bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Automated Facies Identification Using Unsupervised Clustering
Authors: Hong Youngjun , Wang Shinjo , Bae Jeehoon , Yoo Jaeyoon , Yoon Sungroh 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
The interpretation of well logs is crucial for understanding subsurface geological formations and reservoir characterization. Categorizing subsurface into several geological facies types assists in identifying potential locations of hydrocarbon resources. Geologists interpret each well log feature such as gamma ray, sonic velocity, neutron porosity and resistivity, based on logging characteristics and their petrophysical domain knowledge. By integrating with core analysis result, well logs interpretation result becomes accurate, and geologists finally determine rock types of subsurface for the target well.
Recently, various studies propose to leverage the power of machine learning algorithms for facies classification to reduce laborious interpretation work. Most works utilize supervised learning algorithms that require input/label paired data for training. In case of facies classification, however, the accurate core analysis for determining facies is an expensive process, and the other methods require hard work and often result in noisy data.
In this paper, we develop an unsupervised facies identification model based on deep neural networks. Our model is purely unsupervised, which do not require facies label for input well logs. Because well logs response from the same rock type would have high similarity, we apply an unsupervised clustering algorithm, where data points with similar traits are assigned to the same group, while dissimilar data points are assigned to the different groups.
We demonstrate that our unsupervised facies identification model outperforms other unsupervised clustering algorithms for facies identification. Particularly, our clustered result shows highly similar distribution to the true facies distribution, which suggests future development of automated facies identification.
Gas Hydrate Mitigation Using an Organic Extract in a Simulated Offshore Environment
Authors: Elechi Virtue Urunwo , Ikiensikimama Sunday Sunday , Akaranta Onyewuchi , Ajienka Joseph Atubokiki , Onyekonwu Mike Obi , Okon Okon Efiong 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
As deep-water activities and development into deeper operations (depth of 6,000ft or more) increases, temperatures and pressures become favorable for hydrate nucleation and growth. This results in additional risk and challenges as to how to prevent formation of gas hydrates. This paper takes a look at the performance of a local surfactant derived from plant material in a laboratory mini flow loop made of a 0.5-inch internal diameter 316 stainless steel pipe enclosed in a 4-inch PVC pipe mounted on an external metal frame work. The performance of the local surfactant (Surf. X) was compared with that of the conventional hydrate inhibitor N-Vinyl Caprolactam (N-VCap). Varying weights of Surf. X were evaluated in the laboratory mini flow loop. Pressure versus Temperature, change in Pressure versus Time plots showed that Surf. X performed better than the conventional N-VCap in almost all the concentrations considered (except at 0.04wt %). The optimum concentration for inhibition was 0.02wt% with inhibition efficiency of 81.58% while that of N-VCap was 77.19%. The inhibition efficiency of Surf. X for 0.01, 0.03 and 0.04wt % were 72.81% and 75.44% respectively. Surf. X is locally sourced, readily available in commercial quantity and also eco-friendly because it is plant based unlike the N-VCap which is toxic and expensive. It is advised that the local surfactant X be developed as an alternative to the conventional inhibitor for gas hydrate inhibition.
Offshore EOR Initiatives and Applications in Brazil: An Operator Perspective
Authors: Vieira Raphael A. M. , Pizarro Jorge O. S. , Oliveira Leonardo A. , Oliveira Diego F. B , Passarelli Fábio M. , Pedroni Lucas G. 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Implementing deep-offshore Enhanced/Improved Oil Recovery (EOR/IOR) is not an easy task. Bigger reservoirs, larger well spacings, injection/production/logistics constraints and difficulties to quantify benefits are some of the challenges that may be faced.
This paper presents the status and future vision for the main offshore EOR/IOR research and field application initiatives of a brazilian Operator. Most promising technologies and issues will be described. Overall research structure, as well as adopted strategies to test and implement those techniques will be addressed. Difficulties eventually faced will be mentioned.
The most promising methods in terms of water-compatible EOR are customized-composition waterflood, novel conformance control solutions and optimal reservoir management. Regarding gas-based technologies, the focus is on WAG flood, foam, subsea gas/liquid separation/reinjection and gas injection optimization.
