Journal of Petroleum Research & Studies

The produced water of Nahran Omar oil fields used for isolated the biosurfactant produce Candida cruzi which enhanced by using carbon and nitrogen sources, the biosurfactant production was followed by measuring the oil spreading, emulsification activity, oil collapse and cleaning oil contaminated vessels. The crud biosurfactant was able to spreading the oil (24) mm with (8%) emulsification activity and oil collapse of ( ++) the result of cleaning oil contaminated vessels revealed the recovered of oil from the wells of vessels. Under optimization of carbon and nitrogen sources the results revealed that the largest oil displacement was (9) mm with dextrin the maximum emulsification power was ( 92.8% and 92.5% ) for lactose and fructose respectively, these results demonstrated the high potential of emulsifiers produced by C. cruzi that can play an important role in application in enhance oil recovery.

In this work naphtha is exposed to ultraviolet rays under various conditions namely; UV exposure only , UV exposure with cooling , UV exposure with cooling and catalyst , UV exposure with Cooling , Catalyst and Oxidant O2 and UV exposure with Catalyst and Oxidant O2 to investigate the bonds cracking process (Photo-degradation or photolysis reactions) and its effect on naphtha octane number where several bonds are to be broken due to absorption the high energy of UV radiation. It is expected that naphtha octane number should be changed as a result of the Photo-degradation effect. Samples are prepared and treated with various conditions in a UV Reactor unit under prevailing pressure (elevated pressure). No systematic change in octane number is noticed but the octane number is either decreases or remains constant. Another technique which the cell unit is used. Samples are prepared and treated in the cell unit under atmosphere pressure. Three different behaviors of the change in naphtha octane number are resulted (decreasing , no change and increasing) . Maximum decreasing in octane number is (-11 unit) occurred when naphtha is exposed to UV rays with cooling & TiO2 catalyst in the cell unit , while the maximum increasing is (5.6 unit) occurred when naphtha is exposed to UV rays with ZnO catalyst & (2.1 ml/min) O2 feeding in the cell unit. In order to understand this behavior Gas chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) tests are conducted for some samples before and after UV exposure to study the changes in chemical composition of naphtha specially the changes in percentage of compounds that affect the octane number such as : Benzene , Toluene , Isooctane and P-xylene. It is noticed that the percentages of these compounds increased in samples in some tests and decreased in others . Also Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) tests are conducted for these samples before and after exposure to find the eliminated or created chemical bonds or functional groups of these bonds.

An unprepared drilling team or an inexperienced group in dealing with bottom hole drilling problems can cause serious injury, health troubles, environmental damage and rigorous financial losses for any contingency hole troubles that might be faced during the drilling progress. For that reason, drilling simulators have been developed and used in teaching and training, usually in well control, focusing on how to handle the most dangerous and expensive problems such as kicks, mud losses, and stuck pipes.
It is believed that the practice preferred to be related to real cases for best results, so modern techniques have been introduced in this research to build a new drilling simulator software under the name “Kick-Sim100”. The main programming language used is C# language and Unity3D editor used as a programming environment, together used to connect, exhibit and implement field experiences and field data that gathered and analyzed from southern Iraqi fields.
Kick-Sim100 imitates the behavior of the kick for both types: gas and water kick. It also mimics two of the most common well control methods, namely the “Driller” method and the “wait and weight” method. This simulator deals with southern Iraqi formations also manages the possibilities of kick occurrence and problems solving steps by involving all the potential odds that might arise during well killing procedures automatically, in which It does not need any instructor involvement.
Kick-Sim100 is expected to have a great impact on the improvement of the drilling staff abilities in handling kick detection while drilling and well-killing methods. It is also planned to participate in Iraqi petroleum engineering educational systems in the future if developed.

