motive equipment manufacturers to describe the viscosity of the oil they recommend for use in their products. The greater or higher are the SAE viscosity numbers, the more vis-cous or heavier the lubricating oil is. Viscosity numbers are given in terms of Saybolt second universal, SSU. The addition of certain addi-tives is for the improvement of viscosity-tem-perature characteristics.

Specific gravity (Density)

From ordinary theory, we know that den-sity of a substance is equal to the mass of a substance divided by the volume of the sub-stance, that is:Density (d) = Mass (m) / Volume (V)

Specific gravity is a ratio of the density of the material to density of the equal volume of wa-ter. The temperature at which the density is measured must be known for density changes as temperature changes.

Pour point

Pour point is a measure of temperature at which the oil ceases to flow under service conditions of a specific system. It is very im-portant for users of lubricants in low temper-ature environment.

Water content

Water found in lubricating oil in service de-pends on the place where the automobile is used. In almost all systems, traces of water in the lubricant are unavoidable, arising from such sources as: leaking oil coolers, engine cooling system leaks and in all types of ma-chinery, from atmospheric condensation. Accordingly, the water content must not ex-ceed the “action” levels (more than 0.5) rec-ommended for the different grades of oil and application. In places where are bad roads and drainage system, one is bound to see water as part of contaminants of the oil. The water in the radiator may also contribute to the pres-ence of water in lubricating oils in use. The presence of excessive water contamination will affect the viscosity of the oil and this may give rise to formation and can also lead to gear tooth and bearing problems.

Flash point

Flash point is the minimum temperature at which an oil gives off sufficient vapours to form an explosive mixture with air. The flash point test gives an indication of the presence of volatile compounds in oil and is the tem-perature to which the oil must be heated un-der specific conditions to give off sufficient vapour to form a flammable mixture with air. There are various methods of determin-ing flash point of oils as contained in ASTM.


Flash point, open cup is the temperature at which a flash appears on the surface of the sample when a small flame of specified size is passed across the cup at regular temperature intervals while the oil in the cup is heated at a specified rate.

Sulphated ash content

Most equipment manufacturers specify en-gine oil based on its ash content and viscosity grade. The ash is a portion of the lubricant that is left behind as a deposit after com-plete burning of the oil. It is whitish-gray and comes from the metallic detergents (cal-cium and barium) and antiwear (zinc) addi-tives. The ash content of lube oil is available in four general levels: ashless (less than 0.1% sulphated ash), low ash (0.2% to 0.6%), medi-um ash (0.7% to 1.2%) and high ash (greater than 2.0%).

Experimental Work�In the current research work, a glassware distillation assembly setup was made. The major steps involved in re-refining of used lube oil are:

Used Oil Collection

The collection of used lubricating oils was from heavy vehicles and light vehicles and stored these oils separately, giving the settling time for the settling of sediments present in the lube oil. The used oils were homogenized in the agitator by agitating the oils mixture up to 5 minutes.

Experimental procedure

The dehydration step involved the vacuum distillation. The vacuum distillation is carried out at different temperatures ranging from 200 to 160°C under the high pressure i.e. 4 mbar. Distillation was continued until no distillate produced. The dehydrated used oil

was weighed and then used for the next step of re-refining.

After the dehydration of oils, 150 ml was taken for each experiment. The composite solvent composition was fixed, 2-propanol, 1-butanol and butanone used in the ratios 25:37:38, respectively. The solvent to oil mix-ture was prepared from 2:1 to 4:1. The sol-vent-oil mixture was observed less viscous at 4:1 than 2:1. According to the solvent-oil ratio the solvents amount used 300, 450 and 600 ml. Solvent-oil mixture was agitated up to 15 minutes in order to get complete mixing. The mixture was allowed to form two phases (extract and raffinate phase) in the funnel. The extract phase having low viscosity than raffinate phase, the extract phase was of deep and red color while raffinate phase was black. The separation of the phases took 24 hours. The extract phase separated from solvent by simple atmospheric distillation at 100°C. The base oil was produced, weighed and tested for physical properties.

Quality test

È MINIFLASH Flash point (ASTM D7093)

The test is conducted by slowly heating the sample of lubricant. Directly above, the sam-ple container is an ignition source, either an open flame or spark source. As the sample heats, the light-ends boil off and form flam-mable gasses. There is enough gas built-up to be ignited by the ignition source, and thus, the gases flash. The temperature at which the oil was heated to when this occurs is called the Flash Point. It is reported in degrees F or degrees C.

È Pour point (ASTM D97)

20 ml of the lube oil sample was introduced into a container. The lube oil sample was chilled at specific rate; certain paraffin hy-drocarbon (in the form of wax) will begin to solidify and separate out in crystalline form.

Muhammad Naveed 39

winter / 2014

Further chilling was continued until lube oil stopped to flow. The temperature occurred is called the pour point temperature.

È Specific gravity (ASTM D941-55)

Specific gravity is a ratio of the density of the material to the density of equal volume of wa-ter. This was measured using the hydrometer. The density was observed at 60°F and the val-ue recorded.

È Rotary Viscometer Test Method (ASTM D2983)

A less common method of determining oil’s viscosity utilizes a rotary viscometer. In this test method, the oil is placed in a glass tube, housed in an insulated block at a fixed tem-perature. A metal spindle is then rotated in the oil at a fixed rpm, and the torque required

to rotate the spindle is measured. Based on the internal resistance to rotation provided by the shear stress of the oil, the oil’s absolute viscosity can be determined. Absolute viscosi-ty is reported in centipoise (cP), equivalent to mPa•s in SI units. This method is commonly referred to as the Brookfield method and is described in ASTM D2983.

È Ash content

The sample is ignited and burned until only ash and carbon remain. After cooling, the res-idue is treated with sulphuric acid and heated to 775°C until carbon oxidation is complete. The ash is then cooled, retreated with sulphu-ric acid, and heated to 775°C to the constant weight. The sulphated ash can be used, to in-dicate the concentration of known metal-con-taining additives in new oils.

Serial VariablesExperiments

1 2 3

1 Pressure (mbar) 4 4 4

2 Final temperature (°C) 168 180 188

3 Charge liter (ml) 500 500 500

4 First drop temperature (°C) 120 120 120

5 Cooling temperature (°C) 20 20 20

6 Volume distilled (ml) 7.5 12 15.5

�Table 1a – Dehydration of used lube oil drawn from light vehicles

�Fig. 1a – Dehydration of used lube oil of type A at 4 mbar pressure

Destillation Temperature (°C)

Volu

me (

ml)

distilled volume charge

168 180 188

520

480

500 7.512 15.5


Results and Discussion�The re-refining process of used lube oil was carried out by studying the two types of used lubricating oils were fractionated i.e. type A is used oil drawn from one automobile (light vehicles such as bike) while type B is used oil mixture drawn from heavy vehicles.