Leveraging CFD in Earlier Design Stages to Capture Critical Effects and Sensitivities with Simple Cost Effective Approaches to Explosion Modeling
Authors: Clutter James Keith , Staszak Andrew James 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Computational modeling (CFD) has made great strides in the last 20 years in fighting and overcoming its "expensive" stigma. The oil & gas industry has embraced the use of CFD to assess everything from the design of equipment, optimization of process flows, and hazards modeling of fire and explosion events all in an effort to strive for the goal of inherently safer designs. In current offshore facility design, CFD modeling, to assess the consequences of vapor cloud explosions has been established as common practice.
For most major projects, CFD explosion modeling is used heavily in Feed and Detailed (later) stages of design. At these stages hundreds of scenarios are simulated and combined with extensive probabilistic and statistical calculations to define design loads of critical systems and assess risk. The primary advantage of using CFD is that it incorporates more details of the design and provides more realistic and design specific analysis. In the case of explosions, CFD provides valuable data for design, particularly explosion data that is significantly more accurate than that from simple open field models.
Despite this adoption within the design process and decades of advances, CFD modeling practitioners still admit that there are increases of cost and time, when compared to the ever-present phenomenological approaches. This has kept many design processes from utilizing CFD in the earliest stages; namely Concept and pre-Feed. The arguments have traditionally been along the lines of:The design is progressing and changing too fast to allow time for CFD models to be built.,There is insufficient model detail to construct viable CFD models.,The early stage concerns can be captured "well enough" with simple approaches., etc.
Modeling representations and approaches can be simplified and streamlined, while still providing the advantages of CFD. Variability in geometric representations can be captured with physics representations rather than needing to create predictive CAD geometry. These types of simplifications can increase the ability to simply change and update models and conduct early stage sensitivities in projects, while still capturing critical explosion effects.
The purpose of this paper will be to show how these simplified approaches can be used in an effective and efficient manner in early stages of design. That the traditional arguments against early adoption of CFD can be countered, with the end result being greater early stage information and influence on the design. Allowing effective change at a time in the process when it is not cost prohibitive and other controls have yet to prohibit design changes. The result being a continued improvement in the goal of inherently safer design.
A Risk Informed Approach to Testing and Qualification of Materials for Sub-Sea Applications
Authors: Ramgopal Thodla , Cao Liu , Li Xiaoji , Chandra Ashwini , Gui Feng , Sridhar Narasi 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Oil and gas production applications demand high reliability, which implies low failure probability over the lifetime of the components. The service environments encompass high pressure high temperature (HPHT) conditions inside and seawater with cathodic protection (CP) systems on the outside. New material combinations are being employed, including thermo-mechanically processed low alloy steels and corrosion resistant alloys (CRA). Additively manufactured (AM) alloys are also entering the market, creating further variability and directionality in properties. Material qualification involves two types of accelerated, laboratory tests – standard and fit-for-purpose. However, the acceleration vectors used in these types of tests are usually not clearly identified. Relating the materials qualification tests to service performance requires a systematic approach that considers the uncertainties in the acceleration vectors such as, loading conditions, environmental compositions, operating parameters, and material microstructures. In this paper, we describe the acceleration vectors typically used in qualification tests and a risk framework that may be used to relate the test results to long term service performance. The benefit of a risk informed approach is not only avoidance of unnecessary testing, but also investing the testing resources to attain highest reliability.
Challenges and Recommendations for Environmental Compliance for Marine Renewable Energy: Avoiding Issues Early for Efficient Permitting and Practicable Mitigation
Authors: Courbis Sarah Shelby 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Marine renewable energy is a relatively new phenomenon that is becoming cost-competitive with traditional sources of energy. Marine hydrokinetic energy (MHK), as it moves to commercial scale, will be subject to myriad laws and regulations associated with wildlife impacts and efforts to avoid unsustainable adverse effects. At the same time that MHK is developing in this arena in the U.S., regulations and policies are changing, creating a moving target and affecting already established industries, such as oil and gas. To ensure that MHK can be cost-effective and to reduce risks of delays and impracticable project adjustments and mitigation in the U.S., early consideration of laws governing wildlife and how they are applied will be key. Planning to address wildlife priorities associated with statutory needs and industry/stakeholder goals can drive development of technology, engineering choices, siting, planning, mitigation, and adaptive management practices. Other marine industries have been recently affected by U.S. wildlife laws. For example, offshore wind is experiencing delay on the U.S. East Coast in part due to challenges with environmental statutory requirements and agency concerns about impacts. In oil and gas, it is unclear how new regulatory requirements, such as the Incidental Take Regulation pending for geophysical surveys in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the industry. MHK and other marine energy industries can leverage proactive planning and agency engagement to reduce risks of delays and costs that could significantly affect proposed projects.
