Search

A small crack in a pipeline on a gas platform in Norway has caused panic in Europe's gas market, leading to soaring prices. The repair work on the pipeline, which is the width of a golf ball, has highlighted the influence of Norway on Europe's energy security. Questions have been raised about the age of the platform, the safety culture, and the lack of workarounds to compensate for pinch points. Despite the incident, Norway remains a steady trading partner with a long history of delivering energy to Europe. [Extracted from the article]

Urgent repairs are being made to a small crack in a gas pipeline on the Sleipner platform off the coast of Norway. This repair has caused European gas prices to soar, as it risks a 20% loss of Norwegian gas imports. The incident highlights Norway's influence on Europe's energy security and raises questions about the age of the platform, safety culture, and workarounds for pinch points. While the repairs are expected to be quickly carried out, the incident underscores the volatility of Europe's gas markets. [Extracted from the article]

A consortium in the UK has launched a project at the Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham to convert ammonia to hydrogen. The project, which received £6.7 million in funding from the UK government, aims to produce 200kg of clean hydrogen for global transport. In addition, the project will supply hydrogen to the UK's largest hydrogen refuelling station at the energy park. The project includes a vaporisation system and ammonia supply valve stations. The consortium, called Ammogen, believes that the project will greatly improve the efficiency and economics of ammonia cracking. Partners on the project include the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Gemserv, H2SITE, Equans, Yara, and the University of Birmingham. [Extracted from the article]

A patent application titled "Wearable Drug Delivery Device With Incorporated Filtration" has been published online. The inventors have developed a drug delivery device that includes a reservoir for storing a liquid drug, a fluid outlet with an outlet filter plug to collect particulate material, and a hard cannula or needle for delivering the drug. The outlet filter plug is made of a porous material with a pore size of about 1 to 10 micrometers and can absorb preservatives and collect precipitants in the liquid drug. The device also includes a filtration module with a filter made of a porous material, such as silica or alumina. The patent application provides detailed descriptions and claims for the device. [Extracted from the article]

This article from Consumer Reports provides tips on how to prevent frozen pipes during the winter. Burst pipes are a common cause of property damage in cold weather, so it is important to take precautions. The article suggests checking insulation in attics, basements, and crawl spaces, sealing cracks and openings, setting the thermostat to a consistent temperature, opening cabinet doors to allow warm air circulation, letting cold water drip from faucets, keeping garage doors closed, and using a space heater if necessary. The article also provides instructions on how to thaw a frozen pipe. It is important to be cautious and call a plumber if a pipe has already burst. [Extracted from the article]

The following base metals can be hardfaced: • Stainless steels • Manganese steels • Carbon and alloy steels • Cast irons • Nickel-base alloys • Copper-base alloys Carbon and low-alloy steels are strongly magnetic and can easily be distinguished from austenitic manganese steel which is non-magnetic. Carbon and low-alloy steels with carbon contents of Product Purity Six Ways to Attack Metal Contamination to Improve Product Purity and Avoid Recalls The responsibility for product purity is shared by processing plants and their suppliers. • Metal carbide and soft austenitic matrix - These alloys contain large amounts of metal carbides in softer matrix and are good for severe abrasion applications. If the hardfacing alloy produces check cracks, such as a chromium carbide alloy, then it's wise to use a tough manganese product as the buffer to blunt and stop the check cracks from penetrating into the base metal. [Extracted from the article]

Oracle Power has completed the technical and commercial feasibility study of a 400MW green hydrogen plant in Sindh province, Pakistan. The FEED phase will include the design for: hydrogen production facility hydrogen compression, liquification and storage facility ammonia synthesis and cracking facility. [Extracted from the article]

Information about the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Operations & Process Technology Summit that was held in Austin, Texas from October 2-4, 2017, is presented. Topics include innovation, catalysts, mechanical reliability and meeting environmental regulations. It also cites the integration of innovation in the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) operations of the energy companies.

Excerpts of articles from the September 1926 and September 1876 issues of "Scientific American" are presented. Items from the 1926 issue include the banning of the teaching of evolution in several Southern states, recovery of gasoline from crude oil by cracking and the feasibility of designing and constructing a 100-inch telescope. Items from the 1876 issue include Graham Bell's creation of an apparatus that transmits the tones of the human voice by telegraph, the redwood tree as a peculiarity of California forests and research by A. W. Wright showing that the spectrum of zodiacal light varies very little, if at all, from the spectrum of the sun.

