Fundamentals of Energy

1
Chapter 7 Fundamentals of Energy Fossil Fuels
and Nuclear Energy
2
Oil and Natural Gas
3
Oil and Natural Gas
Petroleum or crude oil, is not a single chemical
compound Liquid petroleum, or oil, comprises a
variety of liquid hydrocarbon compounds, which
are made up of long molecular strings of carbon
and hydrogen
There are also a variety of gaseous hydrocarbons,
collectively called natural gas, of which the
compound methane (CH4) is the most common
4
How is Petroleum Created?
Most geologists believe that crude oil and
natural gas are the product of compression and
heating of ancient organic materials over long
geological time According to this theory, oil is
formed from the preserved remains of prehistoric
zooplankton and algae which have settled to the
ocean bottom and are buried in large quantities
under anaerobic conditions (no oxygen)
5
How is Petroleum Created?
Over geological time this organic matter, mixed
with mud, is buried under heavy layers of
sediment As burial continues, the pressure and
the temperature both increase, and chemical
changes begin to occur The large, complex organic
molecules are slowly broken down into long chains
of hydrocarbon molecules, which have the
consistency of asphalt
6
How is Petroleum Created?
Specifically, the organic molecules change into a
waxy material known as kerogen With time and if
the kerogen is subjected to increased pressure
and heat, it is further changed into liquid and
gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as
catagenesis
7
How is Petroleum Created?
A Texas Oilman would say, the petroleum
matures It successively changing from heavy
long hydrocarbon molecules into light simple
gas and oil molecules The thick liquids become
progressively thinner and more valuable or
sweeter because it requires less processing at
the oil refinery
8
How is Petroleum Created?
Most of the maturation process occurs between 50o
to 100o C (120o to 210o F) At higher temperatures
the hydrocarbon converts to methane gas
9
The Time Factor
The amount of time it takes to create petroleum
is not precisely known However, petroleum is not
found in rock that is younger than 1 or 2 million
years old So, this is a slow process which takes
million of years This means that we are using up
oil much much faster than it can be replaced by
nature We have essentially a finite supply of
oil, then it will be gone
10
Oil and Gas Migration
We want to extract the oil But the majority of
the petroleum source rocks are fine-grained
sedimentary rocks of low permeability The
petroleum is spread throughout the rock and it is
hard and uneconomical to extract large quantities
of oil or gas quickly
11
Oil and Gas Migration
To become economical, two things need to
happen The gas and/or oil must migrate out of
the source rocks into more permeable rocks, which
is called the reservoir rock
And eventually, a large quantity must become
concentrated and confined into a petroleum trap
beneath an impermeable layer called a cap rock
12
Types of Petroleum Traps
(A) A simple fold trap (B) fossilized coral reef
(C) fault trap (D) salt dome
13
Hydrocarbon Uses
A given oil field may contain a variety of
hydrocarbon compounds and these different
compounds have different uses Oil, gas and
methane can all be found together
14
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Some of the first oils wells were gushers, where
the oil behaved like water in an artesian
well Extracting oil using no techniques beyond
pumping is called primary recovery This will only
remove part of the oil deposit, usually a third
or much less However, on the average, two-thirds
of the oil is left in the ground
15
Enhanced Oil Recovery
There are many secondary recovery techniques that
allow addition oil to be extracted When flow
falls off, water can be pumped into the reservoir
rock, filling empty pore space and buoying up
more oil Or you can pump in steam Or explosives
can be set off in the oil zone, fracturing the
rock and increasing permeability Or carbon
dioxide gas can be pumped in
16
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Secondary recovery can allow up to an additional
40 of the known oil reserves to be extracted All
of these secondary recovery methods add to the
cost of oil extraction
17
U.S. Energy Consumption
The U.S. produces a staggering amount of energy
per year, and about 80 of that energy currently
comes from the fossil fuels coal, natural gas and
oil
18
U.S. Energy Consumption
The U.S. is the number one consumer of energy in
the world and that consumption is rising We now
use 100 quadrillion of BTUs per year
19
BTU
In the United States, the term BTU (British
Thermal Unit) is used to describe the energy
content of fuels A BTU is defined as the amount
of heat required to raise the temperature of one
pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit 143 BTU
is required to melt a pound of ice
20
BTU
One quadrillion BTU is 1,000,000,000,000,000
BTU That is a 1 followed by 15 zeros It would
take over 31 million years to count to a
quadrillion at the rate of one number per second
But we are talking about 100 quadrillion
21
Supply and Demand
Oil is commonly discussed in quantities of
barrels, where one barrel equal 42
gallons Worldwide, over 500 billion barrels of
oil has been consumed Unfortunately, half of that
consumption occurred over the past 25 years The
estimated proven oil reserves are about 1
trillion barrels Or about 50 years at the current
rate of use
22
Proven World Oil Reserves 2008
Crude oil reserves in billions of barrels as of
June 2008 Note that the Middle East has more oil
than the entire rest of the world combined
23
Major World Users
Like other resources, petroleum sources are very
unevenly spread around the world For example,
high-tech, densely-populated Japan has no oil,
and must import 100 of the oil it needs
24
Imported oil
More than half of the oil consumed by the U.S.
