DIT UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN

A REPORT ON

INDUSTRIAL VISIT AT

OIL & NATURAL GAS CORPORATION LIMITED,

AHMEDABAD
DATE – 18th to 20th December, 2017

Submitted By :- Faculty Guide :-

Abhishek Kr. Pandey Dr. Upendra Singh Yadav

SAP ID – 1000007697 Dr. Himanshu Kakati
B.Tech, Petroleum Engineering Mr. Deepak Vanjari
DIT University Ms. Richa Saxena
Mr. Gaurav Richhariya

Submitted To:- Mr. Gopal Kumar

Mr. Deepak Vanjari Company Guide :-
(Class Co-ordinator) Mr. T K Helder
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I owe many thanks to some great people who helped and supported me throughout
the industrial visit.

I would like to thank Dr. Nitesh Kumar( HoD, Petroleum Engineering Department,
DIT University) for providing me an opportunity to undergo this Industrial Tour and
Prof. A K Tyagi for arranging such an auspicious Industrial visit. I wish to
acknowledge the encouragement received from Mr. Deepak Vanjari( Class Co-
ordinator) for extending his support to me. My sincere thanks to Faculty of
Department of Petroleum Engineering who provided their valuable suggestions for
guiding and correcting various section with attention and care.

I earnestly acknowledge my profound sense of gratitude to Shri T K Helder, ONGC

who also took the pain to go through the visit and gave necessary information as and
when needed. It was indeed an opportunity for us to visit the different sections of
ONGC Fields and ONGC Chemistry Lab. under his mastery and constant guidance. I
would specially like to thank Shri D G Shrimali, Manager (Reservoir) for arranging
such an auspicious field visit and sharing his valuable knowledge with us.

Finally, I would also thank ONGC and their employee without whom this Industrial
Visit would have been a distant reality.
PREFACE
The importance of Industrial Visit lies in analysing how the theoretical knowledge is
being implemented to get the practical outcome with hierarchy of operations being
followed. It is necessary to have a sound practical knowledge because it’s the only
way by which one can acquire proficiency & comprehensibility to understand the
entire happening in an industry (like as on Oilfield). It is well said that bookish
knowledge is not sufficient because things are not as ideal in practical field as they
should be.

This report is an attempt made to study the overall E&P(Exploration and Production)
functioning of an Oil & Gas Industry on Wadu & Gamij field of ONGC.

Abhishek Kr. Pandey

INTRODUCTION TO COMPANY

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)

is an Indian multinational oil and gas company
headquatered in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. It is
a Public Sector Undertaking(PSU) of
the Government of India, under the
administrative control of the Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is India's largest oil
and gas exploration and production company. It
produces around 30% of the country's total
demand) and around 62% of its natural gas.
ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by Govt. of India, which currently holds a
68.94% equity stake. It is involved in exploring for and exploiting hydrocarbons in
26 sedimentary basins of India, and owns and operates over 11,000 kilometres of
pipelines in the country. Its international subsidiary ONGC Videsh currently has
projects in 17 countries. ONGC has discovered 6 of the 7 commercially producing
Indian Basins, in the last 50 years, adding over 7.1 billion tonnes of In-place Oil & Gas
volume of hydrocarbons in Indian basins. Against a global decline of production from
matured fields, ONGC has maintained production from its brownfields like Mumbai
High, with the help of aggressive investments in various IOR (Improved Oil Recovery)
and EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) schemes. ONGC has many matured fields with a
current recovery factor of 25–33%. Its Reserve Replacement Ratio for between 2005
and 2013, has been more than one. During FY 2012–13, ONGC had to share the
highest ever under-recovery of INR 8993.78 billion (an increase of INR 567.89 million
over the previous financial year) towards the under-recoveries of Oil Marketing
Companies (IOC, BPCL and HPCL). On 1st November 2017, the Union Cabinet
approved ONGC for acquiring majority 51.11 % stake in HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Limited).
WORK PLAN (DAY WISE)

Pic. 1 : Team DIT on Wadu Field, ONGC

Project Details
Basin/Sub-Basin : Cambay
Field : Wadu
Target Depth(m) KB : 1750
Block Detail : Ahmedabad Mehsana Block
Consortium Members : ONGC
Operator : ONGC
Well Type : Development
Well Profile : Straight
Lifting method being used : Christmas Tree
Power to Mud Pump : Cummins Engine
 Production Process of ONGC on Wadu Field

Step 1.