The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of underground storage of gas in Um El-Radhuma formation /Ratawi field. This formation is an aquifer consisting of a high permeable dolomite beds overlain by impermeable anhydrite bed of Rus formation. Interactive petrophysics (IP), Petrel RE and Eclipse 100 softwares were used to conduct a well log interpretation, build a reservoir simulation model and predict the reservoir behavior during storage respectively. A black oil, three dimensional and two phase fluid model has been used. The results showed that the upper part of Um El-Radhuma formation is suitable for underground gas storage, because of the seal of its cap rock and capability of reserving gas in the reservoir. It was found that available volume for storage is 14.3 billion cubic feet with a structural closure of 45 m. the optimum injection rate has been calculated also

CO2 capture and storage have been considered as a key strategy to tackle CO2 high concentrations in the atmosphere. The captured CO2 is injected into deep saline aquifers, depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and coal beds as gas, liquid, and/or supercritical phase. The CO2 phase may affect its injection, migration, and displacement efficiency. Research work on CO2 storage has mainly focused on the trapping mechanism, risk assessment, storage site selection, etc. However, CO2 phase effect on its injection and displacement efficiency has largely been neglected. In this paper, experimental work was designed to investigate the impact of CO2 phase on the pressure and production profiles as the experimental pressure increases.
The results show that CO2 phase significantly affects the differential pressure profile, relative permeability of CO2, and residual water saturation in a sandstone core sample. The differential pressure profiles of gaseous CO2 and supercritical CO2 phases were significantly different from that of liquid CO2 phase, particularly before the CO2 breakthrough. The increase in the experimental pressure caused an increase in the differential pressure profile of the sub critical CO2 phases (gaseous and liquid CO2) but a reduction in that of the supercritical phase. The relative permeabilities of the three CO2 phases were in the range of 11-21 % while the residual water saturations (Swr) were in the range of 36 to 42 %. In general, the relative permeabilities of both gaseous and supercritical CO2 phases are quite close. The relative permeabilities of liquid CO2 phase are higher. The increase in pressure caused an increase in the relative permeability and a decline in the Swr. The scale of the change depends on CO2 phase. Thus, our results reveal the high impact of CO2 phase on its injection, and displacements efficiency.

This research includes a study of the components of the associated gases in khabaz oil field using Gas Chromatography instrument type (Varian cp-3800).
Results of the analysis of the associated gases showed that the methane (CH4) is a (75%), while the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is (2%).
The samples of the associated gases were collected from the inside of the khabaz station and from the (Line A - 5), which provides North Gas Company of associated gases, is a mixture of gases coming from gas compressing stations ( north & south Bai Hassan, Daodgorga, Ajil station and khabaz station).
Can take advantage of associated gas after treatment it in the North Gas Company for several purposes such as feeding power plant Mulla Abdullah, fuel gas for the operating units, production of sulfur and LPG.
The productivity of khabaz oil field at the present time of the associated gas is (28-34 mmscf / day).
The amount of the associated gases that burned in (flare) in khabaz oil field is (4 mmscf / day), The density of the flaring gas is (0.000921gm / cm3) where (mgas = ρgas * vgas), the (1 mmscf) of gas equivalent to (26 ton), the flaring associated gas rate in khabaz oil field equivalent to (104 ton / day), which is enough to generate (8.4 megawatt) of electrical energy .

In this study, concentrations of eight heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr, Zn, Co, Cd and Fe) were investigated during 2016 in ten stations at West Qurna-2 oil field in Basra city Southern of Iraq. These metals were analyzed by using Atomic absorption spectrometry. The mean values of the metals in the soil range for : pb (18.23 -39.15), Ni (28.34-46.35), Cu (10.12-18.22), Cr (50.64-59.23), Zn (25.23-40.48), Co (5.34-11.27), Cd (5.99-10.23) and Fe (1150.12-2185.83) ug/g dry weight. Contamination Factor (CF), Enrichment factor (EF) and Geo accumulation index (I-geo) were computed and compared in different stations of the soil oil field. Total concentration of metals in soil samples found to be in this order: Fe>Cr> Ni >Zn> Pb>Cu> Co>Cd. The main reason for different in concentration could be due to the effects of contamination caused by various activities in the oil field and the urban .Total organic carbons and grain size analysis were also determined, and there is a good correlation between TOC and Heavy metals. These data are a first of its kind in this important area and could be used as a baseline for coming study in the futures.
The purpose of this study were to determine the spatial distribution of trace metals in the soil of the West Qurna-2 oil field, and to quantify potentially ecological risk of trace metal pollution.

