Sharif Digital Repository

This paper develops a two dimensional Green element simulator based on a "compatibility-equation" algorithm for simulation of counter-current spontaneous imbibition (COUCSI) process. The Green element method is a novel computational approach based on the boundary integral theory, which is regarded as a hybrid combination of both boundary and finite element methods. The superiority of the Green element method in modeling of two phase water/oil flow is at the core of this paper. The developed simulator within the context of this proposition is explored to predict the oil recovery from a one dimensional single matrix block. The results are then compared with the experimental data, and they... 

Robust optimization (RO) approach is inherently a multi-objective paradigm. The proposed multi-objective optimization formulation would attempt to find the optimum - yet robust - water injection policies. Two multi-objective, Pareto-based robust optimization scenarios have been investigated to encounter the permeability uncertainties. These multi-objective RO scenarios have been done based on a small representative set of realizations but they have introduced optimum points that could be reliable for the original set of realizations either. In both scenarios, the desired objective functions are expected value and variance of Net Present Value (NPV). The underlying RO scenarios have been done... 

Considering the non-ideal behavior of fluids and their effects on hydrodynamic and mass transfer in multiphase. flow is very essential. Simulations were performed that take into account the effects of mass transfer and mixture non-ideality on the hydrodynamics reported by Bozorgmehry et al In this paper, by assuming the density of phases to be. constant and using Raoult's law instead of EOS and the fugacity coefficient definition, respectively, for both liquid and gas phases, the importance of nonideality effects on mass transfer and hydrodynamic behavior was studied. The results for a system of octane/propane (T = 323 K and P = 445 kPa) also indicated that the assumption of constant density... 

A Green Element numerical formulation is used to solve the time-dependent nonlinear one-dimensional counter-current spontaneous imbibition diffusion equation in which water enters a water wet rock spontaneously while oil escapes by flowing in the opposite direction. The Green Element Method (GEM) is an element by element approach of the boundary element method. In this new method, by generating large sparse global matrices and yet taking advantage of properties of Green's function, solution of more complicated physical problem is achievable while at the same time much less computational effort is needed rather than boundary element method (BEM). By discretizing both the boundary and problem... 

This paper presents the design and part-load operation of a molten carbonate-micro gas turbine (MCFC/MGT) hybrid system (HS), and proposes a multiloop control strategy for the HS. A mathematical model of the system is introduced. Then, the structure of process is changed and the performance of HSs at part-load operation is studied. The novelty includes utilizing some part of the main fuel instead of auxiliary fuel in the combustion stage. The results show that the new configuration has more efficiency (about 63%). In order to keep the operating system within safe limits, variables of the control system are determined. Those controlled variables are as follows: stack temperature, fuel... 

Scheduling models are one of the main parts of computer-aided process design research in recent years. One of the novel applications of scheduling models is their usage for in-site utility management of a process plant. It is very common for huge process plants to provide their utility by themselves; therefore, they shall make decision on utility supply and demand simultaneously. This approach can be extended to other similar systems such as distributed generation networks. In fact, it is possible to consider a DG unit as an autonomous system which is responsible for its energy (heat and power) supply and demand. Of course, for achieving its reliability and dispatchability goals, it would... 

Two different approaches of the dynamic optimization for chemical process control engineering applications are presented. The first approach is based on discretizing both the control region and the time interval. This method, known as the Region Reduction Strategy (RRS), employs the previous solution in its next iteration to obtain more accurate results. Moreover, the procedure will continue unless the control region becomes smaller than a prescribed value. The second approach is called Control Vector Parameterization (CVP) and appears to have a large number of advantages. In this approach, control action is generated in feedback form, i.e., a set of trial functions of the state variables... 

In this article the methodology proposed by Li and Wang for mixed qualitative and quantitative modeling and simulation of temporal behavior of processing unit is reexamined and extended to more complex case. The main issue of their approach considers the multivariate statistics of principal component analysis (PCA), along with clustered fuzzy digraphs and reasoning. The PCA and fuzzy clustering provide tools to categorize the quantitative dynamic trends, describing the temporal behavior of joint human-process interactions qualitatively, and through the proposed neuro-fuzzy reasoning the system responses can be obtained when the system is exposed to uncertain disturbances. First, the method... 

The aim of the present work is to propose an eco-design method for sustainable development of methanol production by implementing a multi-objective optimization model based on CO2-efficiency. Two different approaches for the methanol production, i.e. a conventional reference methanol case (RMC) and proposed green integrated methanol case (GIMC) were compared from the view point of eco-design. Using life cycle assessment and process simulation, the environmental features as well as operational decision variables of the RMC and GIMC were assessed. Based on the inventory analysis of LCA, it was found that carbon dioxide is the major emitted pollutant from methanol production. Thus the... 

Optimal well placement is a crucial step in reservoir development process. The key points in such an optimization process are using a fast function evaluation tool and development of an efficient optimization algorithm. This study presents an approach that uses particle swarm optimization algorithm in conjunction with streamline simulation to determine the optimum well locations within a reservoir, regarding a modified net present value as the objective. Performance of this algorithm was investigated through several different examples, and compared to that of genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA) methods. It was observed that particle swarm optimization algorithm outperformed... 

