Hidrológiai Közlöny 1942 (22. évfolyam)

Szakosztályi ügyek

Part played by water in Oil production 489 electric charge (one being negative, the other positive on the other side) lines up these corpuscles between the electrodes. At the same time the surface tension of the individual corpuscles diminishes, making them crack so that the tiny corpuscles form into larger ones and drop out of the system by their weight. A combination of both chemical and electric methods has been applied with success. In oil production gas pipe are being used to an excess. The gas produced from the formation contains water vapor as well. Similarly to the oil pipe water knock-outs can be built into gas lines likewise so that the vapor reduced to water can be drained. However, this simple method holds good only in case of low-pressure pipelines. Gas and water vapor when subjected to pressure forms hydrate, suchs is for instance Ch

46H

20. One of the characteristics of natural hydrate water is that its melting point is in proportion to the pressure exerted thereon. This interrelation has been formed by E. G. Hanunerschmidt as follows: Y = 8.9 X. n28

5 where: Y = is the melting point in F. degrees, X = absolute pressure in lbs./sq. in. Hence it follows that the melting point of hydrate waters at 7.7 atm. pressure is .about -f- 1° C, while at 56 atm. pressure about 16° C. Practically this means that even in warm weather the hydrate water forms ice, resp., something resembling ice. The vapor pressure of hydrate water being below that of water vapor at identical pressures, forming hydrate out of water vapor more water must be drained from the pipe, than otherwise when there would have been no hydrate forming. Carson and Katz state that all those paraffinic hydrocarbons whose boiling point is above n-butane behave as if they were metane and do not form hydrates. Bibliography: Dr. A. E. Dunstan, Prof. A. W. Nash, Dr. Benjamin T. Brooks, Sir Henry Tizard: The Science of Petroleum, Oxford Univ. Press, London, 1938. W. E. Wrather and F. H. Lahee: Problems of Petroleum Geology, Thos. Murby & Co., London, 1943. L. C. Uren: Petroleum Production Engineering, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York—London, 1939. Wilbur F. Cloud: Petroleum Production, Univ. of Okla. Press, Norman, 1937. Transactions of the A. I. M. M. E., Vol. 132. Petroleum Development and Technology, 1939, published by the Institute, New York.