Oil exploration and discovery in the basement rocks of Bach Ho field: Documentation, facts and lessons

During the 40 years of operation and development (1981 - 2021), the Vietnam - Russia Joint Venture "Vietsovpetro" has witnessed many historical milestones, but the discovery of industrial oil for the first time from the fractured and weathered granite basement at exploration well BH-6 on 11 May 1987 is the most important one. From the first oil in the basement rock of Bach Ho field, Vietsovpetro consecutively discovered industrial oil in other fields in its area of operation, such as Dong Bac Rong (1991), Dong Nam Rong (1995), Nam Rong (2005), Nam Trung Tam Rong (2006), etc. At the beginning of 2018, the 2P (P1+P2) oil reserve from the basement rock accounted for 74% of Vietsovpetro's total balanced reserves at that time. As of 1 October 2021, the total oil produced from the basement reached 235 million m3 (195 million tons), accounting for 86% of Vietsovpetro's total oil output. Being encouraged by the success and experience of Vietsovpetro, other domestic and foreign oil and gas companies (PVEP, JVPC, Talisman, and Petronas, etc.) have explored and discovered oil and gas from the granite basement and put the fields of Rang Dong, Su Tu Den, Hong Ngoc, and Hai Su Den, etc. into operation. This fact has, at the same time, created a strong attraction for domestic and foreign investors, making important contributions to the rapid development of Vietnam's oil and gas industry which was still very young at the time. The above-mentioned shows that it is time to study data and documents, draw lessons from success and failure gained during the 40 years of basement exploration. The outcomes should be used as a basis to formulate an appropriate exploration strategy for Vietsovpetro in the coming decades with strong fluctuations in the oil and gas market expected, and the inevitable depletion of non-renewable resources worldwide.

OPTIMIZATION OF THE DEVELOPED OUTER SURFACE OF AN INDUSTRIAL OIL COOLER

Heat removal from the working liquid of hydraulic systems requires the use of heat exchange devices - oil coolers with their geometry directly affecting their efficiency. This paper considers the issues of statement and implementation of the numerical experiment to solve the optimization problem for the industrial oil design.

Features of the geological structure, tectonic development and oil and gas potential of the Chezhen depression (Bohai bay basin)

Background. In terms of oil and gas, the territory of the Chezhen depression has been studied insufficiently compared to the neighbouring same-range depressions. These depressions complicate the first-order Jiyang depression, geographically coinciding with the largest Shengli hydrocarbon field. In recent years, much geological and geophysical information about the oil geologyof the Chezhen depression has been accumulated, which allows its prospecting oil and gas potential to be assessed.Aim. To reveal regular features of the geological structure and location of oil deposits in the Chezhen depression in order to support the prospecting and exploration work within the Chezhen block of the Shengli field.Materials and methods. A comprehensive analysis of literature data and collected materials was conducted. A historical and geodynamic study of the evolution of the studied area according to literature data was carried out, along with an analysis of the most recent geological and geophysical information and exploration data based on the materials of the “Shengli AKOO Sinopek” oil company. The analysis was based on the data from 52 drilling wells and the results of seismic surveys performed in the central part of the Chezhen depression.Results. Specific features of the block geological structure of the area under study were established, which formed under the repeated influence of large-scale horizontal tectonic movements occurring at different periods of geological history. The role of the most recent fault system in the modern spatial distribution of oil deposits was determined.Conclusions. Our studies demonstrate a great prospecting potential of the Chezhen depression territory, where the discovery of new industrial oil deposits can be expected.

Development of a Pressure Control System According to Paste Rheology for Ultrasound Processing in Industrial Olive Oil Extraction

Recent research has demonstrated how ultrasound can benefit the industrial processing of olive paste before oil extraction. However, the absence of a device for controlling pressure inside the sonication cell is a major hindrance to its application. To address this problem, a pneumatic device with a programmable logic controller was implemented to automatically adjust pressure in the sonication cell according to a preset value: its functionality was tested in industrial oil extraction. An experiment was conducted to compare device performance when applied to olive batches with different solid/liquid ratios and differing rheology. The control system adjusted the flow section of the valve at the outlet of the sonication cell and the mass flow rate of the feed pump in order to maintain the pressure preset by the operator. Results indicate that the pressure was 3.0 ± 0.2 bar, 3.5 ± 0.2 bar, and 4.0 ± 0.2 bar when the set point was 3.0 bar, 3.5 bar, and 4.0 bar, respectively: there was thus no significant difference between controlled and set values. This indicates that the device is able to control pressure inside the sonication cell with a maximum deviation of 0.2 bar. In this case, the sonication intensity was stabilized at 135 W/cm2, 150 W/cm2, and 165 W/cm2 at 3.0 bar, 3.5 bar, and 4.0 bar, respectively. This study presents an advancement in ultrasound applications for industrial olive oil extraction: optimal pressure control in the sonication cell.

