Transport Of Hydrocarbons Research Articles

Environmental impact assessment of municipal solid waste management value chain: A case study from Pakistan.

The present study quantified environmental impacts of the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) value chain in Pakistan for three consecutive years (2015-2018) using a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Energy potential from municipal solid wastes (MSW) was also predicted till the year 2050. Based on a functional unit of 1.0 tonne of MSW, the study analyzed inputs and outputs data through SimaPro v.8.3 applying CML 2000 methodology and cumulative exergy demand indicator (CExD). LCA revealed that operational activities of RWMC mainly contributed to marine aquatic ecotoxicity, i.e. 8962.83 kg1,4-DBeq t-1 MSW, indicating long-range transport of petrogenic hydrocarbons from the company's fleet gasoline combustion. Similarly, human toxicity potential, global warming potential and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential were also found to be significant, i.e. 18.14 kg1,4-DBeq t-1 MSW, 15.79 kgCO2eq t-1 MSW and 6.22 kg1,4-DBeq t-1 MSW, respectively. The CExD showed that company activities consumed 827.14 MJ t-1 MSW exergy from nature, and gasoline used in MSW transport was the most exergy-intensive process, using 634.47 MJ exergy per tonne MSW disposed of. Projections for energy generation potential up to the year 2050 showed that MSW of Rawalpindi city will have the potential to produce 3901 megawatt of energy to fulfill the energy needs of the country. Possible stratagems to reduce environmental impacts from the municipal solid waste management (MSWM) value chain of RWMC include curtailing dependency on petrogenic and fossil fuels in mobile sources, optimization of waste collection methods and dumping routes, inclining attention toward suitable wastes-to-energy conversion technology and opting for a holistic approach of MSWM in Pakistan.

Estimation of oil loss depending on spill degree in industrial pipelines

The failures and damages in the process of production, gathering, preparation and transportation of hydrocarbons lead to the spills in gathering systems and pipelines and considered one of the major aspects negatively affecting the environment. Oil spills due to the various failure (damage) types in industrial oil pipelines from environmental point of view are extremely hazardous. Onshore oil spills alongside with the oil floods on the land surface are followed with their penetration to the soil. This case, in its turn, stimulates the vegetation and soil cover destruction in the failure areas, the pollution of air, water reservoirs and underground waters as well. The installation of up-to-date automated monitoring and measuring system, if possible, the development of new methods of diagnostics with the aim of well-timed specification and immediate prevention of oil spills in pipeline damages, the evaluation of their environmental impact are the urgent issues of present day. The paper shows the possibility of identification of oil spill points, as well as the estimation of the quantity of flowed out from the oil pipeline, if oil spill point is fixed.

Methane and carbon dioxide in dual‐porosity organic matter: Molecular simulations of adsorption and diffusion

AbstractShale gas, which predominantly consists of methane, is an important unconventional energy resource that has had a potential game‐changing effect on natural gas supplies worldwide in recent years. Shale is comprised of two distinct components: organic material and clay minerals, the former providing storage for hydrocarbons and the latter minimizing hydrocarbon transport. The injection of carbon dioxide in the exchange of methane within shale formations improves the shale gas recovery, and simultaneously sequesters carbon dioxide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Understanding the properties of fluids such as methane and methane/carbon dioxide mixtures in narrow pores found within shale formations is critical for identifying ways to deploy shale gas technology with reduced environmental impact. In this work, we apply molecular‐level simulations to explore adsorption and diffusion behavior of methane, as a proxy of shale gas, and methane/carbon dioxide mixtures in realistic models of organic materials. We first use molecular dynamics simulations to generate the porous structures of mature and overmature type‐II organic matter with both micro‐ and mesoporosity, and systematically characterize the resulting dual‐porosity organic‐matter structures. We then employ the grand canonical Monte Carlo technique to study the adsorption of methane and the competing adsorption of methane/carbon dioxide mixtures in the organic‐matter porous structures. We complement the adsorption studies by simulating the diffusion of adsorbed methane, and adsorbed methane/carbon dioxide mixtures in the organic‐matter structures using molecular dynamics.