The article presents information on the cat cracking machines. Cat cracking is also known as catalytic cracking. The use of cat crackers for refining oil brought a revolutionary change in the petroleum industry of U.S. The implementation of cat cracking machines began for the production of commercial oil products in 1936.

The article talks of developing an economic revamp project for a fluid catalytic cracking unit to analyse alternate flows and overcoming equipment limitations, it talks of the requirement of the lead process engineer to develop a revamp process design that provides the best return on investment.

The article focuses on the corporate turnaround at Texfi Industries Inc. in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Founded in 1963 to make polyester double knits, the smallish company ranked third in polyester sales. At the peak of the double-knit craze in the late Sixties and early Seventies, Texfi founder Joseph Hamilton grew so enthusiastic over polyester's prospects that he invested $40 million in two polymer plants to crack oil and extrude synthetic fibers. When polyester double knits began to fall out of fashion in the mid-Seventies, the polymer plants became a liability for Texfi.

Now, Jetti aims to apply its technology to recover copper from a common type of sulfide ore that couldn't be economically processed via either route - the copper content is too low to justify the cost of refining, while the hard, non-reactive coating prevented the copper from being extracted in the lower-cost electro-chemical or "leaching" process. (Bloomberg) -- The warnings keep getting louder: the world is hurtling toward a desperate shortage of copper. But that method isn't suitable for oxidic ores, and the industry's last big innovation came in the mid-1980s when it adapted an electro-chemical process to extract copper from oxide ores, providing a major boost to supply. [Extracted from the article]

The Sichuan Basin is a prime gas-producing basin in China. Besides the giant Neoproterozoic Weiyuan gas field discovered in the central paleo-uplift, an extra giant gas reservoir in the Cambrian in this area has been confirmed in recent years. Although the lower Paleozoic in the southwest (Weiyuan area) is normally pressured, it is overpressured in the central area (Moxi-Gaoshiti area). Combined with the seal distribution, five pressure systems, including three overpressure systems, can be divided based on drill-stem test, mud weight, and sonic transit time data. Overpressures appear at depth interval of 1500 to 4900 m (4921 to 16,076 ft), approximately. Benefiting from the good sealing capacity of the gypsum in the Upper and Middle Triassic, high overpressure (pressure coefficient [r] > 2.0) has been preserved in the Lower Triassic, and the Upper Triassic and Cambrian are moderately overpressured (1.3 < r < 1.7). Mechanisms for various overpressure systems are different. Abnormally high sonic transit time in the Permian indicates disequilibrium compaction overpressure. The analyses of sonic transit time-effective stress suggest that disequilibrium compaction is the primary mechanism for the overpressure in the Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation, but the Cambrian overpressure system is predominantly associated with fluid expansion, which mainly resulted from gas generation. Furthermore, we consider that the late thermal cracking of oil to gas is a key factor for gas and overpressure preservation in old strata. The high overpressure in the Lower Triassic marine carbonate rocks was caused by oil cracking and gypsum dehydration mechanisms. Combining the origin analysis with the burial and hydrocarbon generation histories, we constructed the Cambrian pore pressure evolution model, which is characterized by roughly normal pressure before 200 Ma, overpressuring from 200 to 90 Ma, and overpressure releasing since 90 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about the development of advanced process control by inferential models in a Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gas plant.

The article presents the highlights of the 2014 American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturing Q&A and Technology Forum held in Denver, Colorado on October 6-8, 2015. Among the topics are the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes, mechanical filtration, and the removal of catalyst fines from the main fractionator-bottoms product. The panelists include Tyner Devine of Flint Hills Resources LLc (FHR), Dan Elling of Marathon Petroleum Corp., and BASF Corp.'s Stuart Foskett.

The article discusses the application of the process and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling for the validation of the technology used in a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit for the restoration of the refinery of the energy and petrochemicals company Shell in Puget Sound, Washington.

The article discusses the applicability of ZSM-5 additives on fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) units and in the balancing between matrix and zeolites and rare earth.