Electrophilic-nucleophilic properties as a factor in the formation of antifriction and hydrophobic properties of surface-modified metals with ammonium and organosilicon compounds

Stabilisation of the functional properties of dispersed and compact metals, as well as the regulation of their reactivity, improvement of water-repellent, antifriction and anti-corrosion properties by creating the protective films on the surface is an urgent problem in relation to obtaining new materials. Previously, research conducted at REC “Nanotechnology” of the St. Petersburg Mining University proved that chemisorption of ethylhydridesiloxane vapours together with surfactants based on quaternary ammonium compounds has a beneficial effect on the water-repellent properties of metals. In order to obtain the physicochemical mechanism of the hydrophobisation of the surface of modified dispersed metals for the firsttime, the study of the electrophilic-nucleophilic properties of the active substances of the surface modifiers of metals was carried out using the methods of quantum-chemical modelling using HyperChem software package. The dipole moment, energy of the highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals, electrophilic-nucleophilic properties were determined. The series of enhancement of ucleophilic/electrophilic properties and dipole moment for modifiers were obtained. The donor-acceptor properties, the differences in the characteristics of the molecules of alkamon, triamon, and hydrophobic silicone organic liquid were quantitatively and qualitatively established. The regularities of the formation of hydrophobic and antifriction properties in the composition of industrial oil I-20-surface-modified metal with various electrophilic-nucleophilic properties of the applied substances

Genetic Engineering of Lesquerella with Increased Ricinoleic Acid Content in Seed Oil

Seeds of castor (Ricinus communis) are enriched in oil with high levels of the industrially valuable fatty acid ricinoleic acid (18:1OH), but production of this plant is limited because of the cooccurrence of the ricin toxin in its seeds. Lesquerella (Physaria fendleri) is being developed as an alternative industrial oilseed because its seeds accumulate lesquerolic acid (20:1OH), an elongated form of 18:1OH in seed oil which lacks toxins. Synthesis of 20:1OH is through elongation of 18:1OH by a lesquerella elongase, PfKCS18. Oleic acid (18:1) is the substrate for 18:1OH synthesis, but it is also used by fatty acid desaturase 2 (FAD2) and FAD3 to sequentially produce linoleic and linolenic acids. To develop lesquerella that produces 18:1OH-rich seed oils such as castor, RNA interference sequences targeting KCS18, FAD2 and FAD3 were introduced to lesquerella to suppress the elongation and desaturation steps. Seeds from transgenic lines had increased 18:1OH to 1.1–26.6% compared with that of 0.4–0.6% in wild-type (WT) seeds. Multiple lines had reduced 18:1OH levels in the T2 generation, including a top line with 18:1OH reduced from 26.7% to 19%. Transgenic lines also accumulated more 18:1 than that of WT, indicating that 18:1 is not efficiently used for 18:1OH synthesis and accumulation. Factors limiting 18:1OH accumulation and new targets for further increasing 18:1OH production are discussed. Our results provide insights into complex mechanisms of oil biosynthesis in lesquerella and show the biotechnological potential to tailor lesquerella seeds to produce castor-like industrial oil functionality.

Compact antenna based on split ring resonator as high Q-factor antenna for liquid permittivity measurements

Microwave sensing is important to measure the permittivity of the materials or detecting a material. In this current work, a compact antenna for WLAN application with circular polarization is designed. We are supposed to use it as a sensor to determine the permittivity of industrial oil. For calibration of the sensor, the gasoline and petrol are utilized based on Debye theory and also butanol is checked. This antenna is designed based on Microstrip slot antenna with bent feed line and special split-ring resonator (SRR) as a metamaterial (MTM) element for 4 GHz, it is shown that metamaterial can be considered for improving the Q-factor and matching where the return loss is reduced from −16.5 to −33.5 dB and the Q-factor is increased from 2.39 to 32.9. It covers 4–5 GHz with the bidirectional pattern with gain of 4 dBi which makes it useful for putting inside of liquids. The total dimensions of this resonator are 20 × 20 × 1.6 mm and the FR-4 low-cost substrate is used and the experimental results are confirmed the simulations results by HFSS commercial full-wave software. In fact, this method can be used for fast detecting oil condition and longevity by checking the resonances’ shift and permittivity.

Carbon Nanotubes and Polydopamine Modified Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Sponges for Efficient Oil–Water Separation

In this paper, effective separation of oil from both immiscible oil–water mixtures and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions are achieved by using poly(dimethylsiloxane)-based (PDMS-based) composite sponges. A modified hard template method using citric acid monohydrate as the hard template and dissolving it in ethanol is proposed to prepare PDMS sponge composited with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) both in the matrix and the surface. The introduction of CNTs endows the composite sponge with enhanced comprehensive properties including hydrophobicity, absorption capacity, and mechanical strength than the pure PDMS. We demonstrate the successful application of CNT-PDMS composite in efficient removal of oil from immiscible oil–water mixtures within not only a bath absorption, but also continuous separation for both static and turbulent flow conditions. This notable characteristic of the CNT-PDMS sponge enables it as a potential candidate for large-scale industrial oil–water separation. Furthermore, a polydopamine (PDA) modified CNT-PDMS is developed here, which firstly realizes the separation of O/W emulsion without continuous squeezing of the sponge. The combined superhydrophilic and superoleophilic property of PDA/CNT-PDMS is assumed to be critical in the spontaneously demulsification process.