Faster transport in hollow zeolites

Abstract Nano-zeolites and hierarchical zeolites have shown enhanced transport properties that are generally attributed to a shorter diffusion path length (L). However, the concomitant increase in the external surface of these types of zeolites may also affect overall transport as the interfaces may act as diffusion barriers. Recently, hollow zeolite crystals have been presented as an alternative zeolite morphology. They possess a large inner cavity and an overall size and shape similar to those of plain microporous zeolite. In contrast to classic hierarchical zeolite materials, the inner cavity of the hollow zeolite induces a shortened diffusion path length with no effect on external surface area. In this work, we have studied the impact of diffusion path length on transport properties by comparing the characteristic time of transport of hydrocarbons in plain zeolite crystals and their hollow counterparts, using zero-length column (ZLC) measurements. Our results show that hollow morphology doubles or quadruples the transport speed for Silicalite-1 and Beta zeolites, respectively. Compared to other reports focusing on nanosized or hierarchical zeolites, this study is free of any bias due to major modifications in external surface area, because hollow and plain zeolites have very similar crystal dimensions.

Estimation of the resource of pipes of the main circulation pipeline of a NPP by the criterion of crack resistance with account of operational degradation of properties

The results of an experimental determination of the characteristics of cyclic crack growth resistance of specimens made of stainless steel 08Kh18N12T are given. Compact samples 20 mm thick cut from Du 550–30 pipes of the primary circuit of the main circulation pipeline (MCР) were studied under eccentric tension in the initial state and after 100 thousand hours of operation in the conditions of the Novo-Voronezh NPP. Using a new engineering approach based on measuring the specimen tightening and constructing a cyclic elastoplastic fracture diagram for a specimen with a crack in the coordinates “tightening – the stress intensity factor, calculated taking into account the plasticity correction”, a calculated life estimation is given for the pipe of Du 550–30 MCР NPP, made of 08Kh18N12T steel, according to the criterion of cyclic crack growth resistance, taking into account operational degradation of properties caused by the running time of 100 thousand hours. The life (survivability), expressed in a number of cycles of change in internal pressure, for a pipe with the most dangerous defects (surface semi-elliptical crack and combined defect “pitting + crack”) is determined. An analysis of the influence of the level of initial damage and the type of hazardous defect on the survivability of the pipes is made. The results can be used to analyze damage and predict the life of pipes made of ductile metals and alloys, in cooling systems of reactors, as well as main pipelines of hydrocarbon transport.

Application of Data Mining in Hydrocarbon Transportation, Storage and Safety Handling

Considering the present scenario, in the hydrocarbon industries, heavy oil prices and need for explorations leads to decide the economy of the country. Technology had been identified and experimentally considered for new hydrocarbon exploration with the help of data mining. Besides, transportation and storage of the produced Hydrocarbon has been monitored and can be maintained in control limit using data mining too. Hydrocarbon can be stored within a tank made up of steel, iron or combination of suitable material. The tanks are properly designed, erected and all its fittings are secured. Proper construction and maintained will aid in preventing any leakage of petroleum products to the environment. Current study is about influence of hydrocarbon transportation and storage using available methodology in upstream hydrocarbon sectors. Petroleum reservoir consist of complex heterogeneities that are not limited to extract the hydrocarbon from the subsurface to surface. Post drilling, produced crude and gas will be transported fuel have to transported to refineries for further processing of crude into various products. Apart from upstream, persons working on midstream and downstream plays a crucial role. Crude hydrocarbon can be transported by vessels, pipelines and road. Pipeline and truck transportation are considered to be the prior most than other modes. Transporting oil and gas by pipeline or rail is in general quite safe. But when the safety of transporting oil and gas by pipelines and rail is compared, taking into consideration the amount of product moved, pipe-lines are found to be the much safer transportation method. Refinery has to ensure safety aspects of storing the received petroleum crude which has to be processed in to commercial products. They must be maintained in prescribed temperature and pressure condition. In order to make this successful, some of the safety protocols has to be followed which are defined and approved ministry and safety norms. This article deals about the process and procedures in transporting and storage of fuels from upstream, midstream and downstream. Hence, the protocols and other safety precaution aspects are discussed to have a safe storage and handling practices.