This article presents a method for optimizing and controlling an oil production system using a natural gas lift concept. Ever increasing development of Smart Well technology and various applications of down-hole monitoring and controlling instruments along with new methods of data acquisition/transmission make it possible for the natural gas lift system to be controlled and optimized more effectively and faster than before. With this technology it is possible to monitor the down-hole conditions of gas and oil zones and to control the inflow valves in gas and oil zones. In this work, a proportional integral differential feedback controller has been used to smartly control the entrance of gas... 

Ensemble Kalman filter, EnKF, as a Monte Carlo sequential data assimilation method has emerged promisingly for subsurface media characterization during past decade. Due to high computational cost of large ensemble size, EnKF is limited to small ensemble set in practice. This results in appearance of spurious correlation in covariance structure leading to incorrect or probable divergence of updated realizations. In this paper, a universal/adaptive thresholding method is presented to remove and/or mitigate spurious correlation problem in the forecast covariance matrix. This method is, then, extended to regularize Kalman gain directly. Four different thresholding functions have been considered... 

In this article, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the separator pressures in a multistage crude oil and multistage gas condensate production unit with four and three separators respectively. This leads to the generation of more accurate results for the quality and quantity of oil remaining in the stock tank for both crude oil and gas condensate production units. Genetic-based optimized pressures for crude oil separators resulted in 1.8% and 2% enhancement in oil remaining in the stock tank for summer and winter respectively. API gravity of the stock tank oil was improved 2.4% in summer and 2.2% in winter. For the gas condensate production unit, optimized pressures can enhance by 8.6%... 

In this work, the goal is to find the optimum working point for intelligent wells that is equipped with down-hole chokes and producing from a multi-layer reservoir under pressure maintenance process. Two evolutionary optimization algorithms are used and results are compared from different points of view. Therefore, the differential evolution technique and genetic algorithm has been used in conjugation with a reservoir simulator. The overall optimization technique is applied to heterogeneous example problems involving smart and multi segment wells. Improvement of predicted performance, which is as high as 7% in one case is demonstrated for all of the examples studied  

Fuel cells belong to an avant-garde technology family for a wide variety of applications including micro-power, transportation power, stationary power for buildings and other distributed generation applications. The first objective of this contribution is to find a suitable reduced model of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). The derived reduced model is then used to design a state estimator. In the first step, the distributed model of the SOFC that is derived using the first principle balance equations is solved by the method of lines. Since this model is too complex and sluggish for real-time applications, a representation of this model with lower number of states and good accuracy is needed.... 

Background: A new design for a methanol plant is proposed in which CO 2 addition, as one of the important parameters, is used to optimize the synthesis gas composition. An attempt has been made to assess the environmental features as well as the process operability of the proposed plant, in which the required CO 2 is provided from reformer flue gas. As a starting point, simulation of a conventional reference methanol case (RMC) and also the proposed green integrated methanol case (GIMC) are performed to obtain operational and kinetic parameters. In order to compare properly GIMC and RMC, the objective function is defined so that SynGas production, and thereby methanol production, in the GIMC... 

Optimal well placement is a crucial step in efficient reservoir development process which significantly affects the productivity and economical benefits of an oil reservoir. However, it is a complex and challenging problem due to the different engineering, geological and economical variables involved. This leads to a very large number of potential scenarios that must be evaluated using numerical reservoir simulations. The key points in such an optimization process are using a fast function evaluation tool and development of an efficient and robust optimization algorithm that can find good solutions with a minimum required number of function evaluations. This study presents an approach that... 

Simulation of the in-situ combustion process is one of the most complex simulations amongst other reservoir flow simulations. Accurate simulation of the process is critical to obtain a successful implementation of the in-situ combustion process. Several factors impact performance of the simulation of this process. First are all the numerical models used for different sub-processes, such as reactions, fluid phase behavior, heat loss to surrounding formations and fluid physical properties. In the previous numerical models of the in-situ combustion process, very simplified models were used for the phase behavior of the fluid. Recent studies show that the fluid phase behavior model has a great... 

The Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) is a Monte Carlo based method to assimilate the measurement data sequentially in time. Although, EnKF has some advantages over the other Kalman based methods to deal with non-linear and/or high dimensional reservoir models, it also suffers from deficiency in estimation of non-Gaussian parameters. In this work, we propose a re-parameterization method to handle non-Gaussian parameters via Ensemble Kalman Filter framework. For this purpose, concept of cumulative distribution function transformation has been used. In addition, the statistics of prior information have been aggregated in the state vector in order to capture the prior uncertainties of non-Gaussian... 

In this paper, a 3-dimensional mathematical model for one cell of an anode-supported SOFC (solid oxide fuel cells) is presented. The model is derived from the partial differential equations representing the conservation laws of ionic and electronic charges, mass, energy, and momentum. The model is implemented to fully characterize the steady state operation of the cell with countercurrent flow pattern of fuel and air. The model is also used for the comparison of countercurrent with concurrent flow patterns in terms of thermal stress (temperature distribution) and quality of operation (current density). Results reveal that the steady-state cell performance curve and output of simulations...