Racial Diversity in Society Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Racial Diversity in Society Worksheet Essay Complete the following using the MySocLab Social Explorer Map: Income Inequality by Race (located on the student website) as a reference: †¢Select 1 racial group from the list below: African American Asian American Arab American Hispanic American/Latino White/Caucasian †¢Write a 150- to 300-word summary of the economic, social, and political standings of that group. Use additional resources if necessary, from the University Library or your textbooks. Provide citations for all the sources you use. Hispanic Americans or Latinos in America descend from many different countries such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and The Dominican Republic. They come to the United States as immigrants for a variety of different reasons, but the most common is that they come here in search of the American Dream. From an economic point of view Hispanics remain at the bottom of the job ladders due to the fact that many of them are not educationally equipped and are not fluent in English which are both necessities when it comes to the jobs in demand. Their lack of formal education is what is keeping them down in our nation’s technology run job market. Studies show that less and less Hispanic Americans are finishing high school, and without the skills that education will teach them they will continue to flounder in todays economy. When it comes to social statistics it is overwhelmingly clear that faith and family have and continue to be the cornerstone of the Hispanic American Family values and a huge part of their religious based culture. Politically, due to the fact that the majority of  Hispanic Americans are lower or middle cla ss, they tend to agree with the democratic views when it comes to politics. Part II Answer the following in 50 to 150 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. †¢What is racism? In what ways does racism affect diversity? Racism can be defined as the belief that a specific racial group is superior or inferior to another and that there is nothing that any individual who belongs to that racial group does (economically, socially, politically) can change it. Racism affects diversity through outlets such as discrimination and prejudice that we hold against one another due to the fact that our skin is not all the same color. Today, we hear words like that (prejudice and discrimination) and we are quick to object to the accusation that we can still, after all we as a nation have overcome when it comes to touchy subjects like this, be guilty of such negative ways of thinking. However, it is clear that some things clearly have not changed when we look at statistics that show that in American society whites are still hired for high paying jobs in greater numbers than minorities with the same credentials or that minorities still seem to make up the majority of inmate populations in todays prisons. †¢How do racial groups interact in contemporary America? Are interactions positive, negative, or neutral? Support your response using proper citations. Today, it is not uncommon for racial groups to interact with each other in a mostly positive way due to the fact that in most communities we are not separated based on our racial background when it comes to things such as the schools we attend and jobs that we are allowed to hold like we have been in the past. This is thanks to desegregation and affirmative action laws that have been put into action over the past several years. However, even with these laws we are not a perfect nation and there is still cases where social  inequities can allow discrimination and prejudices to rear their ugly heads in today’s society. Social inequities can affect a particular races basic human rights such as the right to live in a certain area, be hired for a certain job, be able to travel freely, acceptance into schools or colleges, and even the right to vote. †¢Are there existing social inequities based on race? Why or why not? Social inequities is one of those touchy subjects that some people say still exist and some people say does not. Like many subjects similar to this one (racism in general, prejudice, and discrimination) people’s views on it can differ tremendously. Some speak from experience and some speak on it based on facts that they are taught. I’ll touch on an example that I previously mentioned to support the argument that yes, social inequities are existent in today’s society. When you look at prisons today, it is clear that minorities make up a much larger chunk of the inmate population than whites. People who argue that social inequities are the cause of this say that this is a result if whites having always been a more protected race in the US and because of this so called protection, they are favored in the justice system and are given more access to better attorneys. People who support the idea that social inequities don’t exist can of course use the argument t hat the reason that minorities make up most of the inmate population is simply because they are the ones who are responsible for committing the crimes that get them in trouble in the first place. †¢What do you believe to be the causes of racial prejudice and discrimination in today’s society? Looking back at our Nation’s history, it’s clear that racism has and continues to be a problem here. However, it’s also clear that he have taken huge steps, which include legal actions, in order to eliminate it. Unfortunately it is not something that can be completely abolished overnight, and we have to have patience in order to keep the movement pressing forward. The awareness that courses such as this one provides are also great tools when it comes to educating more people on the issue, the  causes, and what can be done to keep it from spreading. I believe that the main cause of racial prejudices is the fact that although as a nation (united) we are against it there are still individual people and families amongst us who refuse to stop it in their personal lives and who continue to teach it to their children generation after generation. Racism is something that is taught, as there is now way for it to be passed genetically or inherently. References Braubach, M. (2010, January 4). Social inequities in environmental risks associated with housing and residential location—a review of evidence. Oxford Journals. Retrieved from http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/1/36.abstract?sid=4aa802c1-b338-41e1-b724-eef7ecee7791 Huffman, A. (2012, November 15). How Hispanics Impact Political, Social and Economic Climate. Charisma News. Retrieved from http://www.charismanews.com/us/34581-how-hispanics-impact-political-social-and-economic-climate Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and Ethnic Groups (13th ed.). : Merrill Prentice Hall.

Research Proposal On Resource Management Environmental Sciences Essay

Research Proposal On Resource Management Environmental Sciences Essay Introduction: This is an individual components assignment with carried an individual presentation. This assignment is consists of a research proposals. A research proposal is written specification of an intended research. In order to, from the particular topic do the literature review, problem statement, methodology, project objective and results expectation. When do research on literature review as a researcher needed to find information through the scholarly journal, scholarly articles, books and scholarly conference. In the literature review, task is to make referencing as research proposals what others researcher has been done. Find the relevant particular issue, area of research, theory, description, summary and critical issue due to the particular topic. In research proposals, the next method is problem statement. At here, after accomplished the literature review part, to identifying the problem on others researcher has been done. Furthermore, also discuss the problem of project background, project background is provide the evidence ad facts to support the researcher case problem, describes clearly on the new idea problem. After completed the problem statement, the next step is methodology. Methodology is from researcher research design to identifying the justification or limitations on the product. At here, requirement explains the depth of investigation, content, sample size, geographical and theoretical coverage. The next method for research proposal is Project objective, project objective is listed out the objective of the research aim arising directly from the purpose of the study. In the project objective, also require to do the research questions and significance of the project. For explain objective for the research. The last step is results expectation. Before completed the research proposal, as a researcher require to do the results expectation on the idea. To do the analyze data, listed the method to used, require market or other relevant issues for assuming the results. In conclusion, a research proposal is combined with different research methods for accomplished the proposal. , all of this method is important information to support researcher on the research topic for avoid the plagiarisms. Due to the problem of global climate rapidly increasing, environmental damage and environmental pollution become more serious. And the natural resources minimizing, the important of renewable energy more be valued. More researcher are try to research the renewable energy for solving the natural resources minimizing problem. Researcher are founded various types of renewable energy for replacement the natural resources, the most common renewable energy is solar energy system. Solar energy system is collecting the sunlight into the solar panel and then to generate the electric power to supply the electricity. Next of renewable energy is the wave energy system, its assist with the wave energy to rotary the turbine generator and generate the electric power, normally are using by the country along with ocean. The next renewable energy is same concept with