Abstract: A computer-operated method and corresponding system for simulating a reservoir to provide inputs to a surface model simulation is disclosed. The method of operating the simulation begins with the dividing of the reservoir into volume cells, and assigning reservoir parameters such as porosity and permeability of the rock to the particular cells. Temperature and pressure values are also assigned to each of the volume cells, and an equation of state is solved for the cells to determine densities of each of the components of the contents of the reservoirs, examples of such components including methane, ethane, and the like. A black oil simulation of the reservoir is then performed over a time step, to determine the fluxes of the vapor and liquid phases, as reservoir barrel volumes, at each cell boundary. The assigned density values are then used to transform the volumes determined by the black oil simulation to molar quantities for each component.

Abstract: A spiral or auger type gas-liquid separator, particularly for well production fluid flow, includes a vertically oriented conduit section having a spiral separator element disposed therein and around a central gas discharge conduit. The inlet to the gas discharge conduit is disposed adjacent the discharge end of the separator element and includes a liquid carryover control mechanism comprising a closure member which is operable to shut off fluid flow into the gas discharge conduit when high liquid flow rates or liquid slug flow passes through the separator. The shutoff closure member is connected to a float actuator responsive to liquid accumulation to actuate the closure member to move to a closed position. A coil spring biases the closure member toward a valve open condition.

Abstract: A computer system and method for eliminating the effects of ghost reflections from marine seismic survey traces obtained via ocean bottom cables are disclosed. Dual sensors are used in the ocean bottom cables, to obtain both pressure and velocity traces. The disclosed method combines, in a common receiver gather, the corresponding pressure and velocity traces for each source-receiver path using several values of a scalar value that serves as a weighting factor. Conventional corrections and filtering, including spiking deconvolution, are applied to the combined traces, and the combined traces for each value of the scalar are stacked over a limited offset range. Autocorrelation and other spectral techniques may be applied to identify the residuals of the ghost reflections using each of the multiple scalar values; the optimal value may then be selected, for each common receiver gather, as that which has the minimum ghost reflection residuals.

Abstract: A system and method for injecting a gaseous contaminant absorbent through at least one spray nozzle into a pipe transporting gas to a contacting vessel wherein the gas is contacted with a liquid absorbent to remove at least one gaseous contaminant from the gas is provided. The injection of the absorbent through the spray nozzles augments the efficiency of the contacting vessel by removal of a quantity of the gaseous contaminant from the gas prior to charging the gas to the contacting vessel. Water vapor is removed using a glycol absorbent and acidic gases are removed using an amine solution as an absorbent. A system and method for the removal of both water vapor and acidic gases is provided.

Abstract: Weakly consolidated hydrocarbon fluid bearing earth formation zones having a cohesive strength of about 500 psi or less are produced by completing a well penetrating the zone and initiating production of solids laden fluid from the zone through the well to generate a near wellbore cavity. Production of solids laden fluid is continued until the cavity grows to a point wherein the fluid velocity across the cavity face decreases to a value below the solids particulate transport velocity wherein continued production of fluid will result in a very low or negligible rate of production of solids particulates. Solids particulates are separated from the produced mixture at the surface, the solids are treated to reduce the particle size and reinjected in a slurry into a disposal well for disposal in a hydraulically fractured or disaggregated formation zone remote from the production zone.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method and system of correcting seismic survey data for the effects of NMO stretch is disclosed. The method operates upon a CDP gather of seismic survey data after normal move-out correction (NMO) has been applied. A semblance analysis is used to derive a stretch coefficient .kappa. profile over the gather, as a function of time and offset. The values of the stretch coefficient profile .kappa. are used in producing a time-varying filter that is applied, preferably by way of a time-domain multiplication, to incremental windows in time for each trace, with the products added to one another to generate a corrected trace. After all of the traces in the gather are corrected, an event-weighted filter is applied to the traces by way of a correlation operation, to remove high-frequency artifacts in the corrected traces. The corrected and filtered traces are then ready for stacking and conventional processing.

Abstract: A method of analyzing geological survey data of the potential field measurement type is disclosed. According to the disclosed method, discrete measurement values of the potential field, either the gravitational or magnetic field, are retrieved from memory, corresponding to either a one-dimensional or two-dimensional survey region of the earth. The discrete values are first preconditioned by the application of a noise-reduction digital filter, preferably of the Weiner type. The disclosed method then performs decomposition of the filtered discrete values using the Daubechies scale function and wavelet function of length 2. According to the preferred method, the second level low-frequency component of the first level high-frequency component is generated, and expanded by a factor of four to correspond to the range of the input discrete values. Interpolation is performed to fill in values between adjacent coefficients of this component.

Abstract: A system for distributing a fluid to a plurality of locations, in which a first conduit is provided receiving the fluid and a splitter is provided having a housing in flow communication with the first conduit for receiving the fluid. At least two branch conduits extend from the first conduit and parallel to the axis of the housing for respectively receiving portions of said fluid.

Abstract: There is provided a transient electromagnetic method and apparatus for inspecting objects. The apparatus includes a sensing portion, which has a transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna thereon. The sensing portion is located adjacent to the object which is to be inspected such that the antennas are adjacent to the object. There is also a magnet located adjacent to the sensing portion. The magnet has poles located adjacent to the object, so as to provide a steady-state magnetic field to the object. By applying a steady-state magnetic field to the object during inspection, increased inspection speeds and improved spatial resolutions can be achieved. In addition, casing can be inspected from inside of tubing.

