ABUAD Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Investigation of Grewia mollis Gum as Biopolymer Drag Reducing Agent

2024-07-24T10:22:36+00:00

The hydraulic fracturing treatment relies heavy on fracturing fluid. Finding inexpensive polymer that lowers the pressure gradient in turbulent flow systems during hydraulic fracturing is crucial for the development of shale gas. Most researches focused on investigating the effects of polymers such as partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide, polyethylene oxide, guar gum, xanthan gum and synergies of mixtures as friction reducing polymers. The use of Grewia Mollis mucilage as the natural polymer as a potential friction reducer in slickwater fracturing treatment was the main focus of this study. The sample of Grewia gum was obtained and the mucilage was extracted from the inner stem bark by maceration in water at ambient temperature. The mucilage was the oven-dried at a temperature of 50 ^oC. Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) were employed to identify the elemental composition and the functional groups of the plant. The FT-IR spectrum exhibited typical peaks and bands characteristics of polysaccharide, while the ASS result shows the presence of minute quantity (0.219 mg/100 g) of lead (Pb) in the plant may show contamination (toxicity). The rheological measurements of the mucilage plotted on the shear viscosity graph exhibit shear-thinning or pseudo-plastic behaviour. Formulated slickwater fracturing fluid at various concentrations ranging from 200 to 500 ppm, were run in a constructed closed flow loop of 0.01905 m diameter of galvanised steel pipe, test section length of 2 m and entrance length of 2 m. Drag reduction was measured at flow rates (2.3, 2.8, 3.2, 3.6 and 4.0) m³/hour at different concentrations (200 to 500) ppm. Percentage friction reduction of 37% was achieved at Reynolds number of 74269 by addition of 200 ppm of the fluid while 56% was achieved at Reynolds number 74269 by addition of 500 ppm. This indicates that Grewia mollis mucilage exhibit drag reducing potential and can be applied in slickwater hydraulic fracturing application.

Appraisal of the Propping Potential of Luwa Sand in Nigeria for Hydraulic Fracturing Applications

2024-07-24T10:20:50+00:00

Natural sands made of spherical and round grains are widely used as proppants during hydraulic fracturing to increase recovery rate of hydrocarbon production. Synthetic proppants with high crush strength are employed for deep reservoir fracturing; however, this type of proppants suffer the disadvantages of high density, high cost and pose environmental hazards. This research was conducted with the aim to assess sands collected from Luwa River in Toro, Bauchi state of Nigeria for possible use as natural sand proppants. An epoxy resin-coated sand was produced using a simple method to modify the sands’ properties. A series of experiments were conducted in accordance with API recommended practice to determine the propping potential of the sand and the resin coated sand. The result from sieve analysis of 20/40 mesh size of Luwa sand revealed a mean size of 625.2 microns (0.625 mm). An X-ray fluorescence (XRF) result showed the presence of aluminosilicates (Al₂O₃and SiO₂) composition in Luwa sands. The sands recorded a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale. Analysis of the shape parameters for sphericity and roundness was 0.8 and 0.8 (Krumbein-Sloss) respectively; it has bulk density of 1.64 g/cm³, acid solubility of 0.7% and 4.32% for the resin-coated sand. The sand has turbidity value of 28.98 NTU, loss on ignition in the range of 1.33% to 1.64% and crush resistance varies between 2000-3000 psi for Luwa sand and 4000-5000 psi for the coated sand. A comparison of the experimental results with API standard and conventional Ottawa and Brady models showed the sand competes favourably with these standards in all parameters for consideration as a proppant except for the crush resistance where more than 10% fragments was generated at low pressure of 3000 psi. However, the sand can be applied in shallow depth reservoirs.

Performance Evaluation of Rankiya (Grewia venusta) as a Polymer for Enhanced Oil Recovery-Polymer Flooding

2024-07-24T10:03:17+00:00

Polymer Flooding is an enhanced oil recovery method where high-molecular-weight polymers are added into the injected water, in order to increase the viscosity of injection fluid, improve volumetric sweep efficiency, and finally increase the oil recovery factor. Most research studies focused on the use of partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide (HPAM), xanthan gum, SPG, HEC as flooding fluid. This work focused on investigating the potential of natural polymer - Grewia venusta plant tree in formulating flooding fluid for polymer flooding operation. The polymer was prepared from the mucilage extracted from the inner stem bark of Grewia venusta. Rheological characterization shows that the formulated Grewia venusta mucilage (GVM)-based flooding fluid maintained high viscosity under very high salinity, also exhibits shear thinning behaviour which obeys power law model with fluid behaviour index n = 0.32 and consistency index K= 6.3 at highest GVM concentration of 3000 ppm, similarly revealed that GVM-based flooding fluid was stable when subjected to high salinity of 130,000 ppm and temperature, up to 90 ^oC an inconsequential decrease in viscosity was experienced. These indicate its potential in enhancing oil recovery process. Core flooding analysis was carried out on an outcrop core sample with porosity and permeability of 26.1% and 218 mD respectively. Core flooding analysis revealed that: with increase in GVM concentration of 500, 750, 1000 and 2000 ppm oil recovered against time were 55.1%, 62.6%, 69.2% and 72.9% respectively, beyond 2000 ppm GVM concentration (optimum concentration), increase in polymer concentration did not bring about an increase in oil recovery, this finally resulted to an incremental recovery of 29% original oil in place (OOIP).