Characterizing and predicting the impact of vehicular emissions on the transport and fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental multimedia

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous and abundant in various media. Understanding the environmental behavior of PAHs in different compartments is essential for better evaluating and mitigating PAHs in the urban environment. Based on a 20-year monitoring dataset of PAHs in suspended particulate matter (SPM), this study investigates the variation, transport, and fate of PAHs in the Elbe River basin, and further projects the multi-interface transport of PAHs in the future. The results showed that the mean concentration of PAHs reduced from 6572.8 to 3388.2 ng g−1 between 1998 and 2017 at the rate of −3.26%/year. However, the PAH pollution in the upper reach of the Elbe River was more serious than that in the middle and lower reaches, which implies a higher exposure risk in the upper reach. Self-organization mapping (SOM) and a positive matrix factorization (PMF) model identified vehicular emissions, which accounted for 44–81% of the total PAHs, as the predominant source of PAHs in the study area. According to a level III fugacity model, the impervious surface had the highest PAHs concentration (9.70 × 10−3 g m−3) and was identified as the main pathway of PAHs to receiving waters due to surface runoff. Furthermore, projection analysis indicated that the concentrations of PAHs in the various multimedia of the study area will be one order of magnitude lower in 2030 as a result of lower emission factors and the substitution of traditional fuels for vehicles with cleaner energies.

Aqueous Electrochemical Partial Oxidation of Gaseous Ethylbenzene by a Ru-Modified Covalent Triazine Framework.

Aqueous electrochemical oxidation of hydrocarbons into valuable compounds, such as alcohols and carbonyl compounds, has attracted much attention because these systems can operate under mild conditions without toxic oxidants or flammable solvents. The key requirements to achieve such oxidation reactions are (1) highly reactive species on an electrocatalyst for the activation of C-H bonds and (2) efficient transportation pathway for water-insoluble hydrocarbons to an electrode surface. We have determined that a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) supporting Ru atom-modified covalent triazine frameworks (Ru-CTF) has an activity for the electrooxidation of gaseous ethylbenzene to acetophenone using an aqueous electrolyte. A high-valency Ru═O species was formed in Ru-CTF as an effective active site for O-atom insertion into stable C-H bonds. Furthermore, Ru-CTF showed excellent stability during four consecutive cycles with the replacement of the electrolyte every 12 h, although the reactive Ru═O species is generated. As for the transportation pathway for substrates, the amount of acetophenone generated from gaseous ethylbenzene was much larger than that from ethylbenzene dissolved in an electrolyte. This result indicates that the three-dimensional microstructures in the GDE maximize the transportation of gaseous hydrocarbons and the oxidation reaction occurs at the triple-phase boundary, which enables the use of aqueous electrolytes.

Transport and Degradation of Hydrocarbons in a Simulated Crude Oil Contaminated Vadose Zone Due to Nutrient Percolation

Transport and Degradation of Hydrocarbons in a Simulated Crude Oil Contaminated Vadose Zone Due to Nutrient Percolation

Methods for assessing territory pollution by oil or petroleum product spills

During the development of oil and gas fields and transportation of hydrocarbons, the ecology of regions is subject to various negative impacts. The most severe consequences for the environment are caused by accidental spills of oil or petroleum products, which occur due to through damage to pipelines. Polluted territories are subject to mandatory reclamation in accordance with government regulations and industry regulations. However, despite the measures taken by the administrations of the northern regions to increase the rate of reclamation of damaged territories in recent years, there has been a trend of growth of areas contaminated with hydrocarbons.Various remediation technologies that have been tested in warm and temperate climates are not very effective in regions with permafrost. Pollution of the daytime surface with oil or petroleum products leads to an increase in the absorption of the sun's radiant energy, the growth of the seasonal thaw layer and the development of destructive processes for the territory. To achieve a positive effect as a result of rehabilitation measures, it is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of the territory and the extent of its pollution.