1 – Dehydration

Several numbers of experiments were car-ried out for the dehydration of used lubri-cating oil. The dehydration was carried out by simple vacuum distillation. The results of dehydration are tabulated in Fig. 1a and 1b, which show that the best dehydration re-sults are obtained at lower vacuum pressure (i.e. 4 mbar) and even though, there is a wide range in boiling point between water, gaso-

line and the base oil cut. The oil degradation temperature is 250°C, so it was to make sure that the temperature was not going above 250°C.

Fig. 1a shows type A, the charge of 500 ml of used lubricating oil introduced in the distil-lation assembly, the best temperature and pressure was 188°C and pressure 4 mbar, re-spectively, at which the volume distilled up to 15.5 ml. Table 1a shows the oil dehydration parameters.

Fig. 1b shows type B, the charge of 500 ml of used lubricating oil introduced in the distil-lation assembly, the best temperature and pressure was 193°C and pressure 4 mbar, re-spectively, at which the volume distilled up to 22 ml. Table 1b shows the oil dehydration parameters.

Serial VariablesExperiments

1 2 3

1 Pressure (mbar) 4 4 4

2 Final temperature (°C) 172 184 193

3 Charge liter (ml) 500 500 500

4 First drop temperature (°C) 130 130 130

5 Cooling temperature (°C) 20 20 20

6 Volume distilled (ml) 10 20 22

�Table 1b – Dehydration of used lube oil drawn from heavy vehicles

�Fig. 1b – Dehydration of used lube oil of type B at 4 mbar pressure

Destillation Temperature (°C)

Volu

me (

ml)

distilled volume charge

168 180 188

540

480

50010

20 22520

Muhammad Naveed 41

winter / 2014

2 – Solvent Extraction

In the solvent extraction step, we have used composite solvent 2-propanol, 1-butanol and butanone in the rations of 24:37:38, respec-tively for the different solvent to oil ratios; we got different results, which are tabulated in the table 2a and 2b.

The above result shows that the maximum ash reduction is obtained in the solvent to oil ratio of 4:1. For the same ratios maximum oil is recovered than the ratios of 3:1 and 2:1. It means that the solvency power is increased with the increase in solvent amount, but sol-vent to oil ratios above than 4:1 will not give maximum ash reduction. That means that some contaminants are dissolved in solvent which is not desirable.

In the light of above results, it is investigated that the solvent to oil ratio was 4:1. It gives maximum oil recovery and ash reduction, but not economical for the industry. Thus, sol-vent to oil ration of 3:1 is optimum solvent to oil ratio in the current experimental work, because it is economical and has good oil re-covery and ash reduction.

3 – Solvent Recovery

The atmospheric distillation was used to re-cover the solvent from solvent-oil mixture. In the atmospheric distillation of solvent-oil mixture foaming is appeared and the liquid mixture is coming out from the flask to the condenser and the vacuum lines was blocked, the foaming problem appeared due to the fol-lowing reasons:

Pressure: The pressure should be greater than 120 mbar. The pressure below 120 mbar causes problems.Composition: in the solvent to oil mixture 2-propanol and butanone was the main cause of foaming.Quantity: The volume of the mixture in the flask should not be greater than ¾ parts.

Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b show type A and type B oil recovery from a charge of 150 ml of oil. Solvent to oil ratio i.e. 3:1 shows greater re-covery of oil that is 138 ml and 141 ml from type A and type B, respectively. Table 1a and 1b present the oil dehydration parameters. Table 3a and 3b show the solvent recovery parameters.

S/No Solvent to Oil ratio Oil feed (ml) Solvent (ml) Extract (ml) Raffinate/ Sludge (g)

1 2:1 150 300 390 51.0

2 3:1 150 450 660 44.5

3 4:1 150 600 700 40.0

�Table 2a – Measurement of mass balance of solvent to oil ratio (type A)

S/No Solvent to Oil ratio Oil feed (ml) Solvent (ml) Extract (ml) Raffinate/ Sludge (g)

1 2:1 150 300 385 62.0

2 3:1 150 450 550 54.5

3 4:1 150 600 695 49.5

�Table 2a – Measurement of mass balance of solvent to oil ratio (type B)


Test Analysis�There are some physical tests which were performed for used oil samples of type A and type B, and also for regenerated oil samples for both types, which is shown in Table 2a and 2b.

È Specific gravity È Density È Kinematic viscosity È Flash point È Sulphated ash content È Color

Table 4a shows the physical properties of used lube oil and Table 4b indicates the prop-erties of regenerated oil and also shows the comparison with virgin oil. The regenerated lube oil from the lighter vehicles similar in its properties to the virgin oil 150 N, while the

regenerated oil is similar in its properties to virgin oil 500 N.

Conclusion�In this re-refining research proper selec-tion of a composite solvent to oil ratios and the optimum parameters was determined for the maximum oil and solvent recovery. There were three major steps in the re-refining of lube oil, namely: (i) Dehydration, (ii) Solvent Extraction and (iii) Solvent Recovery. In the current research work, different types of used oils were used. 1st type of used oil drawn from light vehicles and 2nd type of used oil drawn from heavy vehicles. In the dehydra-tion process, water and lighter hydrocarbons are separated by the vacuum distillation at the pressure of 4 mbar and temperature of 200°C.

S/No Solvent to Oil ratio Oil feed (ml) Solvent (ml) Solvent-oil mixture Oil (ml) Oil Loss (ml)

1 2:1 150 300 450 132 18

2 3:1 150 450 600 138 12

3 4:1 150 600 750 135 15

�Table 3a – Solvent stripping mass balance (light vehicles)

Solvent to Oil Ratio

Volu

me (

ml)

oil loss oil recover

2:1 3:1 4:1

150

90

110

18 12 15

130

132138

135

70

50

�Fig. 3a – Regenerated oil recovery from type A

Muhammad Naveed 43

winter / 2014

In the solvent extraction step, at the contam-inants reduces to low level.

The best solvent to oil ratio was investigated that is 3:1 which gives max oil recovery and ash reduction. The composite solvent was 2-propanol, 1-butanol and butanone was in the ratios of 25:37:38, respectively, in the 3:1, 65% ash reduction, 96% oil recovery was found, that is maximum ash reduction and maximum oil recovery.

Solvent was recovered by atmospheric distil-lation at 200°C.

Foaming was occurred during the atmospher-ic distillation of solvent-oil mixture that was controlled by the vacuum pressure. About 95% of solvent was recovered in the solvent recovery step.

