Rules of Thumb for Petroleum Engineers

The most comprehensive and thorough reference work available for petroleum engineers of all levels. Finally, there is a one-stop reference book for the petroleum engineer which offers practical, easy-to-understand responses to complicated technical questions. This is a must-have for any engineer or non-engineer working in the petroleum industry, anyone studying petroleum engineering, or any reference library. Written by one of the most well-known and prolific petroleum engineering writers who has ever lived, this modern classic is sure to become a staple of any engineer's library and a handy reference in the field. Whether open on your desk, on the hood of your truck at the well, or on an offshore platform, this is the only book available that covers the petroleum engineer's rules of thumb that have been compiled over decades. Some of these "rules," until now, have been "unspoken but everyone knows," while others are meant to help guide the engineer through some of the more recent breakthroughs in the industry's technology, such as hydraulic fracturing and enhanced oil recovery. The book covers every aspect of crude oil, natural gas, refining, recovery, and any other area of petroleum engineering that is useful for the engineer to know or to be able to refer to, offering practical solutions to everyday engineering problems and a comprehensive reference work that will stand the test of time and provide aid to its readers. If there is only one reference work you buy in petroleum engineering, this is it.

Table of Contents:
Preface xv About the Author xxi Abrasion 1 Absorption 3 Acid Gas Removal 5 Acid Gas Scrubbing 9 Acid Number 11 Acid Rain 13 Acid-Base Catalysts 15 Acidity and Alkalinity 17 Acidizing 19 Adsorption 21 Adsorption Isotherm 23 Adulteration 25 Air Emissions 27 Alcohol Blended Fuels 29 Alcohols 31 Alicyclic Hydrocarbons 33 Aliphatic Hydrocarbons 35 Alloys – Composition 37 Amine Absorber 39 Amine Condenser 41 Amine Washing 43 Ammonia 45 Aniline Point 47 Anticline 49 Antoine Equation 51 API Gravity 53 Aromatic Hydrocarbons 59 Asphalt Manufacture 61 Asphaltene Constituents 63 Associated Natural Gas 65 Atmospheric Equivalent Boiling Point 67 Auto-ignition Temperature 69 Barrel 71 Baumé Gravity 73 Benchmark Crude Oil 75 Bernoulli’s Principle 77 Biomass and Biofuels 79 Bitumen 83 Bituminous Rock and Bituminous Sand 85 Black Acids 87 Black Oil 89 Blending and Mixing 91 Boiling Point and Boiling Range 95 Brine 97 Bubble Point and Bubble Point Pressure 99 Bureau of Mines Correlation Index 101 Calorific Value 103 Capillary Forces 105 Capillary Number 107 Capillary Pressure 109 Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide 111 Carbon Number and Possible Isomers 113 Carbonate Reservoir 115 Carbonate Washing and Water Washing 117 Catalyst Pore Diameter 119 Catalytic Materials 121 Catalytic Reforming 123 Cementation Value 125 Cetane Index 127 Characterization Factor 129 Chemical Reaction Rates 131 Chemicals Reactive with Water 133 Chemometrics 135 Clausius Equation and Clausius-Clapeyron Equation 137 Coal – General Properties 139 Coke Yield from Conradson Carbon 141 Common Acronyms 143 Common Names of Selected Chemical Compounds 145 Common Unit Conversions 147 Commonly Used Constants 149 Compressibility 151 Coning 153 Conversion Charts 155 Conversion Factors 157 Correlation Index 163 Corrosion 165 Corrosion – Fuel Ash 167 Corrosion – Naphthenic Acid 169 Cricondenbar 171 Cricondentherm 173 Critical Properties 175 Critical Temperatures of Gases 177 Crude Oil – Assay 179 Crude Oil – Classification 181 Crude Oil – Desalting 183 Crude Oil – Distillation 185 Crude Oil – Fractional Composition 187 Crude Oil – Hydrotreating 189 Crude Oil – Molecular Composition 191 Crude Oil – Primary Recovery 193 Crude Oil – Recovery 195 Crude Oil – Refining 197 Crude Oil – Residua 201 Crude Oil – Sampling and Analysis 203 Crude