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Research and Facilities
Louisiana State University serves
as Louisiana's flagship institution for petroleum engineering
research. It is consistently ranked with the top petroleum
engineering departments in the nation. Through previous research for
the MMS and industry, the department has developed a
state-of-the-art multiphase research facility at the Research and
Technology Transfer Laboratory. Departmental research covers a wide
range of research problems associated with drilling and production
of oil and gas. The total research funding awarded to the department
during the last two years exceeded $1.2 million. Primary research
projects include the following:
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Downhole Water Sink Technology Initiative - The Joint
Industry Program (JIP) has been carried out at LSU since
1997. The program addresses R&D, technical support and
transfer of a novel technology for petroleum wells affected
by high water production problem – Downhole Water Sink (DWS)
technology. The technology derives from a hydrodynamic
concept of simultaneous production of oil and water drainage
in a dual completed well. The JIP has developed DWS through
field implementations of the technology by the member
companies, and concurrent research and technical support
provided by the LSU team of researchers lead by Dr. Andrew K. Wojtanowicz.
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Well Control and Blowout Prevention - Development of technology for safe handling of high
subsurface pressures of gas formations during drilling
operations. The program encompasses topics such as dynamic
killing and unloading procedures, underground blowouts,
formation of craters under drilling structures, motion of
gas kicks in inclined wellbores, sensing and transmitting
bottomhole data, and the automation of well control.
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Improved/Enhanced Recovery -
Methodology of locating large volumes of by-passed oil using
reservoir simulation studies followed by reservoir field
studies. This program also includes tertiary recovery
projects involving injection of carbon dioxide and/or other
gases to partially depleted oil reservoirs. These projects
are supported by fundamental laboratory experiments, as well
as analytical prediction models to determine ultimate
recovery factors.
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Formation Evaluation - Development
of interpretation techniques for well logging data. This
program includes topics such as models for sandy-shales,
pore pressure inference from MWD data, and evaluation of
fractured formations.
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Environmental Control - The
program targets oilfield process improvements and
modifications leading to pollution prevention and
productivity enhancement. This approach involves modeling of
the oilfield process-born mechanisms of pollution and
development of new, cost-effective methods and techniques to
meet environmental compliance requirements. On-site
disposal, downhole injection drilling, fluids processing,
oil/water separation, subsurface zonal isolation, toxicity
testing, and in situ reduction of produced water. The
program encompasses development of novel technology for well
completion with downhole water sink.
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Well Completion Fluid Dynamics -
Optimization of well operations requires accurate prediction
of the dynamic processes employed during the completion or
workover. A prior prediction of fluid flow behavior during
circulation and treating operations has often been
disappointing. This research is aimed at improving pressure
and temperature prediction for flow of gas, foam, brines,
gels and proppant laden fluids. Data driven, real-time
methods are being developed to improve prediction of
circulation and treating fluid flow using the unique
field-scale facilities of the
LSU PERTT Lab. |
PERTT Lab - Well Control and Blowout Prevention Training Schedule
The department's Petroleum Engineering Research & Technology Transfer Laboratory (PERTT
LAB) provides a versatile research environment for
performing multiphase flow experiments on field scale tubulars at
high pressures and it represents nearly $2 million in industry and
government capital investment since the early 80's. A full time
laboratory support staff and several graduate assistants maintain
their offices at this site. A number of student workers are also
employed at the site for routine maintenance work and research
support. This facility is an industrial-scale facility having
full-scale equipment and instrumentation for conducting research
related to borehole technology. Much of this equipment was assembled
to support past research and training activities in the area of
blowout prevention. The key components are a 1200-bbl. capacity
drilling fluid mixing and circulating system; a high-pressure choke
manifold and process control system; a 6,000-ft. model well for
floating drilling operations; a 5,884-ft. model well for bottom
supported drilling operations; a high pressure underground gas
formation simulator; a full-scale model well diverter system; a
10,000-ft. drill pipe flow loop; and a 100-ft. derrick and 55-ft.
inclined wellbore analog.Several improvements have been implemented at the
Well. A new 1850 sq. ft. modular classroom building has
replaced our old classroom. The new building includes a main
classroom that is about 30% larger and has a large computer training
room with new computers and a library/conference room. The computer
room will allow computer-based training modules to be implemented.The training facilities are used for
undergraduate and graduate classes as well as industry schools in well control and blowout prevention training. The new improved
facilities now allows us to offer training in areas other than well
control. For more information, contact John Rogers Smith. A PowerPoint presentation further describes the facility.
Facility Features
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Horizontal Flow Loop - 9,460 ft of high pressure,
4 1/2" drill pipe
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Vertical Test Wells
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6 wells with depths from 5,884 to
1,252 ft
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Concentric and dual completions for
maximum flexibility
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On-site wire line unit for
bottomhole pressure and temperature measurement
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Inclined Flow Loop - 48 ft., high
pressure, concentric test section
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Infrastructure
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Adjacent 700 psig natural gas
pipeline (rates up to 35 MMscf/day
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2 Hallibuton cementing pumps (250 hp
each, 11 bpm max rate)
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1,200 bbl fluid system with mixing
station, etc.
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High pressure gas compressor
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2 flare stacks
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