Academic Course
PGE 383 32-Hydraulic Fracturing Design & Evaluation
COURSE TAUGHT: Fall Semester
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Recent literature on petroleum production practice and petroleum and geosystems engineering problems.
PGE 364/383 Topic 24-Natural Gas Engineering
The official text for the course will be a set of slides and some typed lecture notes. Reference books and book chapters will be assigned as needed. A pdf version of the material will be made available on the course website (in Blackboard).
PGE 386 Advanced fluid flow in porous media
The course addresses various approaches taken for modeling the flow of fluids in porous media. The following topics are covered in detail.
- Elementary petrophysical properties of porous media.
- Continuum models for single-phase flow. Darcy's law and conservation equations
- Models for single phase flow in porous media
- Navier-Stokes equations and Darcy's law. Introduction to averaging techniques. “Flow through” and “flow over” models.
- Flow in anisotropic / heterogeneous media.
- Geostatistical representations of heterogeneity.
- Multiphase flow in porous media: A continuum approach.
- Capillary pressure and relative permeability concepts
- Solution of initial and boundary value problems.
- The nature of residual wetting and non-wetting phases.
- Multiphase flow in heterogeneous porous media.
- Empirical models for two and three phase relative permeability.
- Network models for immiscible two-phase flow. Estimation of relative permeabilities, capillary pressure curves and dispersion coefficients using network models.
- Percolation theory
- Effective Medium models
- Up-scaling issues in flow problems in porous media
- Multi-component, multi-phase flow.
- Special Topics (if time permits)
- Non-Darcy flow
- Oscillatory flow, dynamic permeability.
- Coupled processes: Electrochemical and streaming potentials
- Flow of colloidal suspensions
COURSE SUMMARY
| Week 1 | Introduction to the course. Porosity. Continuum models to describe single phase flow through porous media. |
| Week 2 | Microscopic models for single-phase flow, phenomenological models, conduit models, cell models, etc. |
| Week 3 | Single phase flow in anisotropic / heterogeneous porous media. |
| Week 4 | Capillarity and surface tension. A classical view of two-phase flow (capillary pressure and relative permeability curves). |
| Week 5 | Solution of initial and boundary value problems. |
| Week 6 | Empirical models for two and three phase relative permeability. |
| Week 7 | The nature of residual saturations. |
| Week 8 | Percolation theory / Effective Medium Theory, application to estimating kr, Pc–Sw curves. |
| Week 9 | Wettability and its impact on fluid flow and trapping. |
| Week 10 | Multi-phase flow in heterogeneous porous media. |
| Week 11 | Multi-component, multi-phase flow |
| Week 12 | Up-scaling issues in flow problems in porous media. |
| Week 13 | Special Topics: Non-Darcy Flow, oscillatory flow (dynamic permeability), residual saturations, ion transport in microporous media, other topics of special interest to the class. |
| Week 14 | Course Review |
Texts and other reading:
- A set of notes provided by the instructor will form the text for the course.
- "Porous Media - Fluid Transport and Pore Structure," F.A.L. Dullien, Acad. Press (1979)
- "The Physics of Flow through Porous Media," A. E. Scheidegger, Univ. of Toronto Press (1960)
- "Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media," J. Bear, American Elsevier Pub. (1972)
- "Transport Phenomena," Bird, Stewart and Lightfoot, Wiley Pub. (1960)
PGE 424 Petrophysics and Fluid Flow Laboratory
Course Objectives:
- To become familiar with the basic physical properties of reservoir rocks including: porosity, permeability, relative permeability, capillary pressure, electrical, acoustic, nuclear and mechanical properties.
- To know the basic definitions for these properties, and to know the relations between them, and the dependence of these properties on various rock parameters and physical conditions.
- To know and understand the basic techniques for measuring these properties in the laboratory, and to understand the potential sources for error and uncertainty in these techniques.
- To be able to relate these properties as measured in the laboratory to the likely performance of a petroleum reservoir, and to be able to compute average reservoir values.
Texts: The official text for the course will be a set of typed lecture notes that can be purchased from the SPE office. A lab manual for the laboratory is included in the notes.
PGE 383 Near Wellbore Production Problems
This course provides techniques for testing, diagnosing, preventing and treating near wellbore formation damage problems. These problems include: drilling induced damage, near wellbore problems associated with completion operations, fines migration, inorganic scales, paraffin and asphaltene precipitation, sand production, perforation plugging and clay swelling. Near wellbore problems due multiphase flow, injectivity impairment in water injection wells and formation damage issues in stimulation operations are also discussed. The mechanisms of damage and the methods used to test and diagnose problem wells are emphasized.
This semester a particular emphasis will be placed on hydraulic fracturing (unlike past semesters). This is an area I want to learn more about. Hopefully we can learn together. Students will be expected to write a simple hydraulic fracture code that will be based on a 2-dimensional fracture model discussed in class.