A Geologist & Geophysics survey was conducted by Sub Surface team for the search
of Reservoir Rocks tracked in the mother earth by means of various exploring
devices. They usually search for tracked reservoir as they have tendency to remain at
one place for years. Extracting crude from them become easier as they are placed
static.

Step 2.

Once the survey is done, an accurate estimation is derived based on the data
available. On the basis of estimation, production facilities and other installations are
made at that particular field.

Step 3.

After installation of production facilities drilling process is carried out .Usually there
are two ways of drilling a well :

1. Vertical Well Drilling

2. Directional Well Drilling
of which, Vertical Well Drilling was performed on the Wadu Field up to the desired
depth of production zone. A single Roller Bit Cutter was used to drill the entire
section.

Step 4.

Once the drilling is completed with casing and cementing, tubing pipes are installed
to bring the sub-surface crude on the surface with the help of “Christmas Tree”.
Christmas Tree refers to the assembly of valves, spools, and fittings used for an oil
well, gas well, water injection well etc.

Presently, Wadu field is under initial stage of production hence produces only
Natural Gas which is frequently flared (because we are all aware of the storage issue
of natural gas).

Further steps generally followed are:

Step 5.

The crude oil extract from well is transferred to GGS (Group Gathering Station) for
separation of Natural Gas from Crude Oil. GGS is a separator which has dome like
structure from which Natural Gas is segregated at the upper side of the column as it
is lighter than the mixture of crudes (depending upon their physical characteristics).
The Natural Gas separated is transferred to GCS and other industries. The crude oil
that remains is the mixture of Crude and effluent water. Such wells producing only
Natural Gases in their primary stage are transferred directly to GCS.

Step 6.

The mixture of crude oil and water is transferred to CPF (Central Processing
Facilities). CPF is sort of Heater-Treater machine where effluent water is been
separated from crude oil by segregating the vaporized water, crude and residual
minerals and their salts.

Step 7.

The crude oil after processing in CPF is ready for sale which is transferred to
refineries like IOCL, BPCL & HPCL through pipelines.

Production Facilities available on Wadu Field

1. Derrick: The elevated section of a rig that rises above the substructure and houses
the crown block and draw works.

2. Driller’s Console: A control room of gauges, control levers, rheostats, and other
pneumatic, hydraulic and electronic instrumentation from where the driller operates
the pumps, drawworks, and rotary table. The driller also operates the drawworks
brake using a long-handled lever near drilling console.

3. Drawworks : The hoisting line is spooled around a

reel on a horizontal shaft in a steel frame called
the drawworks on the drill floor. The prime movers
drive the drawworks to wind and unwind the drilling
line. There are several speeds and both forward and
reverse on the reel. The driller controls the
drawworks from a brake, a hand lever, on the drill
floor. Drawworks are often rated by input
horsepower that commonly range from 500 to 3,000
hp.
4. Crown Block : A crown block is the stationary section of a block and tackle that
contains a set of pulleys or sheaves through which the drill line(wire rope) is
threaded or reeved and is opposite and above the traveling block.

5. Travelling Block : A traveling block is the freely moving section of a block and
tackle that contains a set of pulleys or sheaves through which the drill line (wire
rope) is threaded or reeved and is opposite (and under) the crown block (the
stationary section).
The combination of the traveling block, crown block and wire rope drill line gives the
ability to lift weights in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. On larger drilling rigs,
when raising and lowering the derrick, line tensions over a million pounds are not
unusual.

6. Prime Movers : The prime movers are diesel engines that supply power to the rig
and are usually located on the ground in back of the rig. Diesel fuel is stored in tanks
near the engines. Most of the power is used by the hoisting and circulating systems.
Some also goes to the rotating system, rig lights, and other motors. On a drilling rig,
the prime movers are diesel engines, and on a sucker-rod pumping unit, they are
electric motors.

