Category: Oil and Gas business

The movement of underground waters

Impermeable formations, such as shales and siltstones, tend to be finer grained or of a mixed grain size, with smaller, fewer, or less interconnected pores.

Hydrocarbon dew-point is to prevent the condensation and accumulation of hydrocarbon liquids at low points in the gas distribution grid. The hydrocarbon dew-point specification is usually achieved by removing a proportion of the higher hydrocarbons (typically butanes and heavier) from the process gas stream by using different refrigeration, absorption, adsorption or other technologies.

There are three common techniques for the measurement of hydrocarbon dew-point. The first is by far the most commonly accepted method – a fundamental chilled mirror technique which relies on the cooling of a mirrored surface in contact with the gas stream. As the dew-point temperature is reached, condensate starts to appear on the mirrored surface. The temperature of the mirror at the point where condensate is first observed is, by definition, the dew point. However, this manual, optical technique is not particularly appropriate because the observation of hydrocarbon condensate is very subjective to the human eye.

The second technique involves the analysis of gas composition using a process gas chromatograph, combined with a calculation method based upon equations of state that estimates the resultant hydrocarbon dew-point temperature. Whilst this methodology is capable of giving a reasonable degree of accuracy in terms of the hydrocarbon dew-point temperature, to do so requires analysis of a large number of hydrocarbon components which is expensive and complex.

The third technique, not widely used within industry, is the measurement of potential hydrocarbon liquid content (PHLC). This technique effectively measures the amount of hydrocarbon liquid, in milligrams per cubic meter, which will condense out of a natural gas stream at a particular operating temperature. It is therefore a parallel measurement to hydrocarbon dew-point temperature. It has the advantage that it is a fundamental measurement that can be related back to mass and flow standards, but has the considerable disadvantage that it is quite difficult to realize in practice and is therefore more suited to a periodic validation technique than to an on-line measurement process.

Although the three techniques above have their particular weaknesses, all are used to varying levels of success to determine the hydrocarbon dew-point (or PHLC) of natural gas.

The area of geology that deals with the movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks

Layer of rock, sediment or soil that does not allow water to pass through. This could be caused by a lack of pore space or pore spaces that are so small that water molecules have difficulty passing through.

An electric well log in which the conductivity of the formation rather than the resistivity is measured. Because oil-bearing formations are less conductive of electricity than water-bearing formations, an induction survey, when compared with resistivity readings, can aid in determination of oil and water zones.

Electronics for solving mismatch between PV panels.

Are sound detecting instruments used in underwater seismic exploration activities. Hydrophones are attached to cable towed by a seismic vessel. Sound waves generated by the blasts from air gun reflect from the formations below the sea floor and are picked up by the hydrophones and transmitted to the mother ship