Decision Making for a Sustainable and Rentable Maintenance of a TORNADO Gas Turbine based on Fuzzy Logic Concept

In the modern oil & gas industry ,specifically, in hydrocarbon transportation by pipelines, maintenance decision making for the functional availability of equipment has a major in uence on the profitability of the facilities. In this perspective, this work aims to increase the capacity to monitor the behavior of a TORNADO type gas turbine, installed at an oil pumping station in Hassi R'Mel situated in southern Algeria, with modeling the degradation actions of this machine to make the effective decisions of their maintenance. The maintenance decision support process proposed in this work is based on the concept of fuzzy logic, helps the maintenance operator to choose the most appropriate maintenance actions depending on availability, productivity and quality of the transported oil. This minimizes costs and environmental impact, by ensuring an optimal level of oil transportation, for the monitoring of examined turbine component failures with a sustainable and cost-effective maintenance strategy.

Influence of dietary patterns on contaminants bioaccessibility and intestinal transport by in vitro assays

Food contaminants are usually studied as isolated molecules, not considering the overall meal components. Notwithstanding, contaminants are not ingested individually, therefore their risks should be assessed in the context of the overall diet. In the present study the influence of three well known dietary patterns, Western (W), Mediterranean (M) and vegetarian (V), on the bioaccessibility and intestinal transport of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF)), heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) (2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) and 2-Amino-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole (AAC)) and mycotoxins (MY) (aflatoxin B2 (AB2) and ochratoxin A (OTA)) was evaluated. Whole meals representative of W, M and V patterns were spiked with 100 µg kg−1 of each contaminant and subjected to the Infogest in vitro digestion method. Intestinal transport was performed using Caco-2 cells in apical/basolateral inserts. Contaminants were quantified by QuEChERS/HPLC/Fluorescence analysis.The dietary pattern itself influenced significantly the bioaccessibility of some contaminants, since higher bioaccessibility of HAAs (PhIP and AAC) was observed for V diet, while higher bioaccessibility of PAHs (BBF and BAP) and the MY (OTA) was observed for W diet. Concerning intestinal transport, the effect of the diet matrices was less noticed. Notwithstanding, AAC transport increased with W diet, while AB2s transport increased with the V diet. Regarding PAHs the three patterns either blocked (BbF) or reduced (BaP) the transport. Besides the well known nutritional, protective or deleterious effects of the different dietary patterns, the increased bioaccessibility or intestinal transport of some food contaminants, can have an additional influence on the global health impact.

Assessing and Modelling the Efficacy of Lemna paucicostata for the Phytoremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Crude Oil-Contaminated Wetlands

The potentials of the invasive duckweed species, Lemna paucicostata to remove pollutants from aquatic environment was tested in a constructed wetlands as an ecological based system for the phytoremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons in crude oil-contaminated waters within 120 days. Total petroleum hydrocarbons in wetlands and tissues of duckweed were analyzed using gas chromatography with flame ionization detector following established methods while the experimental data were subjected to the first-order kinetic rate model to understand the remediation rate of duckweed in wetlands. L. paucicostata effected a significant (F = 253.405, P < 0.05) removal of hydrocarbons from wetlands reaching 97.91% after 120 days. Assessment on the transport and fate of hydrocarbons in duckweed indicated that L. paucicostata bioaccumulated less than 1% and significantly biodegraded 97.74% of hydrocarbons in wetlands at the end of the study. The experimental data reasonably fitted (r2 = 0.938) into the first-order kinetic rate model. From the result of the study, it is reasonable to infer that L. paucicostata is an effective aquatic macrophyte for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons in moderately polluted waters.

Flow Risk Index: A New Metric for Solid Precipitation Assessment in Flow Assurance Management Applied to Gas Hydrate Transportability

Flow assurance is a central component of oil and gas production, concerning all methods applied to ensure stable, safe, and economical transport of hydrocarbons during all stages of production. As ...

