Confinement Effects on Phase Behavior of Hydrocarbon in Nanochannels

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Alfi ◽  
H. Nasrabadi ◽  
D. Banerjee
Keyword(s):  
Phase Behavior ◽  
Bubble Nucleation ◽  
Well Performance ◽  
Pvt Properties ◽  
Bubble Point Pressure ◽  
Numerical Predictions ◽  
Fluid Properties ◽  
Different Temperatures ◽  
Point Pressure ◽  
Shale Reservoirs

Several researchers have recently studied the phase behavior of petroleum fluids in shale systems. There is a general agreement that the confined PVT properties in shale are substantially different from the corresponding bulk properties. These differences have significant impact on the prediction of well performance and ultimate recovery in shale reservoirs. Experimental measurements of fluid properties in shale rocks are currently not available. This has led to significant amount of uncertainty in phase behavior calculations for shale reservoirs. In this study, experimental validation of numerical predictions for phase behavior of various hydrocarbons confined in nanochannels was performed using a nanofluidics platform. The nanofluidics platform was designed, fabricated and tested at different temperatures. Design of the nanochannel is described in this paper. In this study, a nanochannel device (similar to Duan and Majumdar 2010) was designed, fabricated, packaged and tested. The reservoirs in the nanofluidic chip were filled with various hydrocarbon liquids (e.g. n-decane). The temperature was varied at a constant pressure, during which epifluorescence imaging was performed to measure the bubble nucleation temperature, i.e., the temperature corresponding to the formation of the first bubble of gas (i.e., to determine bubble-point pressure and temperature relationship).

Effect of Confinement on Pressure/Volume/Temperature Properties of Hydrocarbons in Shale Reservoirs

SPE Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 621-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.. Pitakbunkate ◽  
P. B. Balbuena ◽  
G. J. Moridis ◽  
T. A. Blasingame
Keyword(s):  
Phase Behavior ◽  
Phase Diagrams ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
The United States ◽  
Confined Space ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Mixture Phase ◽  
Fluid Properties ◽  
Shale Reservoirs ◽  
Gcmc Simulations

Summary Shale reservoirs play an important role as a future energy resource of the United States. Numerous studies were performed to describe the storage and transport of hydrocarbons through ultrasmall pores in the shale reservoirs. Most of these studies were developed by modifying techniques used for conventional reservoirs. The common pore-size distribution of the shale reservoirs is approximately 1 to 20  nm and in such confined spaces that the interactions between the wall of the container (i.e., the shale and kerogen) and the contained fluids (i.e., the hydrocarbon fluids and water) may exert significant influence on the localized phase behavior. We believe this is because the orientation and distribution of fluid molecules in the confined space are different from those of the bulk fluid, causing changes in the localized thermodynamic properties. This study provides a detailed account of the changes of pressure/volume/temperature properties and phase behavior (specifically, the phase diagrams) in a synthetic shale reservoir for pure hydrocarbons (methane and ethane) and a simple methane/ethane (binary) mixture. Grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations are performed to study the effect of confinement on the fluid properties. A graphite slab made of two layers is used to represent kerogen in the shale reservoirs. The separation between the two layers, representing a kerogen pore, is varied from 1 to 10  nm to observe the changes of the hydrocarbon-fluid properties. In this paper, the critical properties of methane and ethane as well as the methane/ethane mixture phase diagrams in different pore sizes are derived from the GCMC simulations. In addition, the GCMC simulations are used to investigate the deviations of the fluid densities in the confined space from those of the bulk fluids at reservoir conditions. Although not investigated in this work, such deviations may indicate that significant errors for production forecasting and reserves estimation in shale reservoirs may occur if the (typical) bulk densities are used in reservoir-engineering calculations.

scholarly journals Is ink heating a relevant concern in the High Speed Sintering process?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhys J. Williams ◽  
Patrick J. Smith ◽  
Candice Majewski
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Inkjet Printing ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Sintering Process ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
Powder Bed ◽  
Consistent Manner ◽  
Fluid Properties ◽  
Different Temperatures ◽  
Accuracy And Repeatability

