No abstract

The Pennsylvania State University is researching an advanced oxidation (AO) system for controlling volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (Cannon et al. 1994). The system includes an air-phase photolytic chamber, an air/water stripping tower, and granular activated carbon (GAC) beds, and the work herein describes he evaluation of the GAC beds. Field GACs have been evaluated, which had previously been loaded with VOCs and regenerated with AO for several years at several full scale installations. Full scale response then was simulated in laboratory-scale experiments.Results revealed that following 500 to 1000 daily loading and regeneration cycles, one field GAC lost 35% of its micropore volume, and 17-35% of its capacity to adsorb several VOCs. Under another condition, for a furniture coating GAC, 80% of the micropore volume was lost after several years of loading and reactivation cycles, and 23 to 63% of the VOC adsorption capacity was lost.Laboratory results revealed that prolonged AO regeneration destroyed or desorbed most of the MIBK within the first inch of a GAC bed. AO regeneration also removed a fourth of the MIBK in the next five inches of the packed GAC bed. Several byproducts were created by the MIBK destruction, which generally contained one-to-three fewer carbon atoms than does MIBK, and also contained more oxygen functional groups. 417 Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 20:06 03 February 2015 418 F.S. Cannon et al.Concurrent with these experiments, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests were performed to evaluate the rate and extent of MIBK adsorption onto virgin GAC, and revealed that the MIBK adsorption capacity was fairly insensitive to the ranges of concentration and temperature that were employed. A modeling analysis of the diffusion characteristics onto virgin GAC revealed that during the time frame of three to five hours, the mass transfer rate appeared to be governed by restricted diffusion.

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract. The project team of Furness-Newburge, Inc., TechSavants, Inc. and Nicor Gas performed DOE sponsored research from 2000 through 2004 to develop a sonic tool to treat underground natural gas storage wells. One of the primary damage mechanisms for these wells is the formation of scale at the perforations or at the sand face through which the gas flows during gas injection and withdrawal. During well evaluation with backpressure tests (BPT) and multi-rate pressure transient tests (MRPTT), this blockage exhibits itself as a positive skin. The sonic treatment concept is to apply high intensity sound waves to help dissolve and break-up scale that forms at the perforations or the sand face and thereby improve gas/fluid flow. After initial development of the prototype, the sonic tool was deployed in three separate natural gas storage wells in northern Illinois. The first deployment's purpose was to ensure that the sonic treatment did not damage the well. The second and third field deployments were used to evaluate the sonic treatment's ability to increase productivity as measured by BPT and MRPTT analyses. The second deployment, in a well with a negative skin prior to treatment, showed little or no increase in well productivity. The third deployment, in a well with measured scale damage prior to treatment, showed an increase in well productivity after sonic treatment. Specifically, the skin coefficient dropped from +2.5 to -1.3 and the absolute open flow potential increased 28% from 110 to 141 MMscf/D. In a separate study, this sonic tool was also deployed in a stripper oil well to see if sonic stimulation could increase oil production. Two treatments six months apart were performed on a well producing 6.2 barrels per day. For oil well deployment, sonic stimulation could improve well production through both viscosity reduction and through opening up blockages in the pores. Well productivity increased 15–30% in the initial period following treatment and then gradually returned to pre-treatment levels after several weeks. Introduction. Over the past five years the authors have engaged in Department of Energy sponsored research to develop an acoustic down-hole tool for the oil and gas industries (Furness et al. [1], Ammer et al. [2], Johnson et al. [3] and Paulsen et al [4]). The sonic treatment applies high intensity sound waves to stimulate the well mechanically and to alter the chemical environment. This paper documents the results from deployment of the sonic tool in field trials at underground natural gas storage wells and stripper oil wells. Once an area for a natural gas storage reservoir is identified from geological studies, a series of wells are drilled and perforated into the formation. These injection/withdrawal wells act as the piping system for natural gas to flow into and out of the reservoir. Over years of use, the injection and withdrawal cycles cause the formation of scale at the perforations or at the sand face, that blocks the areas through which the gas flows. This blockage is defined as positive skin damage, based on evaluation of backpressure and multi-rate pressure transient test data. Current methods of well remediation include hydroblasting the well bore, swabbing followed by acid treatment, and creating new perforations. The motivation for research and development of a sonic tool was to provide the industry with an alternative remediation technique that is both more beneficial and less expensive. In stripper well production, the industry faces a large problem with the production cost of "heavy crude" that is defined as high viscosity oil. Viscosity is the measurement of a fluid's resistance to flowing and theoretically, a reduction in viscosity should improve oil production in a well. Oil production is also inhibited by the presence of films and inclusions in the formation's pores through which the oil flows. In the laboratory, the project team achieved greater than 40 percent reductions in oil viscosity applying sonication to heavy oils. Thus, the use of sonication to increase oil production provides two potential benefits: to remove the blockages that inhibit production in a similar manner as the gas storage well application and to decrease heavy oil viscosity in order to increase the oil's flow rate.