Usamah A. Al-Mubaiyedh

Review on Polymer Flooding: Rheology, Adsorption, Stability, and Field Applications of Various Polymer Systems

Polymer flooding is one of the most promising techniques for the recovery of remaining oil from light oil reservoirs. Water soluble polymers are used to enhance the viscosity of displacing fluid and to improve the sweep efficiency. In this paper, water soluble polymers used for chemical enhanced oil recovery are reviewed. Conventional and novel modified polymers are discussed along with their limitations. The review covers thermal stability, rheology, and adsorption behavior of various polymer systems in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. Field and laboratory core flooding data of several polymers are covered. The review describes the polymer systems that are successfully applied in low-temperature and low-salinity reservoirs. Comprehensive review of current research activities aiming at extending polymer flooding to high-temperature and high-salinity reservoirs is performed. The review has identified current and future challenges of polymer flooding.

Erratum to: Transport properties of natural gas through polyethylene nanocomposites at high temperature and pressure

High density polyethylene (HDPE)/clay nanocomposites containing nanoclay concentrations of 1, 2.5, and 5 wt% were prepared by a melt blending process. The effects of various types of nanoclays and their concentrations on permeability, solubility, and diffusivity of natural gas in the nanocomposites were investigated. The results were compared with HDPE typically used in the production of liners for the petroleum industry. Four different nanoclays—Cloisite 10A, 15A, 30B and Nanomer 1.44P—were studied in the presence of CH4 and a CO2/CH4 mixture in the temperature range 30–70 °C and pressure range 50–100 bar. The permeability and diffusivity of the gases were considerably reduced by the incorporation of nanoclay into the polymer matrix. Addition of 5 wt% loading of Nanomer 1.44P reduced the permeability by 46% and the diffusion coefficient by 43%. Increasing the pressure from 50 to 100 bar at constant temperature had little influence on the permeability, whereas increasing the temperature from 30 to 70 °C significantly increased the permeability of the gas. Additionally, the effect of crystallinity on permeability, solubility, and diffusivity was investigated. Thus, the permeability of the CO2/CH4 mixture in Nanomer 1.44P nanocomposite was reduced by 47% and diffusion coefficient by 35% at 5 wt% loading, 50 °C, and 100 bar, compared with pure HDPE.

Surface modification of carbon nanotubes with copper oxide nanoparticles for heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids

Over the last few years, nanoparticles have been used as thermal enhancement agents in many heat transfer based fluids to improve the thermal conductivity of the fluids. Recently, many experiments have been carried out to prepare different types of nanofluids (NFs) showing a tremendous increase in thermal conductivity of the base fluids with the addition of a small amount of nanoparticles. However, little experimental work has been proposed to calculate the flow behaviour and heat transfer of nanofluids and the exact mechanism for the increase in effective thermal conductivity in heat exchangers. This study mainly focuses on the development of nanomaterial composites by incorporating copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO) onto the surfaces of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The CNT–CuO nanocomposite was used to prepare water-based heat transfer NFs. The morphological surfaces and loading contents of the CNT–CuO nanocomposite were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) while the physical and thermal properties of the water-based nanofluids were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the Mathis TCi system and a viscosity meter for measuring the heat capacity, thermal conductivity and viscosity of the synthesized NFs, respectively. The heat transfer and the pressure drop studies of the NFs were conducted by a horizontal steel tube counter-flow heat exchanger under turbulent flow conditions. The experimental results showed that the developed NFs with different concentrations of modified CNTs (0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 wt%) have yielded a significant increase in specific heat capacity (102% higher than pure water) and thermal conductivity (26% higher than pure water) even at low concentration. The results also revealed that the heat rate of the NF was higher than that of the base liquid (water) and increased with increasing the concentration of nanoparticles. Furthermore, no significant effect of the nanoparticles on the pressure drop of the system was observed.

Teaching arc-length continuation in the chemical engineering graduate program using MATLAB©

We present the solution of six problems drawn from the chemical engineering and applied mathematics fields of study. These problems are solved using the arc‐length continuation method. Among a large number of examples, we have chosen to treat the following case studies because they illustrate basic concepts such as solution multiplicity when dealing with systems of nonlinear algebraic equations or boundary value problems: 1) Plotting an ∞‐shaped curve called the Bernoullis Lemniscate; 2) Computing the Joule‐Thomson inversion curve for a pure gas using the Soave‐Redlich‐Kwong cubic equation of state; 3) Predicting the Compressibility Factor and Molar Volume versus the Reduced Temperature; 4) Determining region where steady‐state multiplicity is observed in a continuous stirred‐tank reactor (CSTR) with multiple reactions and heat effects; 5) Finding the steady‐state temperature and conversion of a Propylene Glycol Reactor; and 6) Investigating the Frank–Kamenetskii problem arising in the self‐heating of a reactive solid. Reader should be advised that problem 1 may seem slightly mathematical in nature. However, case studies 2–6 could be very useful to instructors involved in teaching not only numerical methods but also chemical thermodynamics and chemical reaction engineering. For one of the above listed case studies, we unveil the MATLAB© code, that we have employed, in the Appendix. In addition, we will emphasize on the versatility of this mathematical software through the extensive usage of the built‐in command fsolve, for the presently undertaken computations. Finally, we conclude this paper by sharing our experience teaching this subject to graduate students at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.

Development of a Mathematical Model for Natural Gas Permeation Through Polymer Nanocomposites at High Pressure and Temperature

A mathematical model for predicting the permeability of natural gas in polymer nanocomposites was developed and tested using experimental data. The model takes into account the effects of pressure, temperature, crystallinity and nanoparticle loading. Three model parameters (, and) were obtained. The parameter is a measure of the activation energy, described the effect of nanocomposite loading, and can be used to describe the effect of gas concentration on the. Polymer nanocomposites were prepared using high density polyethylene as polymer matrix and Cloisite 15A as nanoclay. The proposed model was used to predict the permeability of the nanocomposites to pure CH4 and mixed CH4/CO2 gases (containing 80 mol% CH4) at pressures up to about 106 bar and temperatures between 30 to 70°C. Predicted results show that the developed model provides an excellent description of natural gas permeation in pure HDPE and its nanocomposites.