The article focuses on the steps to improve hydrocracker condenser and increase its capacity. Topics discussed include managing rundown temperature of unconverted oil (UCO) by using sour water stripper (SWS), need to increase kerosene top reflux due to decreased pressure difference of hydraulic circuit and increasing size of impellers for increased discharge flow of pumps.

Few previous studies have focused on solid bitumen distribution and its effect on gas reservoir quality during oil cracking. Solid bitumen is commonly found in both gas and nongas reservoirs of the Triassic Feixianguan Formation (T1f) in the Jiannan gas field. The T1f natural gases are mainly secondary cracking gases of oil generated from source rock of the Permian Wujiaping Formation (P2w), and the reservoir experienced temperatures above 150°C (302°F) for about 35 m. y. A relatively narrow range of ln(C1/C2) values and a wide range of ln(C2/C3) values and widespread solid bitumen indicate that oil cracking took place in the gas field. Low concentrations of H2S (commonly <0.81%) suggest that high-reflectance (2.57%-3.07%) solid bitumens are pyrobitumens, which would have been mainly derived from oil cracking. Gases preferentially occupy larger pore spaces, and oil is displaced into small pores and throats by overpressure during oil cracking. In this way, pyrobitumens can reduce the magnitude of porosity in relatively tight reservoirs. Moderate-quality oil reservoirs (paleoporosity 2.2%-8.0%) are between or adjacent to high-quality oil reservoirs and are probably poor-quality or non-gas reservoirs after oil cracking. Carbonate reservoirs (paleoporosity >8.0%) can be high-quality gas reservoirs after oil cracking and should be favorable targets for future gas exploration in the northeastern Sichuan Basin and adjacent areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's recently commissioned Hengli Petrochemical refinery can generate more than 40 percent petrochemical feedstock yield compared with about 10 percent yield for most refineries.4 The scale of these units is very large. New refinery configurations Beyond individual unit changes, refiners can further shift their product yield toward petrochemical feedstock by changing the mix and arrangement of refinery process units. [Extracted from the article]

That means H2SITE can filter hydrogen at 99.9% purity from a pipe carrying between 5% and 30% hydrogen with the rest being natural gas. Freshly produced hydrogen is injected into a pipeline containing natural gas, close to where hydrogen is made, and then recovered using H2SITE's filter where it needs to be consumed. H2SITE says that transporting hydrogen could cost as much as three times the cost of hydrogen production. [Extracted from the article]

"Over the next couple of weeks, I expect refinery rates to increase as they exit the turnaround season; especially in the Midwest and Gulf Coast you will see some push toward 100%." Domestic refineries were operating at an overall refinery utilization rate of 91.8% the week ended May 13. (Bloomberg) -- As the US nears its all-important summer driving season, refiners are gearing up to run as hard as they can - even as roadblocks from feedstock shortages to the upcoming hurricane season threaten to get in the way. [Extracted from the article]

Nova spent $2.1 billion to buy a controlling interest in the cracker plant from Williams Partners LP in 2017. (Bloomberg) -- Nova Chemicals Corp., the Canadian petrochemical group backed by an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, is considering a sale of its majority stake in a Louisiana cracker plant, people familiar with the matter said. [Extracted from the article]

The article provides information on issues related to ethanol stress corrosion cracking (e-SCC) in transport industry and plants. Topics discussed include views of Russell Kane, president at iCorrosion LLC on the same; role of API 939e solution in eradicating corrosion; and damaging effects on equipments.

The article presents a study which aims to develop new correlations for predicting residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) conversion and yields from residual oil bulk properties at a petroleum refinery. The study also compares these new correlations with those developed by C. Xu. The study found that the residue FCC feedstock characterizing parameters aromatic carbon and hydrogen content estimated by the ConocoPhillips correlations can be used to RFCC conversion and yields.

The article offers information on the design and construction of the patented ultra-low NOx GLSF Min-Emissions Enhanced Jet Flat Flame burner from Zeeco Inc. It further discusses the design details of this type of burner which has been designed for ethylene cracking applications. It mentions that NOx emissions can be reduced by decreasing peak flame temperature which in turn reduces the formation of free nitrogen.

The article presents the final part of the three-part article from the question and answer forum at the 2011 American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers focusing on crude oil processing. It provides panelists' answers to questions about best practice and expected efficiency in removal of calcium naphthenates in higher calcium crude oil and the effects of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) slurry in the feed on coker operation.

