Rules of Thumb for Petroleum Engineers

The most comprehensive and thorough reference work available for petroleum engineers of all levels.

Finally, there is a one-stop reference book for the petroleum engineer which offers practical, easy-to-understand responses to complicated technical questions. This is a must-have for any engineer or non-engineer working in the petroleum industry, anyone studying petroleum engineering, or any reference library. Written by one of the most well-known and prolific petroleum engineering writers who has ever lived, this modern classic is sure to become a staple of any engineer's library and a handy reference in the field.

Whether open on your desk, on the hood of your truck at the well, or on an offshore platform, this is the only book available that covers the petroleum engineer's rules of thumb that have been compiled over decades. Some of these "rules," until now, have been "unspoken but everyone knows," while others are meant to help guide the engineer through some of the more recent breakthroughs in the industry's technology, such as hydraulic fracturing and enhanced oil recovery.

The book covers every aspect of crude oil, natural gas, refining, recovery, and any other area of petroleum engineering that is useful for the engineer to know or to be able to refer to, offering practical solutions to everyday engineering problems and a comprehensive reference work that will stand the test of time and provide aid to its readers. If there is only one reference work you buy in petroleum engineering, this is it.

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 xv

About the Author xxi

Abrasion 1

Absorption 3

Acid Gas Removal 5

Acid Gas Scrubbing 9

Acid Number 11

Acid Rain 13

Acid-Base Catalysts 15

Acidity and Alkalinity 17

Acidizing 19

Adsorption 21

Adsorption Isotherm 23

Adulteration 25

Air Emissions 27

Alcohol Blended Fuels 29

Alcohols 31

Alicyclic Hydrocarbons 33

Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 35

Alloys – Composition 37

Amine Absorber 39

Amine Condenser 41

Amine Washing 43

Ammonia 45

Aniline Point 47

Anticline 49

Antoine Equation 51

API Gravity 53

Aromatic Hydrocarbons 59

Asphalt Manufacture 61

Asphaltene Constituents 63

Associated Natural Gas 65

Atmospheric Equivalent Boiling Point 67

Auto-ignition Temperature 69

Barrel 71

Baumé Gravity 73

Benchmark Crude Oil 75

Bernoulli’s Principle 77

Biomass and Biofuels 79

Bitumen 83

Bituminous Rock and Bituminous Sand 85

Black Acids 87

Black Oil 89

Blending and Mixing 91

Boiling Point and Boiling Range 95

Brine 97

Bubble Point and Bubble Point Pressure 99

Bureau of Mines Correlation Index 101

Calorific Value 103

Capillary Forces 105

Capillary Number 107

Capillary Pressure 109

Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide 111

Carbon Number and Possible Isomers 113

Carbonate Reservoir 115

Carbonate Washing and Water Washing 117

Catalyst Pore Diameter 119

Catalytic Materials 121

Catalytic Reforming 123

Cementation Value 125

Cetane Index 127

Characterization Factor 129

Chemical Reaction Rates 131

Chemicals Reactive with Water 133

Chemometrics 135

Clausius Equation and Clausius-Clapeyron Equation 137

Coal – General Properties 139

Coke Yield from Conradson Carbon 141

Common Acronyms 143

Common Names of Selected Chemical Compounds 145

Common Unit Conversions 147

Commonly Used Constants 149

Compressibility 151

Coning 153

Conversion Charts 155

Conversion Factors 157

Correlation Index 163

Corrosion 165

Corrosion – Fuel Ash 167

Corrosion – Naphthenic Acid 169

Cricondenbar 171

Cricondentherm 173

Critical Properties 175

Critical Temperatures of Gases 177

Crude Oil – Assay 179

Crude Oil – Classification 181

Crude Oil – Desalting 183

Crude Oil – Distillation 185