Influence of Sand Fines Transport Velocity on Erosion-Corrosion Phenomena of Carbon Steel 90-Degree Elbow

Erosion-corrosion is an ineluctable flow assurance problem confronted in hydrocarbon transportation and production systems. In this work, the effect of sand fines velocity on the erosion-corrosion behavior of AISI 1018 carbon steel long radius 90° elbows was experimentally and numerically investigated for liquid-solid flow conditions. Experiments were effectuated for sand fines of mean diameter 50 µm circulated in a flow loop with three different velocities (0.5, 1 and 2 m/s). To elucidate the erosion-corrosion mechanism and degradation rate, the material loss analysis, multilayer paint modeling (MPM) and microscopic imaging technique were employed, with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete phase modeling (DPM) also capacitating to evaluate the erosion distribution. It was perceived that increasing slurry velocity significantly changes the particle-wall impaction mechanism, leading to an increase in material degradation in the elbow bottom section up to 2 times in comparison to the low transport velocity. The erosion scars and pits development at the elbows internal surface was found to govern the wear mechanism in the carbon steel and made downstream section susceptible to erosion and corrosion. The material removal mechanisms were ascertained to change from cutting to pitting and plastic deformation with an increase of sand fines transportation velocity from 0.5 m/s to 2 m/s.

Experimental and numerical analysis of failure in flexible pipe by a mechanism of intentional damage

The use of flexible pipe in onshore applications is now commonplace; however, there is scarce information on the modes of failure that affect its mechanical integrity, so its application in a transmission systems is risky and should require further analysis. An experimental- numerical study was performed to observe changes in the mechanical response and failure modes in this type of pipes. Pipe was perforated at a working pressure of 30 kg/cm2 (426.7 psi) to simulate experimentally the conditions generated when a hot tapping hole is illegally made to plunder petroleum products. It was found that the different pipe sections have a relatively low mechanical strength, especially the layer made of high density polyethylene. Tension and compression tests were carried out to obtain the appropriate technical data to perform static simulations, considering an external hole as the failure mechanism. After finite element modeling, it was found that flexible pipe presented an initial collapse in the HDPE inner layer at a pressure of 21.09 kg/cm2 (300 psi), which coincided with the experimental collapse induced by hot tapping drilling. This type of damage had not been studied in flexible pipelines for onshore applications. The information provided is useful in making decisions for the proper materials selection involved in the transport of hydrocarbons onshore.

Study of intermittent flow characteristics experimentally and numerically in a horizontal pipeline

The gas-liquid intermittent flow regime is the dominant flow pattern, which significantly occurs in the oil and gas industries. The intermittent flow is challenging in the hydrocarbon transportation systems and separators operation. The present investigation aims to comprehend the behavior of intermittent flow characteristics using experimental and numerical methods simultaneously. Superficial velocities of water and air were set in ranges of (0.18–0.84 m/s) and (1.22–4.9 m/s), respectively. The research was conducted in a horizontal pipe with a diameter of 44 mm and 147D long to study slug frequency, slug length, translational slug velocity, pressure drops, as well as slug's initiation location using static pressure data and high-speed camera tools. In this regard, the volume of fluid (VoF) method and SST k-ω model were also applied to specify film thickness, maximum Taylor bubble velocity, and to grasp behaviors of the flow field in more detail. The results revealed that liquid superficial velocity has more effects on slug frequencies than gas superficial velocity. On the other hand, slug initiation location, as well as slug fully developed length, is affected by the gas superficial velocity more than liquid superficial velocity. Moreover, both the gas and liquid superficial velocities have the same effects on translational slug velocities. The obtained experimental results were also employed to define a distinctive inlet boundary condition in the numerical simulation, which leads to a 65 percent reduction in the computational domain.