7. Mud-Gas Separator (MGS) : A steel vessel

mounted on the mud tanks that is used to
separate any gas out of the drilling mud coming
from the well.

8. Mud Tanks : Drilling mud is stored in several steel mud tanks on the ground beside
the rig. The drilling mud is kept mixed in the tanks by rotating paddles on a shaft
called a mud agitator or by a high pressure jet in a mud gun. The mud tanks are 6 ft
(1.8 m) high, up to 8ft (2.4 m) wide, and are usually 26ft (7.9 m) long. They have two,
three, four, or more compartments. A common mud tank configuration has the
shaker tank receiving the drilling mud from the well after the cuttings have been
removed.
9. Shale Shaker : The shale shaker is located on the mud tanks
and is designed to separate the coarser well cuttings from the
drilling mud. It can be either single or double deck. The
doubledeck shaker has a coarser screen located above a finer
screen. The screens are tilted 10˚ from horizontal to cause the
cuttings to vibrate down the screen and into the reserve pit.
The mud then flows through other solids control devices such
as cone-shaped desanders and desilters that centrifuge the mud
to remove finer particles. The mud then flows back into the
mud tanks to be recirculated down the well.
10. Reserve Pit : Adjacent to the mud tanks but away from the rig is a large earthen
pit called the reserve pit. It holds discarded mud for reuse and the cuttings from the
shale shakers.

11. Trip Tank : A trip tank (a 10- to 40-barrel volume steel tank that holds drilling
mud on the drill floor) is used to automatically keep the well filled with mud during
tripping out. Also, if the drill string is pulled from the well too fast, it could suck gas
out of the formation to start the kick.

12. Well Head : The wellhead is the permanent, large, forged or cast steel fitting on
the surface of the ground on top of the well. It is usually welded to the conductor
pipe or surface casing. The wellhead consists of casingheads and a tubinghead.

13. Chokes : Flow rates are limited by surface or subsurface chokes, which are valves
that cause the fluid to flow through a small hole called an orifice. The smaller the
orifice, the lower the flow rate. This is because a flowing well is seldom produced at
an unlimited rate. It could result in a too-rapid depletion of reservoir pressure and a
decrease in ultimate production. An excessive production rate creates a large
pressure drop between the reservoir and wellbore, causing gas to bubble out of the
oil and block the reservoir rock pores adjacent to the wellbore.

14. Hogs( Mud Pumps) : Large pumps driven by the prime movers, called mud hogs,
use pistons in cylinders to pump the drilling mud from the mud tank. Mud pumps are
either duplex or triplex. A duplex pump uses two double-acting pistons in cylinders
that drive the mud on both the forward and backward strokes. A triplex pump uses
three single-acting pistons in cylinders that drive the mud only during the forward
stroke. Triplex pump was being used on Wadu Field.
15. Christmas Tree : Gas wells flow to the surface by
themselves. There are some oil wells in which the oil
has enough pressure to flow up the tubing string to the
surface. For gas wells and flowing oil wells, a structure
of pipes, fittings, valves, and gauges are welded to the
wellhead to control the flow. This plumbing is called a
Christmas or production tree. All Christmas trees have a
master valve sticking out of the lower part to turn the
well off during an emergency. . The plumbing going off
the side of the Christmas tree to the flowline is called
the wing. If there is only one producing zone in the well, it is a single-wing tree. Two
producing zones require a double-wing tree with two wings on opposite sides to keep
the production separate. On the wing is a wing or flow valve to turn flow on and off
through that flowline. A swab valve on the upper part of the tree is used to open the
well to allow wireline equipment to be lowered down the well during a workover. A
pressure gauge at the top of the tree measures tubing pressure.