Oil – Secondary Recovery 205 Crude Oil – Tertiary Recovery 207 Crude Oil from Tight Formations 209 Darcy and Non-Darcy Flow in Porous Media 211 Darcy’s Law 213 Decimal Multipliers for SI Prefixes 215 Decline Curve Evaluation 217 Delivery Point 219 Density, Specific Gravity, and API Gravity 221 Density-Boiling Point Constant 223 Determining Depreciation 225 Dew Point Temperature and Pressure 227 Dielectric Constant 229 Dielectric Loss and Power Factor 231 Diesel Index 233 Dipole Moment 235 Distillation 237 Distillation – Flooding 239 Distillation – Gap-Overlap 241 Drilling Fluid 243 Drilling Fluid Additives 245 E85 Fuel 247 Embrittlement 249 Embrittlement – Hydrogen 251 Emulsion 253 Enhanced Oil Recovery 255 Environmental Regulations 259 Evaporation 261 Expansion and Contraction of Solids 263 Explosive Limits 265 Fire Point 267 Fischer-Tropsch Chemistry 269 Flammability and Flammability Limits 271 Flash Point 273 Flow Through Porous Media 275 Fluid Catalytic Cracking – Chemistry 277 Fluid Flow Fundamentals 279 Fluid Flow Through Permeable Media 281 Fluid Flow 289 Fluid Saturation 291 Foamy Oil 293 Formation Volume Factor 295 Fouling 297 Fracturing Fluids 299 Fuel Oil 303 Functional Groups 305 Fundamental Physical Constants 309 Gas Deviation Factor 311 Gas Formation Volume Factor 313 Gas Laws 315 Gas Processing – Hydrogen Sulfide Conversion 319 Gas Processing – Metal Oxide Processes 321 Gas Processing – Olamine Processes 323 Gas Processing – Sweetening 325 Gas Processing – Absorption and Adsorption Processes 327 Gas Processing – Acid Gas Removal 329 Gas Processing – Carbonate and Water Washing Processes 331 Gas Processing – Catalytic Oxidation Processes 333 Gas Processing - Fractionation 335 Gas Processing – Gas-Oil Separation 337 Gas Processing – Liquids Removal 339 Gas Processing – Metal Oxide Processes 341 Gas Processing – Methanol-Based Processes 343 Gas Processing – Molecular Sieve Processes 345 Gas Processing – Nitrogen Removal 347 Gas Processing – Physical Solvent Processes 349 Gas Processing – Plant Schematic and Products 351 Gas Processing – Processes and Process Selection 353 Gas Processing – Water Removal 361 Gas Solubility 363 Gas-Condensate Reservoirs 365 Gaseous Fuels 367 Gaseous Hydrocarbons – General Properties 369 Gasification – Chemistry 371 Gasification – Refinery Resids 373 Gas-Liquid Solubility 375 Gas-Oil Ratio 377 Gas-Oil Separation 379 Gasoline – Component Streams 381 Gas-to-Liquids 383 Geological Time Scale 385 Geothermal Gradient 387 Glycol 389 Grease 391 Greek Alphabet 393 Hazardous Chemicals 395 Hazardous Waste 399 Heat Capacity 401 Heat Content of Petroleum Products 403 Heat Exchangers 405 Heat of Combustion of Petroleum Fuels 407 Heat of Combustion of Petroleum Fuels 409 Heat Transfer Coefficient 411 Heat Transfer – Convection and Conduction 413 Heating Value 415 Heavy Feedstock Conversion – Thermal Processes 417 Heterogeneity 419 Heterogeneous Catalysis and Homogeneous Catalysis 421 High-Acid Crudes 423 Hydrate Formation and Prevention 425 Hydraulic Fracturing 427 Hydrocarbon Gases – Physical Constants 429 Hydroconversion 431 Hydrogen Chloride 433 Hydrogen in Refineries 435 Hydrogen Sulfide Conversion 437 Hydrogen Sulfide 439 Hydrogen 441 Hydrostatic Pressure 443 Ideal Gas 445 Improved Oil Recovery Processes 447 Incompatible Chemicals 449 Ionic Liquids 451 Isothermal Compressibility of Oil 453 Kinematic Viscosity 455 Liquefied Petroleum Gas 457 Liquid-Gas Separators 459 Lubricants – Classification 461 Lubricating Oil – Base Stock 463 M85 465 Marx-Langenheim Model 467 Material Balance 469 Mean Density – Gas-Air Mixture 471 Mean Density – Gas-Air Mixture 473 Metals Content and FCC Coke Production 475 Methane 477 Molecular Weight of Petroleum Fractions 479 Naphthenic Acids – Corrosion in Distillation Units 481 Naphthenic Acids – Mitigating Corrosion 483 Naphthenic Acids 485 Natural Gas - Associated 487 Natural Gas – Composition 