Conventional reservoirs have been fracture stimulated using acid fracturing and proppant fracturing. Acid fracturing is performed to improve well productivity in acid-soluble formations such as limestone, dolomite, and chalk. Hydrochloric acid is generally used to create an etched fracture, which is the main mechanism for maintaining the fracture open during the life of a well. Proppant fracturing is an alternative option that has been applied in carbonaceous and siliceous formations. There is no quantitative method to provide an answer of whether acid fracturing or proppant fracturing is an appropriate stimulation method for a given carbonate formation. How rock mechanics can be applied to decide on what method is more effective? Laboratory experiments have been performed to simulate acid etched to study the effect of elastic, plastic and viscoelastic rock behavior and their effects on fracture conductivity. Comparison of acid vs. proppant fracturing conductivity in carbonate formation is presented.
Fracturing low permeability reservoirs is totally different than fracturing tight formations. The fracture geometry required in low permeability reservoirs need to be planar, conductive and penetrating deep in the reservoir. Fracture complexity in these reservoirs is to be avoided for optimum stimulation treatment. However, in fracturing tight formation, a complex fracture network is desirable for better recovery. Creating multiple fractures in horizontal wells without the use of mechanical intervention, is becoming essential especially in tight gas reservoirs. We have learned how to initiate hydraulic fractures into a specific direction and place as many fractures as desired in horizontal wells but with casing and perforation. The challenge now is to initiate weak point across the horizontal well such that fracturing fluid will initiate a fracture there. How rock mechanics has been applied to achieve this objective? We are fracturing tight gas sand in harsh environment, at depth more than 18000 ft, of temperature close to 400 °F, and one can figure out the extreme in-situ stresses relevant to this depth.
When the reservoir pressure decreases, the elastic displacement in response to the increase in effective stress will cause natural fractures to close leading to a decline in reservoir productivity. The matrix medium feeds the natural tensile fractures which carry the fluids to the wellbore. The decline in conductivity with increasing effective stress should follow a logical declining rate to support a given production rate. How the concept of effective stress has been applied to understand the stress-dependent conductivity of various conductive components of a given reservoir? Rock mechanics testing of these stress sensitive reservoirs becomes vital to optimize fracturing tight formations.
Economical production from tight reservoirs, including shale gas and shale oil formations, requires horizontal well drilling and massive proppant hydraulic fracturing stimulation. The stimulation involves generating sufficient fractures network or stimulated reservoir volume (SRV), which is achieved by placing optimized stimulation treatments along the horizontal section of wellbores ideally drilled from multi-well pads to increase the production rate and ultimate recovery. Hydraulic fracturing in naturally fractured formations is characterized by generating a fractures’ network that should be designed for in extremely low permeability of unconventional reservoirs. Fractures should extensively reach shale matrix to achieve commercial gas production. Therefore, production rate and ultimate recovery depend on the size of the created SRV.
The transport phenomena controlling fluid flow through tight formation is no longer sufficient to be modeled by Darcy’s flow. Diffusion and imbibition are important transport mechanisms. The concept of osmosis and flow through a semi-permeable membrane component are critical. Additionally, diffusion and a special case of molecular flow due to Knudson effect will be discussed. Conventional reservoir simulation collapses when trying to simulate fluid flow through tight reservoirs. Numerical studies on a hydraulically fractured well to simulate the dynamic processes during fracturing injection, following well shut-in (soaking), and production are discussed.

Lignin peroxidase produced from A. terreus SG777 precipitated with 80% ammonium sulfate saturation then desalting by dialysis against Tris buffer solution and partially purified by ion exchange chromatography using DEAE- cellulose.The specific activity reached 56.67U/mg with purification fold was 5.4 times and 13.7% recovery. The optimum pH for activity and stability was 3. The maximum activity was observed at 40°C and the enzyme maintained the activity when it was incubated at 25-35˚C.
Degradation of poly aromatic hydrocarbons when incubated with 65.51 U/ml lignin peroxidase at 40 °C for 4 hr compared with the Refinery treatment. Results showed (97.54%) removal efficiency of Di benzo (a ,h) anthrancene by lignin peroxidase, while only 54.37% was treated by Refinery treatment. Flourene and anthrancene degradation 95.98% and 83.51% respectively, while the flourene and anthrancene degradation treated by Refinery treatment only 84.51% and 46.83% respectively.
The aim of this study was degradation of poly aromatic hydrocarbons by using partial purification lignin peroxidase.