The article focuses on useful tips that can be used for the optimisation of fired heater. The tips including several process control which are basic control, advanced process control and solid combustion control. It informs that fired heaters are used in refineries for heating, vapourisation and thermal cracking of process fluids, and safe control of the outlet temperature, minimisation of energy costs and emissions, and stable and robust performance are the basic objective of optimisation.

Abstract: In this paper, the performances of two wavelet based damage detection approaches to find the location and the size of a crack in a beam subjected to a moving load are compared. In the first approach, designated as ‘Fixed Sensor Approach’, a sensor is assumed to be located at the mid span of the beam. Thus in this approach, Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) coefficient of the time varying deflection attributed to the beam at mid span is used. In the second approach, the sensor is attached to the moving load and CWT coefficient of moving sensor is analyzed. The crack is modeled as a rotational spring which its stiffness is obtained from fracture mechanics, and modal expansion theory is used to find the deflection of cracked beam. The two approaches are compared for several cases of moving load speeds, crack sizes and crack locations, and also several scales of CWT. In the both approaches, wavelet Gaussian 4 is employed. It is shown that, the highest magnitude of CWT coefficient occurs at the exact location of crack and its value depends on damage size. As a result, it can be considered as a damage index. It is found that the moving sensor approach is more effective than the fixed sensor. Thereafter, the effect of beam parameters such as length, width, modulus of elasticity and density and also, crack size and location on the damage index were investigated based on the moving sensor approach. The obtained damage index has two significant features: (a) it has an explicit expression and shows the effects of all parameters clearly, (b) it is not dependent upon the response of the undamaged beam. From the obtained explicit relation for damage index, it is illustrated that the damage index does not depend on material properties of a homogeneous beam. Moreover in a rectangular cross section beam, the damage index is independent of width and has a linear relationship with the height to length ratio. It is shown that using this damage index, small cracks with a depth more than 10% of the beam height can be detected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the transient temperature and thermal stresses around a partially insulated crack in a thermoelastic strip under a temperature impact are obtained using the hyperbolic heat conduction theory. Fourier and Laplace transforms are applied and the thermal and mechanical problems are reduced to solving singular integral equations. Numerical results show that the hyperbolic heat conduction parameters, the thermal conductivity of crack faces, and the geometric size of the strip have significant influence on the dynamic temperature and stress field. The results based on hyperbolic heat conduction show much higher temperature and much more dynamic thermal stress concentrations in the very early stage of impact loading comparing to the Fourier heat conduction model. It is suggested that to design materials and structures against fracture under transient thermal loading, the hyperbolic model is more appropriate than the Fourier heat conduction model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Oblique edge cracks and kinked cracks in orthotropic materials with inclined principal material directions under inplane loadings are investigated. The Stroh formalism is modified by introducing new complex functions, which recovers a classical solution for a degenerate orthotropic material with multiple characteristic roots. An orthotropy rescaling technique is presented based on the modified Stroh formalism. Stress intensity factors for edge cracks as well as kinked cracks are obtained in terms of solutions for a material with cubic symmetry by applying the orthotropy rescaling method. Explicit expressions of the stress intensity factors for a degenerate orthotropic material are obtained in terms of solutions for an isotropic material. The effects of orthotropic parameter, material orientation, and crack angle on the stress intensity factors for the degenerate orthotropic material are discussed. The stress intensity factors for cubic symmetry materials are calculated from finite element analyses, which can be used to evaluate the stress intensity factors for orthotropic materials. The energy release rate for the kinked crack in an orthotropic material is also obtained. