Fogler_IAPG

Fogler Seminario en IAPG

Conferencias del Profesor Scott Fogler en el Seminario del 15 de Septiembre en sede IAPG
La conferencia será dada e inglés, sin costo de inscripción, pero debiendo confirmar por este medio su reserva ya que por razones logísticas, debemos establecer un cupo de asistencia. Cada exposición será de unos 45 minutos.

AGENDA DE LA REUNION

14:30 horas recepción
15:00 - 16:30 horas - Conferencias 1 y 2
16:30 - 16:45 coffee break
16:45 - 17:30 horas - Conferencia 3

El profesor Fogler fue hasta noviembre del año pasado Presidente del AICHE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers). Es un destacado profesor de la Universidad de Michigan en Ingeniería de las Reacciones, especializado en problemas de flujo y reacción en medios porosos y cinética de gelificación, dilución y fenómenos coloidales. Es autor del libro "Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering", texto en Universidades argentinas y del exterior.

C-1: A Novel Application of Chemical Reaction Engineering
to the Petroleum Industry
H. Scott Fogler 2009
     President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Ame & Catherine Vennema Professor of Chemical Engineering,
               and the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor
                       The University of Michigan
                 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2136

.Acidization is the process of injecting acid mixtures down an oil well out into the reservoir to dissolve the porous media. This dissolution generates an increase in porosity and permeability thereby allowing the oil in the reservoir to flow out at a greater rate. Unfortunately, there have been cases in the Gulf of Mexico where significant decreases in permeability have been observed. The unique feature about the Gulf of Mexico is that many reservoirs contain the zeolite analcime, which dissolves in hydrochloric acid to form monosilicic acid and oligomers. These oligomers polymerize and coalesce to form spherical silica particles, which subsequently block the pores and damage the reservoir formation.

Fundamental studies were undertaken on kinetics of silica particle formation and growth. Particle sizes measured as a function of time by dynamic light scattering revealed that the particles grow exponentially and that higher HCl concentrations result in a much faster rate of monosilicic acid disappearance as well as faster particle growth rates. Furthermore, the monosilicic acid disappearance and silica particle growth were studied in solutions of 4M HCl plus 1M of different salts. The monomer disappearance rates and particle growth rates increased in the order AlCl3 > CaCl2 > MgCl2 > NaCl > pure HCl.

C-2: Applying Chemical Engineering Principles to Maintaining Flow Assurance in Off Shore Pipelines

As drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has moved further and further off shore, wax deposition in subsea oil pipelines has become a billion dollar problem. As the wax builds up in the pipelines it hinders (and in some cases, stops) oil production and transport. Our group has been studying this problem from two distinct perspectives: (1) modeling the formation of the deposit to predict its location and thickness, and (2) modeling the remediation of the deposits using fused chemical reactors. The fundamentals of fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics and kinetics have been used to accurately predict single phase wax deposition and buildup without the use of any empirical turning factors. Knowing the location of the deposit, we have the possibility of utilizing fused chemical reactions to remediate the wax deposits in subsea pipelines.

C-3: Revisiting Asphaltene Precipitation from Crude Oils:
A Case of Neglected Kinetic Effects

The precipitation of asphaltenes from crude oils can lead to serious challenges during oil production and processing. This research investigates the kinetics of asphaltene precipitation from crude oils using n-alkane precipitant. For several decades, it has been understood that the precipitation of asphaltenes is a solubility driven phenomenon, and the previous studies on the effect of time are usually limited to short time scales. By using optical microscopy and centrifugation-based separation, we have demonstrated that the time required to precipitate asphaltenes can actually vary from a few minutes to several months, depending on the precipitant concentration used. Our results demonstrate that no single concentration can be identified as the critical precipitant concentration for asphaltene precipitation. On the basis of long-term experiments, we have also been able to establish the solubility of asphaltenes as a function of the precipitant concentration, and it is shown that the short-term experiments overpredict the solubility. Similarities between the current work and other research areas are also discussed briefly. This research opens up a new paradigm for understanding asphaltene precipitation.