has been imported Principle sources were Saudi
Arabia, Venezuela, Canada and Mexico
25
Imported oil
In 1973, the U.S. dependence on foreign oil
became a major political and strategic military
concern, when OPEC shut off oil supplies
26
OPEC
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) is a cartel of twelve countries made up of
Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates and Venezuela
27
OPEC
OPEC nations control two-thirds of the world's
oil reserves and currently produce 36 of the
world's oil, affording them considerable control
over the global market
28
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established
in 1977 to store about 550 million barrels of oil
for military emergency use This was equal to a
115 day supply for 1977
29
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
As of January 22, 2009, the current inventory was
702.8 million barrels This equates to 33 days of
oil at current daily US consumption levels of 21
million barrels a day
30
U.S. Oil Supplies
The U.S. originally had about 10 of all the
worlds oil supply The U.S. has consumed over 200
billion barrels of oil
31
U.S. Oil Supplies
We currently consume about 7 billion barrels a
year For the past three decades we have been
discovering new oil in the U.S. as fast as we
were consuming But...
32
Declining Yields
For land or offshore, the average yield from
producing wells in the U.S. is declining, from a
peak of 18.6 barrels per well per day in 1972 to
10.9 barrels in 2000
33
Declining Yields
The total daily amount of oil produced in the
U.S. has been steadily declining and is predicted
to continue to decline
34
Hubberts Peak
M. King Hubbert was an oil man who predicted in
1956 that oil production would follow a bell
curve He was ostracized by the entire oil industry
The main counter argument was that we were just
beginning to use modern exploratory methods and
we simply had no idea how much oil existed on
Earth The sky was not falling!
35
Hubberts Peak
He was right. Well kind of....
36
Future Oil Prospects
Many people think that as oil prices soar, there
will be increased exploration and discovery of
new reserves There is a finite amount of
petroleum in the ground and we have found most of
it Two-thirds of new exploratory wells come up
dry The days of the gushers are over
37
Future Oil Prospects
It is now very expensive to drill an exploratory
oil well on land It cost typically 2 to 20
million dollars per well
38
Future Oil Prospects
The costs for drilling offshore are substantially
higher, easily over 100 million and up Drilling
oils wells in the deep, abyssal plains of the
open ocean may cost billions per well
39
U.S. Natural Gas Use
The supply and demand picture for natural gas is
similar to that for oil Natural gas provides
about 25 of the energy used in the U.S. Until
recently, it was believed that the U.S. has 200
trillion cubic feet of proven reserves And we
import 15 of our natural gas
40
Natural Gas Reserves 2004
Natural gas reserves are more widely distributed
41
Natural Gas Reserves 2008
The Western Hemisphere, especially the United
States, contains substantial proven reserves of
natural gas
42
Burning Gas at the Well Head
Note the bright lights in the Gulf
43
Very Deep Natural Gas
Deep exploratory wells have recently discovered
that tremendous natural gas reserves exist at
depths of several thousand feet
At these depths, all petroleum molecules have
been broken down into natural gas The gas is
under tremendously high pressure and is typically
dissolved into fluids such as saline brines The
gas occurs in oil shale
44
Oil Shale
Oil shale is a generic name for rock that
contains petroleum Oil shale is a misnomer The
rock does not have be shale, it can be any of a
variety of sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone
or limestone
There is actually so little oil in oil shale that
it is useless Rather, the potential fuel in oil
shale is natural gas
45
Distribution of Oil Shale
The U.S. has about two-thirds of the known oil
shale deposits in the entire world In the long
run, this could provide a staggering amount of
natural gas
46
Marcellus Shale
The Marcellus Shale is a type of oil shale that
is found through out the Eastern United States
along the Appalachian Mountain range
It is estimated to contain 500 trillion cubic
feet of natural gas This could meet U.S. energy
needs for a very long time
47
Marcellus Shale
One of the extraction problems is that the
Marcellus Shale ranges from 3000 to 9000 feet in
depth below the surface
48
Fracking
Recent advances in horizontal drilling techniques
and hydraulic fracturing (called fracking) have
made removing natural gas from the Marcellus
Shale both possible and economic
49
Ban Hydraulic Fracturing
Facebook.com Arguments against hydraulic
fracturing center around the extent to which
fracturing fluid used far below the earth's
surface might pollute fresh water zones,
contaminate surface or near-surface water
supplies, impact rock shelf causing seismic
events or lead to surface subsidence...