16. SCADA Room : SCADA implies a

highly configurable set of industrial
software applications that can be
used to support management of
almost any form of process
production. SCADA is widely applied
in the upstream, midstream, and
downstream oil and gas sectors. In
the upstream sector, its role often is
stereotyped as being largely in
support of remote data
transmission. There are reasons to
believe this will change. One reason to believe so is the wide and varied use of
SCADA in other industrial sectors. In addition, owners and operators are recognizing
how IT-based automation can productively address even the unique challenges of
the upstream oil and gas sector.
 Pic 2 : Gamij Field, ONGC, Ahmedabad

Project Details

Basin/Sub-Basin : GAMIJ
Field : Gamij
Target Depth(m) KB : 1323
Block Detail : Ahmedabad Mehsana Block
Consortium Members : ONGC
Operator : ONGC
Well Type : Development
Well Profile : Inclined
Lifting method being used : SRP, Christmas Tree
Rig Type : Cardwell
BOP Type : (RAM+Ann)-5M
Power to Mud Pump & Drawworks : Cummins Engine
Draw Works : KB-700
 There were 4 wells on that particular Gamij oilfield been visited by us. We’ll
be signifying the individual well in such manner :

(Well A with SRP installed) (Well B under drilling stage and derrick setup) (Well C&D with Christmas Tree)

 As we have already discussed the production process and production facilities

throughout the completion of Well C&D(with Christmas Tree installed) while
describing Wadu Field, we are now mainly concern with Well A & Well B.

Fig. : Drilling from a drilling pad(Like as on Gamij Field)

Operations been carried out on Well B, Gamij Field

Step 1.

A Geologist & Geophysics survey was conducted by Sub Surface team in search of K-
V pay zone by means of various exploring devices.
Step 2.

Once the survey is done, an accurate estimation is derived based on the data
available. On the basis of estimation, production facilities and other installations are
made at that particular field.

Step 3.

After installation of production facilities drilling process is carried out .Usually there
are two ways of drilling a well :

1. Vertical Well Drilling

2. Directional Well Drilling
of which, Directional Drilling was performed on all the wells of Gamij Field up to the
desired depth of production zone.

Fig. : Directional Drilling

Production Facilities available on Gamij Field

1. Derrick: The elevated section of a rig that rises above the substructure and houses
the crown block and draw works.

2. Driller’s Console: A control room of gauges, control levers, rheostats, and other
pneumatic, hydraulic and electronic instrumentation from where the driller operates
the pumps, drawworks, and rotary table. The driller also operates the drawworks
brake using a long-handled lever near drilling console.
 Fig. : Driller with Driller’s Console

3. Drawworks : The hoisting line is spooled around a

reel on a horizontal shaft in a steel frame called
the drawworks on the drill floor. The prime movers
drive the drawworks to wind and unwind the drilling
line. There are several speeds and both forward and
reverse on the reel. The driller controls the
drawworks from a brake, a hand lever, on the drill
floor. Drawworks are often rated by input
horsepower that commonly range from 500 to 3,000
hp. Small spools called catheads are attached to a
catshaft that runs horizontally through the
drawworks. They are used to pull lines such as the
jerk or spinning line.

4. Crown Block : A crown block is the stationary section of a block and tackle that
contains a set of pulleys or sheaves through which the drill line(wire rope) is
threaded or reeved and is opposite and above the traveling block.

5. Travelling Block : A traveling block is the freely moving section of a block and
tackle that contains a set of pulleys or sheaves through which the drill line (wire
rope) is threaded or reeved and is opposite (and under) the crown block (the
stationary section).
The combination of the traveling block, crown block and wire rope drill line gives the
ability to lift weights in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. On larger drilling rigs,
when raising and lowering the derrick, line tensions over a million pounds are not
unusual.
6. Prime Movers : The prime movers are diesel engines that supply power to the rig
and are usually located on the ground in back of the rig. Diesel fuel is stored in tanks
near the engines. Most of the power is used by the hoisting and circulating systems.
Some also goes to the rotating system, rig lights, and other motors. On a drilling rig,
the prime movers are diesel engines, and on a sucker-rod pumping unit, they are
electric motors.

7. Mud-Gas Separator (MGS) : A steel vessel mounted on the mud tanks that is
used to separate any gas out of the drilling mud coming from the well.

