Hydrocarbon recovery

It is now well documented that immobilized cultures offer numerous advantages relative to free cultures including a pronounced protective influence. In addition, the studies concerned with B. braunii revealed that immobilization can stimulate hydrocarbon production and increase the efficiency of recovery with biocompatible solvents. 

Finally, B. braunii presently appears to be the best candidate species for the possible production of renewable hydrocarbons, by large scale culture of photosynthetic organisms. The non-isoprenoid and the iso-prenoid hydrocarbons produced by the different races of B. braunii might thus be used as multipurpose feedstocks, either as such or after chemical transformations. 

Aaronson, S., T. Berner, K. Gold, L. Kushner, N.J. Patni, A. Repak, and D. Rubin Some observations on the green planktonic alga, Botryococcus braunii and its bloom form. J. Plankton Res. 5, 693 (1983). 

Hillen Study of a bloom of the oil-rich alga Botryococcus braunii in the Darwin River Reservoir. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 22, 1637 (1980). 

Blackburn, K.B. A reinvestigation of the alga Botryococcus braunii Kiitzing. Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 58, 841 (1936). 

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All the parameters discussed above are needed to calculate the volume of hydrocarbons in the reservoir. The formation permeability is a measure of the ease with which fluids can pass through the reservoir, and hence is needed for estimating well productivity, reservoir performance and hydrocarbon recovery. 

Dehydration may also be accompHshed by expansion refrigeration which utilizes the Joule-Thompson effect. This technique is normally used when the prime objective is hydrocarbon recovery. 

Benzene is a natural component of petroleum, but the amount of benzene present ia most cmde oils is small, often less than 1.0% by weight (34). Therefore the recovery of benzene from cmde oil is uneconomical and was not attempted on a commercial scale until 1941. To add further compHcations, benzene cannot be separated from cmde oil by simple distillation because of azeotrope formation with various other hydrocarbons. Recovery is more economical if the petroleum fraction is subjected to a thermal or catalytic process that iacreases the concentration of benzene. 

Hydrocarbon Recovery. Toluene is typically recovered from the oxidizer vent gases through the use of refrigeration followed by activated carbon adsorption. 

Steam strip spent doctor solution to hydrocarbon recovery before air regeneration replace treating unit with other, less objectionable units (Merox) Use sour water oxidizers and gas incineration ... 

Figure 8-57. Flow diagram of absorption-stripping for hydrocarbon recovery from gaseous mixture. Used by permission, Edmister, W. C., Petroleum Erjgr., Sept. (1947) to January (1948).

The polymerization of ethylene can also occur in a liquid-phase system where a hydrocarbon diluent is added. This requires a hydrocarbon recovery system. 

M. Johnson. Fluid systems for controlling fluid losses during hydrocarbon recovery operations. Patent EP 691454,1996. 

R. D. Sydansk. Enhanced liquid hydrocarbon recovery process. Patent US 5129457, 1992. 

R. D. Sydansk. Hydrocarbon recovery process utilizing a gel prepared from a polymer and a preformed crosslinking agent. Patent US 5415229,1995. 

N. E. S. Thompson and R. G. Asperger. Dithiocarbamates for treating hydrocarbon recovery operations and industrial waters. Patent US 4864075, 1989. 

Alberta Research Council, Oil Sands and Hydrocarbon Recovery Department, P.O. Box 8330, Postal Station F, Edmonton, Alberta T6H... 

Japenga et al. [56] determined polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorinated insecticides in River Elbe estuary sediments by a procedure in which the sediments were pretreated with acetic acid, mixed with silica and Soxhlet-extracted with benzene/hexane. Humic material and elemental sulphur were removed by passing the extract through a chromatographic column containing basic alumina, on which sodium sulphite and sodium hydroxide were adsorbed. Silica fractionation was followed by gas chromatography to analyse chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Recovery experiments with standard solutions gave recoveries of 90-102%. 

At the time of writing, there were only three major C02 storage projects worldwide, all of them related to hydrocarbon recovery Sleipner/SACS (Norway), In Salah (Algeria) and Weyburn (Canada/USA). For all three, the amount of C02 injected is in the range of 1 Mt C02 per year. 

There is further the Weyburn field in Canada, where C02 from the Dakota gasification plant is used for enhanced oil recovery. The Weyburn case stands for an example of the use of C02 from a fossil-fuel plant for enhanced oil recovery and for underground storage. Nevertheless this activity is also performed within the context of hydrocarbon recovery, where special regulations apply in many countries worldwide. 

Mishra, S., Parker, J. C., and Kaluarachchi, J. J., 1989b, Analysis of Uncertainty in Predictions of Hydrocarbon Recovery from Spill Sites Journal of Contaminate Hydrology, in review. 

Summary of Conventional LNAPL Hydrocarbon Recovery Alternatives... 

Blake, S. B. and Gates, M. N., 1986, Vacuum-Enhanced Hydrocarbon Recovery A Case Study In Proceedings of the National Water Well Association Conference on Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Organic Chemicals in Groundwater Prevention, Detection and Restoration, November, pp. 709-721. 

Normally, treatment of coproduced groundwater during hydrocarbon recovery operations will include, as a minimum, oil-water separation and the removal of dissolved volatile hydrocarbon fractions (i.e., benzene, toluene, and total xylenes). In addition, removal of inorganic compounds and heavy metals (i.e., iron) is often required. Dissolved iron, a common dissolved constituent in groundwater, for example, may require treatment prior to downstream treatment processes to prevent fouling problems in air-stripping systems. Heavy metals removal is normally accomplished by chemical precipitation. 

At one refinery, the following groundwater flow and water quality conditions were determined to be applicable during hydrocarbon recovery operations ... 

Fryberger, J. S. and Shepard, D. C., 1987, Reinjection of Water at Hydrocarbon Recovery Sites In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Class V Injection Well Technology. USEPA and UIPC, September, Washington, D.C. 

Stover, E. L., 1989, Coproduced Ground Water Treatment and Disposal Options during Hydrocarbon Recovery Operations Ground Water Monitoring Review, Winter, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 75-82. 

Laney, D. F., 1988, Hydrocarbon Recovery as Remediation of Vadose Zone Soil/Gas Contamination In Proceedings of the National Water Well Association Second National Outdoor Conference on Aquifer Restoration, Groundwater Monitoring and Geophysical Methods, Vol. Ill, Las Vegas, NV, May, pp. 1147-1171. 

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