Course Philosophy:
- It is very difficult to make a complex subject easy to understand. It is much easier to leave it complex and incomprehensible. My goal in this course is to make difficult subjects easier to understand.
- Once you have understood the basics (that have been made easy to understand), remember that there is a lot more to it than what you have learnt in a short period of time. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity. Admire it, learn from it and build on it.
- We will delve into one or two topics in great detail (just as an example).
- Always be confident but humble about your knowledge in an area (it is limited). If you are interested, you can plumb the depths of any topic and be surprised how much there is to it.
- The deeper you delve into the underlying science the more common links you find between diverse topics.
- Identifying the critical problem areas (asking the right questions) is almost as important as coming up with the solution.
- Don’t be afraid to explore beyond your technical comfort zone. Important technological advances are made at interfaces between disciplines when people get out of their “area of expertise” and explore other areas.
PGE 383 - Energy and the Environment
Course Taught: FALL 2023, FALL 2024
Industry Short Course
Hydraulic Fracturing
Day 1
• Introduction & history of well stimulation.
• Formation damage and skin analysis.
• An overview of hydraulic fracturing.
• Rock mechanics & formation lithology.
Day 2
• Fracturing fluids
• Proppant selection
• Proppant placement
Day 3
• Fracture modeling
• Fracture diagnostics
• Post -fracture well data analysis
Day 4
• Fracture propagation in water injection wells
• Refracturing
• Frac-packing: Fracturing in soft sands
Day 5
• Fracturing operations and field implementation
• Environmental considerations
• Economics of hydraulic fracturing
Formation Damage
This course provides techniques for testing, diagnosing, preventing and treating near wellbore formation damage problems. These problems include: fines migration, inorganic scales, paraffin and asphaltene precipitation, sand production, perforation plugging, clay swelling, water reinjection and invasion of mud solids, cement filtrates and completion fluids. The mechanisms of damage and the methods used to test and diagnose problem wells are emphasized.
Who Should Attend
Production and completion engineers responsible for well maintenance and production performance. Drilling and reservoir engineers interested in minimizing the formation damage impact of drilling, completion, production, injection and stimulation operations.
How You Will Benefit
The course teaches the use and interpretation of diagnostic testing of injection and producing wells to determine the extent, location and cause of the formation damage. Attendees will develop a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in near wellbore production problems allowing them to make better drilling, completion and production decisions that minimize or prevent formation damage.
Instructor
Mukul M. Sharma is Professor and holds the “Tex” Moncrief Chair in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin where he has been for the past 27 years. He served as Chairman of the Department from 2001 to 2005. He founded Austin Geotech Services, a specialty consulting company and co-founded Layline Petroleum, a private E&P company.
His current research interests include hydraulic fracturing, improved oil recovery, injection water management, formation damage and petrophysics. He has published more than 250 journal articles and conference proceedings and has 15 patents. Sharma has a bachelor of technology in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and an MS and PhD in chemical and petroleum engineering from the University of Southern California.
Among his many awards, Dr. Sharma is the recipient of the 2009 Lucas Gold Medal, SPE’s highest technical award, the 2004 SPE Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award, the 2002 Lester C. Uren Award and the 1998 SPE Formation Evaluation Award. He served as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2002, has served on the Editorial Boards of many journals, and taught and consulted for over 50 companies worldwide.
Length of Course
This course has been taught over two to five days depending on the topics covered and the level of detail.
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Introductory concepts
2. Inflow performance engineering
3. Outflow performance engineering
4. Clay mineralogy
5. Fines migration
6. Clay swelling
7. Damage due to drilling and completion fluids
8. Damage during perforating and cementing
9. Filtration requirements in waterflooding
10. Sand control
11. Water blocks, wettability alteration and emulsions
12. Paraffins, waxes and asphaltenes
13. Inorganic scales
14. Damage problems during acidizing
15. Damage issues in fracturing
16. Problem well diagnosis.
Oilfield Water Production, Handling and Injection: Make Oilfield Water an Asset not a Liability
For every barrel of oil produced we produce 3 barrels of water. Water handling and disposal represents the biggest operating cost for most oilfield operators. In addition to produced water large quantities of seawater and water from other sources is treated and injected. The economic success of oil and gas development projects depends very much on our ability to successfully manage water.
Water management is defined as our ability to diagnose the cause of excess water production, design and implement remedial treatments to prevent water production, and in most instances deal with the large volumes of produced water. This course discusses methods, equipment and tools used for testing, diagnosing, and minimizing water production from oil and gas wells. Reservoir engineering and surface facility aspects of water handling, treatment and re-injection are extensively discussed.
Course Objectives
To educate reservoir, production and surface facilities engineers in key aspects of water production, treatment and re-injection in oil and gas fields.