the wave energy system, there are also using the turbine rotary to generate the energy for supply the electric power, which is the wind energy power system. Turbine are designing as the fan blade, its normally build on open air environment. When the wind are blowing the turbine will be rotating and in the same time the turbine connect with a generator, the generator are generate the energy, therefore this is called as wind power energy system. Basically wind power energy system are building at high frequency wind area, because able to generate more energy, but due to the researcher do some relevant research it also suitable for build at normal frequency wind blow areas. Reason is renewable energy is an important resources for reducing the natural resource minimizing rapidly. In the end, introduce my research topic is the micro wind turbine generator renewable energy system on street light. Due to the street lamp already use the solar power system for replacing the natural power resources, but depending on some area are lack of sunlight, in order to solar street lamp are not suitable for build at the particular place. Designing a wind power system for street light is for backup the solar problem. It could be build in two renewable functions, which is the solar power system and wind power system, but my research topic is more concentrate on the wind power energy system. Literature Review: In literature review are require to explanation the overview of the research subject, separate the division of works under review into the categories. Make explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others. And at the end, conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in the argument, which are most convincing of the opinions and make the greatest contribution to understanding and development of the area of research. The process of assessing each piece, are consideration the four important sessions, which is provenance, objectivity, persuasiveness and value. Furthermore, also needed to identify the definition and the purpose due to the literature review may constitute an essential chapter of a thesis or dissertation, or also maybe a self contained review of writings on a subject. The requirement of research proposal is to references at least 10 of scholarly journals, scholarly articles, books or conference. From the relevant references, to identifying the fact data or others supporting evidence. And make the referencing citation for avoid to plagiarism. At first, the literature review is about the storage of fluctuating wind energy. An overview of the literature review is about the last 15 years the wind power energy becomes more and more important in Germany. The amount of total installed capacity of wind power generator was rapidly increasing in Germany, according the data collection from researchers, the average full load hours of the German wind generation is about 1600h/a and will increase 2010 to about 1960h/a based on the increasing off-shore wind parks in Germany(Dr Edwin,2007). From this data we get the knowledge about the wind power energy is getting more and more requirement in the global. The result is the increasing the amount requirement wind power energy, the reducing the environmental polluted. According the research paper, the Germany Energy Agency has been published the results, they target to reduce the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission from today 860 Mio t/a until 2012 to 846 Mio t/a. This development of installment is not only happened in Germany others Europe country also development this generator is extremely fast. Worldwide country also has growing fast for installment the wind power generators. They are still continuing investigate the research on Compressed air energy storage (CASE). Compressed air energy storage is operated system in different ways, which is the storage of low energy for peak load demand, use of not used base load energy, reserve the energy power and storage of fluctuating wind energy. In conclusion, they still investigate the problem of transmission system for transportation the power to long distance, and the change reserve and operation system. Next, the literature review is plan for the wind power device to make the best of earth wind energy. After overview the paper, for collecting the best of wind energy resources on the earth surface, researcher are plan for a new type of wind power device, it called as multiple wind wheel wind power device (MWD). The multiple wind wheel wind power device is composes steel tower, trusses, generator, long axis, wind turbine and wheel boxes. Its installed all this components to be the MWD. Multiple wind wheel wind power device operation function is capture the wind energy in high air, a wind turbine and its generator are installed at the top of a very high tower, that the wind energy below the wind turbine cannot be utilized (zhang and zhang, 2010). In conclusion, in the limitation area this multiple wind wheel wind power device is more valuable due to the same of capacity and more power to generate. Another literature review source is about the generating capacity adequacy associated with wind energy. After overview, utilization of renewable energy, such as the wind power energy is for electric power generation is being given serious consideration around the world due to the global environmental concern associated with conventional energy sources (Roy Billinton and Guang bai, 2004). Researcher has presented a methodology for capacity adequacy associated with wind energy, comparing the two types of systems which are containing both conventional generation system and wind energy conversion system (WECS). From the simulation, the studies have shown that the wind energy conversion system is more reliability performance generation system. Due to the benefits of the capacity can be assigned to a wind energy conversion system is highly dependent on the wind. In conclusion the paper is making the studies on the wind energy conversion system; focus on the ability to quantify. And able to given reliability contribution in at a site with a high mean wind speed. Furthermore, literature review source is about the combining the wind power generation system with energy storage equipments. Overview the paper, this paper is about a group of Taiwan researcher to make some studies on the wind power energy. A wind power is a source of renewable power which comes from air current flowing across the earths surface (Lu. et al. 2008). According the research data, the average annual growth rate of more than 26% since 1990, the wind power energy is the fastest rapid growth energy source in the world. The wind power energy storage equipment also role as important, it approach to make wind power more reliable sources on capacity and energy. This storage devices also as application for reducing the output variation during the gust wind is also studied. In conclusion, the wind power and energy storage equipment is operation the system generation. The benefits of energy storage devices to mitigate the fluctuations during wind gust are also been discussed. The next literature review is reliability evaluation of generating systems containing wind power and energy storage. This is another group researcher to make studies on energy storage and wind power generating system. Wind power generation in electric power systems will increase considerably thought out the world in the near future, many countries have implemented or are in the process of implementing policies to promote renewable energy(Hu. et al., 2009). For wind power energy, is a faster growing source in many types of renewable source. To maintain the system more stability, the wind energy dispatch is usually restricted and energy storage is considered to smooth out the fluctuation and improve supply continuity. Researchers also investigate the wind energy conversion system (WECS) and energy storage, technique of Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) also for the reliability evaluation of generating system. In order to, researcher also make studies on the wind power to a small test system which is called as Roy Billiton test system (RBTS). The results also recorded from the wind penetration level, energy storage capacity and energy storage operating constraints. In conclusion, this research paper is making the comparison of three different operating strategies for benefits and advantages on energy storage. The following of Literature review is an introduction of wind conversion. In this Although the wind is not very reliable as a source of power from day to day, it is a reliable source of energy year by year , and the main role for future wind energy system will be operating in parallel with electricity grid system(Musgrove.P.J,1983). The paper has make studies on the wind turbine characteristics, the wind energy resource and economics. Due to the wind turbine system from begin is founded from middle east country, through some moment the wind turbine system is widespread to worldwide, at first , the Mediterranean was adapt the wind turbine system , after the period of time, its spread to Europe and worldwide country. And nowadays, the wind turbine system is very important of renewable energy for this century. In conclusion, wind turbine system is rapidly be installment at worldwide, the requirement of the design and operating function also needed to make improvement. The average wind s peed, and hence the wind power density is also subject to consideration geographic variation. The 7th of literature review is design of wind turbine energy system. This research paper is studies about the designing the actually shape for the suitable area. Air flowing is called the wind, because of sun, the wind always exists, the wind energy is from the sun, it is a renewable energy resource (Fang, 2010). In this paper, the researchers is investigate the air flowing in the whole earth is like a boiler. The air becomes light in the equator, and be heavy in the two poles. The air wind flows day and night. Researcher due to the data collection, the