Abstract: A method for modeling geological structures beneath anomalous density zones includes receiving seismic data and using this data to derive the top of a geologic model. Non-seismic data, such as gravity or magnetic data are used to derive the lower boundary of the geologic model in an inversion process. In one embodiment, the predicted parameters are combined with seismic data to obtain a depth image and to derive a velocity model in delineating formations of interest. In another embodiment, the processed seismic data is used to further constrain the inversion of the non-seismic data. Another novel aspect of the invention is the filtering of the non-seismic data during the inversion process in a manner that is consistent with Laplace's equation.

Abstract: A process of preparing a product gas mixture comprising CO and H2 from a light hydrocarbon and O2 mixture is disclosed. The process includes contacting a reactant gas mixture comprising a C1-C5 hydrocarbon and a source of molecular oxygen with a catalytically effective amount of a supported catalyst comprising nickel and rhodium. The catalyst and reactant gas mixture is maintained at catalytic partial oxidation promoting conditions of temperature and pressure during the contacting period, which is preferably 10 milliseconds or less. Certain preferred catalysts comprise an alloy of about 10-50 weight percent nickel and about 0.01-10 weight percent rhodium on a porous refractory support structure.

Abstract: A process and catalyst are disclosed for the catalytic partial oxidation of light hydrocarbons to produce synthesis gas. The process involves contacting a feed stream comprising the hydrocarbon feedstock and an oxygen-containing gas with a catalyst in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen in a molar ratio of about 2:1 H2:CO. A preferred supported catalyst used in the process includes nickel and magnesium oxide, with a promoter selected from the group including manganese, molybdenum, tungsten, tin, rhenium, bismuth, indium, phosphorus, and combinations thereof.

Abstract: A method, apparatus and system for treating a stream containing H2S are disclosed. A preferred method comprises mixing the stream containing H2S with a light hydrocarbon stream and an oxygen containing stream to form a feed stream; contacting the feed stream with a catalyst while simultaneously raising the temperature of the stream sufficiently to allow partial oxidation of the H2S and partial oxidation of the light hydrocarbon to produce a product stream containing elemental sulfur, H2O, CO and hydrogen, and cooling the product stream sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the elemental sulfur and produce a tail gas containing CO, H2, H2O and any residual elemental sulfur, and any incidental SO2, COS, and CS2 from the hydrocarbon stream or produced in the process. The tail gate is contacted with a hydrogenation catalyst so that CO is then reacted with water to produce CO2 and hydrogen and any elemental sulfur, SO2, COS, and CS2 in the tail gas is preferably converted into H2S.

Abstract: A hydrocarbon-soluble drag-reducing suspension is described, along with a process for manufacturing the drag-reducing suspension. The drag-reducing suspension is easily transportable, non-hazardous, easily handled, and provides a significant increase in drag-reducing capability over existing products. The drag-reducing suspension is manufactured by grinding an ultra-high molecular weight polymer in the presence of a grinding aid and mixing it with a suspending fluid.

Abstract: A dynamic range relaxation algorithm is applied to simulate borehole failure under a variety of stress conditions. The borehole and its neighborhood are modeled by a number of regions by a plurality of interconnected nodes. The bonds between the nodes may be modeled as springs, rods, or beams. The strength of the bonds has a statistical variation to accurately simulate real world situations. The model may include, in addition to the borehole and the far earth formations, a liner, a casing, and/or a gravel pack. Simulation is carried out for different strength of the bonds.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for modeling of faulting and fracturing uses “small scale rules” to produce large-scale results. One part of the method is a user interface for inputting deformations, preexisting faults and fractures, and material rock properties. The second part of the software is the code that solves the motion of each point or node in the subsurface volume defined by the user interface. The model may be defined in one of three modes: an aerial mode, in which the model is 2-dimensional with the material and a substrate on a horizontal plane; a cross-sectional mode similar to the aerial mode except that the nodes are in a vertical cross section and gravity is included in the model; and a 3-D model that is an extension into a third dimension of the 2-D model and deformation may be applied to the bottom and four sides of the material region.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for producing hydrocarbons. The process involves contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a catalyst in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream comprising hydrocarbons. In accordance with this invention the catalyst used in the process includes at least one catalytic metal selected for Fischer-Tropsch reactions (e.g., iron, cobalt, nickel and/or ruthenium); and a support selected from the group consisting of fluorides and fluorided oxides of at least one element selected from the elements of Groups 2 through 15 of the periodic table of elements and elements with atomic numbers 58 through 71 (e.g., zinc, magnesium, calcium, barium, chromium, yttrium, lanthanum, samarium, europium and/or dysprosium).

