Technology Applications in Petroleum Engineering
Technology in GATE PE covers artificial lift, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and digital oilfield tools. Questions often ask you to select or size equipment and evaluate recovery mechanisms using screening criteria.
Core rules and concepts
- Artificial lift: gas lift (injection depth, valve spacing), electrical submersible pump (ESP) (pump curve, viscosity correction), and sucker-rod pump (displacement, polished-rod load).
- Rod pump displacement: (PD = 0.1484 , D^2 , S , N), where D is plunger diameter (in), S is stroke length (in), N is strokes per minute (spm), and PD is bbl/day.
- EOR screening: thermal (steam, SAGD) for heavy oil (<25°API) and shallow depth (<3000 ft); chemical (polymer, surfactant) for light oil; gas (CO₂, N₂) for miscible or immiscible displacement.
- Digital oilfield: SCADA, real-time monitoring, and data analytics for production optimisation.
Worked example
Calculate rod pump displacement for D = 1.5 in, S = 48 in, N = 12 spm. (PD = 0.1484 \times 1.5^2 \times 48 \times 12). First 1.5² = 2.25; 0.1484 × 2.25 = 0.3339; × 48 = 16.0272; × 12 = 192.33 bbl/day. This is theoretical displacement; actual rate is lower due to volumetric efficiency and gas interference.
Traps that cost marks
- Using the theoretical displacement as actual production without applying pump efficiency.
- Choosing thermal EOR for deep or light-oil reservoirs where steam cannot be injected economically.
- Forgetting that gas lift valve spacing depends on injection-gas pressure and fluid gradient.
- Mixing units (inches vs cm) in the pump displacement formula.