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We discuss contacts and cracks of complex shapes, and focus on the following issues: [(1)] Crack-contact duality – the correspondence between compliances of contacts and cracks of the same shape. For a broad class of shapes (all convex and some concave ones) the correspondence involves shape factor M ≡ π〈a〉〈a −1〉−1/A where a(ϕ) is the distance from the centroid to boundary points and A is the area. It is controlled mostly by the extent of shape elongation. [(2)] Relations between the normal and shear compliances of cracks and contacts. The two are relatively close, and this has implications for the anisotropy due to multiple cracks or contacting rough surfaces. It also allows extension of the elasticity-conductivity connections to the shear compliances; [(3)] For the overlapping shapes with known solutions for each of the component shapes, a simple “summation rule” is suggested. [(4)] Comparison of two approximate methods of finding compliances of non-elliptical domains – of Fabrikant and of Boyer–Greenwood. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: When a tensile strain is applied to a film supported on a compliant substrate, a pattern of parallel cracks can channel through both the film and substrate. A linear-elastic fracture-mechanics model for the phenomenon is presented to extend earlier analyses in which cracking was limited to the film. It is shown how failure of the substrate reduces the critical strain required to initiate fracture of the film. This effect is more pronounced for relatively tough films. However, there is a critical ratio of the film to substrate toughness above which stable cracks do not form in response to an applied load. Instead, catastrophic failure of the substrate occurs simultaneously with the propagation of a single channel crack. This critical toughness ratio increases with the modulus mismatch between the film and the substrate, so that periodic crack patterns are more likely to be observed with relatively stiff films. With relatively low values of modulus mismatch, even a film that is more brittle than the substrate can cause catastrophic failure of the substrate. Below the critical toughness ratio, there is a regime in which stable crack arrays can be formed in the film and substrate. The depth of these arrays increases, while the spacing decreases, as the strain is increased. Eventually, the crack array can become deep enough to cause substrate failure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper focusses on the theoretical prediction of the widely observed crack front instability in mode I+III, that causes both the crack surface and crack front to deviate from planar and straight shapes, respectively. This problem is addressed within the classical framework of fracture mechanics, where the crack front evolution is governed by conditions of constant energy-release-rate (Griffith criterion) and vanishing stress intensity factor of mode II (principle of local symmetry) along the front. The formulation of the linear stability problem for the evolution of small perturbations of the crack front exploits previous results of (suitably extended) and , which are used to derive expressions for the variations of the stress intensity factors along the front resulting from both in-plane and out-of-plane perturbations. We find exact eigenmode solutions to this problem, which correspond to perturbations of the crack front that are shaped as elliptic helices with their axis coinciding with the unperturbed straight front and an amplitude exponentially growing or decaying along the propagation direction. Exponential growth corresponding to unstable propagation occurs when the ratio of the unperturbed mode III to mode I stress intensity factors exceeds some “threshold” depending on Poisson''s ratio. Moreover, the growth rate of helical perturbations is inversely proportional to their wavelength along the front. This growth rate therefore diverges when this wavelength goes to zero, which emphasizes the need for some “regularization” of crack propagation laws at very short scales. This divergence also reveals an interesting similarity between crack front instability in mode I+III and well-known growth front instabilities of interfaces governed by a Laplacian or diffusion field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The topological derivative provides the variation of a response functional when an infinitesimal hole of a particular shape is introduced at a point of the domain. In this fracture mechanics work we use the topological derivative to approximate the energy release rate field associated with a small crack at any boundary location and at any orientation. Our proposed method offers significant computational advantages over current finite element based methods since it requires a single analysis, whereas the others require a distinct analysis for each crack location–orientation combination. Moreover, the proposed method evaluates the topological derivative in the non-cracked domain which eliminates the need for tailored meshes in the crack region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses guidelines for effective aeration that is critical for operation of the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit including the calculation of the aeration rate in the standpipe and the addition of aeration medium flow at appropriate locations.