Crude Oil – Fractional Composition 187

Crude Oil – Hydrotreating 189

Crude Oil – Molecular Composition 191

Crude Oil – Primary Recovery 193

Crude Oil – Recovery 195

Crude Oil – Refining 197

Crude Oil – Residua 201

Crude Oil – Sampling and Analysis 203

Crude Oil – Secondary Recovery 205

Crude Oil – Tertiary Recovery 207

Crude Oil from Tight Formations 209

Darcy and Non-Darcy Flow in Porous Media 211

Darcy’s Law 213

Decimal Multipliers for SI Prefixes 215

Decline Curve Evaluation 217

Delivery Point 219

Density, Specific Gravity, and API Gravity 221

Density-Boiling Point Constant 223

Determining Depreciation 225

Dew Point Temperature and Pressure 227

Dielectric Constant 229

Dielectric Loss and Power Factor 231

Diesel Index 233

Dipole Moment 235

Distillation 237

Distillation – Flooding 239

Distillation – Gap-Overlap 241

Drilling Fluid 243

Drilling Fluid Additives 245

E85 Fuel 247

Embrittlement 249

Embrittlement – Hydrogen 251

Emulsion 253

Enhanced Oil Recovery 255

Environmental Regulations 259

Evaporation 261

Expansion and Contraction of Solids 263

Explosive Limits 265

Fire Point 267

Fischer-Tropsch Chemistry 269

Flammability and Flammability Limits 271

Flash Point 273

Flow Through Porous Media 275

Fluid Catalytic Cracking – Chemistry 277

Fluid Flow Fundamentals 279

Fluid Flow Through Permeable Media 281

Fluid Flow 289

Fluid Saturation 291

Foamy Oil 293

Formation Volume Factor 295

Fouling 297

Fracturing Fluids 299

Fuel Oil 303

Functional Groups 305

Fundamental Physical Constants 309

Gas Deviation Factor 311

Gas Formation Volume Factor 313

Gas Laws 315

Gas Processing – Hydrogen Sulfide Conversion 319

Gas Processing – Metal Oxide Processes 321

Gas Processing – Olamine Processes 323

Gas Processing – Sweetening 325

Gas Processing – Absorption and Adsorption Processes 327

Gas Processing – Acid Gas Removal 329

Gas Processing – Carbonate and Water Washing Processes 331

Gas Processing – Catalytic Oxidation Processes 333

Gas Processing - Fractionation 335

Gas Processing – Gas-Oil Separation 337

Gas Processing – Liquids Removal 339

Gas Processing – Metal Oxide Processes 341

Gas Processing – Methanol-Based Processes 343

Gas Processing – Molecular Sieve Processes 345

Gas Processing – Nitrogen Removal 347

Gas Processing – Physical Solvent Processes 349

Gas Processing – Plant Schematic and Products 351

Gas Processing – Processes and Process Selection 353

Gas Processing – Water Removal 361

Gas Solubility 363

Gas-Condensate Reservoirs 365

Gaseous Fuels 367

Gaseous Hydrocarbons – General Properties 369

Gasification – Chemistry 371

Gasification – Refinery Resids 373

Gas-Liquid Solubility 375

Gas-Oil Ratio 377

Gas-Oil Separation 379

Gasoline – Component Streams 381

Gas-to-Liquids 383

Geological Time Scale 385

Geothermal Gradient 387

Glycol 389

Grease 391

Greek Alphabet 393

Hazardous Chemicals 395

Hazardous Waste 399

Heat Capacity 401

Heat Content of Petroleum Products 403

Heat Exchangers 405

Heat of Combustion of Petroleum Fuels 407

Heat of Combustion of Petroleum Fuels 409

Heat Transfer Coefficient 411

Heat Transfer – Convection and Conduction 413

Heating Value 415

Heavy Feedstock Conversion – Thermal Processes 417

Heterogeneity 419

Heterogeneous Catalysis and Homogeneous Catalysis 421

High-Acid Crudes 423

Hydrate Formation and Prevention 425

Hydraulic Fracturing 427

Hydrocarbon Gases – Physical Constants 429

Hydroconversion 431

Hydrogen Chloride 433

Hydrogen in Refineries 435

Hydrogen Sulfide Conversion 437

Hydrogen Sulfide 439

Hydrogen 441

Hydrostatic Pressure 443

Ideal Gas 445

Improved Oil Recovery Processes 447

Incompatible Chemicals 449

Ionic Liquids 451

Isothermal Compressibility of Oil 453

Kinematic Viscosity 455

Liquefied Petroleum Gas 457

Liquid-Gas Separators 459