The best operating pressure and temperature were 4–6 mbar and 200°C, respectively. The optimum solvent to oil ratios were 25% 2-pro-panol, 37% 1-butanol and 38% butanone. Sol-vents were recovered by carrying two steps. (i) atmospheric distillation for butanone and 2-propanol (ii) 1-butanol was removed by vac-uum distillation at 40 mbar.

S/No Solvent to Oil ratio Oil feed (ml) Solvent (ml) Solvent-oil mixture Oil (ml) Oil Loss (ml)

1 2:1 150 300 450 134 16

2 3:1 150 450 600 141 9

3 4:1 150 600 750 131 19

�Table 3b – Solvent stripping mass balance (heavy vehicles)

Solvent to Oil Ratio

Volu

me (

ml)

oil loss oil recovery

2:1 3:1 4:1

150

90

110

169

19

130

134141

131

70

50

�Fig. 3b – Regenerated oil recovery from type B


References1. Alves dos Reis, M., & Silva Jeronimo, M. (1988). Waste Lubricating Oil Re-Refining by Solvent

Extraction Flocculation. A Scientific Basis to Design Efficient Solvents. Industrial Engineering Chemical Research, 27, 1222–1228.

2. Alves dos Reis, M., & Silva Jeronimo, M. (1999). Waste Lubricating Oil Re-Refining by Extrac-tion-Flocculation 2: A Method to Formulate Efficient Composite Solvents. Industrial Engineer-ing Chemical Research, 29(3).

3. Audibert, F. (2006, October). Waste Engine Oils. Re-refining and Energy Recovery. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science & Technology Books.

4. Bianco, C., D.I Trdeci, M., & Fisicaro, G. (1993). Agip Petroli- Italy: Review of the Major Processes Used in the Reclamation of Spent Oils. Third Seminar on the Utilization and Marketing in the Arab Countries, Cairo, Egypt.

5. Brinkman, D., Whisman, W., Weinstein, M.W., & Emerson, H.R. (1981). Environmental, Re-source Conservation, and Economic Aspects of Used Oil Recycling. Washington: US Department of Energy.

6. Chementator, (1996, August). Solvent Extraction Process Recycles Waste Oil. Chemical Engi-neering, 103.

7. Dang, G.S. (2006, March). Rerefining of Used Oils: A Review of Commercial Process. Journal of Wiley Inter Science, 3(4), 445–457.

8. Durrani, H.A., Panhwar, M.I., & Kazi, R.A.(2008, October). Management of Vehicle Waste Oil in Pakistan: A Case Study. Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 27(4), 422–440.

Physical Properties ASTM standardLight used engine oil

type AHeavy used engine oil

Type B

Sp Gravity (-) D-1298 0.895 0.897

Kinemetic viscosity at 40°C (cSt) D-445 121.52 170.10

Flash Point (°C) D-92 130 180

Ash Content (wt%) D482-80 0.738 0.695

�Table 4a – Physical properties of used lube oil type A and B, before extraction

Physical Properties

ASTM standardLight used engine oil

Heavy used engine oil

Fresh base oils

150 N 500 N

Sp Gravity (-) D-1298 0.872 0.8841 0.8749 0.8861

Kinetic viscosity at 40oC (cSt)

D-445 47.12 69.387 28.5 90.3

Flash Point (°C) D-92 195 228 200 244

Ash Content ( wt% )

D482-80 0.07 0.05 0.01 0.01

�Table 4b – Regenerated and virgin base oil physical properties

Muhammad Naveed 45

winter / 2014

9. Durrani, H.A., Panhwar, M.I., & Kazi, R.A. (2009, October). Impact of Operating Variables on Re-Refining of Vehicle Waste Oil to Base-Oil by Acid Clay Process. Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 28(4), 485–490.

10. Durrani, H.A., Panhwar, M.I., & Kazi, R.A. (2010, January). Recycling of Lubricating Oil by Using Potassium Hydroxide Efficiently. Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 29(1), 129–136.

11. Elbashir, N.O., Al-Zahrani, S.M., Abdul Mutalib, M.I., & Abasaeed, A.E. (2002). A Method of Predicting Effective Solvent Extraction Parameters for Recycling of Used Lubricating Oils. Chemical Engineering and Processing, 41, 765–769.

12. El-Fadel, M., & Khouy, R. (2001). Strategies for Vehicle Waste Oil Management: A Case Study. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 33, 75–91.

13. Lee, L.P., Ripin, A., Rosli, M.Y., & Yee, F.C. (2004). Re-Refining of Base Oil from Used Lubricant Oil: A Method to Formulate Efficient Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) Effect.

14. Nimir, O.M., Abdul Mutalib, M.I., & Adnan, R. (1997). Recycling of Used Lubrication oil by Sol-vent Extraction: A Guide for Single Solvent Design. Perak: Institute of Technology PETRONAS.

15. Saunders, J., (1996). Used Oil Refining Revolution?. Lubricants World.16. Vaughn, S.K. (1975). Waste Oil Recovery and Disposal. London: Noyes Data Corporation.

46 Geophysical Properties of Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments

· Geophysical Properties of Methane Hydrate Bearing Sediments Considering Economic-scale Production of Natural GasDominik Skokowski

�Methane from hydrate bearing sediments is one of the most promising sources of the future energy. There are large deposits of methane trapped in forms of methane hydrate worldwide, mainly beneath per-mafrost and on continental slopes. The in-tensive research is being conducted on de-veloping technology to produce gas on an economic scale.

�Natural gas production from hydrates through dissociation comes with profound changes of geophysical properties of the rock. The aim of this paper is to analyze those changes and risks associated with them. The macro scale – development of whole fields – as well as the micro scale – phenomena occur-ring near the wellbore – have been taken into the consideration. Laboratory measurements’ problems of hydrate bearing sediments were also analyzed.

Introduction�Methane hydrates are molecules of meth-ane encapsulated in cages formed by water molecules (Fig. 1). It is stable in conditions of low temperature and high pressure. Meth-ane hydrate dissociation is an endothermic reaction, in result of which 0.8 m3 of water and 170 m3 (normal conditions) are produced from 1 m3 of methane hydrate. Methane hy-drates naturally occur under permafrost lay-ers of arctic region and below the seabed, with

depth of water 500 m or deeper. Parameters governing the methane hydrate stability zone (MHSZ, Fig. 2) are: hydrate-gas phase bound-ary as a function of pressure (depth) and temperature, depth of permafrost or seabed, depending on the type of the reservoir, and geothermal gradient as Fig. 3 shows [10].