Target Audience
Reservoir, production and surface facilities engineers responsible for managing the reservoir, providing surface facilities and maximizing the production performance of oil and gas properties. Engineers and other personnel involved in providing tools and chemicals for diagnosing / reducing water production, improving injection efficiencies and treating produced water.
Key Benefits
Significant cost savings in all aspects of water production, handling and disposal accomplished through better diagnostic tools, better water handling and better treatment and re-injection strategies.
Training Methodology
The course will be taught using a set of course notes specifically designed for the course. The course covers the fundamental theory, and the latest technological developments. It particularly emphasizes field application through lots of practical field examples, exercises and case studies.
Personnel / Organizational Impact
Attendees will have the tools to make them part of a well trained team of professionals who can make the right reservoir engineering and facilities decisions to ensure highly productive and profitable oil and gas reservoirs.
Competencies Emphasized in the Course
The course is focused on the tools and techniques used to better handle and dispose of oilfield water. The diagnosis of water production problems is an important step that leads both to the selection of methods to prevent water production and to methods to better handle the produced water. Reservoir engineering and surface production facilities aspects of the problem are emphasized.
Instructor
Mukul M. Sharma is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked, published, taught and consulted extensively in the oil and gas industry for the past 20 years. He is the recipient of the 1998 SPE Formation Evaluation Award, the 2002 Lester C. Uren Award and the 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering faculty. He has served as an SPE Instructor for 12 years and as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in Oilfield Water Management in 2002.
Length of Course
This course will be taught over five days. A detailed outline of the course for each day is provided below.
Day 1. Reservoir Data Gathering and Analysis Module 1 Introduction: Causes of Excess Water Production
Module 2 Data Collection for Problem Identification
Module 3 Identifying the Causes of Excess Water Production
Module 4 Wellbore and Near Wellbore Water Shutoff Technologies
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Day 2. Conformance Control and Water Shutoff Module 5 Gels for Water Shutoff
Module 6 Polymer Flooding
Module 7 Down-hole Sink Technology
Module 8 Selection of Water Control Treatment
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Day 3. Analysis and Treatment of Oilfield Water Module 9 Analysis and Treatment of Produced Water
Module 10 Scale, Bacteria and Corrosion Problems
Module 11 Injection Well Testing
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Day 4. Water Injection Wells: Water Quality / Injection Well Testing Module 12 Water Quality Requirements for Re-injection and Surface Disposal
Module 13 Fractured Injection Wells
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Day 5. Fractured Injectors Module 14 Injection into Unconsolidated Sands (with sand control)
Module 15 Impact of Water Re-injection on Reservoir Performance
Module 16 Economics and Post-Treatment Analysis
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Production Engineering I & II
Production engineering encompasses diverse topics that relate to methods and tools used to efficiently produce oil and gas from wells. This set of two courses covers these topics over two weeks. The first week is focused on reservoir inflow performance, wellbore flow and surface production systems. Nodal analysis can be used to estimate the production rate a well can deliver as well as to design gas-lift and pump assisted lift systems. The second week is focused on well completions, well productivity, formation damage and well stimulation.
The two courses can be taken together or each can be taken independently. Participants registering for either course will be expected to have a basic working knowledge of engineering concepts. Experience in the field is very desirable since the courses deal with field application of advanced production engineering principles and practice.
Course Objectives
To educate reservoir, production and surface facilities engineers in key aspects of production engineering in oil and gas fields.
Target Audience
The courses target reservoir, production and surface facilities engineers (and geoscientists), responsible for managing the reservoir and maximizing the production performance of oil and gas wells.
Key Benefits
Significant performance enhancement and cost savings in all aspects of aspects of oil and gas production through better diagnostic tools, better operational practices and better drilling, completion and production strategies.
Training Methodology
The course will be taught using a set of course notes specifically designed for the course. The course covers the fundamental theory, and the latest technological developments. It particularly emphasizes field application through lots of practical field examples, exercises and case studies.
Personnel / Organizational Impact
Attendees will have the tools to make them part of a well trained team of professionals who can make the right production engineering and facilities decisions to ensure highly productive and profitable oil and gas reservoirs.
Competencies Emphasized in the Course
Both courses are focused on the tools and techniques used to better manage production from oil and gas wells. A better understanding of all aspects of production engineering leads both to better operational practices and the use of tools and methods that help maximize the production from existing fields. Reservoir inflow / outflow performance, diagnostic tools such as well tests and production logging, surface production facilities as well as formation damage, acidizing and fracturing are emphasized.
Instructor
Mukul M. Sharma is Professor and past Chairman of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked, published, taught and consulted extensively in the oil and gas industry for the past 22 years. He is the recipient of the 1998 SPE Formation Evaluation Award, the 2002 Lester C. Uren Award and the 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering faculty. He has served as an SPE Instructor for 14 years and as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2002.
Length of Course
Each course will be taught over five days. A detailed outline of the course for each day is provided in the following pages.
Production Engineering I Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 |
Production Engineering II Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 |