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Replies to post #43642 on QS Energy Inc (QSEP)
Gary Buchler, Director
Gary Buchler is Chief Operating Officer of the Natural Gas Pipeline business unit of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) and operator of one of the largest interstate pipeline systems in the United States. With oversight of a combined annual expense/capital budget of $1.3 billion, Mr. Buchler is responsible for all Engineering, Operations, Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS), and Land Management functions for roughly 70,000 miles of transmission and gathering pipelines. Mr. Buchler is responsible for the day-to-day management of 3,900 employees, evaluation and oversight of expansion projects, and the evaluation of potential acquisitions. As Chief Operating Officer of the KM Gas Pipelines, Mr. Buchler has been instrumental in the acquisition and integration of more than $45 billion in pipeline assets at Kinder Morgan. Mr. Buchler has held various management positions at Kinder Morgan since 1979, including Vice-President Engineering/Operations Pipeline Group, Vice-President Eastern Pipeline Operations, Vice-President Engineering and Operations Kinder Morgan Gas Treating/Kinderhawk Field Services, and Director of Pipeline Integrity. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management.
Richard Munn, Director
Richard W. Munn is one of the top players in the royalty and mineral arena as demonstrated over the last 15 years with 39 years of industry experience. Of note, he managed the royalty acquisition teams at Noble Royalties and other companies, closing on the acquisition of approximately $450 million worth of Royalty and Mineral Interests involving over 50 separate transactions. Mr. Munn has a solid reputation and extensive relationships with private and public U.S.-based energy producers and mineral holders. He has also managed his own exploration and production companies. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Munn chaired the IPAA Business Development Committee and from 2007 to 2009, he chaired the IPAA Business Development/ Membership Committee. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Munn chaired the Society of Petroleum Engineers Business Development Committee. In addition, to his network of oil and gas industry relationships, Mr. Munn is a licensed registered professional geologist in Wyoming with a B.A. in Geology from the University of Colorado.
William Green (Independent Director)
Mr. William Green served as Vice President of Downstream Marketing for Devon Energy Corp., was in charge of domestic natural gas sales and transportation activities. Mr. Green has over 30 years of experience in natural gas marketing with Devon and Mitchell Energy Corporation, both major "Shale" players. He served as the Chairman of Natural Gas Supply Association since February 20, 2015, until March 1, 2017. Mr. Green has been a Director of QS Energy, Inc. since July 14, 2017. He was a member of the National Energy Service Association (NESA) and a member of the Texas Pipeline Association (TPA), and recently served a three-year term on the Oklahoma University Energy Institute Advisory Board. Mr. Green is a graduate of Niagara University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate that the cold flowability of the waxy crude oil can be significantly improved via electrical treatment. A novel apparatus was assembled to electrically treat the waxy crude oil while simultaneously measuring its rheological properties. A method was developed to calculate the oil’s viscosity by using non-Newtonian fluid mechanics and rheological principles. Lower treatment temperatures, higher electric field strengths, and lower shear rates provided greater viscosity reduction. Notably, a viscosity reduction of 70% was obtained when the oil was electrically treated near its pour point for 90 s. Microscopic examinations indicate that the broader size distribution of wax particles in the treated oil might be responsible for the observed viscosity reduction. Besides, the energy consumption of the electrical treatment was estimated to be less than 1% of that of the conventional heating method to achieve the same viscosity reduction performance.
CONCLUSIONS
We assembled a novel apparatus to electrically treat the waxy crude oil and developed a method to calculate the viscosity variation during the treatment by using non-Newtonian fluid mechanics and rheological principles. Lower treatment temper- atures, lower shear rates, and higher electric field strengths provided higher viscosity reduction. This viscosity reduction might be caused by a broader wax crystal size distribution in the oil after the treatment. A viscosity reduction of 70% was obtained after the crude oil was electrically treated at 18 °C and 0.8 kV/mm for 90 s. Moreover, the electrical treatment was estimated to consume less than 1% of the energy assumption associated with heating to achieve the same viscosity reduction performance. These findings demonstrate that the electrical treatment might be an efficient and economical technology for improving the cold flowability of waxy crude oils.
We are also very excited by opportunities in Asia, having recently reopened discussions with an Asian crude oil company with prior experience testing AOT equipment in the field. Although these discussions are early stage, we have provided a draft LOI and hope to move quickly based on their experience and familiarity with QS Energy and our technology.
Abstract
The aim of the present work is to reduce the viscosity of Iraqi heavy crude oil to enhance its flowability in pipelines. This has been done by applying an effective electrical field through design and implementation of an invented capacitor. In order to attain this objective; an experimental rig has been built. It consisted of: a crude oil pipe, a novel parallel plate capacitor, an oil pump, a solenoid valve, a viscometer, and a control unit (relay, voltage regulator, rectifier, timer, and digital voltmeter). The experimental work was performed according to central composite rotatable design for three operating variables: treatment time (0–60 s), applied voltage (140–220 v), and space between capacitor electrodes of (2–10 cm). The optimum conditions were obtained using STATISTICA and WinQSB softwares. At optimum conditions, locally prepared nanosilica has been employed with different concentrations (0–700 mg/L) to show its effect on crude oil viscosity in the presence of an electrical field impact. The results showed that the viscosity was reduced significantly with increasing treatment time, voltage, and distance between electrodes. The Minimum viscosity obtained was at 32 s treatment time, 188 V, and 6.11 cm distance between capacitor electrodes. This represented the optimum conditions with a minimum viscosity of 20.479 cSt. Afterwards, the viscosity increased due to particles aggregation. At optimum conditions the fluid flow characteristics obtained were: 2630.93, 0.4089 gm/cm2, 0.2657 gm/cm2, and 57.059 W S, for Reynolds number, shear stress, pressure drop, and power consumption, respectively. The experimental results proved that the invented capacitor offered a good reduction in viscosity and a good saving in power of 37% at optimum con- ditions achieved at 10 ± 2 C. The nanosilica optimum concentration was 100 mg/L that gave a minimum vis- cosity of 12.8 cSt with a reduction percentage and power saving of 60.6%. The viscosity reduction has lasted for 11 h.
Conclusions
From the obtained results it can be concluded that the electric field proved to be a very effective method for viscosity reduction suitable for Iraqi heavy crude oil. The electric field processing technology consumes very little energy resulting in a high energy saving for pumping; also the flow rate of crude oil in pipelines subjected to electrical field treatment is greater than that without treatment. The experimental measurement of viscosity processed with electrical field method at low temperatures confirmed the effectiveness of the treating method even with lower climate temperatures. The innovative design of the perforated parallel plate's capacitor achieved a best reduction in the viscosity of Iraqi crude oil. It enabled the micro and nano size particles to arrange in short chains and allowed the layers of liquid to slide over each other in a regular form, diminished the turbulence and friction with internal pipe walls. The addition of nano silica particles in very low concentrations together with the electric field contributed significantly to crude oil viscosity reduction because of high dielectric, but at greater concentrations increased the viscosity. Thus it can be concluded that the nano silica treated viscosity, when added in a few percentages. Finally, electric field with a novel capacitor design can reduce the viscosity of heavy crude oil in few sec- onds lasting for several hours.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express grateful thanks to The Iraqi Min- istry of Oil/Oil Pipelines Company for the financial support in accor- dance with graduate research (grant No. 2/2016).
While our efforts are tightly focused on executing our pilot program strategy, conversations continue with prospective customers in the Gulf Coast, Canada, and the Middle East.
02/21/18 3:17 PM
