This paper demonstrates the increasing use of waterless methods in oil and gas industry. Waterless methods aim to make unconventional oil and gas well more environmental friendly. While waterless fracturing is still relatively rare in the United States, it is more common in operations north of the border. Gas-energized fracturing has a significant advantage over traditional water-based methods: it requires less proppant, which saves money, and it can double oil and gas recovery from a well. Praxair, a supplier of industrial gases based in Danbury, Conn., has developed a system that relies on a different liquefied gas. Its DryFrac technology relies on liquid carbon dioxide that is mixed with sand and sent down the hole under high pressure. The experts point out that in places where hydraulic fracturing’s water use is becoming a real constraint to exploiting shale formations, it is likely that petroleum companies will find that it is worth it to make the commitment to waterless fracturing.

This article presents discussions conducted in an event held in Washington, D.C., dedicated to the topic of the international shipment of energy. The session was called, ‘The Geopolitical Implications and Mutual Benefits of U.S. LNG Exports.’ The broad consensus was that, to create greater stability in international energy markets, United States should increase its exports of liquefied natural gas. The panelists also had a view on the fact that there also are many concerns about the environmental impact and ultimate costs of the practice. Hydraulic fracturing certainly has extended the Oil Age, but it does not assure a supply of gas and oil forever. The industry is being confronted with bans and moratoria that must be resolved. The new abundance and the costs in achieving it have created euphoria in some quarters and deep concerns in others.

This article discusses various uses and benefits of hydraulic fracturing technology in the field of oil industry. Engineers continue to increase hydraulic fracturing efficiency by developing better multistage stimulation systems. These systems enable treatment of many intervals along a horizontal wellbore with a minimum number of pull-outs, or even in a single continuous operation. Many key advances in drilling and hydrofracturing have resulted from sophisticated modeling programs. Mechanical engineers play key roles in many aspects of hydrofracturing, especially the design of better down-hole tools, new materials, and improved numerical models. With the advances in modeling and real-time measurement, operators can deliver just the right type of fracking pressure, exactly where they want it, and repeat the process as needed, either in the same well, one that parallels it, or one that radiates out from the same central drill pad. The experts feel that if the world wishes to fully use its oil-and-gas resources, it will go hand-in-hand with hydraulic fracturing.

This article focuses on the need to develop alternatives to fossil fuels for present-day and future energy systems. The direction of energy research ought to be toward material science that can extend the life and lower the cost of renewable energy systems, rather than toward highly theoretical analyses that have over-the-horizon payoffs. Additionally, the planning for a smooth transition from fossil based to sustainable energy must include a side-by-side analysis of the economics as well as the energy return on energy investment (EROI) of each potential system. The EROI analysis would ensure the long-term viability of the technology, and the commercial analysis would show how much the system will cost and, thereby, provide an estimate of the money required for the installation in the transition period. The transition from the oil- and coal-based economy to a sustainably based future is not expected to be easy; however, taking advantage of the low-hanging fruit of conservation and energy efficiency will make that transition easier and much less painful.

This article analyzes the energy identity crisis in some oil-producing countries. It highlights that the retail price for gasoline in countries such as Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen was at or below the cost on the world market of the petroleum needed to produce it. However, Egypt went from an exporter of more than 300,000 barrels of oil a day in 1999 to a net importer beginning in 2009. And as a consequence, the prices for gasoline in Egypt went from below the raw material cost in 2006 to being comparable to those in the United States. Tunisia shifted from an exporter to an importer in 2000. Thanks to strong consumption growth, Bahrain has also seen its exports plummet from more than 30,000 barrels a day in the 1990s to around 3500 today. The Saudi consumption curve is climbing at about 4% per year, and unless the country can raise production above 11 million barrels a day, its exports will disappear by 2050.