Corrosion costs of the oil industry are billions of dollars in a year. Corrosion affects every aspect of exploration and production of oil, from offshore rigs to casing and transporting the crude oil to refinery or exporting terminal. This study aims to investigate the effect of sulfur content on the corrosion of carbon steel and composite material (polyester/fiberglass) pipes used in well production. .
In the present work three specimens of pipes from (Al – Nasiriyah oil field, Al – Daura refinery, and composite material) are prepared in the center of the training and workshop in university of technology with (3, and 5 mm) thickness and (30 mm) diameter which immersed in different types of Iraqi crude oil field (East – Baghdad, Al – Nasiriyah, and Al – Rumaila field) in different times (0, 14, 28, 42, and 56 day). Physical properties (viscosity, density, API grade, specific gravity (sp.gr), sulfur %, sediment %, and water %) of three types of Iraqi crude oil are tested in lab of petroleum technology department. Also study specimens of pipes by microscope to knowing the effect of sulfur % on these specimens. .
The results showed that when increasing duration of immersed pipes and sulfur content in crude oil increased the rate of corrosion, and the composite material pipe gives the best result compared with the other two specimens pipes used because they didn’t influenced by corrosion when immersed in Iraqi crude oil. Also, it was noted that the diffusion coefficient decreased in composite pipe compared with the other pipes.

Nanotechnology: - It is one of the modern scientific achievements where nanotechnology is available, namely the engineering and art of nano scale material treatment (100 nanometers.
The ability to manufacture new Nano materials used to treat surface water, groundwater and industrial wastewater contaminated with toxic metal ions, organic and inorganic substances as well as microorganisms.
In this research, we discussed the use of Nano materials, or nearby, to remove the dissolved oil pollutants from the industrial wastewater of the South Refinery Company, where we used multi-tubes of carbon nanotubes. The function of the tubes can be described as a particle filter, Hold large particles of contaminants that are difficult to pass through the tube tunnel). We also used activated carbon powder and carbon filters near pore nanoparticles

This research includes a study of the problem of corrosion in petroleum industry which decaying in the body of the Iraqi economy, and it is Non-controlled accurately and resorting to toggle mechanism and import of machinery and equipment, which cost the country large sums of money.
Four Solutions of gasoline distillates and toluene was prepared and attended the five types of solvents, by taking 100 ml of each distilled and dissolved (30) grams of material polystyrene (cork), (available, cheap and that its presence is causing pollution to the environment), then used 5 ml of a produce mixture in a different rates mixing of distillates and toluene. Solutions have been tested on fifteen models of copper pipes for cooling devices are processed for the study after welded and painted and placed at the area Baba gurgur region in the North Oil Company-Iraq as an affected area gases that cause corrosion of copper pipes in the cooling devices, the mixture of number (4) has been shown a very good resistance for corrosion after nine months from the time of exposure to the gas.