different of temperature, the different season, and different or areas the speed of wind is different. Therefore, when design a wind turbine energy system, must be consideration the mass air flows, materials of turbine all is important issues. In conclusion, the paper is case studies of design of wind turbine energy system for suitable to convert to energy source. The next literature review also as no 8 literature review is wind energy and power system inertia. This research paper is case studies about the wind energy along with the power system. Wind is an abundant, clean, robust, and compelling resource for generating electricity. The low inertia of a wind dominant power system could be troublesome in power system operation. (Abreu and shahidehpour, 2006). In this paper presented the problem operation system which is the inertia is to combine wind energy with high inertia energy storage system, improvement technology system in the flywheel energy storage (FES). Flywheel energy storage by using kinetics energy as storage, the FES technology might offers high steady inertia and good efficiency which improve the power quality. Due to no individual power plant is totally reliable and a wind farm alone may not be at the desirable reliability levels, a wind farm might no schedule to supply a certain amount of load. In conclusion, this research top ic has been discussing issues on environment, modular benefits and importance. If without the financial issue, they flywheel energy storage system is a good combination for wind turbine generator. The 9th literature review is the A novel wind energy system. This research paper is case studies also about the wind energy system. Power generation utilizing wind energy has received greater attention in countries all over the world due to rapid depletion of fossil energy resources (Chan and Lai, 2009). In this research paper, have done the case studies on few wind energy system, for example an axial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous generator (AFPMSG) is directly coupled to a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). Axial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous generator is studied using a two dimensional finite element method and analytical methods. Vertical axis wind turbine for use in urban regions are close to domestic premises, hence quiet operation is an important system. In conclusion, the paper is discussing the wind energy system suitable for the urban environment. The axial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous generators have it benefits and advantages. Next of the literature review is the supervisory predictive control of standalone wind/solar energy generation systems. This research paper is making the case studies on the development of a supervisory model predictive control methods for the optimal management and operation of hybrid standalone wind-solar energy generation systems. drivers for solar or wind renewable energy systems are the environmental benefits due to reduction the carbon emissions, reduced investment risk, fuel diversification, and energy autonomy(Qi.et al,2011). According the renewable energy, the solar energy also is an important research for renewable energy. Some energy generate system is work the two renewable energy together as power energy. Solar system is absorb the sunlight to heat the solar panel, and then to generate the energy. Therefore, the design benefits for some country, because its able to generating the energy in two ways. In conclusion, this paper has studies the development if a supervisory p redictive control method for the optima management and operation of hybrid wind solar energy generation systems. The last of literature review is the grid voltage support by mean of a small wind turbine system. This research paper is making the case studies on the small wind turbine system (WTS) improved with voltage compensation functionality. At here, the important part is the voltage controlled inverter. As the wind capacity increases, grid utility operators have to ensure that consumer power quality is not compromised. To enable a large scale application of the wind energy without compromising the power system stability, the turbine should stay connected and contribute to the grid in case of a disturbance such as voltage dip(Orlando. et al,2008). The wind turbine system used a permanent magnet generator as the main system for operation. The permanent magnet generator is control to maximize the power output and achieve a smooth torque and power profile. In the conclusion, the paper has studies the new wind turbine system should contribute to the regulation of active and reactive power and th ereby contribute to the voltage control. Problem Statement and Proposed contents: Problem statement: According the literature review has been done in previous research data collection. Researcher base on the literature review research to identifying the problem statement. The problem statement is the wind power storage energy system. Need to find out the solution to ensure the electricity collect from turbine generator has been storage in the system. The next problem statement is total amount of wind energy collected by the wind turbine system. Therefore researcher must to find the solving method to complete the problem of wind energy collected. Transmission system of the wind turbine also needs to identify, for guarantee the process to transmit the electric power to generate the light with a stable. Problem background: Project background is from the research topic to build up the case. From the problem statement, applying the concept or methods founded from the literature review for solving the problem. All the information needs explanation clearly due to significance for allow reader understanding easily. Using the Monte Carlo simulation, in short (MCS) for collecting the data. A research projects on micro wind turbine generator street lamp renewable energy is consideration many sectors. Due to the problem statement been listed, if want to build the micro wind turbine generator street lamp on urban must consideration the wind energy collected system. In the urban, it consists of housing area, office building, highway road and Leisure Park. Different area are having the different rate of air flowing. Therefore, the wind energy collected system is requiring finding the solution method, ensuring the wind turbine system able to collect the energy. Based on the literature review, have been collect 3 methods to solve the problem. Firstly, is about the multiple wind wheel wind power device, in short (MWD). This method is designing the wind turbine system installed in vertically. The generator put in middle of the generator room. Steel tower must in circle type because it is the stationary axis the trusses turn around. When the air flowing, the multiple levels might be turn around and collect the wind. Other benefits for this is the require capacity is small. Therefore, this method is suitable to apply on the micro wind turbine street lamp. The next method for improving to collect the wind power energy is wind turbine generator, in short (WTG). This method is using the permanent magnet generator to generate the turbine rotating. When the air flowing is lower, the system will more generate to collect the wind energy. In order this method also can be apply on the micro wind turbine street lamp. The last method for improving to collect the wind power is the axial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous generators (AFPMSG). This method has an outer -rotor construction for convenient mounting to the turbine rotor structure. Its directly couple with vertical axis wind turbine. Based on this method solution, also can apply on the micro wind turbine street lamp. The next problem statement is the energy storage system. To build the micro turbine wind generator street lamp also requires to consideration the energy storage system. From the project design, the street lamp is a vertical aluminum tower. In base of tower must install the energy storage system for redundancy the system. Through the review on the literature review, has been collect 2 methods to improving the design. Firstly, is the wind energy conversion system, in short (WES). This system is make the collection wind energy into the system and generate out the more reliability of energy, when the system accepting the high amount of power it will keeping in the storage , and when needed the system will automated to release the energy to generate. The next method is the flywheel energy storage system, in short (FES). This also a method of storage the energy, it make through the high steady inertia system to generate, the kinetic energy will be storage. All energy storage system is to g enerate reliability energy to generate the system. The last problem statement is the transmission of the wind turbine power system. When the wind power was been collected at the generator, sometime needed to transfer the power to other location, therefore the transmission also important. Based on the literature review, the method been founded is the compressed air energy storage, in short (CASE). This also a type of storage system, but then it apply the transmission system for ensure the energy transferring in stable rate. In conclusion, the problem background solution has solved due the method from other researcher. Methodology: Research design and justification / limitations: In the methodology, must provide the scope of research, the scope of research is includes the depth of investigation, content, sample, size, geographical and theoretical coverage as well as the time scope. At this section needed to justification the applied research method. The research project is micro turbine wind energy generator street lamp. Application of street lamp is installment on the ground and providing the light intensive. The project is design almost similar with common street lamp, the only few part are different which is the top is consists of the wind turbine for generate the wind energy. And the bottom part consists