This article discusses how knowledge of ASME codes helped an engineer in his career. Aby Thomas was a young engineer in India in the 1990s when he got an invitation from a Saudi Arabian company for the job of a project engineer. Aby was able to get this job, thanks to his knowledge of manufacturing pressure vessels and boilers and of ASME code requirements. In that job, Aby helped the company in setting up to meet all the requirements for obtaining the ASME, USA, and PP Stamps in the first external audit. As a result, Aby was promoted a level, from project engineer (mechanical) to superintendent (fabrication) immediately and in the next year one more level as general superintendent. Later, Aby's experience with ASME and National Board codes helped him secure another job in Bahrain. He joined the Bahrain Petroleum Co. in 2002 at the Bahrain Refinery as a field supervisor and today he is employed as a senior engineer for cost and planning in the plant engineering department.

This article focuses on the Oil Age, which began 150 years ago in Pennsylvania and forecasts suggest that it has only few decades left for extinction. In today’s world, much of the fire comes from petroleum, which was first extracted from the ground for commercial purposes 150 years ago. Whale oil was prized for best light and low soot, but production peaked in the 1840s. This was the decade when Herman Melville sailed on a whaling ship, which inspired Moby Dick . The modern Oil Age can be traced to a well near Oil Creek in the northwestern Pennsylvania community of Titusville, where an enterprise managed by Edwin Drake discovered petroleum on August 27, 1859. It was not the first strike of oil in history, but it was the first that intended to exploit oil commercially as fuel. The petrochemical industry that uses mostly oil and natural gas for feedstock started at the beginning of the 20th century in the form of fertilizers and synthetic plastics and polymers. Today our vehicles have better tires that have resulted from using synthetic polymers rather than natural rubber from trees.

This review focuses on the role of hydrogen technologies in transition from petroleum production to new fuel to power transportation system. At present, the looming crisis caused by the decline in petroleum production and the need to control greenhouse gas emissions exemplifies the need for new energy solutions. The key component of a hydrogen-powered transportation sector will be the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. PEM fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, with water and heat as by-products of the electro-chemical reaction. The review also discusses that to compete favorably with internal combustion engines and hybrid cars, PEM fuel cells need to address several issues, including performance, durability, and cost. Hydrogen from natural gas could provide a firm stepping stone as the energy system evolves away from petroleum.

This article reviews features of a new American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standard named PCC-3-2007 Inspection Planning Using Risk-Based Methods, which aims to make method of inspection available to a wider group of industries. Petroleum and power businesses enhance efficiency by weighing their risks and keeping watch. PCC-3 provides guidance by listing the many parameters that influence the damage mechanisms as well as many parameters that can influence the rate of damage. The standard provides a table with listings of possible damage mechanisms along with their definitions, common attributes, and references. PCC-3 provides planning details to develop consequence scenarios with different associated probabilities. The framers of ASME’s standard believe that proper applications of the new PCC-3 can lead to major cost savings and allow for application of technically based engineering judgments on expenditures for large capital, inspection, and safety improvements for most industries.

This article explores diverse ways adopted by companies to find ways to make extracting oil from the sands of northern Alberta a little easier. At Petrobank’s Whitesands site, heat from in situ combustion both melts and upgrades the bitumen in the underground deposit. Horizontal production wells carry the oil to the surface. However, even with the new processes in place, copious quantities of energy and water are needed to produce oil from sands. In situ production processes exploit bitumen deposits that are inaccessible through surface mining. The facility at EnCana’s Foster Creek site processes some of the water used to extract bitumen in situ. That recycled water is then boiled and reinjected below the surface. Environmental arguments aside, many observers contend that the only argument against exploiting the Alberta oil sands that might have any success is economic—that it might cost more than alternatives. The paper concludes that barring some unforeseen calamity, oil demand is expected to outstrip the capacity of conventional petroleum production. Even if wringing oil from the Alberta sands is expensive and energy-intensive, it is probably a cost most consumers will be willing to pay for access to the next easiest oil.

This article focuses on petroleum industry that is on the cusp of an incredible youth movement. It is because of the steep run-up in oil prices in the past few years, which has created a demand for engineers who can tap into the increasingly hard-to-reach fields. Halliburton has invested in simulator training facilities and creating a space on the Internet for workers in the field to share best practices. The goal is to have a consistent level of quality through the organization. With the average petroleum engineer closing in on retirement age, the students in Camp Bevo are going to be decision makers very early in their careers. Forming a positive impression now could reap enormous benefits for Halliburton down the line. It is a strategy that consumer products companies have long known—early brand associations can be the most enduring.