50
UT Fracking
News Sentinel Dec. 2, 2012 The University of
Tennessee plans to drill for natural gas in its
research forest in Morgan and Scott counties, a
proposal that would allow UT to lease its land to
an oil and gas company and the study the
environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing...
51
Burning Ice
Methane clathrate, also called methane hydrate or
methane ice, is a solid form of water that
contains a large amount of methane trapped within
its crystal structure
52
Burning Ice
About 10 years ago, it was discovered that
extremely large deposits of methane clathrate
occur under sediments on the ocean floors,
usually along the coastlines
53
Burning Ice
The size of these oceanic deposits is
staggering For example, it has been estimated
that over 1 quadrillion cubic feet of methane ice
lies offshore of North and South Carolina alone
There is more methane ice than all other fossil
fuels combined
54
Burning Ice
Can global warming melt these methane ice
deposits? This would profoundly increase the
greenhouse effect
Methane is a far more efficient greenhouse gas
than carbon dioxide The amount of methane locked
in methane hydrates is estimated to be 3000 times
more than is currently in the atmosphere
55
La Brea Tar Pits
The Rancho La Brea Tar pits are a famous series
of natural tar (asphalt) pits in Los Angeles
56
La Brea Tar Pits
Pools of water covers the sticky tar, and for
thousands of years, animals who tried to drink
the water became trapped in the tar, creating a
treasure trove of fossils The predators who fed
on the trapped prey, also became trapped
57
La Brea Tar Pits
Since 1901, over one million bones of Pleistocene
animals have been removed by paleontologists,
including saber-toothed cat and giant sloth
58
Oil Spills on land
In general, oil spills on land are small and
confined Pipe line ruptures, train wreaks, tanker
truck accidents and illegal waste dumping are
the most common sources of spill This spill in
Siberia was burned off, but that creates airborne
oil-smoke pollution
59
Casualty of Warfare
In July 2006, Israel attacked the Hezbollah in
Lebanon
In the first week of the conflict, Israeli
fighter planes struck the Jiyyeh power plant just
south of Beirut The attack set ablaze five oil
tanks and caused a 110,000 gallon fuel oil spill
along the eastern Mediterranean coast
60
Casualty of Warfare
A bad day at Beiruts beaches
61
Casualty of Warfare
Because of the conflict, serious oil cleaning did
not start until September, two months after the
bombing The biggest losers were the endangered
green sea turtles that could not lay that years
clutch of eggs along the Lebanon beaches
62
Casualty of Warfare
During the first Iraq war, Sadam had his
retreating troops set over 800 oil wells in
Kuwait on fire
63
Casualty of Warfare
The fires consumed an estimated six million
barrels of oil daily Their immediate consequence
was a dramatic decrease in air quality, causing
respiratory problems for many Kuwaitis
64
Casualty of Warfare
The sabotage of the oil wells also impacted the
desert environment, which has a limited natural
cleansing ability Oil from the wells formed about
300 oil lakes that contaminated around 40
millions tons of sand and earth.
65
Oil and Water Dont Mix
It is estimated that 600,000 tons of oil per year
naturally escapes from permeable rocks into the
oceans
The news concentrates on major spills, but most
oil spills are small, but in the course of a
year, they can add up The U.S. Coast Guard
reports that there are about 10,000 oil spills in
U.S. waters each year, totaling 15 to 25 million
gallons
66
Oil and Water Dont Mix
When an oil spill occurs at sea, the oil, being
less dense than water, floats The lightest, most
volatile hydrocarbons start to evaporate
immediately, causing air pollution
Over several months, sunlight and bacteria
action, can destroy up to 85 the oil, leaving
thick asphalt lumps that can persist for many
months
67
Oil and Water Dont Mix
If a spill is small, it can be contained by
floating barriers, and the oil skimmed off of the
surface Chalk, wood shavings and peat moss have
been used to soak up oil
In big spills, detergent is added to the oil to
speed up decomposition, but detergent is toxic to
fish and birds
68
Oil and Animals Dont Mix
Oil is toxic to marine life, causes water-birds
to drown when their feathers become coated and
decimates fish and shell fish populations
69
Oil and Animals Dont Mix
Feathers can be cleaned of oil using soap and
water, but it is very traumatic to the bird The
survival rate is low
70
IXTOC 1 Oil Well
Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well platform in
the Gulf of Mexico, about 600 miles south of
Texas On June 3, 1979, the well suffered a
blowout and became the largest unintentional oil
well spill in history
71
IXTOC 1 Oil Well
The oil caught on fire and the drilling platform
collapsed 140 million gallons of oil spilled out
into the Gulf The well was finally capped on
March 23, 1980