Abstract: A system and method of determining porosity and water saturation of a formation surrounding a wellbore is disclosed. Well logs are taken to obtain near and far thermal and epithermal neutron log measurements, and to obtain pulsed neutron capture log measurements, at varying depths along the borehole, with the results stored in a computer memory. The computer is then operated, using an assumed porosity value, to calculate the matrix diffusion length according to two independent methods. If the two matrix diffusion lengths do not closely match, the assumed porosity value is adjusted, and the method repeated. Upon convergence of the matrix diffusion lengths, the adjusted assumed porosity value is used to determine the water saturation of the formation. A set of three equations in three unknowns is solved, where the three equations are indicative of the pulsed neutron capture cross-section, and also the near and far thermal neutron absorption.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for testing the operation of solenoids in a safety system by bypassing the solenoid operated pilot valve and applying a pneumatic control source to the system being tested through a bypass line while demonstrating the operation of the solenoid operated pilot valve for such a system using a test pressure source and a test input through the testing system. The system thereby permits continued operation of the process system while verifying proper operation of the safety system.

Abstract: Steam quality in flow lines equipped with orifice meters may be determined by injecting a predetermined quantity of water into the flow line and measuring the orifice pressure differential with and without water injection. An approximation of the James correlation, which relates the orifice differential pressure, the total fluid mass flow rate and steam quality raised to the 1.5 power, may be used for conditions both before and during water injection together with an energy balance for conditions both before and during water injection to determine steam quality before water injection. A portable water injection unit may be temporarily connected to each flow line at a tap installed in the flow line upstream of the orifice. The effect of water injection for each flow condition may be prior confirmed by injecting a predetermined quantity of water downstream of the orifice based on an initial estimate of dry steam flow in the line.

Abstract: A method for determined porosity of an earth formation surrounding a borehole without prior knowledge of formation lithology. Neutron logging tools are used to measure thermal neutron porosity, epithermal neutron porosity and formation absorption cross section. Two calculating methods are used for a series of assumed porosity values to calculate matrix diffusion length. Matrix diffusion lengths calculated by the two methods are compared to find the highest assumed porosity for which the calculated diffusion lengths are substantially the same. This highest porosity value is the actual formation porosity.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for desanding oil produced from a subterranean oil-bearing formation through a wellbore, the method comprising: flowing oil from the oil-bearing formation upwardly through a first tubing at a velocity sufficient to carry sand entrained in the oil upwardly through the first tubing; flowing the oil from the first tubing upwardly through a larger tubular section at a velocity sufficient to carry sand entrained in the oil upwardly to a perforated section positioned in a second tubing in the larger tubular section, the perforated section being positioned near the upper end of the larger tubular section; passing the oil through the perforated section and through a circumferential path around a dip tube positioned beneath the perforated section to centrifugally separate sand from the oil so that the sand is passed outwardly toward an inner diameter of the second tubing and downwardly to storage in a lower portion of the second tubing; and flowing the oil upwardly through the dip tube to a pump

Abstract: A method and apparatus for analyzing amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) seismic data to distinguish sand formations, such as Morrow sands, from limestones and other similar intervals, is disclosed. For each of the traces in the survey, AVO intercept and AVO slope traces are generated, preferably after normalization of the amplitudes of the traces to account for geophone coupling variations. After normalization and conventional processing and corrections, spatial summation may be performed to further improve the traces. AVO trend lines are then generated, preferably on a weighted window basis, to generate localized trend lines against which the intercept and slope values of individual depth points may be compared. This comparison allows the plotting of AVO intercept versus AVO slope deviation from the trend line, from which sand formation interfaces may be identified by their presence in certain quadrants of the intercept-slope deviation cross-plot.

Abstract: A turbine fuel valve packing assembly including two sets of packing rings in which at least one packing ring is a V-shaped packing ring, a compression member, lantern ring, and packing gland with a sealing ring is disclosed which effectively seals turbine fuel valves against leaking. Further disclosed is a valve packing replacement method utilizing a bifurcated valve shaft allowing part of the shaft to be removed, thereby providing enough space for the valve packing assembly to be removed from the fuel valve and replaced without disassembling the entire fuel valve.

Abstract: A process is provided to react a feedstock comprising isobutane with pentenes in the presence of sulfuric acid catalyst to produce a high octane alkylate as well as a higher octane isopentane gasoline blending component. A method to reduce sulfuric acid consumption during alkylation is provided wherein a diolefinic contaminant of a pentene system feed is selectively hydrogenated before alkylation. An alkylation method is provided wherein the alkylation feed is separated into a fraction comprising substantially C.sub.4 and lower olefins and a fraction comprising substantially C.sub.5 olefins and the stream comprising C.sub.5 olefins is alkylated in a different reactor than the fraction comprising substantially C.sub.4 and lower olefins.

Abstract: A process is provided to react a feedstock comprising isobutane with pentenes in the presence of sulfuric acid catalyst to produce a high octane alkylate as well as a higher octane isopentane gasoline blending component. A method to reduce sulfuric acid consumption during alkylation is provided wherein a diolefinic contaminant of a pentene system feed is selectively hydrogenated before alkylation. An alkylation method is provided wherein the alkylation feed is separated into a fraction comprising substantially C.sub.4 and lower olefins and a fraction comprising substantially C.sub.5 olefins and the stream comprising C.sub.5 olefins is alkylated in a different reactor than the fraction comprising substantially C.sub.4 and lower olefins.

Abstract: In an improved method for converting methane to at least one higher hydrocarbon product and coproduct water which comprises contacting a gas comprising methane and at least one added gaseous oxidant with nonacidic solid, the improvement comprising conducting at least a portion of said contacting in the presence of added water.

Abstract: In an improved method for converting methane to at least one higher hydrocarbon product and coproduct water which comprises contacting a gas comprising methane and at least one added gaseous oxidant with nonacidic solid, the improvement comprising conducting at least a portion of said contacting in the presence of added water.