8. Hogs( Mud Pumps) : Large pumps driven by the prime movers, called mud hogs,
use pistons in cylinders to pump the drilling mud from the mud tank. Mud pumps are
either duplex or triplex. A duplex pump uses two double-acting pistons in cylinders
that drive the mud on both the forward and backward strokes. A triplex pump uses
three single-acting pistons in cylinders that drive the mud only during the forward
stroke. Triplex pump was being used on Wadu Field.

9. Mud Tanks : Drilling mud is stored in several steel mud tanks on the ground beside
the rig. The drilling mud is kept mixed in the tanks by rotating paddles on a shaft
called a mud agitator or by a high pressure jet in a mud gun. The mud tanks are 6 ft
(1.8 m) high, up to 8ft (2.4 m) wide, and are usually 26ft (7.9 m) long. They have two,
three, four, or more compartments. A common mud tank configuration has the
shaker tank receiving the drilling mud from the well after the cuttings have been
removed.

10. Shale Shaker : The shale shaker is located on the

mud tanks and is designed to separate the coarser
well cuttings from the drilling mud. It can be either
single or double deck. The doubledeck shaker has a
Fig. : Desanders and desilters.
coarser screen located above a finer screen. The
screens are tilted 10˚ from horizontal to cause the
11. Reserve Pit : Adjacent to the mud tanks but away from the rig is a large earthen
cuttings to vibrate down the screen and into the
pit called the reserve pit. It holds discarded mud for reuse and the cuttings from the
reserve pit. The mud then flows through other solids
shale shakers.
control devices such as cone-shaped desanders and
desilters that centrifuge the mud to remove finer
12. Trip Tank : A trip tank (a 10- to 40-barrel volume steel tank that holds drilling
particles. The mud then flows back into the mud Fig. : Shale Shaker
mud on the drill floor) is used to automatically keep the well filled with mud during
tanks to be recirculated down the well.
11. Desanders and Desilters:
Desanders and desilters are solid control
equipment with a set of hydrocyclones that
separate sand and silt from the drilling
fluids in drilling rigs. Desanders are installed
on top of the mud tank following the shale
shaker and the degasser, but before the
desilter. Desander removes the abrasive
solids from the drilling fluids which cannot
be removed by shakers. Normally the solids diameter for desander to be
separated would be 45~74μm, and 15~44μm for desilter.

12. Reserve Pit : Adjacent to the mud tanks but

away from the rig is a large earthen pit called the
reserve pit. It holds discharged mud for reuse and
the cuttings from the shale shaker.

Fig. : Reserve Pit and Mud Tanks.

13. Trip Tank : A trip tank ( a 10- to 40- barrel volume

steel tank that holds drilling mud on the drll floor) is
used to automatically keep the well filled with mud
during tripping out. Also, if the drill string is pulled from the well too fast, it could
suck gas out of the formation to start the kick.
14. Blow Out Preventer(BOP)
: BOPs are used to close off
the top of the well. They are
bolted (nippled up) to the top
of the well and are located
below the drill floor. Arranged
vertically in the BOP stack are
a series of rams and a
preventer. Blind rams are two
large blocks of steel that can
close over the well. Because
they have flat surfaces, they
can be thrown only when the
drillstring is not in the well. Pipe rams are two large blocks of steel that are designed
to close around pipe in the well. They have inserts cut into the surfaces to fit around
a specific size pipe. The annular preventer is made of synthetic rubber with steel ribs
in a doughnut-shape that fills a steel body.

Well A, being the oldest well in all the

above mentioned wells has lost its
natural potential to bring up the crude
on the surface and hence is equipped
with the most common artificial lift
system used i.e. Sucker Rod Pump. A
sucker-rod or rod-pumping system uses
a sucker-rod pump on the bottom of
the tubing string, a beam-pumping Fig. : Sucker Rod Pump
unit on the surface, and a sucker-rod string that runs down the well to connect them.
The traveling valve moves up and down, and the standing valve remains stationary.
Both valves allow fluid flow in only one direction. Each upward stroke of the traveling
valve lifts the oil and water up the tubing. There are commonly 10 to 20 strokes per
minute.
 Mud Testing Chamber on Gamij Field

1. Mud Balance : It consists of a graduated

beam with a bubble level and a weight slider
along its length and a cup with a lid on one end.
The cup is used to hold a fixed amount of fluid
so it can be weighed. A slider-weight can be
moved along the beam, and a bubble indicates
when the beam is level. Density is read at the point where the slider-weight sits on
the beam at level. Calibration is done using a liquid of known density (often fresh
water) by adjusting the counter weight.