This article highlights that there are plenty of hysterical headlines about how the world is about to run out of oil, and it is just as easy to find spokesmen who will say that there is petroleum enough for everyone, now and in the future. Indeed, while oil production may be approaching a peak, there are probably at least a trillion barrels left to be pumped. In contrast, no matter how much oil is around, it is found in increasingly difficult and expensive places to exploit. A more troubling pattern can be seen in the oil production and consumption figures for Indonesia. Overtime, a greater and greater share of oil produced is being used by the producers, and less is available for export. Even so, the international trade in petroleum is 50 percent bigger now than it was in 1980. But if, as seems likely, there will be fewer exporting nations in the coming decades, this could become a problem.

This article highlights the dependence on petroleum and its products for the major share of the world’s transportation fuel create special dangers in our time. These dangers are all driven by rigidities and pot entail vulnerabilities that have become serious problems because of the geopolitical realities of the early 21st century. Those who reason about these issues solely on the basis of abstract economic models that are designed to ignore such geopolitical realities will find much to disagree with in what follows. Although such models have utility in assessing the importance of more or less purely economic factors in the long run. The attractiveness to the consumer of being able to use electricity from overnight charging for a substantial share of the day’s driving is stunning. The average residential price of electricity in the United States is about 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

This article highlights that mechanical engineers control most of the rest of our energy economy. The engineering focus will shift inexorably toward finding the most efficient means of generating electricity on-board. Trains and monster trucks both use big diesel generators. Hybrid cars on the road today burn gasoline, but it is the fuel cell that attracts the most attention from visionaries and critics of the internal combustion engine. Remarkably elegant in its basic operation, the fuel cell transforms fuel into electricity in a single step, completely bypassing the furnace, turbine, and generator. In this scenario, mechanical engineering ultimately surrenders its last major under-the-hood citadel to chemical engineers. One might say that the age of mechanical engineering was launched by James Watt's steam engine in 1763, and propelled through its second century by Nikolaus Otto’s 1876 invention of the spark-ignited petroleum engine. We are now at the dawn of the age of electrical engineering, not because we recently learned how to generate light-speed electrical power, but because we have now finally learned how to control it.

This article focuses on one of the harshest environments confronting industrial apparel that takes place where boots hit the floor of chemical and food processing plants. LaCrosse Rainfair of Racine, WI, a manufacturer of footwear and clothing, developed a dual-density outer sole that combines toughness and elasticity with resistance to chemicals, fats, and oils. The company fuses the outer sole directly to the soft upper sole of its Flex3 boot in a two-stage process. The Flexalloy compound has very good oil resistance compared with other materials used in other injection molded outer soles. This property is doubly valuable in the Flex3 boot since, by overmolding the outsole directly on the upper, the need for adhesives, which could degrade under aggressive attack and cause total product failure, are eliminated. It was observed that Flexalloy OR-based samples retain 74% of their original elongation, a property that correlates with elasticity, versus just 1% for flexible vinyl. When it is immersed in lard, the Flexalloy OR-based sample shrank 5%, compared with 6% and 84% swelling of the SEBS styrenic and thermoplastic olefin, respectively, and 13% shrinkage of the flexible vinyl.

A new continuous recycling system has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory of Argonne, IL, which can separate auto shredder residue into distinct material streams that can eventually be reprocessed into useful products. The lab signed its first license agreement with N.V. Salyp, a recycler in Eiper, Belgium. The company plans to incorporate the system into a demonstration facility for recycling vehicles and will sublicense the Argonne technology to automobile shredders worldwide. Argonne's technology separates previously ‘unrecoverable’ residue—a mass of plastic, rubber, glass, fibers, and dirt—into useful product streams of polyurethane foam, thermoplastics, and inorganic fines. In the wash section of Argonne's foam cleaning operation, a conveyor moves the foam forward, then compresses and releases it to remove entrained oils and dirt. The company plans to incorporate Argonne's separation and foam cleaning technology into the demonstration plant, but is opting for a mechanical separation technology to separate mixed thermoplastics. Salyp plans to license a technology for mechanical separation of mixed plastics. The demonstration plant will also include a bumper shredding facility.