University of Calgary Research

The In Situ Combustion Research Group of the University of Calgary’s Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering was engaged by the Canadian industry committee examining the issue of fires and explosions in the upstream industry. The extensive literature review, case study analysis and more than 50 interviews conducted to compile the technical information on this site were done by the U of C.

Located within the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary, the In Situ Combustion Research Group has more than 30 years of experience performing enhanced oil recovery and safety research for the upstream oil and gas industry. The Group’s central focus and expertise has been directed to the reaction of hydrocarbons and oxygen, particularly at conditions of high temperatures and pressure. Under the direction of Dr. Gordon Moore and Dr. S.A. (Raj) Mehta, the Group operates 800 m 2 of laboratory space in the University’s Calgary Center for Innovative Technology (CCIT). They direct seven full-time employees and approximately 20 graduate students, providing safety research and experimental capability in the following areas:

• Flammability limits of air-hydrocarbon mixtures at elevated temperatures and pressures.
• Spontaneous ignition and ignition processes.
• Flame propagation and detection in process vessels and piping.
• Gas phase combustion in porous media at elevated pressures.
• Calorimetric and thermo-gravimetric analyses of hydrocarbons and oxidation reactions.
• Safe mixing processes for flammable gas mixtures.
• Safety of weathered (oxidized) hydrocarbon products such as drilling fluids.
• Design and fabrication of high pressure/high temperature equipment.

Contacts:

Photo Gallery

	This is a picture of a TA Instruments Pressurized Differential Scanning Calorimeter (PDSC).  This instrument is used to measure heat released as hydrocarbon samples are heated in air.
	Raj Mehta and Mark Hancock test the flammability of sour natural gas in air at high pressure.
	A variable sized reactor for testing the flammability of natural gas/air mixtures in process vessel and downstream piping.

These three photos are from the Accelerating Rate Calorimter (ARC) which is used to measure the reaction of air with hydrocarbons at high pressure.  A small amount of liquid hydrocarbon (oil) is placed in one of the sample bombs, which is placed in the calorimeter (grey cylinder in middle photo) where it is uniformly heated while measuring the responding temperature and pressure.

High pressure reactor for oxidizing hydrocarbon samples over extended periods of time at controlled temperatures.

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