How to Gain a Competitive Edge with the Digital Twin
Authors: Norinder Jonas 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
With the move towards IIoT and the Digital Age, companies in the process industry are looking to digitalize processes. One critical element in this development is the increased adoption of the Digital Twin (DT), which is being deployed in all phases of a product, plant, or process lifecycle from design to operations to maintenance.
A DT is a virtual representation of a physical product or process used to understand and predict the physical counterpart's performance characteristics. They are used throughout the product lifecycle to simulate, predict, and optimize the product and production system before investing in physical prototypes.
The concept is not new. For more than 30 years, product and process engineering teams have used 3D renderings and process simulation to validate manufacturability. What is new, however, is that several factors have now converged to bring the concept of the DT to the forefront as a disruptive trend in the process industry. This will be demonstrated using relevant use cases featuring organizations that have seen increases in efficiency improvements after employing digitalization and the DT
By incorporating simulation, data analytics, and machine learning, the DT is able to demonstrate impacts of usage and training scenarios in a virtual setting. This enables identification of any potential issues in the design phase as opposed to the commissioning phase as is very common today. Process and sensor data from physical objects are collected and analyzed to determine real-time performance and operating changes over time. Feeding this data back into the product lifecycle, the DT is continuously updated to reflect changes to the physical counterpart. This creates a closed-loop of virtual feedback that makes products, production, and performance optimization possible at minimal cost.
Jet Fire Consequence Analysis
Authors: Colella Francesco , Ibarreta Alfonso , Hart Ryan J , Morrison Trey , Watson Harry AJ , Yen May 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Jet fires are a significant hazard for the Oil & Gas industry and can cause both injuries to personnel and failure of equipment and structures. Current jet fire consequence analyses rely almost exclusively on empirical models that use a simplified flame geometry and fixed emissive power to determine the thermal radiation load on a target. The available empirical models provide acceptable radiation load estimates for hypothetical scenarios that are comparable to those used during model development. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) represents an alternative solution for evaluating jet fire geometric features and radiation loads. CFD has been used historically in a wide variety of applications, including but not limited to the aeronautics and automotive industry, the biomedical industry, and in a wide range of industrial applications involving heat transfer and fluid mechanics. With recent advancements in computer power, CFD has become a mature tool that can be used reliably for evaluating the impact of fires. During the facility design process, CFD offers flexibility in evaluating the effect of design changes and provides information to assist in making data-driven design decisions.
This paper describes the current state-of-the-art for jet-fire consequence analysis as well as review publicly available experimental data. A few representative test cases are used to compare empirical models and CFD results with published experimental data.
Evaluation of a Robust, In-Situ Surface Treatment for Pipeline Solids Deposition Mitigation in Flowing Systems
Authors: Pickarts Marshall A , Delgado-Linares Jose , Brown Erika , Veedu Vinod , Koh Carolyn A. 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
The formation/precipitation and deposition of pipeline solids, such as gas hydrates, asphaltenes, and waxes have long plagued production fields. Given the vast differences in chemistries of these solids, any current prevention or mitigation strategy, particularly for cases where multiple issues are a concern, is likely to involve an extensive assortment of undefined chemical additives that are both costly and add complexity to the system. Surface treatments (coatings), on the other hand, present a relatively new viable option for management strategies. A chemically and physically robust surface treatment with the ability to address deposition issues for multiple pipeline solids could not only decrease the operating expenditures for a field through material cost savings and obviation of downstream separation, but could also simplify produced fluids by eliminating additional chemicals from the mixture.
The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of a particular surface treatment as part of a solids management strategy. This work utilizes an omniphobic surface treatment to probe its effects on gas hydrate, asphaltene, and wax deposition. Specifically, high pressure rocking cells are employed to study gas hydrate nucleation and deposition. A bench-scale flowloop filled with crude oil and heptane is used to quantify the deposition of crude oil and asphaltenes after a set time period. Lastly, a mechanical shear device measures the adhesion force of wax deposits on untreated/treated surfaces.
