Amin Azdarpour

The effects of polymer and surfactant on polymer enhanced foam stability

Polymer addition to foam has been proposed to enhance foam stability. Polymers can be used as a viscosifying agent of the aqueous surfactant solution of the external phase of foam, increasing apparent foam viscosity and thus reducing foam drainage rate. In this study a high and low molecular weight of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymer were used as the viscosification agent. Two ionic surfactants including Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were also used as the foaming agent. All solutions were also prepared in fresh water and 2-wt% NaCl to emphasize the effects of salt presence on foam stability. Experimental results showed that both SDS and SDBS surfactants were compatible with polyacrylamide polymer addition and promising results were achieved. Higher molecular weight polymer was more effective than lower molecular weight and produced foams were more stable when high molecular weight polymer was used. Foam stability was in a direct relationship with polymer addition and increasing polymer concentration enhanced foam stability in all solutions.

Calcium Carbonate Production through Direct Mineral Carbon Dioxide Sequestration

Mineral carbon dioxide sequestration provides a leakage free and permanent method of CO2 disposal to produce environmentally benign and stable solid carbonates. FGD gypsum as a source of calcium was proposed as the potential feedstock in this study. The purpose of this laboratory study was to investigate the effects of reaction parameters such as CO2 pressure, reaction temperature, particle size, and ammonia solution concentration on calcium carbonate purity through Merseburg process. Increasing the reaction temperature as well as the pressure was very effective in improving the calcium carbonate purity. High purity calcium carbonate was produced when reaction temperature and CO2 was increased to 400 °C and 70 bar, resulting in 93% and 94% purity, respectively. Experimental results showed that reducing particle size was also effective in enhancing the calcium carbonate purity in which the smallest particles produced higher purity calcium carbonates rather than larger particles. The role of ammonia solution on calcium carbonate purity was found to be beneficial in improving the calcium carbonate purity in which increasing the ammonia solution increased calcium carbonate purity significantly in all experiments.

Use of olivine for carbon dioxide mineral sequestration

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission has been increased utilizing energy from industry process. It is environmentally important to mitigate atmospheric CO2 emissions. To reduce CO2 emissions, the sequestration of CO2 is an alternative method. For this purpose, CO2 mineral carbonation was conducted utilizing olivine mineral (MgSiO4) at various sizes and temperatures. The reaction rate was increased with increasing the temperature and pressure; therefore, CO2 is highly sequestrated. The use of thermal process in three neck flush, optimum temperature of olivine carbonation was observed. To accelerate mineral carbonation process and extract the reactive component, hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used. The size reduction of olivine into 40, 100, and 250 μm was generated utilizing grinder and sieve machines in order to investigate the effect of increasing surface area on carbonation rate. As conclusion, by increasing the temperature of reaction and reducing size of olivine, the carbonation rate of olivine mineral was increased.

The origin of oil in the Cretaceous succession from the South Pars Oil Layer of the Persian Gulf

The origin of the oil in Barremian–Hauterivian and Albian age source rock samples from two oil wells (SPO-2 and SPO-3) in the South Pars oil field has been investigated by analyzing the quantity of total organic carbon (TOC) and thermal maturity of organic matter (OM). The source rocks were found in the interval 1,000–1,044xa0m for the Kazhdumi Formation (Albian) and 1,157–1,230xa0m for the Gadvan Formation (Barremian–Hauterivian). Elemental analysis was carried out on 36 samples from the source rock candidates (Gadvan and Kazhdumi formations) of the Cretaceous succession of the South Pars Oil Layer (SPOL). This analysis indicated that the OM of the Barremian–Hauterivian and Albian samples in the SPOL was composed of kerogen Types II and II–III, respectively. The average TOC of analyzed samples is less than 1 wt%, suggesting that the Cretaceous source rocks are poor hydrocarbon (HC) producers. Thermal maturity and Ro values revealed that more than 90xa0% of oil samples are immature. The source of the analyzed samples taken from Gadvan and Kazhdumi formations most likely contained a content high in mixed plant and marine algal OM deposited under oxic to suboxic bottom water conditions. The Pristane/nC17 versus Phytane/nC18 diagram showed Type II–III kerogen of mixture environments for source rock samples from the SPOL. Burial history modeling indicates that at the end of the Cretaceous time, pre-Permian sediments remained immature in the Qatar Arch. Therefore, lateral migration of HC from the nearby Cretaceous source rock kitchens toward the north and south of the Qatar Arch is the most probable origin for the significant oils in the SPOL.

A role of ultrasonic waves on oil viscosity changes in porous media

Theoretically, ultrasound method is an economical and environmentally friendly or “green” technology, which has been of interest for the purpose of enhancement of oil/heavy-oil production. However, in spite of many studies, questions about the effective mechanisms causing increase in oil recovery still existed. One of the changes that could be recognized in the fluid properties is viscosity reduction due to radiation of ultrasound waves. In this study, a technique was developed to directly investigate the effect of ultrasonic waves (frequencies of 25, and 68 kHz and powers of 100, 250, 500 W) on viscosity changes of Paraffin, Synthetic oil, and Kerosene. The experiments were carried out for uncontrolled and controlled temperature conditions in a smooth capillary tube. The viscosity of all the liquids was decreased under ultrasound in all the experiments. Cavitation and heat generation are identified as influencing mechanisms on oil viscosity reduction under ultrasound. The effect of ultrasound frequency, power and temperature on viscosity reduction is also discussed in this article.

Formation of carbonates and PH variations in conditions representative of deep saline aquifers

CO2 sequestration in saline aquifers has been of interest as an option to reduce concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Of all the mechanisms of sequestration, mineral sequestration is proved to be the most secure one. In this study, formation of carbonates is investigated through monitoring of PH of the medium consist of sand+synthetic brine+ supercritical CO2 and sand+synthetic brine+ supercritical CO2. The experiments are conducted at pressures of 1100 and 1300 psi (CO2 at supercritical state) and temperatures ranged from 70-150. The results indicated that salinity of brine, pressure and temperature of the system directly affect the PH of solution and therefore formation of carbonates.