Tapping methane from hydrate could make a huge impact on the global energy business. There is an intense research being conducted across the globe to develop the technology of extracting methane from gas hydrates on an economic scale. Before that can be done, there are many obstacles to overcome. Hy-drate is often the only one cementing factor in the sediments it fills, because of its disso-ciation, the rock becomes weak, and there is a substantial increase in pore pressure. As a re-sult, the geomechanical properties of the rock change dramatically. That can lead not only to single well problems, but also causes is-sues of far more severe consequences. One of the most vivid example is the Storegga Slide, which occurred about 6100 B.C. The part of the continental slope on the Norwegian Sea equal to Iceland slid by surface, caused the biggest known tsunami in the history, and

* AGH Univ. of Science and Technology

Þ Poland

[email protected]


Dominik Skokowski 47

winter / 2014

was probably triggered by dissociating layers of methane hydrate [1].

Hydrate Characteristics Influencing Geomechanics�Reservoirs which consist sands and sand-stones with hydrate occurring in the pore space are the easiest to tap methane hydrate from. Key factors influencing the geomechan-ics of the rock are saturation and the spatial development of the hydrate inside pores. This determines whether the hydrate will have load-bearing properties or not.

For coarse-grained sediments of most of the sub-permafrost reservoirs, the saturations can reach values as high as 80%, whereas for fine-grained sediments of the oceanic reser-voirs saturation is about 10% (of course there are exceptions from that).

The second key factor is spatial development of the hydrate inside the pore. There are two main types of hydrate when considering this property: the pore-filling hydrate and the cementing hydrate. This is dictated by con-ditions of methane, under which the hydrate is formed. If a methane is dissolved in water, hydrate molecules tend to accumulate in di-rection of pores’ centers, but if there is a free methane, molecules form on the grain con-tacts. This is important, because pore-filling hydrate begins to have load-bearing proper-ties around saturations of 25–30%, whereas

cementing hydrate starts to bear loads from the lowest saturation.

Most of known hydrate reservoirs contain pore-filling hydrate, but there are exceptions, where methane migrated upwards through seeps and didn’t fully dissolve into water along the way, thus forming cementing hy-drate reservoirs. This is related to a major problem of laboratory testing of synthetic samples of hydrate. One or two days are need-ed for cementing a hydrate core, but due to very low solubility of methane in water, the pore-filling hydrate core takes even fifty days to form. Just because of this phenomenon, most of the laboratory tests on synthetic cores was conducted on cementing hydrate specimens, despite the fact, that naturally they occur relatively rarely if compared to the pore-filling hydrates.

One of the main sources of our knowledge about sediments saturated with methane hydrates are triaxial tests. In many separate experiments several facts were established. With increasing hydrate saturation, Young modulus, cohesion and shear strength in-crease. These geomechanical properties also depend largely on effective confining pres-sure, which is a function of pore pressure and pressure of the overburden [3,11]. It’s obvious that rock matrix becomes weaker as it loses methane hydrate, that supports its structure.

Drilling Phase Problems�First problems may appear already in the phase of drilling through the hydrate layer. Destabilization of pressure-temperature con-ditions may lead to loss of the rock stability, gas kicks (which may occur outside the cas-ing), or loss of the mud density. Hydrate gran-ules may initiate process of hydrate forming on the elements of well infrastructure.

Solution to most of these problems is by con-trolling the P-T conditions and not allowing �Fig. 1 – Methane hydrate molecules, stanford.edu


the hydrate to dissociate. This can be achieved by cooling the mud, increasing its density and flow rate, or decreasing the rotation to mini-mize the heating of the rock by friction. There is also a need to add inhibitors to the mud to prevent formation of hydrate inside the well and its equipment [5].

Khabibullin et al. [4] shows that decreasing the temperature from 277 K to 275 K results in four-fold decrease in the amount of gas that enters the well in consequence of hydrate dissociation. The same study shows, that de-creasing overbalance pressure by 0.1 MPa at the bottom of the hole results in ten-fold de-crease in the amount of gas entering the mud.

Production Phase Problems�As long as drilling is concerned, most of the problems are relatively easy to solve, through controlling P-T conditions and not allowing the hydrate to dissociate. The case is completely different during the production phase, where hydrate dissociation is one of the mechanisms, and loss of rock integrity is inevitable. Major perils associated with pro-duction are surface subsidence, destruction

of well infrastructure, fault reactivation and marine slides.

In various simulations, made by using real field data the effects of longtime production of gas from hydrates were estimated. Qiu et. al. [7] simulated the vertical displacement of the rock as a result of production in the Al-pha-1 well located in the Nankai Trough. The hydrate layer is located on the depth of 840 m, 120 m below the seabed. The perforation in-terval was 60 m. The production resulted in loss of rock integrity and vertical downward movement of rock masses – compaction – in radius of several hundred meters from the well. The highest compaction was 297 mm and occurred 20 m above the perforation interval. Below the hydrate there was the vertical up-ward movement equal to 80 mm. The seabed subsidence was between 120 and 140 mm in radius of 100 m from the well. The simulation also highlighted the substantial risk of fault reactivation if it is located near the wellbore.

The key parameter when considering geome-chanical changes of the rock is the amount of hydrate that dissociates [6]. In another simu-lation the hydrate layer 20 m thick is located 100 m below the seabed. It dissociates 200 m

100% of initial strength




Cohesion C (MPa) 0.5 0.35 0.2 0.1

Friction angle φ (°) 25 18.1 10.6 5.3

Moduls E (MPa) 300 210 120 60

Poisson ratio ν (–) 0.35 0.32 0.29 0.27

Max vertical displacement (cm)

0 3 11 37

Radius of seabed subsidence >10 cm (m)

0 0 40 140

�Table 1 – Results of the simulation of changes in rock integrity due to gas production from hydrate [6]


winter / 2014

around the wellbore. Several factors were used to describe the geomechanical changes due to the loss of hydrate supporting the matrix, these factors are shown in Table 1. Results of the simulation show significant changes cred-ited to the amount of dissociated hydrate. The model quantifies effects of hydrate dis-sociation assuming different rates of loss of strength of the rock. The changes range from negligible (70% initial strength) to severe (20% of initial strength).

Yet another simulation [2] was made for the arctic reservoir. In this case the hydrate-filled sediments are located 610 m deep and the surface subsidence is simulated for 2-year production period using two different mod-els. For the worst case scenarios the surface subsided either by 2 or 3.6 cm depending on the used model and the maximum verti-cal displacement occurred 600 m below the ground and reached 7 cm. These are signif-icantly lower values when compared to the two previous simulations. The reason is that the maximum settlement of the surface de-creases exponentially with the increase of the

thickness of the over layer and the bending stiffness of the rock masses becomes smaller. That means that oceanic reservoirs are more exposed to dangers of geomechanical changes and surface subsidence than the arctic ones.