The gas hydrate rocking cell tests demonstrate an increase in induction time and occasional elimination of hydrate nucleation with the surface treatment. Moreover, the same apparatus indicates that the critical shear to avoid hydrate deposition may be lowered in the presence of the surface treatment compared to untreated pristine carbon steel coupons. A custom-built asphaltene flowloop then establishes that this surface treatment is effective in dramatically reducing the deposition of the aliphatic components of a crude oil, with a moderate reduction in the asphaltene fraction. Finally, mechanical adhesion force measurements for solidified paraffin wax display trends in agreement with the asphaltene results. The surface treatment on both pristine and corroded surfaces is able to reduce the adhesion of wax deposits to values below a pristine, untreated surface.
Industrialization Of Additive Manufacturing For Oil & Gas Through Process Control
Authors: Vendra Lakshmi , Dobrowolski Thomas , Linares Maximino , Avagliano Aaron 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Additive manufacturing is classified as disruptive technology that has the capability to meet new marketplace demands in speed, agility and respond rapidly to fluctuating customer requirements. Applying the design freedom that Additive Manufacturing naturally offers, it is possible to produce complex geometries designed for functionality that are not limited by conventional manufacturing constraints. Speed and efficiency of producing end use parts particularly using metal Additive Manufacturing has significant impact on transforming global supply chain, for offshore segment of oil and gas industry. Metal Additive Manufacturing has been widely adopted in aerospace, defense and medical device industries and is an emerging technology in oil and gas where it is gradually gaining acceptance. However, industrialization of the technology requires process repeatability with efficient workflows and reliable part production. Every step in the process chain has an effect on the integrity and quality of the end product, therefore implementing process control across the Additive Manufacturing value chain is essential to enable its use as mainstream manufacturing technology. This article reviews available and evolving methods to achieve a controlled Additive Manufacturing process for metallic materials.
Demanning Offshore Process Facilities
Authors: Dyson Richard , Varney James 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
De-manning of offshore processing facilities presents an opportunity for significant CAPEX and OPEX savings for operators, is inherently safer and may be an enabler for marginal oil and gas developments.
Unmanned wellhead platforms are common, however de-manning of significant oil and gas processing facilities has not been achieved to-date.
This paper presents a conceptual design for a Normally Unmanned Installation (NUI) with full processing of well fluids to export specifications. By using novel and innovative solutions, a design with reduced equipment count, platform weight and attendance is proposed. The design is technically ready for implementation whilst meeting the functional requirements of an offshore processing facility.
A functional specification was developed for the platform; it was important that the design is transferrable, therefore this functional specification was kept broad. The platform was expected to process well fluid to typical pipeline export specifications. To test the design, commerciality was tested against a "Reference Case", traditional manned platform. Full subsea processing was investigated but discounted due to a lack of technical readiness.
Traditional approaches to platform design were challenged at every level, from platform access methods to the requirement for platform power generation. The key drivers for manning were investigated, identifying the target areas for simplification. An optimal platform design was then identified integrating the latest techniques and technology.
The NUI CAPEX was compared versus the Reference Case. Ground-up OPEX estimates were prepared to quantify the reduction in attendance and achievable savings.
The resulting NUI design achieves an approximate 60% reduction in equipment weight compared with a traditional manned platform, leading to a CAPEX reduction of around 30%. Significant reduction is achieved by removal of living quarters, and therefore life support systems from the facility. Power import allows maintenance-heavy power generation to be removed.
The optimised NUI delivers a reduction in OPEX of around 50% when compared to a traditional manned facility. Digital strategies such as predictive maintenance, robotic inspection and remote monitoring reduce the reactive maintenance hours offshore by up to 85% while maintaining platform availability. Walk-to-Work platform access is a mature technology and offers cost savings when compared with helicopter access and there is the potential for sharing of walk-to-work systems between assets and industries. Walk-to-Work access has the advantage that no permanent living quarters are required. A significant reduction in fabric maintenance manhours is achieved by carrying out inspection remotely.
The truly innovative and disruptive solution for unmanned facilities is the subsea factory on the floor. At the time of writing, the technology is not of the required maturity and it does not offer a viable solution. As this technology matures the potential exits to create a truly differentiated, facility of the future.