Energy, Petrochemical, Chemistry Symposium Chair:
Energy, Petrochemical, Chemistry Symposium Peer Reviewers:
| Session Codes | ||
|---|---|---|
| *xxxnn | Both an oral presentation and a poster | |
| xxxPnn | Poster Only |
EPC01
Trends in Petrochemicals in the New Millennium
Arved Teleki, Senior Consultant, CMAI
Susan Smith, Project Manager, Proprietary Services, CMAI
Mary C. Blackburn, Director, Chloro-Vinyls, Chemical
Market Associates Inc. (CMAI)
Thursday, 9:00am–9:55am
Many markets for basic petrochemical building blocks are now considered to be mature,
providing a close correlation with political and economic conditions. A broad overview
of factors affecting the fortunes of the petrochemical industry through 2003 will be provided.
Focus will be on world and regional GDP growth rates, product life cycles, industry
development patterns in mature and emerging markets, and specific short term forecasts for
basic petrochemicals including olefins and aromatics.
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EPC02
The Benefits of Virtual Reality in the Chemical Process Industry
Stephanie Hontz, Simulation Engineer, Exxon Research & Engineering Co.,
Dynamic Simulations
Thursday, 10:00am–10:25am
Just as flight simulators have a significant impact on the safety, reliability and
profitability of the commercial airline industry, dynamic refining and chemical process
simulators can have a significant impact on the safety, reliability and profitability for
refining and chemical process industry. With training simulators unit operators receive
risk free hands-on training that is more thorough, safer and faster than classroom and
on-the-job training methods. Unit operators that have trained on simulators demonstrate
improved responses to upset conditions in the unit, mitigate emergency situations better
and avoid unplanned shutdowns. Control engineers can use dynamic simulators to test more
aggressive advanced control schemes that enhance operating credits without introducing
risks to the operating unit. The magnitude of the operating credits depends upon the process
unit's throughput, local economics and the thoroughness of the training program.
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EPC03
Revolutions in Energy Through Modeling and Simulation
Marjorie Tatro, Department Manager, Sandia National Laboratories,
Photovoltaic System Components Department
Joan Woodard, Vice President of Energy, Environment and Information
Technology Division, Sandia National Laboratories
Thursday, 11:00am–11:25am
Energy is the lifeblood of the US economy. Without it we could not manufacture and
transport products, heat and cool buildings, or conduct domestic and international commerce.
Energy technologies for generation and storage have improved dramatically with the advent
of advanced computational tools, particularly modeling and simulation. The complex nature
of energy technologies has motivated researchers to use these tools to understand better
the performance, reliability and cost issues relevant to energy generation and storage.
The computational tools have their bases in sciences such as materials and aerodynamics
(wind turbine blades); physics, heat transfer and fluid flow (nuclear reactors and solar
power tower receivers); chemistry, physics, and electronics (photovoltaics); and
geosciences and fluid flow (oil exploration and reservoir storage). This paper describes
a few energy advancements made possible by these tools and explores the benefits and costs
of their use, particularly as they relate to the acceleration of energy technologies.
The overall impact on the US energy portfolio will also be assessed for the energy
technologies examined in this paper.
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EPC04
Trinidad - A Natural Gas Success Story with Room to Grow
Cindi Etter, Commercial Director, Amoco Corporation
Jo-Ann Ali-Nandalal, Reservoir Engineer, Amoco Trinidad Oil Company
Thursday, 11:30am–11:55am
One of the most exciting developments in the energy business in the Western Hemisphere is the Trinidad Atlantic Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project and the associated upstream development project. This is the first greenfield LNG plant the Atlantic Basin has seen in 20 years and represents tremendous growth opportunities for the Trinidad energy business with combined investment costs for the LNG Plant and LNG Upstream Development Project exceeding $1.4 billion.
With world class total gas reserves of approximately 27 Tcf - of which Amoco's reserves total over 15 Tcf - Trinidad's resource position far exceeds domestic island demand. Recognizing an immense opportunity in this situation, five companies from all parts of the energy value chain (Amoco, British Gas, NGC, Cabot and Repsol), formed the Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad & Tobago. The five shareholders took a very untraditional approach in structuring the venture, and, despite claims that "it could not be done", secured government approvals and sales commitments for LNG delivery to both the U.S. and Spain, and will commission the plant in late 1998.
The other significant part of this huge success is Amoco's LNG Upstream Project where Amoco is developing fields and installing infrastructure to provide 100% of the gas supply (over 475 MMscfd) to this first train of the LNG Plant.
And this isn't the end of the story. The LNG plant site has room for expansion with talks
already underway for the second train. Along with that, investments have been made by Amoco
to design the platforms and the pipelines to supply additional gas for the expansion, and
Trinidad has the good fortune of having plenty of gas reserves for the future.
