Peer Reviewed Papers - Overview

Welcome to the peer-reviewed papers section of Oil and Gas Facilities. 

As you may have noticed, I open every executive summary with this sentence: Based on feedback we receive, I know that the readers of this journal value this section, but we do not take for granted that you read it. The editorial staff works hard to present interesting papers in each issue. That goal will not change in the future but, at the same time, you could help us. If you have written a paper, please submit it for peer review, and if you read an interesting paper in the proceedings of an SPE event, please encourage the author to submit it for peer review or simply bring it to our attention.

This issue contains four papers covering a wide range of topics. The first deals with a carbon capture and storage project in Abu Dhabi, where carbon dioxide emissions at a local power plant were captured and used for enhanced oil recovery. The design team had to design a power plant that could supply the new capture plant with steam and power without reducing the original electricity-production capacity. The paper describes the design process, including the evaluation of various heat- and power-integration concepts, as well as cooling options to accomplish this feat.

The second paper looks for the best method to decommission an offshore platform. The benefits of incorporating a platform that is retired into a rigs-to-reef program are well known, but this paper presents a science-based decision-making process to find the most appropriate method for doing so. This ecosystem-based-management approach recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem, including humans, rather than considering a single issue, species, or ecosystem in isolation. As an increasing number of offshore platforms reach the end of their design life, this approach may be very useful for developing decommissioning plans.

The third paper describes the performance testing of an inline electrocoalescer designed specifically for processing heavy oils in subsea or Arctic conditions. The authors present results from performance tests with both medium and heavy crude oils at a wide range of operating temperatures similar to those found in subsea-processing applications or other applications where heating of the process fluids is not practical. The results demonstrated that the unit is able to deliver high preconditioning performance, and therefore, this technology could be used for the intended applications.

Like the second paper, the last paper also deals with decommissioning. It covers a temporary onshore development in an area of South America with a high degree of biodiversity and indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation. The paper describes the successful process of decommissioning and restoration of the site, making this project an important case study that provides valuable insights to those who are faced with this kind of task in the future.

I hope that you will read these papers and submit comments for further discussions. A constructive exchange of ideas moves us forward, and the authors of these papers have certainly done their part. 
Gerald Verbeek, Peer-Review Editor,
     Verbeek Management Services

Galen Dino, Audubon Engineering Solutions

Sudhakar Mahajanam, ConocoPhillips