Oil Recovery from Dry Grind Ethanol Plant Coproducts Using Ethanol

Corn ethanol bio-refineries are seeking economic processing strategies for recovering oil from their coproducts. The addition of ethanol can be an efficient method to recover the oil from the coproducts as the industry has available ethanol. This study considered the effects of ethanol on oil recovery from distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and oil partitioning from whole stillage (WS) on a laboratory scale. Ethanol was added with original and heavier fraction DDGS in different temperatures (room temperature ~20 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C) and solids loadings (20%, 30%, and 40%), and their effects on oil recovery were evaluated. The whole stillage was incubated with ethanol at room temperature (~20 °C) and 50 °C separately to analyze WS’s oil distribution in the liquid and solid phases. The amount of recovered oil from the original and heavier fractions of DDGS varies from 25–45% and 45–70%, respectively, with an increment of temperature. Increasing solids loadings up to 30% had no effect on oil recovery from either DDGS sample. Ethanol treatment in WS resulted in 8–10% higher wet yield of liquid fraction and 17–20% of oil increase in liquid fraction than the control treatment. It is also notable that temperature positively impacted oil partitioning from WS. The results showed that ethanol could improve oil recovery from DDGS and oil partition in WS by varying different process conditions. This outcome is beneficial to ethanol plants to increase corn oil yield using their existing setup and in-situ product.

Chemical Composition of Hexane-Extracted Plectranthus amboinicus Leaf Essential Oil: Maximizing Contents on Harvested Plant Materials

Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng, also known locally as “Bangun-bangun”, is an aromatic medicinal herb known for its therapeutic and nutritional properties attributed to its terpenoid-rich phytochemicals. Information to assist in initiating appropriate harvesting time to maximize the yield of targeted chemicals in harvested plant tissues remains an issue that is seldom highlighted. This study reports on the essential oil distribution in P. amboinicus leaves, and total phenolic and flavonoid contents, in addition to GC-MS analysis of hexane extracts of the leaf samples collected at various times throughout the day. The influence of environmental factors on γ-terpinene, p-cymene, carvacrol, and thymoquinone are also discussed. Oil Red O staining showed the highest oil deposition at 2 p.m., which was consistent with the phenolic and flavonoid contents of this plant. GC-MS analysis of the leaf extract showed carvacrol (47.00–60.00%), γ-terpinene (8.00–10.00%), caryophyllene (~6.00%), p-cymene (4.90–6.50%), trans-α-bergamotene (4.70–5.00%), and thymoquinone (3.30–5.60%) were the major components of this plant. Interestingly, thymoquinone, a phytochemical associated with Nigella sativa, was also detected in this hexane-extracted sample with maximum accumulation during midday and a decrease at night, which could be due to the lower temperature and dimmer light conditions. The chemical polymorphism in the oil content indicated that environmental factors such as light exposure and temperature should be considered during harvesting to ensure consistent quality of the phytochemicals extracted from the plant materials. This study indicates that oversight in selecting plant materials might compromise the yield of quality phytochemicals extracted from harvested tissues.

Micropore structure and water driving characteristics of tight sandstone reservoirs in Ordos Basin

In order to explore the influence of the micropore structure of the tight sandstone reservoir in the water driving characteristics, the studies on the Chang 6 tight sandstone reservoir of the middle-western part of Ordos Basin are carried out by various experiments such as cast-thin section analysis, scanning electron microscopy, high-pressure mercury injection and micro-water driving. The result shows that the permeability contribution curves of samples shift to the left as the sample permeability decreases, indicating that the greater the permeability, the greater the proportion of large pores. The permeability is mostly dominated by pores with the radius larger than R50–R60. There are big differences in the water driving type, oil-driven efficiency and residual oil distribution characteristics between reservoirs of different types. The type II reservoir is the major target of subsequent exploration and development, where water driving types consist of mesh and finger, leaving the residual oil mainly locked by water or isolated as oil drops. The size and distribution feature of pores are the key factors dominating the oil-driven efficiency.