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EPC05
Modeling of Ungrounded Shipboard Distribution System In Pspice
Haibo Zhang, PhD Student, Texas A&M University, Power System
Automation Lab, Electrical Engineering Department
Karen L. Butler, PhD, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University,
Power System Automation Lab, Electrical Engineering Department
N.D.R. Sarma, PhD, Post Doctoral Research Associate, Texas A&M
University, Power System Automation Lab, Electrical Engineering
Department
Thursday, 1:00pm–1:25pm
Navy shipboard power systems have different characteristics when compared to utility
power systems. To conduct system studies on shipboard power systems, an effective
simulation tool is required to model shipboard electric power systems. PSpice is a
very powerful tool for analog/digital circuit simulation. But it is rarely used for
power system. This paper presents modeling shipboard power systems with PSpice.
The detailed model for system components like generators, cables, loads, etc. are
provided. Transient simulation results are presented.
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EPC06
The Aswan Dam: Today's View vs. Original Expectations
Lillian Reyad, Graduate Student, Louisiana Tech University,
Mechanical Engineering
Thursday, 1:30pm–1:55pm
Egypt's Aswan High Dam was designed to control the flooding of the Nile River by detaining water in a reservoir lake, store water to allow regulated and continuous releases for irrigation and other purposes, and generate hydroelectric power.
The High Dam, completed in 1971, controlled the river flow and enlarged irrigation cropping as initially anticipated. However, it did not allow the expansion of irrigated land. Because of the dam's use in controlling the flow of the Nile, its electric output cannot be consistent. Also, flooding the reservoir area caused the dislocation of thousands of Egyptian and Sudanese Nubians, in addition to the destruction of a number of monuments. Degradation of the Nile River bed downstream of the dam, along with erosion of the Mediterranean coast, have increased. The change in water regimen has significantly decreased the sardine and shrimp catches, and increased water salinity and aquatic vegetation in canals and ditches. Moreover, the construction of the Dam has activated fault lines around it.
Despite all these problems and continuous upkeep and modifications, the dam is still
regarded, at least by the Egyptians, as one of the most important structures that
contributes to the prosperity of their nation.
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EPC07
Non-Traditional Chemical Engineering . . . What's That?
Stacey M. DelVecchio, Chemical Process Development Supervisor, Caterpillar, Inc.
Thursday, 2:00pm–2:25pm
Chemical engineering is a challenging and rewarding discipline of engineering that
can offer an extremely wide selection of career paths. While working toward a degree
in chemical engineering, most curriculums focus on the traditional roles of chemical
process design and manufacture, such as reactor and heat exchanger design, and petroleum
processes. While these tradition chemical engineering areas have their own set of
benefits, there are also a number of career opportunities in the non-traditional chemical
engineering arena. But what does a non-traditional chemical engineering career entail?
Caterpillar Inc. uses their chemical engineers for non-traditional roles. The jobs and
responsibilities range from water quality engineers, to plastics component development
engineers, to environmental engineers, to coolant management engineers. Unfortunately,
most of these descriptions are foreign to a chemical engineer in a traditional field.
This paper will communicate the responsibilities and potential career paths for the
chemical engineer in the non-traditional side of the business.
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EPC08
Energy - Modern Physics Finds New Usage Methods for Society
Wilma Carol Marcy LaBelle, Research Engineer, Omega Research Corporation
Thursday, 2:30pm–2:55pm
Ms. Van Winkle took a nap in 1897 after she removed her bustle, corset, and chemise. When she awoke in 1997 and gazed about, she wondered if she had left the Earth and arrived on planet Venus.
When Ms. Van Winkle attended Physics class, she thought she was in a space-time warp. The Professor talked about superconductivity, the theory of relativity, atomic energy, solar power, hydrogen fuel-cells, and microchips for computers. "What's a computer?", she asked. Engineering students were not just designing buggies and the new-fangled telephone; but were designing space stations, smart cars, high-definition television, airplane landing fields on the ocean, lasers for medicine and industry, and even cameras and movie sets.
This paper will discuss how the theories of modern Physics have implemented scientific
discoveries in this century. These discoveries have a huge impact on life today.
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EPC09
Handling, Treatment and Disposal of Produced Water in the Offshore
Oil Industry
Zara I. Khatib, PhD, Staff Research Engineer,
Shell Oil Products, Westhollow Technology Center
Karen L. Butler, PhD, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University,
Power System Automation Lab, Electrical Engineering Department
Thursday, 3:00pm–3:25pm
Produced Water Discharges are regulated under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program in the US. One this system's provision is that the concentration of Oil and Grease in the produced water for overboard discharges be below 29 mg/L or 42 mg/L (daily or monthly average). In the past few years, the oil industry has been pursuing new technologies to improve the discharged water quality by reducing the O&G content below these limits, minimizing the use of chemicals and by producing less waste products.
