Rules of Thumb for Petroleum Engineers

James G. Speight, PhD, has more than forty-five years of experience in energy, environmental science, and ethics. He is the author of more than 65 books in petroleum science, petroleum engineering, biomass and biofuels, and environmental sciences. Although he has always worked in private industry which focused on contract-based work, Dr. Speight has served as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical and Fuels Engineering at the University of Utah and in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Wyoming. In addition, he was a Visiting Professor in the College of Science, University of Mosul, Iraq and has also been a Visiting Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

• Preface xvAbout the Author xxiAbrasion 1Absorption 3Acid Gas Removal 5Acid Gas Scrubbing 9Acid Number 11Acid Rain 13Acid-Base Catalysts 15Acidity and Alkalinity 17Acidizing 19Adsorption 21Adsorption Isotherm 23Adulteration 25Air Emissions 27Alcohol Blended Fuels 29Alcohols 31Alicyclic Hydrocarbons 33Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 35Alloys – Composition 37Amine Absorber 39Amine Condenser 41Amine Washing 43Ammonia 45Aniline Point 47Anticline 49Antoine Equation 51API Gravity 53Aromatic Hydrocarbons 59Asphalt Manufacture 61Asphaltene Constituents 63Associated Natural Gas 65Atmospheric Equivalent Boiling Point 67Auto-ignition Temperature 69Barrel 71Baumé Gravity 73Benchmark Crude Oil 75Bernoulli’s Principle 77Biomass and Biofuels 79Bitumen 83Bituminous Rock and Bituminous Sand 85Black Acids 87Black Oil 89Blending and Mixing 91Boiling Point and Boiling Range 95Brine 97Bubble Point and Bubble Point Pressure 99Bureau of Mines Correlation Index 101Calorific Value 103Capillary Forces 105Capillary Number 107Capillary Pressure 109Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide 111Carbon Number and Possible Isomers 113Carbonate Reservoir 115Carbonate Washing and Water Washing 117Catalyst Pore Diameter 119Catalytic Materials 121Catalytic Reforming 123Cementation Value 125Cetane Index 127Characterization Factor 129Chemical Reaction Rates 131Chemicals Reactive with Water 133Chemometrics 135Clausius Equation and Clausius-Clapeyron Equation 137Coal – General Properties 139Coke Yield from Conradson Carbon 141Common Acronyms 143Common Names of Selected Chemical Compounds 145Common Unit Conversions 147Commonly Used Constants 149Compressibility 151Coning 153Conversion Charts 155Conversion Factors 157Correlation Index 163Corrosion 165Corrosion – Fuel Ash 167Corrosion – Naphthenic Acid 169Cricondenbar 171Cricondentherm 173Critical Properties 175Critical Temperatures of Gases 177Crude Oil – Assay 179Crude Oil – Classification 181Crude Oil – Desalting 183Crude Oil – Distillation 185Crude Oil – Fractional Composition 187Crude Oil – Hydrotreating 189Crude Oil – Molecular Composition 191Crude Oil – Primary Recovery 193Crude Oil – Recovery 195Crude Oil – Refining 197Crude Oil – Residua 201Crude Oil – Sampling and Analysis 203Crude Oil – Secondary Recovery 205Crude Oil – Tertiary Recovery 207Crude Oil from Tight Formations 209Darcy and Non-Darcy Flow in Porous Media 211Darcy’s Law 213Decimal Multipliers for SI Prefixes 215Decline Curve Evaluation 217Delivery Point 219Density, Specific Gravity, and API Gravity 221Density-Boiling Point Constant 223Determining Depreciation 225Dew Point Temperature and Pressure 227Dielectric Constant 229Dielectric Loss and Power Factor 231Diesel Index 233Dipole Moment 235Distillation 237Distillation – Flooding 239Distillation – Gap-Overlap 241Drilling Fluid 243Drilling Fluid Additives 245E85 Fuel 247Embrittlement 249Embrittlement – Hydrogen 251Emulsion 253Enhanced Oil Recovery 255Environmental Regulations 259Evaporation 261Expansion and Contraction of Solids 263Explosive Limits 265Fire Point 267Fischer-Tropsch Chemistry 269Flammability and Flammability Limits 271Flash Point 273Flow Through Porous Media 275Fluid Catalytic Cracking – Chemistry 277Fluid Flow Fundamentals 279Fluid Flow Through Permeable Media 281Fluid Flow 289Fluid Saturation 291Foamy Oil 293Formation Volume Factor 295Fouling 297Fracturing Fluids 299Fuel Oil 303Functional Groups 305Fundamental Physical Constants 309Gas Deviation Factor 311Gas Formation Volume Factor 313Gas Laws 315Gas Processing – Hydrogen Sulfide Conversion 319Gas Processing – Metal Oxide Processes 321Gas Processing – Olamine Processes 323Gas Processing – Sweetening 325Gas Processing – Absorption and Adsorption Processes 327Gas Processing – Acid Gas Removal 329Gas Processing – Carbonate and Water Washing Processes 331Gas Processing – Catalytic Oxidation Processes 333Gas Processing - Fractionation 335Gas Processing – Gas-Oil Separation 337Gas Processing – Liquids Removal 339Gas Processing – Metal Oxide Processes 341Gas Processing – Methanol-Based Processes 343Gas Processing – Molecular Sieve Processes 345Gas Processing – Nitrogen Removal 347Gas