Medium carbon steel always used in most parts of the oil and gas industry, due to their cheap, simple manufacturing and easy deformation. However, as-rolled medium carbon steel usually does not meet the demands for many petroleum applications where high hardness and strength are needed; mainly because of their limitations in some mechanical features. Hence, many methods of thermal treatment techniques were adopted with a view to manipulate its structure and thus extend its scope of applications. This study focus on using a proper heat treatment to enhance medium carbon steel properties.
Quenching and tempering treatments are usually the end of any manufacturing process to production of a machine component. However, the internal and residual stresses which generate during the heat treatments due to the non-uniform the quenched layer depth lead to distortion or cracked the machine component result in deteriorate the properties. Thus, the selection of optimum parameters of the quenching process is very important to ensure the achievement of the desired properties of the machine component. The main aim of this study is to get the optimal conditions for heat treatment which brought the best combination of mechanical properties of medium carbon steel without tempering treatment. Thus, in current study, an investigation of effects of polymer solution media on the quenching process was carried out with samples made of medium carbon steel. The samples were quenched in four different concentrations (0, 10, 15, 20) % of polymer (polyalkylene glycol) solution and set of quenched samples were tempered at 400 oC for 1h. The resulting as-quenched and tempered microstructures were compared and evaluated. Mechanical properties (hardness and wear rate) of the samples were determined using suitable standards. The results show that the quenched samples in polymer solution with 10% polyalkylene glycol were brought the best combination of mechanical properties as compared with other quenched and tempered samples.

Natural agricultural products have the potential to be a substitute for synthetic polymers absorbents in environmental remediation and spill cleanup and recovery. One of these natural by-products which is available in many regions of the world is Date Palm Fibers (DPF). DPF (also known as surface fibers) is a natural sorbent that exhibits good sorption characteristics. In an attempt to valorize this abundant, low cost byproduct, we have investigated the micro porosity of this raw material by carrying out two procedures. First, hydrothermal pyrolysis using a scalable reactor with only water as solvent at high temperature (480 °C) under dry nitrogen atmosphere. Biochar yield was found varying from 30.5 to 33.6% (32%), with little bio-oil.
Then the resultant biochar was physically activated with KOH and the mixture heated to 750oC (0.5oC/min) and kept at 750°C for 2 hours under Argon flow in a tubular furnace to produce activated carbon. Second, the resulting biochar and activated carbons were then characterized by Particle Analyzer to measure their surface area, pore volume and pore diameter.
For biochar, surface area : 1.1374 m²/g, pore volume 0.001883 cm³/g, pore diameter 1355.874 Å and for activated biochar (activated carbon), surface area : 1220.2755 m²/g, pore volume: 0.062068 cm³/g, pore diameter: 19.0116 Å were determined by particle characterization analyzer. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) was also used for other analysis .
The oil sorption behavior of the raw DPF, biochar and activated biochar were examined with motor oil. The Oil Sorption Capacity (OSC) of raw DPF, biochar and activated biochar were tested with the oil as oil alone and an oil over water surface and the value calculated gravimetrically. The maximum OSC values of the sorbents were in the order of: DPF The sorbent materials can be utilized in oil spill remediation as well as waste water treatment for removal of hydrocarbons pollutants from water. In addition biochar can be used as a soil amendment for enhancing soil fertility.

This study included first attend in Iraq to built a mathematical model predicting the behavior oil spill discharged into Tigris river and the fate of spill along the river. The model included many factors such as spreading & oil spill, evaporation; emulsion shoreline closes in river sedge. The calculations based on the geographical location of the spill & geometry of the river section also, the model predicts the speed of Water River and its effect on the oil. Spill spreading along the river. The model did not describe the oil spill in one equation but, it divided to steps related together to give the single results. The model equation can be solved by computer software designed using visual basic program to facility getting result by any use.

The primary objective of this study is to predict the optimum operating conditions required to operate an existing atmospheric distillation column to distillate heavier crude oils in same unit which designed mainly to fractionate moderate and lighter crude oils.
Detailed simulation model of atmospheric distillation column was made using Aspen Hysys V. 8.4 software. The model built depending on the data of real plant which located in Al-Daura midland refinery company at Baghdad/Iraq. The crude oils were described using the true boiling point (TBP) assays and Peng-Robinson package were used to predict thermodynamic properties. Three different types of crude oils (Kirkuk light, Basrah light and Basrah medium) were selected to identify the model validity. The simulation results agree very well with the industrial plant results. Finally the proposed model was used to predict optimum operating conditions required to distillate a blend of light and heavy Basrah crude oil with different mixing ratios. The objective of the optimization is to predict the maximum profit of the products within the required specifications. At optimum operating conditions the total yearly profit for distillation of a blend of 50% vol. light+50% vol. heavy basrah crude oil was found to be 713.28 M$.