Sharif Digital Repository

In this study, three equations of state (EOS) in conjunction with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling were used to predict the Joule – Thomson (JT) process behavior for natural gas and various pure gases. The JT effect is encountered in several industrial applications. The experimental determination of the JT coefficient (JTC) is complicated, and there is little gas pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) data available for estimating these JTC. Thus, the development of an efficient model to predict the JT effect in industrial processes is necessary. This study was carried out to attain a clear view of the single phase-flow of hydrocarbons and nitrogen in the JT process with CFD modeling.... 

Numerous cases of casing failure have been reported worldwide. Depletion-induced compaction is one of the main factors that may cause casing failure. Stress perturbation in salt layers may accommodate rock flow which endangers the stability of cased wells. Besides, poor cementing jobs are recognized as one of the wellbore instability causes. These factors need to be considered to determine the mechanism behind the casing failure. In this study, the creep behavior of the caprock salt layer in the southwest Iranian oil fields is experimentally studied through a number of creep tests under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure. Then, a three-dimensional finite element analysis is... 

The present study focuses on simultaneous influence of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanopowder on microstructural, wear, tensile and biofunctional behavior of UHMWPE based nanocomposites used in biomedical applications, with the aim to utilize GNP's mechanical strength and wear resistance, while benefitting from HAp's biocompatibility at the same time. 0.1, 0.5 and 1 wt% GNP with 10 wt% optimized concentration of HAp were added to the UHMWPE matrix through an easy two-step approach consisting of solvent mixing and ultrasonication in ethanol as a liquid media. The dried nanocomposite samples of powder were then hot pressed at an optimized temperature and pressure to... 

In shell and tube heat exchangers, deep cracks can occur in tube-to-tubesheet welding and repairing such cracks is an impossible task which makes these tubes totally out of service. To preserve the thermal and mechanical integrity of heat exchanger, a series of rods is passed through these tubes and then are welded to tubesheets from both ends. Due to the increased damages in the vicinity of plugged tubes, the effect of plugging the tubes in the surrounding tubes and tubesheet failure is investigated. To this end, using CFD analysis, the temperature and pressure were calculated throughout the heat exchanger and then, the deformations and stresses of the tubes and tubesheets were computed... 

Carbonated brine (CB) injection, known as one of the effective enhanced oil recovery processes, is highly dependent on the reservoir conditions (i.e. temperature and pressure) as well as the type of dissolved salt in aqueous solution. This study is aimed to investigate the influential parameters on the swelling of crude oil as the most important mechanism during CB injection. The swelling of crude oil in the presence of different CB solutions consisted of different salts such as KCl, NaCl, CaCl2 and MgCl2 with constant concentration of 15,000 ppm is studied using a high-pressure, high-temperature visual cell which measures the volume of drop using image processing software based on... 

Erosive wear is one of the efficiency reduction causes in centrifugal compressors. The presence of suspended solid particles in the fluid causes deformations in different parts of the compressor, especially blades of the impeller. Therefore, erosion not only decreases the part lifetime by destruction of blades form, but also increases energy losses. For this reason, specifying the erosion locations and choosing a suitable material have an important effect on optimum functionality of the machine. In this paper, erosion locations of a compressor impeller by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in high temperature and pressure are attained and compared with experimental model. The... 

A systematic series of experiments are designed and performed including interfacial tension (IFT) measurements concomitant with Bond (BN, the ratio of gravity forces to capillary forces) and swelling/extraction measurements. Dynamic IFT, BN and swelling/extraction are measured as a function of pressure at temperatures of 30, 50 and 80 °C. In addition, in the light of measured IFT the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) of CO2 and light crude oil is determined based on a method called vanishing interfacial tension (VIT). The obtained results interestingly revealed that equilibrium IFT decreases linearly with pressure in two distinct pressure intervals while equilibrium BN shows an increasing... 

This work defines density factor as the ratio of before ignition density to after ignition density of the ignition mixture. This work provides an estimation method for explosive limits of various fuels under room temperature and pressure by showing that for a large universe of fuels, constant adiabatic flame temperature and density factor are appropriate approximations at the lower explosive limit while only a constant density factor might be an appropriate approximation at the upper explosive limit. Thus the assumption of a constant adiabatic flame temperature can be used in calculating lower explosive limit while the assumption of a constant density factor can be used in approximating... 

The main objectives of this study are to determine the influence of crude oil type, salinity, temperature and pressure on the dynamic interfacial tension (DIFT) of crude oil based on the experiments and modeling approaches. DIFT is also modeled using dynamic adsorption models, mono-exponential decay model as well as empirical equations. The results showed that when temperature increases, unlike deionized water which inversion phase temperature was observed, the equilibrium IFT of crude oils/sea water increases due to reduction of surface excess concentration of natural surfactants at the fluid/fluid interface as a dominant mechanism  

The solubility of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide gases in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([C2mim][OTf]) was measured at temperatures from (303.15-353.15) K and pressures up to about 3.0 MPa. The Henry's law constants were determined from the new experimental data, which in turn were used to derive the change of some thermodynamic functions of dissolution of the gases in that particular ionic liquid. The new experimental data were correlated by a combination of the extended Henry's law and Pitzer's model for the excess Gibbs energy. The average relative percent deviation (ARD%) of correlated molality values from experimental data are within... 