By far the most significant danger of exploit-ing gas from hydrates is potential of marine slides. They are capable of disrupting the sea-bed infrastructure, such as pipelines and rigs’ moorings, to even causing tsunamis. Moridis et al. [8] made a simulation for Alaminos Can-yon Block 818 in Gulf of Mexico investigating the possibility of marine slide triggered by hydrate dissociation. On the site the seabed is located 2750 m deep and the slope angle is 20°. The hydrate layer is 18 m thick, poros-ity is 30% and hydrate saturation is between 60 and 80%. According to the simulation, the methane production had increased the ef-fective vertical stress on the sediments, that caused the increase in the friction between grains, which prevented the slope from slid-ing. Research showed minimal risk of slope sliding as a result of methane production, however there is very small number of sim-

�Fig. 2 – MHSZ Thickness in sediment, Naval Research Laboratory


ilar experiments. Considering the huge con-sequences of such event, there is a need of making sure, that nothing like it will happen during production.

Following factors influence the overall reac-tion of the rock to the hydrate dissociation: initial hydrate saturation, final hydrate sat-uration, spatial arrangement of the hydrate in the pores, production time, radius of dis-sociation, over layer thickness, layer inclina-tion, vicinity of faults. The effect of surface settlement and general rock compaction is of a great importance to the design of prop-er technology to produce gas from hydrates. We can assume that settling masses of rock will generate enormous stresses on the cas-ing elements of the well and may cause sub-

stantial damage or even destroy the wells. In many projects concerning developing the gas hydrate reserves this effect is not taken into account, e.g. System with Multiple Dual Hori-zontal Wells [9].

Conclusions�Presence of the hydrate is of a great impor-tance to the geomechanical characteristics of the rock. Its influence must be properly evaluated in order to design and implement sound, and safe technology to produce meth-ane from gas hydrates.

Hydrate dissociation leads to major rock in-tegrity decrease, which results in surface set-

�Fig. 3 – mhsz Conditions, stanford.edu


winter / 2014

tlement and compaction. These can generate large stress on some infrastructure in its envi-ronment. Due to the low thickness of the over layer, the oceanic reservoirs are more exposed to dangers of seabed settlement and risks as-sociated to it than arctic ones.

The marine slides need to be investigated more precisely to ensure safety of the oper-ations. However the more distant danger may be, the proportions of the possible ca-tastrophe are too great to neglect. Since the

knowledge about the slope sliding triggered by the hydrate dissociation is scarce, the first production trials should be carried out on the least sloped areas of the seabed.

There is a need of increasing the share of pore-filling hydrate in the laboratory exper-iments. However small differences may be between pore-filling and cementing hydrate, the most of the world natural reservoirs of hydrate consists of pore-filling type, and it should be the main object of research.

References1. Bryn, P., Berg, K., Forsberg, C.F., Solheim, A., & Kvalstad, T.J. (2005). Explaining the Storegga

Slide. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 22(1–2), 11–19.2. Chin, L.Y., Silpngarmlert, S., & Schoderbek, D.A. (2011, June). Subsidence Prediction by Cou-

pled Modeling of Geomechanics and Reservoir Simulation for Methane Hydrate Reservoirs. 45th US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, San Francisco, California, USA. June 26–29, 2011.

3. Ghiassian, H., & Grozic, J.L.H. (2013, May). Strength behavior of methane hydrate bearing sand in undrained triaxial testing. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 43, 310–319.

4. Khabibullin, T., Falcone, G., & Teodoriu, C. (2011, June). Drilling Through Gas–Hydrate Sedi-ments: Managing Wellbore–Stability Risks. SPE Drilling and Completion, 26(2), 287–294.

5. Qadir, M.I., & Asrar, M. (2011). Gas Hydrates: A Fuel for the Future but Wrapped in Drilling Chal-lenges. SPE/PAPG Annual Technical Conference, Islamabad, Pakistan, November 22–23, 2011.

6. Qingping, L., & Lu, X.B. (2011). Numerical Simulation of the Responses of the Seabed on the Dissociation of Gas Hydrate. 9th ISOPE Ocean Mining Symposium, Maui, Hawaii, USA, June 19–24, 2011.

7. Qiu, K., Yamamoto, K., Birchwood, R., Chen, Y., Wu, C., Tan, C.P., & Singh, V. (2012). Eval-uation of Fault Reactivation Potential During Offshore Methane Hydrate Production in Nankai Trough, Japan. The Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, USA, April 30–May 3, 2012.

8. Rutqvist, J., & Moridis, G.J. (2010). A Modeling Study of Geomechanical Performance of Sloping Oceanic Hydrate Deposits Subjected Production Activities. Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, USA, May 3–6, 2010.

9. Sasaki, K., Ono, S., Sugai, Y., Ebinuma, T., Yamaguchi, T., & Narita, H. (2008). Evaluation of Gas Production Rate from Methane Hydrate Layers by a System with Multiple Dual Horizontal Wells. The Canadian International Petroleum Conference/SPE Gas Technology Symposium, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 17–19, 2008.

10. Waite, W.F., Santamarina, J.C., Cortes, D.D., Dugan, B.D., Espinoza, N., Germaine, J., Jang, J., Jung, J.W., Kneafsey, T.J., Shin, H., Soga, K., Winters, W.J., & Yun, T.S. (2009, December). Physical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments. Reviews of Geophysics, 47(4).

11. Yun, T.S., Santamarina, J.C., & Ruppel, C. (2007, April). Mechanical properties of sand, silt, and clay containing tetrahydrofuran hydrate. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112(B4).

52 Gold American Dream

conference | ATCE 2013

´ Gold American DreamJoanna Wilaszek

� Every year, eyes and hearts of the whole petroleum world for three days are focused on one selected city, which is a host of SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibi-tion. This year, the event was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. By the end of Sep-tember, 3 representatives of AGH UST SPE Student Chapter set off for America to at-tend this big event.

Gold Standard and President’s Award for Section Excellence

�It was a very special edition of ATCE for our Chapter. This year, for the first time in our

history, we have earned Gold Standard desig-nation. Thanks to that, we joined a group of the best and the most active student chapters in the world.

Apart from this, our SPE Poland Section got the President’s award for Section Excellence. The prize was given during President’s Lunch-eon the last day of the Conference.

Students’ time

�Traditionally, the day before beginning of the Conference was a student day. It was a very special time for undergraduates from many chapters from all over the world to meet, get to know each other and discuss. Organizers prepared networking games in order to encourage all of us to meet other par-ticipants. After this, during Students Award

Luncheon we could also get to know the re-cipients of Outstanding Student Chapter recognition as well as the winners of STAR scholarships and fellowships. Apart from

Joanna Wilaszek 53

winter / 2014

these activities, we could also participate in Leadership workshop, during which we could learn a lot about managing our chapters and organizing their work.