489 Natural Gas – Compressibility 493 Natural Gas – Measurement 495 Natural Gas – Nonassociated 497 Natural Gas – Properties 499 Natural Gas – Specific Gravity 505 Natural Gas – Phase Behavior 507 Natural Gas – Sweetening 509 Natural Gasoline 511 Nitrogen and Nitrogen Oxide Gases 513 Nonassociated Natural Gas 515 Octane Barrel Yield 517 Octane Number 519 Oil and Gas from Tight Formations 521 Oil and Gas Originally in Place 523 Oil Recovery Factor 525 Oil Shale – General Classification 527 Oilfield Chemicals 529 Olamine Processes 531 Olamine 533 On-Stream Factor 535 Opportunity Crudes 537 Organic Compounds – Physical and Thermochemical Data 539 Organic Solvents 547 Oxygen 549 Ozone 551 Paraffin Hydrocarbons 553 Particle Size Classification 555 Permeability 557 Petrochemicals 559 Petroleum Products – Heat Content 561 Petroleum Products 563 Phase Behavior 567 Polychlorobiphenyls 569 Porosity 573 Prefixes 575 Pressure Conversion 577 Principal Component Analysis 579 Process System 581 Product Blending 583 Production Engineering Units 585 Productivity Index 587 Proppants 589 PVT Properties 591 Rate of Reaction 593 Reactor Types 595 Recovery Methods 597 Refinery Feedstocks – Corrosive Constituents 599 Refinery Gas 601 Refinery Types 603 Refinery Units – Materials of Construction and Operating Conditions 605 Refractive Index and Specific Refraction 607 Relative Density 609 Relative Permeability 611 Relative Volatility 613 Reserves – Estimation 615 Reserves 617 Reservoir Crude Oil 619 Reservoir – Drive Mechanisms 621 Reservoir Pressure 623 Reservoir – Types and Classification 625 Reservoir 627 Resid Upgrading Technologies 629 Resource Estimation 631 Retrograde Condensate Systems 633 Retrograde Condensation 635 Reynolds Number 637 Rock Types 639 SARA Analysis 641 Saturated Steam 643 Saturation 645 Sediments, Reservoirs, and Deposits 647 Separators – Gas-Oil Separation 649 Shale Gas Formation 651 Shale Gas Reservoirs – Variation in Shale Properties 653 Shale Gas – Variations in Composition 655 Shale Oil (Kerogen-Derived Oil) – Variation in Properties 657 Shale Plays – Properties 659 SI – International System of Units 661 Solubility Parameter 667 Solvents 669 Specific Gravity 673 Specific Heat 675 Stress-Corrosion Cracking 677 Sulfur Dioxide 679 Sulfur Material Balance 681 Supercritical Fluids 683 Surface Tension 685 Sweetening Processes 687 Synthesis Gas 689 Tar Sand 691 Test Methods 695 Contents xvii Thermal Conductivity 697 Thermal Cracking Processes 699 Tight Formations 701 Unit Process 703 Vapor Density 705 Vapor Pressure 707 Viscosity 709 Viscosity Index 713 Viscosity of Petroleum Fractions 715 Viscosity-Gravity Constant 717 Volume Flow Rate 719 Volumetric Evaluation 721 Volumetric Factors 723 Water – Boiling Point Variation with Pressure 725 Water –Common Impurities 727 Water – Density and Viscosity in Relation to Temperature 729 Water Saturation 731 Watson Characterization Factor 733 Weights and Measures – Density 735 Weights and Measures – Fuels 737 Weights and Measures - General 739 Well Casing 741 Wellbore Stability Analysis 743 Wettability 745 Wobbe Index 747 Working Gas 749 Bibliography and Information Sources 751

About the Author :
James G. Speight, PhD, has more than forty-five years of experience in energy, environmental science, and ethics. He is the author of more than 65 books in petroleum science, petroleum engineering, biomass and biofuels, and environmental sciences. Although he has always worked in private industry which focused on contract-based work, Dr. Speight has served as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical and Fuels Engineering at the University of Utah and in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Wyoming. In addition, he was a Visiting Professor in the College of Science, University of Mosul, Iraq and has also been a Visiting Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Trinidad and Tobago.