Phase equilibrium data are required to estimate the capacity of a geological formation to sequester CO2. In this paper, a comprehensive study, including both thermodynamic and neural network modeling, is performed on CO2 solubility in brine. Brine is approximated by a NaCl solution. The Redlich-Kwong equation of state and Pitzer expansion are used to develop the thermodynamic model. The equation of state constants are adjusted by genetic algorithm optimization. A novel approach based on a neural network model is utilized as well. The temperature range in which the presented model is valid is 283-383K, and for pressure is 0-600bar, covering the temperature and pressure... 

Despite the numerous experimental studies concerning asphaltene, the extent of reversibility of asphaltene aggregation at reservoir conditions remains still an elusive and controversial issue in the available literature. In this work, a series of depressurization and repressurization experiments were performed on three different live oils for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the reversibility of asphaltene aggregation under typical pressure and temperature conditions of oil fields. The obtained results reveal that the kinetics and the extent of reversibility of asphaltene aggregation at elevated pressure and temperature are majorly controlled by the characteristics of the reservoir... 

CO2 gas injection is known as one of the most popular enhanced oil recovery techniques for light and medium oil reservoirs, therefore providing an acceptable mass transfer mechanism for CO2–oil systems seems necessary. In this study, interfacial mass transfer coefficient has been evaluated for CO2–normal heptane and CO2–normal hexadecane systems using equilibrium and dynamic interfacial tension data, which have been measured using the pendant drop method. Interface mass transfer coefficient has been calculated as a function of temperature and pressure in the range of 313–393 K and 1.7–8.6 MPa, respectively. The results showed that the interfacial resistance is a parameter that can control... 

A simple equation of state (EoS) has recently been introduced (J. Phys. Chem. B2009, 113, 11977-11987) as (Z - 1)v2 = e + f/ρ + gρ2, where Z ≡ pv/RT is the compressibility factor, v = 1/ρ is molar volume, and e, f, and g are temperature dependent parameters. This EoS has been found to be accurate for all types of nano and bulk solids and bulk fluids, in the entire temperature and pressure ranges for which experimental data are reported, except for the isotherms within 1 ≤ T r = T/Tc ≤ 1.1 for the spherical and near spherical species and for a wider temperature range for the cylindrical molecules. The aim of this work is to investigate the validity of a three-term expression similar to the... 

Considering high temperature and pressure during single bubble sonoluminescence collapse, a hot plasma core is generated at the center of the bubble. In this paper a statistical mechanics approach is used to calculate the core pressure and temperature. A hydrochemical model alongside a plasma core is used to study the bubble dynamics in two host liquids of water and sulfuric acid 85 wt % containing Ar atoms. Calculation shows that the extreme pressure and temperature in the plasma core are mainly due to the interaction of the ionized Ar atoms and electrons, which is one step forward to sonofusion. The thermal bremsstrahlung mechanism of radiation is used to analyze the emitted optical energy... 

A rapid wax injection tool of a gearbox shift fork was designed, simulated, and manufactured using rapid prototyping and rapid tooling technology to save time and cost of producing wax models used for the investment casting process. CAE simulation softwares, in particular, MoldFlow, are used to get wax injection moulding parameters such as filling parameters, temperature profiles, freeze time, speed, and pressure. The results of this research were compared with conventional wax model production methods. The criteria of such comparison were based upon parameters such as time, cost, and other related characteristics, which resulted in saving of 50% in time and 60% in cost. In this research,... 

During transient tests, both pressure and temperature are changed depending on downhole flow rate. In gas producing wells, Joule-Thomson cooling and frictional heating effects are the main dynamic factors causing flowing bottomhole temperature to differ from the static formation temperature at that depth. When a gas well is shut in, JT cooling effect is vanished and this causes a sharp increase in sandface temperature. As effect of wellbore storage ends, wellbore temperature gradually cools down due to heat conduction with near wellbore region. This paper demonstrates a new technique for using temperature transient data in gas wells in order to determine end of wellbore storage. Also, effect... 

Interpretation of temperature logs has been done successfully in wells to identify water or gas entries location, detect casing leaks, and evaluate cement placement. This paper shows how knowledge of the Joule-Thomson cooling effect and frictional heating effect can be applied for well test interpretation. Many analysts rely on pressure derivative curve to diagnose wellbore storage period and radial flow regime on pressure transient data. However, there are field examples that flow regimes can't be accurately determined. During transient tests, both pressure and temperature are changed depending on downhole flow rate. In gas producing wells, Joule-Thomson cooling and frictional heating... 

Injecting low salinity brines is regarded as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process through IFT reduction. However, the exact mechanism behind this process is an unsettled and complex issue that has not been well understood yet, especially for heavy crude oil system. Besides, limited information is available regarding the key heavy oil/brine interfacial tension (IFT). The present study aims to investigate the sensitivity of dead heavy crude oil/brine IFT to a wide range of properties/conditions and to reveal the underlying physicochemical mechanisms involved in enhanced oil recovery and IFT reduction by low salinity water injection into heavy oil reservoir. IFT was measured as a function of... 

The main purposes of this study were to scrutinize experimentally effects of polymer and rock types on the oil recovery using water and polymer flooding processes. Four dynamic flooding experiments were carried out at simulated reservoir condition of temperature and pressure. According to the obtained results, the ultimate oil recovery by water flooding in highly fractured reservoirs was less than reservoirs with the microfractures. The results of polymer flooding showed that in addition the polymer molecular weight, the sulfonation of polymers also affects the oil recovery