For us this day was a wonderful opportunity to meet friends from all sides of globe – talk about studies, our countries and different cul-tures. Of course, this was also an excellent op-portunity to exchange experiences connected with chapters’ management and get inspira-tion to some new projects.

atce 2013 begins!

�All three days of the Conference were full of miscellaneous events: lectures, workshops, meetings, discussion panels, paper contests, training courses and official breakfasts or lunches. One thing that each attendee visited was the exhibit floor. This year, it has been the largest exhibition in the show history. It en-compassed 150,500 ft2 and featured 552 com-panies from 17 countries lying on 6 continents. All the exhibitors presented the latest tech-nologies and services, showing presentations, simulations and equipment. Some booths made really incredible impression, with mod-els, posters, multiple installations located on big areas, some of them was two-storey, other offered coffee or tea and snacks.

We spent almost all the first day of the Con-ference on the exhibit floor and we managed to walk through only a half of it.

The second day, we took part in Soft Skills Workshop. It was divided into two parts: the first was focused on negotiation and conflict resolution and the second part’s topic was Factoring Personality Type. It was organized by Young Professionals Committee and it was a big portion of useful and interesting knowl-edge about the second important matter in future professional career – soft skills.

The last, third day of the Conference was the most important for us, as that day our repre-sentative received the award for our Section during President’s Luncheon. This event was also important for another reason – tradi-tionally it is a time when the foregoing Presi-dent (Egbert Imomoh) passes the gavel to the next President (Jeff Spath).

But ATCE is not only exhibition, lectures and workshops. It is an event which activates the whole city: there are a lot of meetings, ban-quets, parties, organized by companies and associations. Everywhere we could meet peo-ple walking with the conference badges and bags. On all main streets of New Orleans we could see posters and flags informing about ATCE.

New Orleans – rebuilt city of alligators and the place where Bourbon Street is located

�The Conference has not left us a lot of time for sightseeing, but we managed to visit the most popular places of the city: French Quar-

54 Gold American Dream

ter with famous Bourbon Street and Missis-sippi riverside. We could feel the atmosphere of a baseball match and taste unusual dishes like alligator, crab, oysters and red fish from the Carribean Sea.

We found New Orleans as an unusual city. Six years ago, after the hurricane hit the city, the center was totally damaged. During our stay-ing in the city, we have not seen any traces of that time. As the capital of the State of Loui-siana it has its own fascinating culture, which enchanted us. And of course we know now what humid subtropical climate means!

The highest attendance since 1999

�The 2013 edition of ATCE was a big suc-cess. “This year’s ATCE ranked as the highest attended since 1999,” said Egbert Imomoh, 2013 SPE President. “The event capped a year of tremendous success for SPE with a grow-ing global membership, increased technical content, and strong financial performance.” It brought together 12,028 professionals from all over the world. At the Conference there were over 350 technical papers presented, representing all six SPE disciplines.

ATCE was a really impressive experience. Walking through New Orleans streets, visit-

ing booths on the exhibit floor, taking part in lectures and workshops, talking to people from all sides of the globe I could really feel the power of SPE. I could see the opportuni-ties which membership in the organization gives to me, take a piece of the cake, which is knowledge, experience and ideas that cre-ate SPE. Although, as a student I was one of the youngest participants, I knew that every-body, me too, gives something to our com-mon association, which creates the future of our petroleum world. Being there, in New Orleans, I really felt I am a part of this organ-ization.

See you next year!

�This was my first ATCE, which was an amazing experience – so many people, so many companies, so many events. From the first time I entered Ernst N. Morial Conven-tion Center, where the Conference was held, I knew I will strongly recommend taking part in the event to everybody. This was a wonder-ful opportunity for me to discover what SPE really means, how close all these chances are for members of this big association. Now, I am waiting for the next edition of ATCE, which will be held on 27-29 October in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I hope I will meet you there, dear YoungPetro readers!

Allyson Simpson 55

winter / 2014

conference | World Petroleum Council Youth Forum

´ Young Professionals at the Heart of an Energy RevolutionAllyson Simpson

� To a group of young professionals striving to make their mark in the energy indus-try: passion, dedication, leadership and a can–do attitude are simply the norm when you’re aiming to put Canada on the map. In October, 2013 a multidisciplinary team of Canadian young energy professionals vol-unteered every spare moment they had to organizing the 4th World Petroleum Coun-cil (WPC) Youth Forum for the first time in North America.

�The Forum brought over 1,000 of the brightest young minds in energy together to: debate, discuss and develop solutions to today’s energy challenges, and delegates were guided by some of the world’s most respected executives, experts and leaders.

“New challenges can be adequately met by only a highly-skilled, energetic and mobile generation of employees. There-fore, my specific priority is motivating the young generation." said Uzakbay

Karabalin, Minister of Oil and Gas for the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Forum delegates experienced case studies, presentations, networking and small group executive discussions all related to three of the most prevalent topics in the energy in-dustry today: technology and innovation, sustainability and business leadership.

"It takes clever minds, it takes determination and it takes a lot of business development."

56 Young Professionals at the Heart of an Energy Revolution

Jakob Thomasen, President and Chief Execu-tive Officer of Maersk Oil Inc., told the young delegates.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson Forum delegates learned was not necessarily from what they heard but from what they took away.

“What will you do differently tomorrow as a result of what you learned today?”

Ken Lueers, ConocoPhillips Canada Presi-dent, challenged delegates.

The energy industry is operating in a very different time than it was fifty years ago. Public perception and social license to oper-ate continue to ignite a fiery and passionate discussion with environmentalists and ener-gy opponents across the world. As Forum or-ganizer and sponsorship lead, Mark Blackwell said: “It’s never a question of us versus them, it’s a question of how we can work more effec-tively in developing unconventional solutions to solve some of the major technological and environmental challenges that the industry will face in years to come”.

The Forum acted as a catalyst for this change demonstrating highly technological processes and systems being applied in today’s opera-tions, sustainability and environment policies and regulations, and why the energy industry is the best place to learn and foster ingenuity.

Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister of Multicul-turalism for the Government of Canada, said it best: "Until we invent the famous dilithium crystals from Star Trek, which I understand are produced by crushing unicorn horns, ... oil and gas will continue to be the mainstay of the global energy market."

Canada with the 5th largest natural gas and the 3rd largest oil reserves in the world is in a unique position to supply the global market with a stable and secure source of energy for the foreseeable future. Canada is also leading the G7 in economic growth with $128 billion Canadian dollars in merchandise exports coming from the Canadian energy industry.