Abstract: A process is disclosed for producing hydrocarbons. The process involves contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a catalyst in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream comprising hydrocarbons. In accordance with this invention the catalyst used in the process includes at least one catalytic metal for Fischer-Tropsch reactions (e.g., iron, cobalt, nickel and/or ruthenium); and a support selected from the group consisting of an aluminum fluoride and fluorided aluminas.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for producing hydrocarbons by contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a catalyst in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream comprising hydrocarbons. The process is characterized by using a catalyst prepared by a method involving (1) forming a catalyst gel by destabilizing an aqueous colloid comprising (a) at least one catalytic metal for Fischer-Tropsch reactions (e.g., iron, cobalt, nickel and/or ruthenium), (b) colloidal cerium oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide and/or aluminum oxide, and optionally (c) Al(OR)3, Si(OR)4, Ti(OR)4 and/or Zr(OR)4 where each R is an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms; and (2) drying the gel.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for producing hydrocarbons. The process involves contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a catalyst in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream comprising hydrocarbons. In accordance with this invention, the catalyst used in the process includes at least cobalt, rhenium, and a promoter selected from the group including boron, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, and vanadium. The catalyst may also comprise a support material selected from the group including silica, titania, titania/alumina, zirconia, alumina, aluminum fluoride, and fluorided aluminas.

Abstract: The invention includes an improved test for quantifying lustre of petroleum products in particle form, especially coke, as an index of quality. The test involves obtaining and preparing a sample and then placing it beneath an illuminating device in a manner that promotes the formation of a substantially smooth upper surface. The illuminating device uses visible light from a desired direction to produce a visible light pattern from the light reflected from the sample's upper surface. The pattern is then acquired to capture an image. The sample may be slightly magnified for acquisition of the image. The pattern may be acquired multiple times to develop an average image. The image is then processed digitally to produce a representative lustre measurement for the sample. The preceding process may be repeated several times for each sample and the resultant lustre measurements for each iteration are totalled and averaged.

Abstract: This invention provides a process for producing hydrocarbons. The process involves contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a catalyst in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream comprising hydrocarbons, and uses a catalyst including (a) at least one catalytic metal for Fischer-Tropsch reactions (e.g., iron, cobalt, nickel and/or ruthenium) and (b) a non-layered mesoporous support which exhibits an X-ray diffraction after calcination that has at least one peak at a d-spacing of greater than 18 Ångstrom units.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process and apparatus for blow spinning continuous fibers. The novel process utilizes a tensioning device to preclude slack in the fiber. The present invention also provides novel fiber products which utilize continuous fibers prepared by a blow spinning process.

Abstract: A method for modeling geological zones having anomalous density includes determining the top of the anomalous zone from non-potential fields data. Potential fields data is then used to derive the lower boundary of the geologic anomalous zone. A lower boundary to a anomalous zone is formulated by predicting parameters representing the lower boundary within predetermined limits. This is done by using an inversion process on the potential fields data, such as measurements of gravity data, magnetic data. These may be in both vector and tensor form. The potential fields data is compared to the predicted fields from the results of the inversion process to obtain a difference between the two. If the difference exceeds a predetermined value, the parameters representing the anomalous zone are adjusted to improve the fit. When the lower boundary limits are reached or the difference between the model and the data is less than the predetermined value or convergence is attained, the anomalous zone has been determined.

Abstract: An improved process is disclosed for producing a unique metals-containing anisotropic pitch suitable for carbon fiber manufacture. Soluble, aromatic-organometallic compounds are added to a carbonaceous feedstock which is substantially free of mesophase pitch and the resulting composition is heat soaked to produce an isotropic pitch product containing mesogens and soluble, aromatic-organometallic compounds. Next, the pitch product is solvent fractionated to separate mesogens which contain metals from the organometallic compounds. The metals-containing mesogens are heated to a temperature sufficient to cause fusion to produce a metals-containing mesophase pitch. In another method, the carbonaceous feedstock is heat soaked to produce an isotropic pitch product containing mesogens and high molecular weight, soluble, aromatic-organometallic compounds are added to the mesogen containing isotropic pitch product prior to solvent fractionation.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for producing hydrocarbons by contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a catalyst in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream comprising hydrocarbons. The process is characterized by using a catalyst prepared by a method involving (1) forming a catalyst gel by destabilizing an aqueous colloid comprising (a) at least one catalytic metal for Fischer-Tropsch reactions (e.g., iron, cobalt, nickel and/or ruthenium), (b) colloidal cerium oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide and/or aluminum oxide, and optionally (c) Al(OR)3, Si(OR)4, Ti(OR)4 and/or Zr(OR)4 where each R is an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms; and (2) drying the gel.

Abstract: Pulsed power sources are installed in one or more wells in the reservoir interval. The pulse sources include (1) an electrohydraulic generator that produces an intense and short lived electromagnetic pulse that travels at the speed of light through the reservoir, and an acoustic pulse from the plasma vaporization of water placed around the source that propagates through the reservoir at the speed of sound in the reservoir and (2) an electromagnetic generator that produces only an intense and short lived electromagnetic pulse that travels at the speed of light through the reservoir. The electromagnetic pulse produces a high frequency vibration of the reservoir that is active at the scale of the pores in the rock that acts to decrease the effective viscosity of the oil and lower the resistance of the crude oil to flow, and the acoustic pulse from the plasma effect enhances the mobility of the crude further.

Abstract: The return bend elbow fittings connecting adjacent tubes in a delayed coker furnace are improved by subjecting the interior surface of the fittings to a diffusion hardfacing process.

Abstract: This invention relates to improving the flow of flowing streams of hydrocarbons, such as petroleum or finished products, in a conduit such as a pipeline. The present invention also relates to a stable, nonagglomerating nonaqueous suspension suitable for improving flow of hydrocarbons in conduits, particularly finished product hydrocarbons in conduits.