Rayan Khalil | Texas Tech University (original) (raw)

Papers by Rayan Khalil

Sustainability, 2023

Grain-size analysis is a significant descriptive method to determine and evaluate depositional en... more Grain-size analysis is a significant descriptive method to determine and evaluate depositional environments and hydrodynamic conditions in addition to classifying sedimentary rocks. In this study, grain-size analysis was conducted using dry-sieving procedures on fourteen representative sandstone samples from the Wasia Formation, a thick water aquifer and a hydrocarbon reservoir. Hydrodynamic conditions and depositional environments were determined using bivariate plots, linear discriminate function (LDF), log probability, and Passega diagram. The results reveal that the lower outcrop section consists of coarse- to medium-grained sandstone with a majority being poorly sorted, while the upper section is made up of medium- to medium-well-sorted fine-grained sandstone units. The sediments have a unimodal distribution of 2 phi (all the lower section) and 3phi (most of the upper section), while two beds have a bimodal of 2 and 3 phi. The lower section has wide range skewness with mainly mesokurtic curves, while the upper section is near-symmetrical to coarse-skewed but mostly leptokurtic. Additionally, log probability plots and the Passega diagram show that the majority of the indicative sediments were transported via one to two saltation levels, while fine-grains were transported via suspension. The results of the LDF method are predominantly indicative of aeolian, marine, and fluvial environments.

The International Journal of Engineering and Science (IJES), 2021

Gas lift is considered the most important artificial method in the oil and gas industry. Although... more Gas lift is considered the most important artificial method in the oil and gas industry. Although, there are several components in the Gas Lift Valve (GLV), the ball and the seats are the only two adjustable components. The objective of this study is to maximize the gas flow rate (throughput) using different seat designs, seat sizes, and ball sizes to increase oil production.
Blowdown test has been conducted using actual valve and nitrogen gas at 600 psi injection pressure. In total, five main seat designs were experimentally tested to investigate the highest gas throughput. The first three seat designs (sharp edge, modified design, and optimized design) have previously been evaluated using low gas injection pressure. Developing on this study, these seat-deigns have now been tested using 600 psi injection pressure. Additionally, two new seat designs were invented in this research including partially curved design (PCD) and wholly curved design (WCD). To optimize the gas throughput, thirty-four seat sizes and five ball sizes were used.
The results of the experimental work revealed that WCD promised the highest gas throughput comparing to the other seat designs. Each seat has a port top diameter (PTD) and a port bottom diameter (PBD). The results showed that PTD size almost has no effect on the gas throughput whereas the PBD size proportionally affects the gas throughput. When the PTD was increased from 6/16 in to 9/16 the gas throughput had an insignificant change. On the other hand, the gas throughput increased by 46% when the PBD increased from 4/16 in to 6/16 in. The results also demonstrated that the ball size has an inversely proportional relationship with the gas throughput. When the ball size was decreased from 9/16 in to 5/16 in, the gas throughput was increased by 19% (fixing the PTD and PBD). The results show that the optimal seat size is when PBD and PTD are 6/16 inch and 8/16 inch. Also, when the ball size is 7/16 inch (1/16 in smaller than PTD) giving a gas throughput of 2.015 MSCF/D, which matches the simulation results with an error of 4-11%. The novelty of this experimental research is describing five different GLV designs, two of which were invented. Additionally, the results show the effect of each of the adjustable GLV components: PBD, PTD, and ball size. Keywords: Artificial Gas Lift, Gas Lift Valve, Ball Configuration, Seat Size, Gas Throughput.

54th U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, Jun 28, 2020

55th U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, Jun 18, 2021

Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2021

Unconventional resources, such as Eagle Ford formation, are commonly classified for their ultra-l... more Unconventional resources, such as Eagle Ford formation, are commonly classified for their ultra-low permeability, where pore sizes are in nano-scale and pore-conductivity is low, causing several challenges in evaluating unconventional-rock properties. Several experimental parameters (e.g., diffusion time of gas, gas injection pressure, method of permeability measurement, and confining pressure cycling) must be considered when evaluating the ultra-low permeability rock's physical and dynamic elastic properties measurements, where erroneous evaluations could be avoided. Characterizing ultra-low permeability samples' physical and elastic properties helps researchers obtain more reliable information leading to successful evaluations. In this study, 24 Eagle Ford core samples' physical and dynamic elastic properties were evaluated. Utilizing longer diffusion time and higher helium injection pressure, applying complex transient method, and cycling confining pressure were consi...