Processing – Physical Solvent Processes 349Gas Processing – Plant Schematic and Products 351Gas Processing – Processes and Process Selection 353Gas Processing – Water Removal 361Gas Solubility 363Gas-Condensate Reservoirs 365Gaseous Fuels 367Gaseous Hydrocarbons – General Properties 369Gasification – Chemistry 371Gasification – Refinery Resids 373Gas-Liquid Solubility 375Gas-Oil Ratio 377Gas-Oil Separation 379Gasoline – Component Streams 381Gas-to-Liquids 383Geological Time Scale 385Geothermal Gradient 387Glycol 389Grease 391Greek Alphabet 393Hazardous Chemicals 395Hazardous Waste 399Heat Capacity 401Heat Content of Petroleum Products 403Heat Exchangers 405Heat of Combustion of Petroleum Fuels 407Heat of Combustion of Petroleum Fuels 409Heat Transfer Coefficient 411Heat Transfer – Convection and Conduction 413Heating Value 415Heavy Feedstock Conversion – Thermal Processes 417Heterogeneity 419Heterogeneous Catalysis and Homogeneous Catalysis 421High-Acid Crudes 423Hydrate Formation and Prevention 425Hydraulic Fracturing 427Hydrocarbon Gases – Physical Constants 429Hydroconversion 431Hydrogen Chloride 433Hydrogen in Refineries 435Hydrogen Sulfide Conversion 437Hydrogen Sulfide 439Hydrogen 441Hydrostatic Pressure 443Ideal Gas 445Improved Oil Recovery Processes 447Incompatible Chemicals 449Ionic Liquids 451Isothermal Compressibility of Oil 453Kinematic Viscosity 455Liquefied Petroleum Gas 457Liquid-Gas Separators 459Lubricants – Classification 461Lubricating Oil – Base Stock 463M85 465Marx-Langenheim Model 467Material Balance 469Mean Density – Gas-Air Mixture 471Mean Density – Gas-Air Mixture 473Metals Content and FCC Coke Production 475Methane 477Molecular Weight of Petroleum Fractions 479Naphthenic Acids – Corrosion in Distillation Units 481Naphthenic Acids – Mitigating Corrosion 483Naphthenic Acids 485Natural Gas - Associated 487Natural Gas – Composition 489Natural Gas – Compressibility 493Natural Gas – Measurement 495Natural Gas – Nonassociated 497Natural Gas – Properties 499Natural Gas – Specific Gravity 505Natural Gas – Phase Behavior 507Natural Gas – Sweetening 509Natural Gasoline 511Nitrogen and Nitrogen Oxide Gases 513Nonassociated Natural Gas 515Octane Barrel Yield 517Octane Number 519Oil and Gas from Tight Formations 521Oil and Gas Originally in Place 523Oil Recovery Factor 525Oil Shale – General Classification 527Oilfield Chemicals 529Olamine Processes 531Olamine 533On-Stream Factor 535Opportunity Crudes 537Organic Compounds – Physical and Thermochemical Data 539Organic Solvents 547Oxygen 549Ozone 551Paraffin Hydrocarbons 553Particle Size Classification 555Permeability 557Petrochemicals 559Petroleum Products – Heat Content 561Petroleum Products 563Phase Behavior 567Polychlorobiphenyls 569Porosity 573Prefixes 575Pressure Conversion 577Principal Component Analysis 579Process System 581Product Blending 583Production Engineering Units 585Productivity Index 587Proppants 589PVT Properties 591Rate of Reaction 593Reactor Types 595Recovery Methods 597Refinery Feedstocks – Corrosive Constituents 599Refinery Gas 601Refinery Types 603Refinery Units – Materials of Construction and Operating Conditions 605Refractive Index and Specific Refraction 607Relative Density 609Relative Permeability 611Relative Volatility 613Reserves – Estimation 615Reserves 617Reservoir Crude Oil 619Reservoir – Drive Mechanisms 621Reservoir Pressure 623Reservoir – Types and Classification 625Reservoir 627Resid Upgrading Technologies 629Resource Estimation 631Retrograde Condensate Systems 633Retrograde Condensation 635Reynolds Number 637Rock Types 639SARA Analysis 641Saturated Steam 643Saturation 645Sediments, Reservoirs, and Deposits 647Separators – Gas-Oil Separation 649Shale Gas Formation 651Shale Gas Reservoirs – Variation in Shale Properties 653Shale Gas – Variations in Composition 655Shale Oil (Kerogen-Derived Oil) – Variation in Properties 657Shale Plays – Properties 659SI – International System of Units 661Solubility Parameter 667Solvents 669Specific Gravity 673Specific Heat 675Stress-Corrosion Cracking 677Sulfur Dioxide 679Sulfur Material Balance 681Supercritical Fluids 683Surface Tension 685Sweetening Processes 687Synthesis Gas 689Tar Sand 691Test Methods 695Contents xviiThermal Conductivity 697Thermal Cracking Processes 699Tight Formations 701Unit Process 703Vapor Density 705Vapor Pressure 707Viscosity 709Viscosity Index 713Viscosity of Petroleum Fractions 715Viscosity-Gravity Constant 717Volume Flow Rate 719Volumetric Evaluation 721Volumetric Factors 723Water – Boiling Point Variation with Pressure 725Water –Common Impurities 727Water – Density and Viscosity in Relation to Temperature 729Water Saturation 731Watson Characterization Factor 733Weights and Measures – Density 735Weights and Measures – Fuels 737Weights and Measures - General 739Well Casing 741Wellbore Stability Analysis 743Wettability 745Wobbe Index 747Working Gas 749Bibliography and Information Sources 751