Abstract: A plane electroelastic problem involving planar cracks in a piezoelectric body is considered. The deformation of the body is assumed to be independent of time and one of the Cartesian coordinates. The cracks are traction free and are electrically either permeable or impermeable. Numerical Green''s functions which satisfy the boundary conditions on the cracks are derived using the hypersingular integral approach and applied to obtain a boundary integral solution for the electroelastic crack problem considered here. As the conditions on the cracks are built into the Green''s functions, the boundary integral solution does not contain integrals over the cracks. It is used to derive a boundary element procedure for computing the crack tip stress and electrical displacement intensity factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

(Bloomberg) -- In a secure, air-locked chamber in theworld's largest research hospital, Dan Chertow and ahalf-dozen other scientists in astronaut-inspiredprotective gear carry out a microscopic search. By looking for clues among the deceased, Chertow aims tounderstand how to treat and prevent the disease in theliving, including the lingering symptoms afflictingmillions of Covid "long haulers". U.S. Scientists Study the Pandemic's Dead to Crack "Long Covid". [Extracted from the article]

The Puguang gas field is the largest gas field found in marine carbonates in China. Marine carbonate reservoirs in this field were buried to a depth of about 7000 m (22,966 ft) and experienced maximum temperature up to 220°C before uplift to the present-day depth of 5000-5500 m (16,404-18,045 ft), with present-day thermal maturity between 2.0 and 3.0% equivalent vitrinite reflectance (Ro). Sulfur-rich pyrobitumens with reflectance up to 3.5% are widespread in the reservoirs and resulted from thermal cracking of crude oils most likely generated from Upper Permian source rocks and thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR). Natural gases in the Puguang gas field have wide variations in nonhydrocarbon gas contents, with H2S contents between 5.1 and 58.3% and CO2 contents between 7.9 and 18.0%. The hydrocarbon gases originated mainly from thermal cracking of accumulated oil but were altered by TSR. Thermochemical sulfate reduction in the study area exerted different effects on the isotope compositions of different hydrocarbon gas components at different TSR stages. The differential increase of δ13C values for different gas components reflects transformation from a heavy-hydrocarbon-gas--dominated TSR stage to a methane-dominated TSR stage. This caused a decrease of δ13 Cmethane δ13Cethane values and a corresponding conversion from reversed to normal isotope distributions. Thermochemical sulfate reduction in the study area appears to have been limited by sulfate concentrations in the reservoirs. A successive, three-stage TSR series, namely, liquid-hydrocarbon--involved TSR, heavy-hydrocarbongas--dominated TSR, and methane-dominated TSR, occurred in reservoirs with sufficient sulfate concentration. Methane can be the dominant organic reactant for TSR, but only at elevated temperature and after most C2+ hydrocarbons are exhausted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous pressure-volume calculations during oil cracking to gas, based on the conventional model that presupposes oil cracking to be completed by approximately 150°C, underestimate the potential for gas accumulation in petroleum reservoirs. In this article, a compositional kinetic model of gas generation from oil cracking is suggested based on pyrolysis data using sealed gold tubes, and the pressure-volume changes are recalculated based on the new kinetic model under various geological conditions. The kinetic modeling of oil cracking confirms that crude oil begins cracking at about 160°C for a heating rate of 2 °C/m.y., and that the oil-cracking process has two distinct stages with significant differences in gas composition. The first stage is characterized by dominant C2-5 wet gases, whereas the second is characterized by the recracking of C2-5 wet gases to methane and pyrobitumen, leading to a progressive increasing dryness of the gas. The pressure-volume-temperature simulations of oil cracking to gas show that initial oil saturation, temperature-pressure gradients, and openness of reservoirs are important geological factors that control gas accumulation in original petroleum reservoirs. For a reservoir that is geologically open and saturated with 100% oil, gas spills out of the trap at 196°C. The gas loss at 240°C is almost 50% of the total gas, far lower than the 75% based on the conventional model of oil destruction. With lower oil saturation, the gas loss engineering. His major research interests are applying molecular modeling and experimental simulation techniques to energy-related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The generative gas potential of the Mississippian Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin, Texas, was quantitatively evaluated by sealed gold-tube pyrolysis. Kinetic parameters for gas generation and vitrinite reflectance (Ro) changes were calculated from pyrolysis data and the results used to estimate the amount of gas generated from the Barnett Shale at geologic heating rates. Using derived kinetics for Ro evolution and gas generation, quantities of hydrocarbon gas generated at Ro ∼ 1.1% are about 230 L/t (7.4 scf/t) and increase to more that 5800 L/t (186 scf/t) at Ro ∼ 2.0% for a sample with an initial total organic carbon content of 5.5% and Ro = 0.44%. The volume of shale gas generated will depend on the organic richness, thickness, and thermal maturity of the shale and also the amount of petroleum that is retained in the shale during migration. Gas that is reservoired in shales appears to be generated from the cracking of kerogen and petroleum that is retained in shales, and that cracking of the retained petroleum starts by Ro ∼ 1.1%. This result suggests that the cracking of petroleum retained in source rocks occurs at rates that are faster than what is predicted for conventional siliciclastic and carbonate reservoirs, and that contact of retained petroleum with kerogen and shale mineralogy may be a critical factor in shale-gas generation. Shale-gas systems, together with overburden, can be considered complete petroleum systems, although the processes of petroleum migration, accumulation, and trap formation are different from what is defined for conventional petroleum systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shale-gas resource plays can be distinguished by gas type and system characteristics. The Newark East gas field, located in the Fort Worth Basin, Texas, is defined by thermogenic gas production from low-porosity and low-permeability Barnett Shale. The Barnett Shale gas system, a self-contained source-reservoir system, has generated large amounts of gas in the key productive areas because of various characteristics and processes, including (1) excellent original organic richness and generation potential; (2) primary and secondary cracking of kerogen and retained oil, respectively; (3) retention of oil for cracking to gas by adsorption; (4) porosity resulting from organic matter decomposition; and (5) brittle mineralogical composition. The calculated total gas in place (GIP) based on estimated ultimate recovery that is based on production profiles and operator estimates is about 204 bcf/section (5.78 x 109 m³/1.73 x 104 m³). We estimate that the Barnett Shale has a total generation potential of about 609 bbl of oil equivalent/ac-ft or the equivalent of 3657 mcf/ ac-ft (84.0 m³/m³). Assuming a thickness of 350 ft (107 m) and only sufficient hydrogen for partial cracking of retained oil to gas, a total generation potential of 820 bcf/section is estimated. Of this potential, approximately 60% was expelled, and the balance was retained for secondary cracking of oil to gas, if sufficient thermal maturity was reached. Gas storage capacity of the Barnett Shale at typical reservoir pressure, volume, and temperature conditions and 6% porosity shows a maximum storage capacity of 540 mcf/ac-ft or 159 scf/ton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including one on the health aspects of cracking to extract natural gas from shale beds by Peter Aldhous in the January 28, 2012 issue, one on sleep cycles in the February 4, 2012 issue, and one on the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay in the February 4, 2012 issue.