of energy storage system for storage the energy. The tower of the project is using the aluminum as basic material, due to the market requirement able to change the material depend on needed. For the wind turbine also using aluminum as material because is avoid get rusty easily. The lamp of the project is using the light emitted diode (LED) the reason of choose LED as lamp because it save energy and good quality. Based on the calculation, the wind power street lamp is capable of producing around 150W of power when the wind were blowing and the street lamp save excess energy generated in a battery for using while without energy supply. Due to using the LED as lamp, that powers their high efficiency LED through the night. Since every location and project is different ,urban green energy is taking a components focused approach to the street lamp design the led light wind turbine , tower height and battery storage are all easily scaled to best fit a particular project. There are some advantages available of the project. Low cost for generate power; compare with normal energy resource wind power is the most low cost compare within. Other advantage is providing lightning of light during the midnight. The limitation is the street lamp needed to consideration the place to installment, the best location is near by the shore, because just near the sea. The air blow is higher. Project Aims and Objectives: Research objective: The objective of the research is the statements of the specific of main goal from the purpose of the research study. Due to the research objective, to make the identifying on the problem or question during the research. Firstly, determine the important of renewable energy in the worldwide, due to the reason of minimizing of natural resource. Secondly, to determine the wind power energy system is the process which through the wind flowing to make the rotary on the generator to generate the mechanical power or electricity. Amount collection of the electric power can convert to supply electricity power. Thirdly, analysis the ability of wind power to alternative the natural resources, wind is a natural environment source, it is inexhaustible source compare with the gases, fuel and metal materials all this natural resources. This phenomenon is facts; therefore its able to replacing the natural resources. Furthermore, the objective of the research is identifying the advantages of wind power generator, advantages of wind energy is a free renewable resource, a source of clean, non-polluting and electricity. Its also able to reducing the carbon emission. Next, of the objective is determine the amount of the energy in the wind be captured, according the case study, a wind turbine are horizontal axis variety, it installment at wind farm, when the air flowing, turbine might be turning and generate the electric current. And also identifying the wind turbine pose a safety hazard, die to the wind turbine do not use combustion to generate electricity in order to dont produce air emissions. Therefore the surface areas of the turbine are without any polluted, the health and safety attach as important. Objective of the research also include the analysis the potential on market requirement for the wind power generator, base on the minimizing of natural resource, definitely markets are requirement the wind power. Next objective is analysis the cost of wind power compare with conventional power plants, base on the wind power is free, the cost of generate energy might be low cost than others. Another objective is to identifying the amount of electricity power is generating by wind turbine generator. Last objective is to determine the stability of transmission of the storage energy source to generator, ensure the transmission process with balance. Research question: What is the important of renewable energy in the worldwide? What is wind power energy system? What is the ability of wind power to alternative the natural resources? What are the advantages of wind power generator? How much of the energy in the wind be captured? Do the wind turbines pose a safety hazard? What is the potential on market for this Wind Turbine Generator? What is the cost of wind power competitive with conventional power plants? A wind turbine generate able to generate how amount of electricity What is the stability of transmission the energy source to generator? Significance of this project: Base on the research from literature review and problem statement, and from the objective of research are research out the importance of the project. Significance of this project is able to minimizing the natural resource amount uses, avoiding the wasted of natural resource. Through the renewable resource also can cause environment be green reduce the polluted. According the earth hour organization, this organization will organize an occasion to encourage people switch light for 1 hour, if this research project has been produce , its may helping people apply the knowledge of important natural resource. This project also will cause the environmental more beautiful and clean. The urban will looks more elegant and fashion. The last reason is decreasing the carbon emission in earth atmosphere due to the global warming. Deliverables: Expected result: Based on the research, this research study has founded some relevant of research information from others researcher. Basically, according these few recent years, many of researchers are making study research on the renewable energy. Renewable energy is be valued by all researcher. Because the renewable energy resource having plenty of advantages and benefits. For example, is able minimizing the polluted of environmental, replacing the natural resources, due to global warming are getting more serious, renewable energy are able to minimizing the side affect on this. A micro wind turbine generator street lamp is a creative and invention design. According to the market, already available the solar panel street lamp, but the solar is only available for collect the energy from the sunlight. Mean during the midnight, the solar panel cant be collecting the energy. This is the disadvantage of the solar panel. On the other hand, a wind turbine street lamp having an advantages is the air flowing is available for anytime, no need to wait on day only able to function. Expectation of the result is this project is more organization want to supporting this project. Through the organization and media, spread the detail information to worldwide. And also governments are willing to plan to installment the wind turbine generator street lamp in their own city. Others expected result, have others researcher interesting this research project. And these researcher reinforcement more creativity idea and more advance idea for replacing. Timescales: Figure 1: Gantt chart From figure 1 is shown the Gantt chart for whole final year project timescales. The total period is for 9months. W1 = week 1 W2 = week 2 W3 = week 3 W4 = week 4 References: Abreau, L.V.L and Shahidehpour, M, 2006, wind energy and power system inertia in power engineering society general meeting, 16 October 2006, IEEE.org, pp 1-6 Biwen Zhang and Yingjin Zhang, 2010, plan for the wind power device to make the best of earth wind energy In future power and energy system engineering, 2010 international conference, china 26-27 June 2010,IEEE.org, pp7-10 Bilinton, R and Guang Bai, 2004, generating capacity adequacy associated with wind energy in energy conversion, Canada September 2004, IEEE.org, pp 641-646 Fang Lin Luo, 2010, Design of wind turbine energy system in IPEC,2010 conference proceedings, Singapore 27-29 October 2010, IEEE.org, pp110-116 Hu,P, karki,R and bilinton, R, 2009, reliability evaluation of generating systems containing wind power and energy storage in generation, transmission distribution, IET, Canada August 2009, IEEE.org, pp783-792 Lerch, E, 2007, storage of fluctuating wind energy in power electronics and applications, 2007 European conference, Europe 2-5 September 2007, IEEE.org,pp1-8 Ming-Shun Lu, Chung-Liang Chang, Wei-Jen Lee and Li Wang, 2008, combining the wind power generating system with energy storage equipment in industry applications society annual Meeting, 2008 IAS08 IEEE, Taiwan 5-9 October 2008 , IEEE.org, pp 1-6 Musgrove,P.J, 1983, wind energy conversion an introduction in

Abandoned Oil Wells End of Field Life

Abandoned Oil Wells End of Field Life ABSTRACT As petroleum, production continues to decline in many parts of the globe, more operators are seeing well abandonment as a reality. Drilled wells are plugged and abandoned for different reasons of which the typical and operational reason is that the well has reached its economic limit or when drilled it was found to be a dry hole. (refer). According to Ide, T., et al 2006, well bore is taken to be high fluid transmittal pathway. Even with the current procedure of sealing and abandonment, individual wells have the tendency to loose their integrity due to various factors, which include but not limited to poor cementation, poor or ineffective plugging, and increase in formation pressure after abandonment, corrosion of casing (refer). Safe and economical well abandonment are important to the industry from environmental and financial standpoints. Improper abandonment can require re-abandonment procedures to mitigate environmental contamination or to comply with updated regulations, causing an increased financial burden on the operator. 