2. Marsh Funnel : The Marsh funnel is a

simple device for measuring viscosity by
observing the time it takes a known volume of
liquid to flow from a cone through a short
tube. It is standardized for use by mud
engineers to check the quality of drilling mud.

3. Fann Viscometer: Also known as direct-

indicating viscometer or V-G meter, an
instrument used to measure viscosity and
gel strength of drilling mud. The direct
indicating viscometer is a rotational
cylinder and bob instrument. Two speeds of
rotation, 300 and 600 rpm, are available in
all instruments but some are 6- or variable
-speed. It is called “direct-indicating” because at a given speed, the dial reading is a
true viscosity.

4. Filter Press: A pressurized cell, fitted with a

filter medium, used for evaluating filtration
characteristics of a drilling fluid while it is
either static or stirred( to simulate circulation)
in the test cell. Generally, low-pressure, low-
temperature or high pressure, high
temperature devices are used.
 Names of different laboratories visited by us

1. INSTRUMENTATION LAB
2. WATER TESTING LAB
3. DEMULSIFIER LAB
4. OIL ANALYSIS LAB

1. Instrumentation Lab

Objective

To analyse the effect of various physical and chemical properties altered by means of
variation in flow rate, pressure or temperature.

Equipment used

Microcalorimeter : Microcalorimeter is used to study heat capacities and description

of thermal effects of phase transition and chemical reactions.

Viscometer : It is a laboratory device used to measure the way in which a liquid,

suspension or slurry flows in response to applied forces. It is used for those fluids
which cannot be defined by a single value of viscosity and therefore require more
parameters to be set and measured than is the case for a viscometer. It measures
the rheology of the fluid.

Flame Photometry : A photoelectric flame photometer is a device used in inorganic

chemical analysis to determine the concentration of certain metal ions, among
them sodium, potassium, lithium, and calcium. Group 1 and Group 2 metals are quite
sensitive to Flame Photometry due to their low excitation energies.

Muffel Furnace : A muffle furnace is a furnace with an extremely heated chamber,

the walls of which radiantly heat the contents of the chamber, so that the material
being heated has no contact with the flame. Muffle furnace are most often utilized
as a compact means of creating extremely high-temperature atmospheres. They are
employed to test the characteristics of materials at extremely high and accurate
temperature.

Gas Chromatography(GC) Column :

GC is an analytical method used for separation and analysis of compounds

that can be vaporized without decomposition in a complex mixture.
A GC uses a flow-through narrow tube known as the column, through which
different chemical constituents of a sample pass in a gas stream (carrier gas,
mobile phase) at different rates depending on their chemical & physical
properties and their interaction with a specific column filling(stationary
phase).
As the chemicals exit the end of the column, they are detected and identified
electronically. The function of the stationary phase in the column is to
separate different components, causing each one to exit the column at a
different time (retention time).
Retention Time (tR) = Dist. From injection point to centre of the peak
Chart Recorder speed
 2. Water Testing Lab

Injection Water Quality Control

In an oilfield operations, water quality is defined in terms of its plugging

tendency.
Plugging tendency is governed by type, size & shape of contaminants & pore
size distribution in the reservoir & its connectivity.
Clay mineralogy as well as salinity of injection water also affects permeability.
Ideally water quality should be such that there is no reduction in injectivity
during its injection life.

Desired Characteristics of Injection Water

It should be compatible with the formation fluid and rock.

It should not cause the formation plugging/injectivity decline.
Least corrosive and low scale forming tendency.
Free from bacterial activity.
What is considered acceptable quality in one area might quickly plug a
different formation.
Equipment Used

TDS Meter: A TDS meter indicates the total dissolved solids (TDS) of a solution, i.e.
the concentration of dissolved solid particles.
Dissolved ionized solids, such as salts and minerals, increase the electrical
conductivity (EC) of a solution. Because it is a volume measure of ionized solids, EC
can be used to estimate TDS. Dissolved organic solids, such as sugar, and microscopic
solid particles, such as colloids, do not significantly affect the conductivity of a
solution, and are not taken into account.
The most accurate way to measure all TDS in water in a laboratory is to evaporate
the water leaving behind dissolved solutes as residue, and then weighing the residue.