Lubricants – Classification 461

Lubricating Oil – Base Stock 463

M85 465

Marx-Langenheim Model 467

Material Balance 469

Mean Density – Gas-Air Mixture 471

Mean Density – Gas-Air Mixture 473

Metals Content and FCC Coke Production 475

Methane 477

Molecular Weight of Petroleum Fractions 479

Naphthenic Acids – Corrosion in Distillation Units 481

Naphthenic Acids – Mitigating Corrosion 483

Naphthenic Acids 485

Natural Gas - Associated 487

Natural Gas – Composition 489

Natural Gas – Compressibility 493

Natural Gas – Measurement 495

Natural Gas – Nonassociated 497

Natural Gas – Properties 499

Natural Gas – Specific Gravity 505

Natural Gas – Phase Behavior 507

Natural Gas – Sweetening 509

Natural Gasoline 511

Nitrogen and Nitrogen Oxide Gases 513

Nonassociated Natural Gas 515

Octane Barrel Yield 517

Octane Number 519

Oil and Gas from Tight Formations 521

Oil and Gas Originally in Place 523

Oil Recovery Factor 525

Oil Shale – General Classification 527

Oilfield Chemicals 529

Olamine Processes 531

Olamine 533

On-Stream Factor 535

Opportunity Crudes 537

Organic Compounds – Physical and Thermochemical Data 539

Organic Solvents 547

Oxygen 549

Ozone 551

Paraffin Hydrocarbons 553

Particle Size Classification 555

Permeability 557

Petrochemicals 559

Petroleum Products – Heat Content 561

Petroleum Products 563

Phase Behavior 567

Polychlorobiphenyls 569

Porosity 573

Prefixes 575

Pressure Conversion 577

Principal Component Analysis 579

Process System 581

Product Blending 583

Production Engineering Units 585

Productivity Index 587

Proppants 589

PVT Properties 591

Rate of Reaction 593

Reactor Types 595

Recovery Methods 597

Refinery Feedstocks – Corrosive Constituents 599

Refinery Gas 601

Refinery Types 603

Refinery Units – Materials of Construction and Operating Conditions 605

Refractive Index and Specific Refraction 607

Relative Density 609

Relative Permeability 611

Relative Volatility 613

Reserves – Estimation 615

Reserves 617

Reservoir Crude Oil 619

Reservoir – Drive Mechanisms 621

Reservoir Pressure 623

Reservoir – Types and Classification 625

Reservoir 627

Resid Upgrading Technologies 629

Resource Estimation 631

Retrograde Condensate Systems 633

Retrograde Condensation 635

Reynolds Number 637

Rock Types 639

SARA Analysis 641

Saturated Steam 643

Saturation 645

Sediments, Reservoirs, and Deposits 647

Separators – Gas-Oil Separation 649

Shale Gas Formation 651

Shale Gas Reservoirs – Variation in Shale Properties 653

Shale Gas – Variations in Composition 655

Shale Oil (Kerogen-Derived Oil) – Variation in Properties 657

Shale Plays – Properties 659

SI – International System of Units 661

Solubility Parameter 667

Solvents 669

Specific Gravity 673

Specific Heat 675

Stress-Corrosion Cracking 677

Sulfur Dioxide 679

Sulfur Material Balance 681

Supercritical Fluids 683

Surface Tension 685

Sweetening Processes 687

Synthesis Gas 689

Tar Sand 691

Test Methods 695

Contents xvii

Thermal Conductivity 697

Thermal Cracking Processes 699

Tight Formations 701

Unit Process 703

Vapor Density 705

Vapor Pressure 707

Viscosity 709

Viscosity Index 713

Viscosity of Petroleum Fractions 715

Viscosity-Gravity Constant 717

Volume Flow Rate 719

Volumetric Evaluation 721

Volumetric Factors 723

Water – Boiling Point Variation with Pressure 725

Water –Common Impurities 727

Water – Density and Viscosity in Relation to Temperature 729

Water Saturation 731

Watson Characterization Factor 733

Weights and Measures – Density 735

Weights and Measures – Fuels 737

Weights and Measures - General 739

Well Casing 741

Wellbore Stability Analysis 743

Wettability 745

Wobbe Index 747

Working Gas 749

Bibliography and Information Sources 751

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