1. Introduction 1.1 BACKGROUND All wells drilled have a distinct life cycle with respect to its cost, duration, recovery, and value. Although these characteristics and attributes are specific to an individual drilled well, all producing wells pass through the same initial and final state, beginning with completion and ending with abandonment. After the drilling stage of a well and the target depth is reached, a decision to complete the well is made based on the reservoir attributes: is the well dry or is the hydrocarbon in place of economic value. Ultimately, every well becomes dormant because of reduced economic returns or technical problem. When a well stops producing, it either may be shut-in (SI), temporary abandoned (TA) or permanently abandoned (pa). With ageing fields fast approaching their economic limit, abandonment is becoming increasingly frequent and many operators have to modify their abandonment procedure to fit the Wellbore condition and make certain that abandoned wells remain permanently sealed and prevent commingling while balancing the environmental objectives of abandonment and cost of actual abandonment. Wells, which are not abandoned appropriately, can become a major hazard to the underground source of drinking water and possibly the aquatic environment [8] Shut in status (SI) When a well is shut-in it is still flowing but its Christmas tree, SV, wing valves are all closed. Usually a well is shut-in if there is a technical or operational problem, which is believed to be temporary. There is no maximum time for a well to remain in shut-in status as long as it is regularly maintained according to regulatory requirement and procedures. Temporary abandonment status (TA) A well is said to be temporarily abandoned when the wellhead is removed and the producing interval is isolated with a plug and the casing is plugged below the mud line. REASONS FOR ABANDONMENT There are various reasons why a well is abandoned, these are: END OF FIELD LIFE ABANDONMENT Drilled wells must at one point in time be abandoned. Before a well reaches the point at which it has to be abandoned it passes through various stages in its life cycle; it begins with the survey and exploitation of an area for signs on hydrocarbon [1]. This leads to a rewarding and exciting discovery of an accumulation of hydrocarbon deposit. This is followed by the acquired Data Processing stage and finally the drilling process. During drilling, the well is created by the use of drill bit and cased off at specific as drilling progresses. Another fulfilling target is reached when the first hydrocarbon is produced a process which unfortunately eventually proceeds the declining period where the rate of hydrocarbon production decreases. However, successful enhanced oil recovery techniques often than not make this stage rewarding financially as it extends the life of the well [1]. When all enhanced oil recovery technique has been employed, and the cost of producing the well is no longer economically viable, the next process is abandonment; a stage not so welcomed by most operators as it means the cessation of production. Dry hole Abandonment A drilled well is also abandoned when after drilling, the hole was found to be a dry hole. Though abandonment is meant to be a permanent termination, the effect is felt for many years more than that of the short producing life of the well. The main goal of any plugging and abandonment is to provide a permanent and effective isolation of fluids all along the subsurface formation in the different layers where they were enclosed prior to plugging, thereby preventing fluid migration and reduce environmental risks of contamination and prevent costly remedial jobs [1]. To achieve this several significant intervals of the well must be filled and tightly closed with a sealant material from bottom hole to the surface with special attention paid to the production interval [4] and zones of high differential pressure and temperature. The material used for plugging differ depending on what type of well is being abandoned, for oil and gas well the material used is normally cement based materials, for water well, cement based as well as bentonite can be used to isolate the different intervals[4][ PUT UNDER CEMENT PLUG CHARACTERISTICS UNDERE INTEGRITY OF ABANDONED WELLS. The integrity of the abandoned well can fail for very many reaso ns such as plug failure, poor slurry design etc. A cement plug can fail to set at the desired location as cement slurry often has the tendency to fall through the lighter drilling fluid below it [9]. Failure can also be as a result of downhole changes which may occur after the well has been abandoned [8]. Over the years, techniques for drilling and completion of hydrocarbon wells have continued to evolve. This drive for new technology for hydrocarbon recovery is due to the need to maximize hydrocarbon recovery while protecting the environment [4]. The evolution of well abandonment techniques has been much slower than that of drilling and completion. This is because abandonment is considered a sunk cost [4]. Project Objective The objectives of this thesis is to review the factors which contribute to the overall integrity of abandoned wells. These include, well parameters, cement placement techniques, casing integrity. These play an important role in the design, construction and actual execution of the abandonment project. In the abandonment of wells, the factors that contribute to the integrity differ depending on the wells. This is because each well is a unique entity and hence has to have independent well abandonment design. PROJECT METHODOLOGY In this work I intend to talk about For instance, in a well where a fish is lost in hole the abandonment design has to taken into consideration remedial action or ways to set the cement plug as there may be no access to the bottom hole to set a bottom plug in the sump. Abandoned wells can be a cause of concern due to their potential to act as path for flow between formations, which under normal circumstance are isolated including underground sources of drinking water, of great concern are those abandonments with faulty plugs, compromised casing and those having cracks in the cement [7]. This work is aimed at highlighting the different factors which contribute to the integrity of an abandoned well. ( reorder and rewrite) Chapter 2 Literature review Well abandonment has come a long way since the first discovery of oil and gas, with the increasing awareness of the importance of environmental protection, the need to improve the processes of abandonment has now become a major concern for many operators, as abandoned wells are considered a possible conduit for fluid flow between different formations. According to C. H. Kelm et al, the objective of abandonment of a well must taken into consideration the need to do so in a best practices manner by examining the following fundamental aim of any abandonment process; The need to protect any hydrocarbon left in the pay zone of the formation drilled. The need to preserve and prevent contamination of freshwater zones (for onshore rigs) penetrated during the course of drilling the well. Avert of any contamination of the surface environment. For instance, in the case of vegetation, air pollution and marine environment. The need to abide by all regulatory requirements stated in during the abandonment. In the past years many papers has been published on areas ranging from alternative plugging technique, self healing and expandable cement, improved cement slurry design, placement technique with the aim to reduce the cost of abandonment and improve the abandonment. Abandoned well in an oil field are sealed using a plugging material according to regulatory requirements. A perfect example of a plugging material in the ideal sense according to D.G Calvert et al 1994 is one, which can be pumped down the drilled hole, has the ability to harden in a reasonable time, and bond with the walls of the drilled formation and casing in order to prevent fluid flow from one formation to another. While regulations vary from place to place, the general practice involves plugging the Wellbore with a Portland cement material specifically designed for the isolation purpose. In his review of plugging and abandonment techniques, D. G. Calvert et al, stated that the cement mixture used in oil and gas vary d epending on the type of hole is to be isolated. Very few papers has been published that focuses on the integrity of the actual well after abandonment. Liversidge, D. et al. in his work on permanent plug and abandonment solution for the Northsea he presented case histories of the Brent South field abandonment project done using both class G cement with an expandable agent system and flexible cement according to the current stringent regulation. Cement integrity preservation during well completion, production phases as well as during abandonment is of critical importance for long-term protection. In the past years numerous papers and texts in the area of cement sheath failure, improved flexible and expanding cement and related topics have been published, indicating the increasing need to improve well abandonment and reduce cost. Examples of works published include but not limited to (Bosma et al 2000), (Ravi et al. 2002), (Glessner et al., 2005), (Mainguy et al., 2007), (D. G calvert et al., 1994), (Locolier et al., 2006),( Liversidge et al., 2006). Although many papers have been written, very little work has been done to investigate the cement plug integrity after abandonment. The ascribed cause to this may be that permanent abandonment is considered a non-profit venture. Mainguy M. et al., 2007 carried out an analysis of the probability of failure of cement plugs when subjected to varying compressive and tensile load using an ideal reservoir model designed to suit changes in the downhole condition. In his study he identified that there is a greater tendency for the material used to seal zones for abandonment to fail in wells situated where there is instability in the pressure, temperature and stress state due to changes that occur downhole. He concluded that when the plug is subjected to maximum tensile stress it failed due to the low tensile strength of the conventional class G cement. Though he suggested the use of pre-stressed cement as they adapt more to changes downhole, his work did not cover the problem of rock-cement de-bonding which is a problem that greatly reduces the sealing capacity of cement. In the study done by R.C. Smith et al., 1984, on the successful method of setting cement plug, he investigated the ongoing failures of cement plug s due to the instability caused by the difference between the density of the cement and the drilling