Focuses on a survey that investigated the occurrence of hydrogen-induced cracking (HIC) to a petroleum refinery in Sicily, Italy. Background on HIC phenomenon; Details on the inspection survey; Importance of HIC mapping.

Discusses the development of advanced diagnostic technologies to avoid production outages in the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units in refinery applications. Background on FCC units; Information on the test done by ExxonMobil on FCC units; Problems associated with pressure transmitters and purge systems on FCC units.

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. is taking the first steps toward cracking India's outmoded agricultural sector, hoping to secure the farm produce that yields two-thirds of the country's $1 trillion in annual retail spending. The Seattle-headquartered giant has begun offering real-time advice and information through a dedicated mobile app to help farmers make decisions on crops and even deploy machine learning technology. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the importance of smart purchasing decisions for transportation and storage services in the U.S. It highlights the increase demand and prices for oil and gas services in the petroleum industry. It examines the process of drilling for oil and natural gas with mineral leasing, land purchases and governmental negotiation for land services.

Gasoline stocks fell nearly 3 million barrels to 240 million as gasoline demand, measured by products supplied, rose 80,000 barrels to 9.44 million barrels a day, a five-week high. Related News: Oil Refiners Win Easier Biofuel Waivers at Supreme Court Oil Rises for Fifth Week With Focus on Upcoming OPEC+ Meeting Hedge Funds Boost Net Bullish Nymex Gasoline Bets to 3-Week High European Fuel Imports From Americas Swell on U.S. Naphtha Surge Refining margins (as of June 24, in $/bbl) Maya U.S. Gulf coking at $5.77 LLS U.S. Gulf cracking at $7.88 WCS U.S. Midcontinent coking at $27.56 East Coast Forcados cracking at $3.57 Nymex crack spreads U.S. West Coast WCS crude oil 3-2-1 crack spread at $35.77 3-2-1 front-month crack spread at $19.33 For more crack spread futures, see CRCK (Updates with margin moves in seventh paragraph.) (Bloomberg) -- Summer is the time of the year when refiners are apt to chase profits regardless of what supply and demand numbers tell them. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Asian refineries are grappling with what's expected to be a brief period of weak profits as a demand-sapping Covid-19 comeback across the region coincides with a likely surge in oil-product exports from Iran. Oil consultant FGE sees India's gasoline consumption as the "biggest stumbling block to Asia's demand recovery", with an estimated 20% fall in April through June versus the previous quarter. [Extracted from the article]