Turbidity Meter (Nephelometer) : A nephelometer is an instrument for measuring

concentration of suspended particulates in a liquid or gas colloid. A nephelometer
measures suspended particulates by employing a light beam (source beam) and
a light detector set to one side (often 90°) of the source beam. Particle density is
then a function of the light reflected into the detector from the particles. To some
extent, how much light reflects for a given density of particles is dependent upon
properties of the particles such as their shape, color, and reflectivity. Nephelometers
are calibrated to a known particulate, then use environmental factors (k-factors) to
compensate lighter or darker colored dusts accordingly. K-factor is determined by
the user by running the nephelometer next to an air sampling pump and comparing
results. There is a wide variety of research-grade nephelometers on the market as
well as open source varieties.

3. Demulsifier Lab

Definitions

Emulsion : An emulsion is a colloidal dispersion of one liquid( disperse phase)

in another( continous phase).
Types of Emulsion :
 Water-in-Oil
 Oil-in-Water
 Complex/Multiple emulsions
Macroemulsions, size > 0.1µm
Microemulsions, size < 0.1µm
 Oil-field emulsions are Water-in-Oil macroemulsions.

Emulsion Stability

Emulsions are inherently unstable.

Classified based on their kinetic stability
 Loose - few minutes
 Medium - tens of minutes
 Tight – hours, days
Presence of emulsifying agents films acts as physical barrier to coalescence

Factors affecting Emulsion stability

Heavy polar material in the crude oil.

Fine solids including organics (asphaltenes, waxes) and inorganics (clay, scales,
and corrosion products).
Temperature
Droplet size and their distribution
pH of the brine
Brine Composition

Demulsification

Breaking of crude oil emulsion into oil and

Water phases.
From a process point of view:
 Rate or speed of separation
 Residual water in oil & Residual oil
in water.
Separated oil should contain less than 0.2% water in Nawagam Desalter Crude
and should not contain more than 1% water in other emulsions.
Should not contain >15 PTB salt in NGM DS treated oil.

Mechanism involved in Demulsification( of Crude)

Flocculation :
 Droplets clum together forming “floccs”.
 May not loose their identity.
 Rate of flocculation depends on
1) Watercut of the emulsion 2)Temperature
3)Viscosity of the oil 4)Density difference
5)Electrostatic field.
 Coalescence :
 Water droplets fuse or coalesce to form a
Larger droplet.
 Coalescence is enhanced by
1)High Rate of flocculation 2)High Watercuts
3)Absence of mechanically strong IFF 4)Low Oil Viscosity
5)High Interfacial tensioners 6)Low Interfacial Viscosity
7)Chemical Demulsifiers 8)High temperatures

Method used for emulsion breaking or demulsification

Thermal methods : Heating reduces the oil viscosity and increases the water-
settling rates. Increased temperatures also result in the destabilization of the
rigid films because of reduced interfacial viscosity. Furthermore, the
coalescence frequency of water droplets is increased because of the higher
thermal energy of the droplets.

Mechanical methods: There is a wide variety of mechanical equipment

available for breaking oilfield emulsions including:

 Free-water knockout drums

 Two- and three-phase separators (low- and high-pressure traps),
 Desalters
 Settling tanks

Electrical methods: Electrostatic grids are sometimes used for emulsion

treatment. When a nonconductive liquid (oil) that contains a dispersed
conductive liquid (water) is subjected to an electrostatic field, the water
droplets become polarized and tend to align themselves with the lines of
electric force. In so doing, the positive and negative poles of the droplets are
brought adjacent to each other. Electrical attraction brings the droplets
together and causes them to coalesce.