mud. In his work, he suggested the use of mud thickened with bentonite before spotting the cement so as to allow a greater density difference. With respect to the problem of controlling the direction of flow of the cement slurry a diverter placed at the end of the tubing to help divert the direction of flow and improve stability. Drilling fluid can also be used as a plugging material by adding a cementitous additive. The additive can either be fly ash of blast furnace slag which have the characteristics of a cement as they harden when the mixed with water. Cement is not naturally occurring but manmade and like any other manmade material, it is expected to age, wear-off, and, degrade overtime under different subsurface condition, which may differ from the time it was initially set [W. Zhou et. al 2005]. Plugging oil well is a common operation, which is increasing as mature field reach the end of their producing life. In general, plugging and abandonment of a well involves filling a certain length of casing or open hole with a volume of cement mixture designed for it in order to provide adequate sealing against upward migration of formation fluid. After the cement plug is place in the desired location it is left to harden over time. The placement of the cement plug is a major part of abandonment, as failure of this will cause commingling of fluids from different formation. The setting and spotting of cement plugs can be done in various ways depending on the wellbore condition and regulatory requirement. A review of the worldwide acceptable plugging procedure shows the a minimum of three cement plugs is required of which two are, the first plug is put in place by squeezing the cement plug through the perforation into the former producing zone in order to seal off any further influx of reservoir fluid into the Wellbore[2]. The second plug is usually set towards the middle of the Wellbore or near a protective casing shoe. Finally the third plug is set about200- 300ft below the mud line. In general, the length of a plug ranges from 100to 200ft depending on the regulatory requirements. Any additional plug set is dependent on the well bore condition. Although observations and studies show that cement plugs have the ability to perform as expected for up to several decades, uncertainty exists that the material can maintain its isolation integrity for several thousands of years. Recent study shows that abandoned wells in which CO2 was used in the enhanced oil recovery technique prior to abandonment have the potential to leak and allow CO2 migration notwithstanding the fact that the well has been properly abandoned [Scherer, G.W et al, 2005]. This is mainly due to corrosion and degradation of the casing and cement. This degradation and corrosion occurs when carbonic acid formed from the dissolution of CO2 in brine attacks the cement and casing [Scherer, G.W et al, 2005] a process, which is dependent on the temperature of the formation, cement composition, brine and the rock mechanics and composition. Potential leakage of reservoir fluids through degraded cement plugs is hence of primary concern. Various work on inter-formational flow shows that there is still the possibility of flow between formations even with a successful plugging of different interval. This case can arise when the abandoned well is near an active well. Javandel et al developed the first analytical model; their model showed the possible of flow to an upper formation in response to a lower injection pressure build up in a lower formation. Striz and wiggings carried out further work by developing a coupled model to predict flow using a steady state approach to create a transient flow. This model can be used to developed abandoned fluid flow using available field data. In recent studies, statistics show that in the US one in every three well drilled for hydrocarbon is dry and have to be plugged and abandoned[D.G Calvert, et al 1994]. Wells are drilled for various reasons ranging from industrial, oil and gas, to municipal uses, but in the end these well have to be abandoned [D.G Calvert, et al 1994]. Some wells were abandoned before any regulation and guidelines were defined, these wells may have either been plugged improperly or not plugged at all and these now poses a threat to the quality of the groundwater. For the aim of regulating bodies to be achieved i.e. achieving underground water protect and hence environmental protect, the operating companies must understand that following the different regulatory requirement alone is not sufficient to guarantee a lasting protection of the environment [4]. It is sometimes difficult for operators to abide by the regulatory requirements as well as developing a plan which would both serve to seal off the reservoir and provide long-term protection of the environment while justifying the overall cost in general [4]. Currently there is a high rise in abandonment of ageing and mature field which either have reached their economic limit or are no longer producing (refer). Methods of ABANDONMENT The initial stage of a decommissioning process is the plugging and abandonment of the wells, during this stage, the tubing, casing strings, and, conductors are cut below the mud line and removed, zones are sealed with cement plug to isolate the flow path between the reservoir fluids and other zones as well as the surface. Zones not sealed with cement plug are filled with mud with fluid having the proper weight and consistency to prevent movement of other fluids into the wellbore. Most abandonments follow a general methodology that is adjusted to meet individual well requirements. As procedures can and do change significantly for each well, cement plug design should frequently be attuned to reach minimum wait-on-cement (WOC) times with varying downhole conditions. Near-wellbore geology should be assessed, and the wellbore and annuli properly cleaned to avoid microannuli and poor cement bonding. Traditional techniques include cement squeezes, gel squeezes, and mechanical plugs such as bridge plugs and packers. Cement and gel technologies are mainly used for behind casing repair, and mechanical options are usually confined to plugging the casing. In the general process of abandonment there as basic steps which are followed to ensure successful plug and abandonment program. This includes the planning process, wellbore equipment testing, designing, well geometry assessment. PA PLANNING The most essential decision after when to abandon a well [11] is how. Preparation is a key ingredient in plug and abandonment of a well. In order to abandon a well successfully careful planning and effective plugging and abandonment procedure is crucial to prevent gas or fluids from moving to the surface or to other subsurface formations. In addition to the environmental risks that come with poor seals, corrective plugging may be necessary, increasing the cost and difficulty of abandoning a well. However, operators and service companies have several options for obtaining complete, permanent abandonment. For every well, there is a variation as each well PA is unique and different. The techniques used to achieve this process are generally based on industry practice, research, and conformance with the relevant regulatory compliance requirement. The synthesis of practical knowledge, current technology and regulatory requirements results in the most effective wellbore plugging and abandonment possible. Wellbore equipment testing. A preliminary inspection and survey of the wellhead and wellbore condition is carried out to determine if the valves on the wellhead are in operable condition, if it is found not to be in operable condition they are hot-tapped. The wellbore is surveyed using a slickline unit to check for any obstructions in the well, to confirm measured depth and also to gauge the internal diameter of the tubing. After the survey and removal of the slickline, the annuli and tubing is filled with fluid using a well pump is installed at the wellhead to ascertain an injection rate into the perforations. The tubing and casing are also pressured up to check for integrity. Casing annuli are also pressure tested to check for communication problems between casing strings and to record the test pressure over a period of time. The integrity and reliability of the primary cement is assessed in order to ensure that the cement sheath is still providing isolation across the reservoir and the cap rock. A well control plan is designed to establish reservoir condition and subsequently the contingency responses to any event which may occur during the abandonment process. DESIGN OF A WELL ABANDONMENT PROGRAM Prior to plugging and abandoning a well, a review of the existing well design, record of past work, previous well performance and geologic and reservoir condition is carried out by the operator. The investigation of everything that may relate to the health and safety issues as well as regulatory requirements is also performed, after which the design of the abandonment program begins. The design is done based the existing wellbore and reservoir conditions depending on the findings from the review and investigation. This allows the operator to plan an abandonment program that will satisfy the goal of making the well safe from future resources. PA design needs to be integrated in the planning of the well, and should be considered in a single budget. There are many factors which must be put into consideration in order to design an effective abandonment program , such as, the reservoir status, the integrity of the primary cement, hole cleaning and cement placement technique, the temperatu re and pressure of the well, the type of fluid in the well, the age of the well, the status of the cap rock. Fluid Type Drilled wells produce fluids in liquid and gaseous form, wells which contain sour fluids i.e. sulphur rich would be expected to have accelerated corrosion rates and stress cracking depending on the age and wellbore construction, may impair the capacity to perform plug and abandonment, to mitigate this components which are corrosion