Simply put, Canada is an energy leader and, as the 4th World Petroleum Council (WPC) Youth Forum organizing committee demon-strated, has an assemblage of young energy professionals committed demonstrating that leadership and furthering it.

Meg Jay, clinical psychologist and author, hit the nail on the head in her closing ceremony remarks “to achieve great things you need a plan and not a lot of time”. In only a few months, these young energy professionals or-ganized a world class Forum, bringing togeth-er the world’s top executives, leading think tanks, international media outlets, speakers and their global energy peers from over 64 different countries. Now, imagine what they will do with a little more time…

Iwona Dereń 57

winter / 2014

conference | Oil & Gas Horizons

´ From Russia with LoveIwona Dereń

� As the 5th International Student Scientific and Practical Conference “Oil & Gas Hori-zons” has ended, I proudly present my im-pression on this forward thinking event.

�From 11th to 13th November 2013, the Gu-bkin University SPE Student Chapter hosted over 100 delegates from different countries such as: Azerbaijan, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Po-land, Russia and Ukraine.

Day 0: The Arrival�Starting in Red Square, we walked across to St. Basil’s Cathedral, where we could take in the architecture as well as the ambiance of Red Square, the center of the Russian Empire of old and the Soviet Republics of the recent past. Crossing over to the GUM store we could find that history has reinvented itself as a turn-of-the-century shopping arcade. Across from Kazan Cathedral is the State Historical Museum gift shop in which Russian crafts and souvenirs tempted us to buy…

"I want to thank everyone who welcomed us in this great event. We, Egyptian

partici pants, really had a great time. I can’t find enough words to describe how

much we enjoyed!" Ahmed Shehata, Cairo University.

Initiating a solution to the problems that the E&P industry is facing, the joint conference provided a unique platform to unite past, present, and future of the geosciences. It was

a gathering of industry, academia, research, students with the aim of greater knowledge diffusion and assimilation. Industry could present their problems and academia could understand them and eventually find solu-tions. In addition to the conference, papers, presentation and debate competition were also envisaged.

Day 1: Paper Contest�Perhaps the most powerful symbol of the post-Communist reconstruction and spiritual revival shaping Russia today is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The place looks really amazing at night, it really would be crazy for any tourist of Moscow to miss it!

Apart from soaking in the history and at-mosphere, there was a number of things for the students to do in and around the time of conference. Many failed to pass up the opportunity to attend companies’ presenta-tions. Experts from industry and academia informed the delegates about the latest job opportunities at a recruitment exhibition and shared their experience in eleven high-quality lectures, short courses, workshops, and field trips.

The key of the day was the Paper Contest. More than 100 papers were submitted for this year’s competition. Students and young professionals from all geosciences disciplines showed their research results. A panel of judges evaluated entries based on originality or uniqueness of the work, significance of the results, and effectiveness of the presentation.

58 From Russia with Love

Day 2: PetroOlimpic Games�The attraction of the day for students was participation in the energy-themed intel-lectual games "PetroOlympic Games”. Five teams competed with each other on themes such as geology, hydrocarbon production and exploration, world energy development pro-cesses, new technologies and international energy cooperation.

"I would like to say that these kinds of events are absolutely useful for young specialists and students who are doing researches. It's a great opportunity to

receive a feedback and open up new fron-tiers for your research as well as discuss your current activity in terms of applica-bility with top industry specialists. And it’s of course a terrific chance to meet in-teresting people from all over the world."

Felix Iodkovsky, Gubkin Russian State University

As part of the conference, two key events were held to strengthen the interaction be-tween students and professional SPE sec-tions: "Presentations of chapters" and "Round table" with the leaders of the chapters. Del-egates prepared presentations about the ac-tivity of their section including the structure of the team, current and future projects. At this event people were able to submit their own section and discover the work of their colleagues.

Moreover, “Round table” was held with the leaders of the student sections and the rep-resentatives of the SPE Moscow section. The themes of meeting were the features of the organization of work in each chapter and future projects focusing on international integration and development relationships between students from different universities and chapters.

Tsaritsyno–if you are a lover of the nature and you need to recharge yourself after a tour in the centre, well–this is the perfect place

Iwona Dereń 59

winter / 2014

to visit! Once we've crossed the garish gate-way playgrounds and left the horrific singing fountain behind, we were climbing a small hill toward some awesome palatial buildings, bridges and arcades set amid the trees and meadows.

Day 3: Visiting Companies�The last day was dedicated to visiting com-panies, which gave students the opportunity to get to know the company better before ap-plying, getting a glimpse of the company cul-ture and see whether they had a fit.

We wanted to visit Kremlin… BUT! What most people remember from school is that the Kremlin is a fourteenth-century walled fort, home of the Russian Government, and is filled with Russia's most important muse-ums, churches, and palaces. What they don’t tell us is that we would have to cover at least three miles on foot, it would take a minimum of four hours, and that no chairs, snacks, or bottled water would be available to help you along. However, it was definitely worth to see!

I am honored and happy that so many stu-dents, faculty members, industry profession-

als, and society representatives have heard and followed the call for Inspiring Change. I hope that all delegates will continue of what they experienced and demonstrated at the conference. It's an obligation in imaging the future of our sciences and society.

As my mission in Russia is over, I would like to thank the Gubkin University SPE Student Chapter once more for great hospitality, excel-lent organization and kind interest that were presented to the delegates during our visit to Russian Federation. I strongly believe that the fruitful work will be realized together, would contribute much to the development of trade relations between our countries.

"Oil and Gas Horizons was the largest con-ference that I have ever participated in. It was a really good opportunity for people that are doing research to present their

science work and get comment. I am real-ly happy to be part of the global petrole-um organization, where I made friends with amazing and smart people from all

over the world. And I know that we surely will see each other during the next SPE

conference." Regina Nafikova, Bashkir State University:

60 History of spe-utm

å History of spe-utmLim Teck Shern, Abang Mohd Faiz, Hii Sing Keat

�The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE-UTM) Student Chapter is a part of the SPE International and one of the four SPE stu-dent chapters in Malaysia.

�We are a non-profit organization, which aim is to provide its members with the high-est quality of lifelong learning and continu-ous personal and professional growth. SPE-UTM has won several Outstanding Student Chapter Awards and Gold Standard Awards for 8 consecutive years, as a result of achiev-ing an outstanding performance in areas of membership, planning, education, profes-sionalism, service, support, and fundraising.

Each and every year we offer unique oppor-tunities for students to involve themselves in the field of project management, programme planning and competition through organiz-ing and participating in international events connected with the oil and gas industry.