The influence of MWCNT and hybrid (MWCNT/nanoclay) fillers on performance of EPDM‐CIIR blends in nuclear applications: Mechanical, hydrocarbon transport, and gamma‐radiation aging characteristics

AbstractBlends of EPDM and chlorobutyl (CIIR) rubbers are used in nuclear plants where they have to withstand the combined effect of radiation and hydrocarbon aging. To improve their mechanical properties as well as hydrocarbon and gamma radiation resistance, the blends are reinforced with 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 phr of MWCNT. The increase in mechanical properties was highest for 1.5 phr MWCNT with 69% increase in tensile strength. The improvement in properties was correlated to MWCNT dispersion and filler–polymer interactions, which were confirmed by TEM and FTIR analysis. Hydrocarbon transport coefficients decreased on addition of MWCNT. The nanocomposites were exposed to 0.5, 1, and 2 MGy cumulative doses of gamma radiation. Depending on the radiation dose, crosslinking and/or chain scission occurred causes changes in physical properties. MWCNT reinforcement reduced the magnitude of changes in mechanical and transport properties after γ‐irradiation. ESR and FTIR spectra provided qualitative information on free radical formation and chemical changes due to γ‐rays exposure. To further enhance the properties, hybrid nanocomposites with 1.5 phr MWCNT and varying nanoclay contents (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 5 phr) were prepared. Due to synergism between MWCNT and nanoclay, the hybrid composites had superior properties with hybrid containing 5 phr nanoclay giving 98% increase in tensile strength.

Effect of Pore Size Heterogeneity on Hydrocarbon Fluid Distribution, Transport, and Primary and Secondary Recovery in Nano-Porous Media

In this paper, we investigate the effect of pore size heterogeneity on fluid composition distribution of multicomponent-multiphase hydrocarbons and its subsequent influence on mass transfer in shale nanopores. The change of multi-contact minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) in heterogeneous nanopores was investigated. We used a compositional simulation model with a modified flash calculation, which considers the effect of large gas–oil capillary pressure on phase behavior. Different average pore sizes for different segments of the computational domain were considered and the effect of the resulting heterogeneity on phase change, composition distributions, and production was investigated. A two-dimensional formulation was considered here for the application of matrix–fracture cross-mass transfer and the rock matrix can also consist of different segments with different average pore sizes. Both convection and molecular diffusion terms were included in the mass balance equations, and different reservoir fluids such as ternary mixture syntactic oil, Bakken oil, and Marcellus shale condensate were considered. The simulation results indicate that oil and gas phase compositions vary in different pore sizes, resulting in a concentration gradient between the two adjacent pores of different sizes. Given that shale permeability is extremely small, we expect the mass transfer between the two sections of the reservoir/core with two distinct average pore sizes to be diffusion-dominated. This observation implies that there can be a selective matrix–fracture component mass transfer as a result of confinement-dependent phase behavior. Therefore, the molecular diffusion term should be always included in the mass transfer equations, for both primary and gas injection enhanced oil recovery (EOR) simulation of heterogeneous shale reservoirs.

Management of the Large-Scale Arctic Transport System – the Basis for the Exploitation of the Hydrocarbon Resources of the Northern Seas Shelf

The problems of managing the Arctic transport system are considered. Particular attention is paid to the development of Arctic shelf deposits, as well as to the challenges and risks associated with the extreme conditions of transportation of hydrocarbon raw materials. Certain volumes of cargo transportation via the NSR have positive dynamics, which determines the encouraging results and allows us to develop strategic plans for the extraction of hydrocarbons and the delivery of finished products. The main promising directions for the development of sea transportation of hydrocarbons in the waters of the Northern Sea Route are outlined. Certain prospects for the development of Arctic oil and gas resources are identified. It is shown that an increase in the number of freight vehicles in the water areas of marine transport corridors in the near future will be associated with an increase in the turnover of ports and terminals. The main directions of improving the Arctic fleet and technological updates of the port infrastructure to ensure the development of hydrocarbon deposits in the Arctic seas are substantiated. The introduction in this area of the most important innovative methods for the development of the oil and gas sector is a full-scale implementation of transport and transit traffic, primarily in order to improve the system of internal corridors passing through the NSR under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The directions of improving and increasing the efficiency of operation of the Arctic transport system are proposed.