resistant can be used. Reservoir status In the design of PA, it is necessary to consider the reservoir status concerning its stability, the current pressure and temperature, the pressure at the initial stages of well development and the permeability of the reservoir both horizontal and vertical. With the information, plug and abandonment is then designed to withstand the pressure of the well after finally reach equilibrium. Cap rock Status It is also necessary to take into consideration the cap rock status i.e. is it still impermeable, has production activities induced fracture or has weathering taken effect. Placing the Plugs After the design and planning of the abandonment program, calculations must be made to determine the amount of cement required and the number of wiper plugs needed to separate the cement plugs from the rest of the fluids. The use of wiper plugs enables the formation of a stable platform on which the cement can be set. A wiper plug is placed in the wellbore, and then a predetermined quantity of cement slurry is pumped on top of it. Because of its weight, the slurry becomes a driving force. The slurry falls to the bottom of the hole, pushing the wiper plug ahead of it and forcing existing air and produced fluids back into the formation. Another plug and perhaps a bit more cement finish the job. In most wells, where there is one permaeble zone, one plug and one volume of cement and the surface plug are all that is needed. In other wells, additional wiper plugs, additional cement slurry, and probably spacers of water or drilling fluid are used consecutively until all of the air and fluid is forced out into the formation, there is zilch pressure on the pipe, and it is apparent from the returns that the whole wellbore is appropriately sealed. The quantity and kind of spacer fluid that can be used is dependent on individual state regulations. The remaining casing at the top of the well is cut off 3 ft below ground level. Along with this general methodology, each region stipulates its own abandonment methods based on field conditions and local regulations as can be seen in the following examples. PA steps in Los Angeles Basin in as follows [12]: The abandonment program is prepared with the support of a qualified engineer. A schematic showing the current mechanical condition of the well is prepared. The geologic condition of the well, including the structure, faulting, and producing zones is assessed. The depth and position of cement plug that will cover the producing zones and any potable water zones if applicable is measured and verified. Choice of whether to use perforating or cavity shots is made. The casing is pressure tested after setting cement retainers. The different equipment required for the job is determined and assembled. Estimate of abandonment/re-abandonment costs is made. In contrast, the steps followed for the Hutton tension-leg platform (TLP) in the East Shetland Basin of the North Sea involved three phases [13]: Perform standalone wireline intervention. Perform drilling unit intervention to set the cement plugs after the first wireline plug has been set. Cut casing 10 ft below the seabed and recover casing stumps. Another abandonment performed in the North Sea followed a different procedure [14]: A permanent cement primary barrier placed immediately above the reservoir. A secondary barrier placed as a back-up to the first barrier. A third barrier then placed near the surface to isolate shallow water-bearing sands. Severed completion tubing and recover wellhead. In Western Canada, the traditional abandonment procedure of wells with casing vent flows included the following: The source of the casing vent flow is estimated or determined. If the source zone is shallower than the producing zone, the producing zone is abandoned. The source zone is perforated. Depending on the feed rate obtained at the estimated source depth, either a bradenhead or a retainer squeeze is performed. Retrievable tools are used as required. Typically, Class G cement with Calcium Chloride and some fluid-loss control is utilized. The slurry is placed and a static squeeze pressure of 7 MPa is attempted. As needed, cement is drilled out and perforations are tested for seal. Often, several attempts are made in order to obtain a static squeeze pressure of 7 Mpa on surface or mitigate the casing vent flow. Techniques for Abandonment The techniques used for plugging and abandonment of drilled well worldwide are generally based on industry practise. These techniques include; Rig Coil tubing unit Rigless abandonment COIL TUBING UNIT The flexibility of coiled tubing has recently been tailored to develop rigless abandonment [15,16]. This method, focuses on harmonizing all well services to accomplish utmost efficiency. Coiled-tubing unit [fig.] abandonment, like any other method, is more effective when appropriate cementing procedure is used from the kick-off of the well, from original zonal isolation with the primary cement sheath to plugging and abandonment. Early prevention of microannulus can help operators obtain a complete final seal. Five main criteria are recommended for optimal abandonment performance with coiled tubing: Mobility; All equipment should be mounted on wheels for increased mobility. Self-sufficiency; the service company provides nearly all activities. Dry location; Fluids are not drained on or near the wellsite. Single operation; the job is completed in one visit to the wellsite. Low mileage; Move time is reduced and transport optimized for maximum efficiency in unit and camp moves. In this abandonment technique geological consideration like the type and condition of the reservoir and caprock formations are take into account. Permanent seals typically must be made between producing zones and at impermeable caprock formations. The condition and configuration of cement, perforations, tubulars, and downhole equipment are also considered. In addition to providing complete, permanent seals, the use of coiled-tubing can help increase abandonment efficiency. This method can provide the following advantages: Increased tripping speeds Increased rig-move efficiency Precise placement of cement plugs; exact spotting of plugs at the interval of interest even in deep well as coil tubing can be reciprocated while pumping. Suitable for use on live wells; it is possible to run CTU for remedial cement squeeze in live well as the wellbore can be controlled using the BOP and stripper assembly. No need to pull production tubing; existing tubing and wellheads do not have to be removed to access the producing interval. Success using the coil tubing method has been recorded in Oman. REGULATORY REQUIREMENT FOR ABANDONMENT IN THE NORTHSEA AND USA In the early years on the oil and gas industry, many wells were drilled and some were found to be dry and subsequently were abandoned without much consideration given to the manner in which the wells were abandoned. Sometimes tree stumps were thrown in the well as a means to plug it [3], during this era the preservation of the groundwater, in general, the environment was not a major issue, and there was no defined regulation by the oil states or agencies. During the tail end of the 1930s different states and agencies in the US started establishing regulations, this defined requirement to ensure better well abandonment [D.G Calvert, et al 1994]. The number of regulation guiding well abandonment has risen along with the rising need to protect the environment in countries around the world. Today most countries have some form of regulation that addresses well abandonment requirement; though these regulations are not uniform and differ from country to country and body to body, they provide a minimum standard for operating companies. For instance for the state of California in the United States of America, the different governing bodies have their own regulations which are as follows; Minerals Management Services (MMS): The basic plugging requirements are found in 30 CFR 250.110 Subpart G. Department of Conservation, Division of Oil: Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOC) The California Code of Regulations Title 14 Division 2, Chapter 4 beginning with Section 1745 focuses on the fundamental plugging requirements. California State Lands Commission (CSLC): The fundamental plugging requirements in the California Code of Regulations Title 2 Section 2128(q). Abandonment in the North Sea In the North Sea as in US, the regulations differ. The different countries that make up the North Sea have their different governing bodies and subsequently different regulation. The law in the UK, Norway, Denmark and Holland holds the last operator of a well accountable and responsible to pay for all the cost incurred in permanently abandoning the well. It also holds them accountable for any leakage and any clean up that may be required in the event of a leak. Abandonment programs in the Northsea are designed to meet the guidelines for abandonment issued by the operation association or government. For the UK sector of the north sea, abandonment guidelines is issued by the UKOOA, similarly for the Norwegian sector the guidelines are contained in the NORSOK/PTIL D-010 standard and for the Netherlands it is contained in the Dutch Mining Abandoned Oil Wells End of Field Life Abandoned Oil Wells End of Field Life ABSTRACT As petroleum, production continues to decline in many parts of the globe, more operators are seeing well abandonment as a reality. Drilled wells are plugged and abandoned for different reasons of which the typical and operational reason is that the well has reached its economic limit or when drilled it was found to be a dry hole. (refer). According to Ide, T., et al 2006, well bore is taken to be high fluid transmittal pathway. Even with the current procedure of sealing and abandonment, individual wells have the tendency to loose their integrity due to various factors, which include but not limited to poor cementation, poor or ineffective plugging, and increase in formation pressure after abandonment, corrosion of casing (refer). Safe and economical well abandonment are important to the industry from environmental and financial standpoints. Improper abandonment can require re-abandonment procedures to mitigate environmental contamination or to comply with updated regulations, causing an increased financial burden on the operator. 