Application of Aspen Plus to Modelling and Simulation of Neem Seed Oil Extraction

2024-07-24T09:58:40+00:00

The demand for neem oil keeps on increasing due to its wide applications in pharmaceutical, agro–allied industries, cosmetics and soap production. To avoid wastage of material and safety of operation and personnel, the designed plant must be simulated to predict its performance before actual construction. The property method based on the non–random two–liquid (NRTL) model of Aspen Plus V12 was used to simulate the designed plant and its predicted performances were 87.13% and 99.60% for quantity of neem oil to be obtained from the evaporator and quantity of solvent (ethanol) recovery from the condenser as against 85.93% and 94.93% of the practical result with 1.38% and 4.69% errors respectively. The extracted oil has iodine, acid and saponification values of 60.10 g I₂/100 g, 4.2 mg KOH/g and 210.0 mg KOH/g respectively. The fatty acid compositions of oil are oleic acid, 46.61%; stearic acid, 11.83%; palmitic acid, 16.54%; 11 – octadecenoic acid, 3.58%; cis–vaccenic acid, 5.90%; cyclopropaneoctanal, 11.19%; squalene, 0.21% and trimethylsilyl–di(timethylsiloxy)-silane, 4.14%. Based on the quality and fatty acid composition of the extracted neem oil, it is highly recommended for cosmetics and soap production.

Effect of Lithium Mining on Quality of Water using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (A Case Study of Toto Lithium Mine)

2024-07-24T09:53:21+00:00

The study focused on the evaluation of effect of lithium mining in water in Toto community. Lithium has a substantial negative impact on both human and the environment particularly on the contamination of water and water depletion. Lithium processing requires hazardous chemicals. Therefore, communities, ecosystems and agricultural production may suffer as a result of the release of such chemicals through leaching, spills, or air emissions. Water samples were obtained from Lithium site and taken for Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) analysis. The possible effect of heavy metals present in the water were evaluated and analyzed to offer solutions. Random Sampling method was used to obtain five (5) water samples from the mine site. The study revealed that out of the thirteen (13) elements considered, the concentrations of four of them were varied from a very high concentration to low concentration. The elements are Li, Mg, Fe and Ca with an average of 62.4173 micrograms per litre (µg/L), 29.3130 µg/L, 2.6518 µg/L and 0.9773 µg/L respectively. That of lithium which is 62.4173 µg/L is far above the allowable and acceptable standard limit given by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is therefore considered inimical for human consumption.

Investigation of Mild Carbon Steel Immersed in Jatropha Biodiesel Fuel: Spectroscopic and Surface Studies

2024-07-26T12:47:10+00:00

The use of renewable energy fuels in the automobile industry has seen progressive interest and increased research in recent times. Different types of steel alloys have been considered as materials in the construction of the fuel delivery and storage systems of the automobile engines which are conduit for passage of these biofuels to the specific engine combustion chamber. The nature of the interactions between the surface of the mild steel alloy and the specific biodiesel molecules needs to be interrogated to ascertain the extent and degree of biodiesel activity-induced corrosion. In this study, FTIR, UV-Vis spectrometry and optical microscopy techniques were used to elucidate on the biodiesel molecule-mild steel surface interphase interactions. UV-Vis investigation revealed pronounced peaks around 900 nm and 1050 nm consistent with signals due to poly-unsaturated components of the biodiesel. FTIR analysis showed peaks around 1700 cm^-1 which indicated the presence of C=O and C-O functional groups that is associated with triglycerides. Peak signals around 2950 cm^-1are attributed to anti-symmetric and symmetric stretching vibration of C-H in CH₂and CH₃ while peaks around 1150 cm^-1 indicated the stretching vibration of C-O ester. The results revealed jatropha biodiesel-induce corrosion was physically adsorbed on the steel surface leading to surface degradation over time and were evident in the optical surface micrographs which were equally supported by the FTIR and UV-Vis analyses. Thus, carbon steel alloy material selection and testing to ascertain compatibility and effectiveness is vital when biodiesel is to be used as fuel in automobile engines.