Gases, 2021

The technique of cryogenic treatments requires injecting extremely cold fluids such as liquid nit... more The technique of cryogenic treatments requires injecting extremely cold fluids such as liquid nitrogen (LN2) into formations to create fractures in addition to connecting pre-existing fracture networks. This study investigated the effects of implementing and pressurizing cryogenic treatment on the physical (porosity and permeability) and mechanical properties (Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and bulk compressibility) of the Marcellus shale samples. Ten Marcellus core samples were inserted in a core holder and heated to 66 °C using an oven. Then, LN2 (−177 °C) was injected into the samples at approximately 0.14 MPa. Nitrogen was used to pressurize nine samples at injection pressures of 1.38, 2.76, and 4.14 MPa while the tenth core sample was not pressurized. Using a cryogenic pressure transducer and a T-type thermocouple, the pressure and temperature of the core holder were monitored and recorded during the test. The core samples were scanned using a computed tomography (CT) scanne...

Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2020

Near-wellbore damage, which significantly reduces hydrocarbon production, can happen during drill... more Near-wellbore damage, which significantly reduces hydrocarbon production, can happen during drilling, cementing, perforation, completion, and stimulation operations. The most common technique to remove or bypass this damage is matrix acidizing. The effects of matrix acidizing injection pressure on acid penetration rate, chemical reaction rate, solubility, porosity, and permeability of Marcellus core samples were investigated in this experimental study. To achieve a successful acid treatment, acid type and concentration must be carefully selected. The results of the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and the solubility test revealed that 15 wt.% hydrochloric acid (HCl) is the optimum acid. Matrix acidizing treatments were implemented on nine core samples, taken from Marcellus (shale gas reservoir), at the reservoir temperature (66 °C), confining pressure of 10.35 MPa, and three different acid injection pressures (1.72, 3.45, and 5.17 MPa). The results showed that performing acid treatmen...

Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 2020

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Day 2 Wed, October 16, 2019, 2019

The Marcellus formation has begun to attract more attention from the oil and gas industry. Despit... more The Marcellus formation has begun to attract more attention from the oil and gas industry. Despite being the largest shale formation and biggest source of natural gas in the United States, it has been the subject of little research. To fill this gap, this study experimentally examined the rock properties of twenty core samples from the formation. Five tests were performed on the core samples: X-ray computerized tomography (CT) scan, porosity, permeability, ultrasonic velocity, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). CT-scans were performed to identify the presence of any existing fracture(s). Additionally, helium was injected into the core samples at four different pressures (100 psi, 200 psi, 300 psi, and 400 psi) to determine the optimal pressure for porosity measurements. Complex Transient Method was employed to measure the permeabilities of the core samples. Ultrasonic velocity tests were conducted to calculate the dynamic Young's moduli (E) and the Poisson's ratios (ν) of the core...

SPE Western Regional Meeting, 2017

Day 2 Thu, September 14, 2017, 2017

Experimental and numerical studies have demonstrated that there is great potential of enhancing t... more Experimental and numerical studies have demonstrated that there is great potential of enhancing the oil recovery from tight formations. This study investigated the effect of acid matrix treatment by applying gas flooding on the core samples before and after the treatment. The aim of the acid stimulation treatment was to improve the low-permeability of the cores. Four core samples (0.5 in, 1.0 in, 1.5 in, and 2.0 in) from an outcrop of the Eagle Ford formation were used in this study. Permeability was measured before and after the acid treatment. The cores were CT-scanned to identify natural fractures. Different gas injection pressures were used to study the oil recovery and the time needed to penetrate through core samples. Furthermore, a solubility test was applied to identify the optimal acid concentration. The cores were re-scanned after the acid flooding treatments to detect any change. Gas flooding was applied to acidized core samples to detect changes in penetration time and r...