From the beginning, SPE-UTM has undergone various changes and still makes progress in organization administration. Petroleum En-gineering was introduced as a degree course in Institut Teknologi Kebangsaan in 1974 to meet the need of national oil industry. This naturally led to the formation of a Petro Club, which members were petroleum engineering students.

In 1998, club members made an unanimous decision to affiliate The Petro Club to the SPE

Lim Teck Shern, Abang Mohd Faiz, Hii Sing Keat 61

winter / 2014

International as one of its section. The de-cision turned out to be successful, the club recognized as SPE-UTM Student Chapter had been maintaining good relations with com-panies in petroleum industry, as well as re-nowned universities in South East Asia such as Universitas Trisakti, Jakarta and Universi-ty of Chulalangkorn.

SPE-UTM Student Chapter gathers and dis-seminates information about the exploration, drilling and production of energy from crude oil and natural gas. Seminars, conferences and intensive publicity are organized to that purpose.

SPE-UTM Student Chapter also provides op-portunities for those who are interested in improving themselves and exploring the pe-troleum engineering world.

Mission�To collect, disseminate, and exchange tech-nical knowledge concerning the exploration,

development and production of oil and gas re-sources, and related technologies for the pub-lic benefit, and to provide the opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence.

Vision�To be a society of professional excellence, which proves its members the highest quality of lifelong learning, and continuous personal and professional growth.

Values È Excellence È Integrity È Professionalism È Life-long learning È Diversity È Volunteerism È Innovation È Social responsibility

62 How it works?

å How it works?Maciej Wawrzkowicz

� In this issue I am going to present you how exactly MWD system works. For those of you who have never heard about it before, MWD is the abbreviation of Measurement While Drilling system and is one of the most important technologies in contempo-rary world used especially during direction-al and horizontal drilling.

�Imagine huge mass of rocks that exert enormous pressure to the drill bit. It is cer-tain that in these conditions keeping planned trajectory of wellbore is extremely difficult. Stress of the masses of rocks changes per-manently direction of the well and disturbs planned course what is essential to reach main goal of the operation - connection sur-face-hydrocarbons deposit. That is why engi-neers must often introduce corrections, for example, changing the weight on the drill bit, changing the rotation speed of the drill string or changing the mud flow rate. A range of measurements of the drill string, BHA (bot-

tom hole assembly) and wellbore properties are available to ensure the drilling that is oc-curring according to plan and to identify con-ditions that could lead to equipment damage or other non-productive time events.

Since the earliest times of oil&gas, drilling en-gineers had been trying to find the best solu-tion, how to localize drill bit in the ground which afterwards will allow to control the tra-jectory of the well and how to gain informa-tion about downhole conditions e.g. porosity, temperature or pressure.

Mud-pulse telemetry is the standard method in commercial MWD systems. Information about localization and downhole conditions is sent thanks to the pulser unit placed in the down part of the drill conduit. The technology is available in three varieties - positive pulse, negative pulse, and continuous wave. Some of you might get into confusion at this moment. In previous ‘how it works’ we were talking

Maciej Wawrzkowicz 63

winter / 2014

about the types of mud and we mentioned those based on gas and foam.

If so, is the usage of Measurement While Drilling in case of drilling with these kind of fluids possible? Yes! However, it demands slightly other form of deliver information from bit to the surface. I mean here about usage of Electromagnetic telemetry called in shorter form ‘EM’. The EM tool generates voltage differences between the drill string sections in the form of very low frequency (about 2 – 12 Hz) waves. But this method have considerable limits associated with depth of the well. When TVD increases, the signal lose strength rapidly in certain types of the rock formations. Therefore, with the flow of drilling time it becomes undetectable and useless.

It is worth to mention that in recent times we may observe developing new MWD tech-niques based on wired drill pipes. These sys-tems use electrical wires built into every el-ement of the drillstring that carry electrical signals directly to the surface. Reliability of this method can be revealed by orders of mag-nitude greater data transmission gained than in usage of any, even the most effective EM tool or pulser unit.

Every drilling operation where any of MWD systems are in use, demand appropriate abil-ities allowed to retrieving and decrypting in-formation gathered from the current bottom of the wellbore. Person in the crew at rig site responsible for those assignments is called as MWD engineer. Who knows - maybe this is your patch of career in the future?

64 East meets West

conference | East meets West

´ International Student Petroleum Congress & Career Expo 2014Joanna Wilaszek

Would you like to……take part in an unusual event?…meet the most outstanding students and

professionals from both sides of the globe?…create the history?…build bridges between academic world

and industry?…discover unknown places in one of the

most beautiful cities in the World?

If you answered “yes” for at least one question, we have an advice for you! You have to come to Krakow on the 9th of April 2014 and spend three amazing days with us during the 5th, anniversary edition of “East meets West” Congress.

For the 5th time Krakow will become the heart of petroleum world. During this special, jubilee edition we will be able to meet the brightest minds in this industry, get to know results of the most outstanding students’ research and talk about the current situation of energy sector.

‘East meets West’ is not just a congress, it is a worldwide idea of building bridges between in-dustry and academic world, of sharing knowl-edge in a friendly atmosphere. The idea of or-ganizing an international event was born 5 years ago in heads of students of AGH University.

Through the previous editions it has grown to its present size. Each year its getting bigger and bigger, attracting more students, professionals and professors.

During 4 editions of ‘East meets West’ we were honored to host students and professionals from over 40 countries, lying on 5 continents. Student participants presented over 120 papers. From the very beginning the Congress is sup-ported by authorities, well-known E&P compa-nies and media.

The agenda for the upcoming ‘East meets West’ if full of excellent sessions and panels: Student Pa-per Contest, Student Poster Session, Career Ses-sion, Distinguished Guests Panel, Young Profes-sionals Debate. Simultaneously, for all the three days the Career Expo will be open and some of the companies will also organize Recruitment Sessions. Traditionally, we will also offer you a wide range of networking events: Banquet, Offi-cial Dinner and City Game for students.

In a few months we will celebrate the 5th, special, anniversary edition of ‘East meets West’ Con-gress. If you want to take part in this historical event, do not hesitate, fill in the registration form on our website today!

Call for PapersYoungPetro is waiting for your paper!

� e topics of the papers should refer to: Drilling Engineering, Reservoir Engineering, Fuels and Energy, Geology and Geophysics, Environmental Protection, Management and Economics

Papers should be sent to papers @ youngpetro.org

For more information visit youngpetro.org/papers

65

SUMMER / 2013

ISSN 2300-1259

WINTER/SPRING / 2012

ISSN 2300-1259

AUTUMN / 2012

WINTER / 2014

WIN

TER

/ 2

014

WINTER (10) / 2014

Thank you for helping us create

10th consecutive issue!

Documents

YoungPetro - 10th Issue - Winter 2014