Chemical methods: The most common method of emulsion treatment is

adding demulsifiers. These chemicals are designed to neutralize the stabilizing
effect of emulsifying agents. Demulsifiers are surface-active compounds that,
when added to the emulsion, migrate to the oil/water interface, rupture or
weaken the rigid film, and enhance water droplet coalescence. Optimum
emulsion breaking with a demulsifier requires a properly selected chemical for
the given emulsion; adequate quantity of this chemical; adequate mixing of
the chemical in the emulsion; and sufficient retention time in separators to
 settle water droplets. It may also require the addition of heat, electric grids,
and coalescers to facilitate or completely resolve the emulsion. Demulsifier
chemicals contain the following components:

 Solvents(Xylene preferably being used in lab, ONGC)

 Surface-active ingredients
 Flocculants

NOTE : Testing procedure used to select appropriate chemicals- Bottle Test

A Soxhlet extractor is a piece of laboratory apparatus

which was originally designed for the extraction of a lipid
from a solid material. Typically, a Soxhlet extraction is
used when the desired compound has
a limited solubility in a solvent, and the impurity
is insoluble in that solvent. It allows for unmonitored and
unmanaged operation while efficiently recycling a small
amount of solvent to dissolve a larger amount of
material.

4. Oil Analysis Lab

“Crude Oil” means all kinds of hydrocarbons in liquid form in their natural state or
obtained by Natural Gas by condensation or extraction. It is a hydrocarbon mixture
having simple to most complex structures such as resins, asphaltenes etc.

The hydrocarbon in crudes are mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes and various aromatic
hydrocarbons while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen and
sulphur and trace amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium.

Overall properties of crude oils like pour point, API Gravity and Viscosity are
dependent upon their chemical composition and structure.

Hydrocarbon Classification

PARAFFINIC BASE : Waxy, Less Asphaltic, Low Sulphur, High Pour Point
 NAPHTHENIC BASE : Naphthenic base stocks, Less Wax, Less Asphaltic, Low
Pour Point.
ASPHALTIC BASE : High Sulphur, Nitrogen, Suitable for base oils.

Saturate, Aromatic, Resin and Asphaltene (SARA) is an analysis method that

divides crude oil components according to their polarizability and polarity. The
saturate fraction consists of nonpolar material including linear, branched, and cyclic
saturated hydrocarbons (paraffins). Aromatics, which contain one or more aromatic
rings, are slightly more polarizable. The remaining two fractions, resins
and asphaltenes, have polar substituents. The distinction between the two is that
asphaltenes are insoluble in an excess of heptane (or pentane) whereas resins are
miscible with heptane (or pentane).

For desirable crude

Saturates + Asphaltin < 0.7( or is equals to 0.7)

Resin + Aromatic

Equipment Used

Dean-Stark Apparatus :
The Dean-Stark Apparatus or Dean-Stark Head is a piece
of laboratory glassware used in synthetic chemistry to
collect water (or occasionally other liquid) from a reactor. It
is used in combination with a reflux condenser and a batch
reactor for continuous removal of the water that is produced
during a chemical reaction performed at reflux temperature.

Brookfield Viscometer :
The Brookfield Viscometer makes it possible to measure
viscosity by employing techniques in viscometry. To be able
to measure the sample’s viscosity in the Brookfield
viscometer, the material needs to be stationary inside a
container while the spindle moves while immersed in the
fluid. Another possible option is to move the container with a
stationary spindle. Whatever option is being used, the
material must be able to produce a laminar flow over the
spindle while moving.
Conclusion
The three days industrial visit was acquaint with ample of knowledge from the very
first moment it begin. The congenial manifestation of theoretical teaching was
evident to us. The consecutive field and laboratory visit was very helpful in
understanding the entire operations been carried out in proper hierarchy i.e. from
bringing up the crude to its testing. We were mentored by some highly dignified and
experienced officials of ONGC who were throughout very supportive and alacritous
in clearing our doubts as and when needed. Altogether, the three days experience of
ours was filled with redundant of knowledge and precise understanding of how
actually the bookish knowledge works on a practical ground. We are highly
overwhelmed and thankful to DIT University and ONGC for their co-ordination in
conducting this Industrial visit which enriched us inside out.