In 1992, a joint industry project was initiated at Westhollow Technology Center, Shell to evaluate the performance of recently introduced commercially available deoiling technologies such as hydrocyclones, centrifuges, membranes, etc. The scope of the project was to provide general deoiling guidelines for a wide range of process and operating conditions.
This paper will: (1) review the characteristics of produced waters in gas and oil fields,
(2) present the key parameters in deoiling of produced water, (3) outline the approach
that the industry took to improve the water quality and promote best practices and (4)
summarize the best available technologies for deoiling of offshore produced water
discharges and for reducing the production of associated waste.
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EPC10
What does DOE have for you on the NET?
Patricia W. Garland, Technical Staff Member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Robert W. Garland, US Department of Energy
Thursday, 3:30pm–3:55pm
Consider the libraries of information available on the internet. What could be added by a government agency, specifically the Department of Energy? A lot, you say. Then consider, how does making information available on the internet help the Department of Energy achieve its mission objectives? The discussion of this issue from these two perspectives provides the backdrop for an informative tour of DOE's many web sites.
The Department of Energy carries out a diverse collection of mission objectives ranging from National Security and Energy Security to Environmental Quality and Scientific Leadership. In each of these areas, information is currency and the Department depends on the rapid update and exchange of information to stay on top of these national and international issues. The Department of Energy publishes technology reports, press releases, energy policies, environmental clean-up documents, and a variety of other mission oriented items. Additionally, through the Energy Information Administration, the DOE publishes reams of energy supply, distribution, and usage information.
All of this information is important to carrying out the mission of the DOE, and much
of it is valuable to the scientists, researchers, manufacturers, educators, and leaders
of this nation.
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EPC11 - Withdrawn
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EPC12
Suction Caisson Foundations - A Better Option for Deepwater Applications
Beena Sukumaran, PhD, Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering, Rowan University
Thursday, 4:00pm-4:25pm
As offshore exploration and development of oil fields reach water depths of 1,000 to
3,000 m, novel methods of anchoring production platforms become attractive due to cost
savings associated with installation. Surface production systems that are viable in
these water depths include Tension Leg Platforms (TLP), spar platforms, and laterally
moored ship-shaped and semi-submersible vessels. Possible foundation systems for TLP
and spar platforms include the traditional driven piles, drag anchors and suction caissons.
Suction caissons become better alternatives to driven piles in deepwater because of technical
challenges and costs associated with the installation equipment. In addition, suction
caissons also provide a greater resistance to lateral loads than driven piles because of
the larger diameters typically used. Initial penetration of the suction caisson into the
seabed occurs due to the self weight; subsequent penetration is by the "suction" created
by pumping water out from the inside of the caisson. This paper presents a brief overview
of what the current state of knowledge is regarding the design of suction caissons. In
addition, the paper also documents some finite element analyses results that were conducted
to determine the capacity of suction caisson foundations founded in soft clays, typical of
the Gulf of Mexico.
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EPCP01
The Study of Light-Emitting Diodes from Blends of Conjugate Polymers
Lauren B. Mangiola, Department of Chemical Engineering and the Center for
Photoinduce Charge Transfer, University of Rochester
The electroluminescence of light-emitting diodes, fabricated from binary blends of two
conjugated polymers, were studied and compared to the electroluminescence of light-emitting
diodes of the pure polymers. The polymers used in this study were
poly(2,2'-(p-phenylene)-6,6'-bis(4tert-butylphenyl)quinoline) and poly(2,2'-(p-phenylene)
-6,6'-bis(3-nonyl-4-(p-tert- butylphenyl)quinoline). The photophysical properties of the
pure polymers and there blends were investigated by applying UV-vis spectroscopy, steady-state
photoluminescence and photoluminescent quantum efficiency measurements. The electric field
modulated photoluminescence revealed properties about the excitation stability of the
polymers and their blends.
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EPCP02
Using Electrochemical Separation to Reduce Volume of High-level Nuclear Waste
Susan Ann Slater, Engineering Specialist, Chemical Technology Division,
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is using an electrochemical separation technique called
electrorefining to reduce the volume of high-level nuclear waste that requires disposal.
ANL has developed a high throughput electrorefiner (HTER) to process a variety of metallic
fuels. The HTER has a faster transport rate than a typical electrorefiner. This higher
rate is due to the higher electrode surface area, a shorter transport path, and more
efficient mixing, which leads to smaller boundary layers about the electrodes. A higher
throughput, or faster transport rate, allows electrorefining to be a viable option in
processing Department of Energy spent nuclear fuels. Experiments have been done to
characterize the HTER and a variety of simulant metallic fuels have been successfully
processed. Experimental results and the HTER design will be discussed.
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