AbstractHigh Speed Sintering (HSS) is a novel polymer additive manufacturing process which utilises inkjet printing of an infrared-absorbing pigment onto a heated polymer powder bed to create 2D cross-sections which can be selectively sintered using an infrared lamp. Understanding and improving the accuracy and repeatability of part manufacture by HSS are important, ongoing areas of research. In particular, the role of the ink is poorly understood; the inks typically used in HSS have not been optimised for it, and it is unknown whether they perform in a consistent manner in the process. Notably, the ambient temperature inside a HSS machine increases as a side effect of the sintering process, and the unintentional heating to which the ink is exposed is expected to cause changes in its fluid properties. However, neither the extent of ink heating during the HSS process nor the subsequent changes in its fluid properties have ever been investigated. Such investigation is important, since significant changes in ink properties at different temperatures would be expected to lead to inconsistent printing and subsequently variations in part accuracy and even the degree of sintering during a single build. For the first time, we have quantified the ink temperature rise caused by unintentional, ambient heating during the HSS process, and subsequently measured several of the ink’s fluid properties across the ink temperature range which is expected to be encountered in normal machine operation (25 to 45 ∘C). We observed only small changes in the ink’s density and surface tension due to this heating, but a significant drop (36%) in its viscosity was seen. By inspection of the ink’s Z number throughout printing, it is concluded that these changes would not be expected to change the manner in which droplets are delivered to the powder bed surface. In contrast, the viscosity decrease during printing is such that it is expected that the printed droplet sizes do change in a single build, which may indeed be a cause for concern with regard to the accuracy and repeatability of the inkjet printing used in HSS, and subsequently to the properties of the polymer parts obtained from the process.

Experimental investigation of degassing properties of geothermal fluids

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Boeije ◽  
Pacelli Zitha ◽  
Anne Pluymakers
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Temperature Drop ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Visual Cell ◽  
Dissolved Gas ◽  
Bubble Point ◽  
Free Gas ◽  
Bubble Point Pressure ◽  
Geothermal Fluids ◽  
Point Pressure

<p>Geothermal energy, the extraction of hot water from the subsurface (500 m to 5 km deep), is generally considered one of the key technologies to achieve the demands of the energy transition.  One of the main problems during production of geothermal waters is degassing. Many subsurface waters contain substantial amounts of dissolved gasses. As the hot water travels up the production well, the pressure and/or temperature drop will cause dissolved gas to come out of the solution. This causes several problems, such as corrosion of the facilities (due to pH changes and/or degassing-related precipitation) and in some cases even to blocking of the reservoir as the free gas limits the water flow.  To better understand under which conditions free gas nucleates, we need confirmation of theoretical bubble point pressure and temperature, and understand what controls the evolution of the bubble front:  i.e. what are the conditions under which free gas emerges from the solution and at what rate are bubbles created?</p><p>An experimental setup was designed in which the degassing process can be observed visually. The setup consists of a high-pressure visual cell which contains water saturated with dissolved gas at high-pressure. The pressure within the cell can be reduced in a reproducible manner using a back-pressure regulator at the outlet of the system. A high-speed camera paired with a uniform LED light source is used to record the degassing process. The pressure in the cell is monitored using a pressure transducer which is synchronized with the camera. The resulting images are then analysed using a MATLAB routine, which allows for determination of the bubble point pressure and rate of bubble formation.</p><p>The first two sets of experiments at ambient temperatures (~20 <sup>o</sup>C) were carried out using two different gases, N<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>. Initial pressure was 70 and 30 bar for the N<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub> experiments respectively. In these first experiments we determined the influence of the initial fluid used to pressurize the system. Using gas as the initial fluid causes a large amount of bubbles, whereas only a single bubble was observed for a system where degassed water is used as the initial fluid. An intermediate system where degassed water is pumped into a system full of air at ambient conditions and is subsequently pressurized yields a number of bubbles in between the two systems described previously. All three methods give reproducible bubble point pressures within 2 bar (i.e. pressure where the first free bubble is formed). There are clear differences in bubble point between N<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>.</p><p>A series of follow-up experiments is planned that will investigate specific properties at more extreme conditions: at higher pressures (up to 500 bar) and temperatures (500 <sup>o</sup>C) and using high-salinity brines (2.5 M).</p>

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