Optimisation of Well and Layer Selection for Re-fracturing

In initial fracturing of tight oil and gas reservoirs, due to the influence of geological and technological factors, the fracture conductivity has decreased, and the single-well productivity has been reduced. It is urgent to repeat transformation to restore or increase productivity. Well selection and layer selection is one of the key factors that affect the design of re-fracturing and the effect of stimulation. Based on a big database of well-sites, establishing machine intelligence theory determines the elasto-plasticity, permeability, porosity, completion parameters, production decline parameters and skin coefficient that affect the effect of re-fracturing stimulation by dimensionless parameter method of well and layer selection and its stimulation evaluation model. Combined with artificial neural network and BP algorithm, the index weights of strata with different reservoir physical properties are calculated to analyze the final evaluation value of fracturing effect. On the basis of remaining oil distribution research, scale extended fracture repeated fracturing is increased, injection-production well pattern is improved, scale repeated fracturing effect is increased, well pattern is improved, target layer is repeatedly fractured, and oil increase effect is obvious after fracturing.

Exploring Reservoir within Hugin Formation in Theta Vest Structure using 4-D Seismic and Machine Learning Approach

This paper aims to identify the oil distribution using 4-D seismic below a complex 3-D surface in Hugin Formation using machine learning and geobody detection. The exploration well 15/9-19-SR, drilled to the Theta Vest structure, was based on the interpretation of reprocessed ST8215R 3-D seismic survey data from 1991 in the Sleipner area, encountered oil in the Jurassic Hugin Formation. The drills stem test showed outstanding production capacities through time, with low water cut and low GOR. 4-D seismic has all the traditional benefits of 3-D seismic. A significant additional potential benefit is that fluid-flow processes can be directly imaged. The 4-D seismic analysis was conducted in 2012 to repeat the 3-D seismic surveys and analyze images in time-lapse mode to monitor time-varying fluid-flow processes during reservoir production. A comprehensive study of the structure and the discovery has been performed and is reported. The DNN method to predict facies far away from existing production wells by using facies log well to supervise seismic inversion created by the Seismic Color Inversion method. It can detect some oil pockets distribution and risk the well planning and the right candidate for new proposed wells.

New Finding on Oil Distribution in Jabung Block and its Implication to Pre-Talang Akar Formation (Pre-TAF) Play in the Block and South Sumatera Basin Respectively

The kerogen types at the origin of oil in the Jabung block are predominantly type-II and III based on Rock Eval pyrolysis, and are interpreted to originate from the fluvio-deltaic shale & coal of the Oligocene Talang Akar Formation (TAF). However, several outlying oils have been found in the wells NB-1 & NB-4 of the North Betara Field and indicate that kerogen type-I of lacustrine origin may also be in play. This scenario is further suggested by biomarker and carbon isotope ratios. In this paper, we infer that those oils are sourced from the Eocene Pre-Talang Akar Formation (Pre-TAF) section. This opens new exploration prospectivity for the Jabung area. Our analysis of selected petroleum system elements suggests that the lacustrine oils encountered in NB-1 & NB-4 originate from Eocene Pre-TAF source rock in deeper part and migrated into the younger Oligocene TAF sandstone as a sub-surface leak, or “a subsurface oil seep”. Oil migrated by fault vertically and then spread laterally to fill traps in TAF. A widespread unconformity at top pre-TAF may have provided an excellent seal at the origin a pre-TAF confined petroleum system, prevented the lacustrine oil from entering all the fields/structures in the Jabung block, This could explain the minimal distribution of the lacustrine oil at TAF level and above in the Jabung area. The Pre-TAF is associated with the early syn-rift phase in South Sumatra Basin. It also refers as Lahat or Lemat Formation in the basin and is a widely under-explored play, evidenced by the low reserve magnitude of fewer than 100 MMBOE. The distribution of Pre-TAF as source and reservoir rock is restricted to syn-rift depocenter area. From our latest interpretation, Pre-TAF in NEB Field, observed clearly from the 3D seismic data, is potentially well developed and of good quality, although no wells have penetrated the interval to date