1. Introduction 1.1 BACKGROUND All wells drilled have a distinct life cycle with respect to its cost, duration, recovery, and value. Although these characteristics and attributes are specific to an individual drilled well, all producing wells pass through the same initial and final state, beginning with completion and ending with abandonment. After the drilling stage of a well and the target depth is reached, a decision to complete the well is made based on the reservoir attributes: is the well dry or is the hydrocarbon in place of economic value. Ultimately, every well becomes dormant because of reduced economic returns or technical problem. When a well stops producing, it either may be shut-in (SI), temporary abandoned (TA) or permanently abandoned (pa). With ageing fields fast approaching their economic limit, abandonment is becoming increasingly frequent and many operators have to modify their abandonment procedure to fit the Wellbore condition and make certain that abandoned wells remain permanently sealed and prevent commingling while balancing the environmental objectives of abandonment and cost of actual abandonment. Wells, which are not abandoned appropriately, can become a major hazard to the underground source of drinking water and possibly the aquatic environment [8] Shut in status (SI) When a well is shut-in it is still flowing but its Christmas tree, SV, wing valves are all closed. Usually a well is shut-in if there is a technical or operational problem, which is believed to be temporary. There is no maximum time for a well to remain in shut-in status as long as it is regularly maintained according to regulatory requirement and procedures. Temporary abandonment status (TA) A well is said to be temporarily abandoned when the wellhead is removed and the producing interval is isolated with a plug and the casing is plugged below the mud line. REASONS FOR ABANDONMENT There are various reasons why a well is abandoned, these are: END OF FIELD LIFE ABANDONMENT Drilled wells must at one point in time be abandoned. Before a well reaches the point at which it has to be abandoned it passes through various stages in its life cycle; it begins with the survey and exploitation of an area for signs on hydrocarbon [1]. This leads to a rewarding and exciting discovery of an accumulation of hydrocarbon deposit. This is followed by the acquired Data Processing stage and finally the drilling process. During drilling, the well is created by the use of drill bit and cased off at specific as drilling progresses. Another fulfilling target is reached when the first hydrocarbon is produced a process which unfortunately eventually proceeds the declining period where the rate of hydrocarbon production decreases. However, successful enhanced oil recovery techniques often than not make this stage rewarding financially as it extends the life of the well [1]. When all enhanced oil recovery technique has been employed, and the cost of producing the well is no longer economically viable, the next process is abandonment; a stage not so welcomed by most operators as it means the cessation of production. Dry hole Abandonment A drilled well is also abandoned when after drilling, the hole was found to be a dry hole. Though abandonment is meant to be a permanent termination, the effect is felt for many years more than that of the short producing life of the well. The main goal of any plugging and abandonment is to provide a permanent and effective isolation of fluids all along the subsurface formation in the different layers where they were enclosed prior to plugging, thereby preventing fluid migration and reduce environmental risks of contamination and prevent costly remedial jobs [1]. To achieve this several significant intervals of the well must be filled and tightly closed with a sealant material from bottom hole to the surface with special attention paid to the production interval [4] and zones of high differential pressure and temperature. The material used for plugging differ depending on what type of well is being abandoned, for oil and gas well the material used is normally cement based materials, for water well, cement based as well as bentonite can be used to isolate the different intervals[4][ PUT UNDER CEMENT PLUG CHARACTERISTICS UNDERE INTEGRITY OF ABANDONED WELLS. The integrity of the abandoned well can fail for very many reaso ns such as plug failure, poor slurry design etc. A cement plug can fail to set at the desired location as cement slurry often has the tendency to fall through the lighter drilling fluid below it [9]. Failure can also be as a result of downhole changes which may occur after the well has been abandoned [8]. Over the years, techniques for drilling and completion of hydrocarbon wells have continued to evolve. This drive for new technology for hydrocarbon recovery is due to the need to maximize hydrocarbon recovery while protecting the environment [4]. The evolution of well abandonment techniques has been much slower than that of drilling and completion. This is because abandonment is considered a sunk cost [4]. Project Objective The objectives of this thesis is to review the factors which contribute to the overall integrity of abandoned wells. These include, well parameters, cement placement techniques, casing integrity. These play an important role in the design, construction and actual execution of the abandonment project. In the abandonment of wells, the factors that contribute to the integrity differ depending on the wells. This is because each well is a unique entity and hence has to have independent well abandonment design. PROJECT METHODOLOGY In this work I intend to talk about For instance, in a well where a fish is lost in hole the abandonment design has to taken into consideration remedial action or ways to set the cement plug as there may be no access to the bottom hole to set a bottom plug in the sump. Abandoned wells can be a cause of concern due to their potential to act as path for flow between formations, which under normal circumstance are isolated including underground sources of drinking water, of great concern are those abandonments with faulty plugs, compromised casing and those having cracks in the cement [7]. This work is aimed at highlighting the different factors which contribute to the integrity of an abandoned well. ( reorder and rewrite) Chapter 2 Literature review Well abandonment has come a long way since the first discovery of oil and gas, with the increasing awareness of the importance of environmental protection, the need to improve the processes of abandonment has now become a major concern for many operators, as abandoned wells are considered a possible conduit for fluid flow between different formations. According to C. H. Kelm et al, the objective of abandonment of a well must taken into consideration the need to do so in a best practices manner by examining the following fundamental aim of any abandonment process; The need to protect any hydrocarbon left in the pay zone of the formation drilled. The need to preserve and prevent contamination of freshwater zones (for onshore rigs) penetrated during the course of drilling the well. Avert of any contamination of the surface environment. For instance, in the case of vegetation, air pollution and marine environment. The need to abide by all regulatory requirements stated in during the abandonment. In the past years many papers has been published on areas ranging from alternative plugging technique, self healing and expandable cement, improved cement slurry design, placement technique with the aim to reduce the cost of abandonment and improve the abandonment. Abandoned well in an oil field are sealed using a plugging material according to regulatory requirements. A perfect example of a plugging material in the ideal sense according to D.G Calvert et al 1994 is one, which can be pumped down the drilled hole, has the ability to harden in a reasonable time, and bond with the walls of the drilled formation and casing in order to prevent fluid flow from one formation to another. While regulations vary from place to place, the general practice involves plugging the Wellbore with a Portland cement material specifically designed for the isolation purpose. In his review of plugging and abandonment techniques, D. G. Calvert et al, stated that the cement mixture used in oil and gas vary d epending on the type of hole is to be isolated. Very few papers has been published that focuses on the integrity of the actual well after abandonment. Liversidge, D. et al. in his work on permanent plug and abandonment solution for the Northsea he presented case histories of the Brent South field abandonment project done using both class G cement with an expandable agent system and flexible cement according to the current stringent regulation. Cement integrity preservation during well completion, production phases as well as during abandonment is of critical importance for long-term protection. In the past years numerous papers and texts in the area of cement sheath failure, improved flexible and expanding cement and related topics have been published, indicating the increasing need to improve well abandonment and reduce cost. Examples of works published include but not limited to (Bosma et al 2000), (Ravi et al. 2002), (Glessner et al., 2005), (Mainguy et al., 2007), (D. G calvert et al., 1994), (Locolier et al., 2006),( Liversidge et al., 2006). Although many papers have been written, very little work has been done to investigate the cement plug integrity after abandonment. The ascribed cause to this may be that permanent abandonment is considered a non-profit venture. Mainguy M. et al., 2007 carried out an analysis of the probability of failure of cement plugs when subjected to varying compressive and tensile load using an ideal reservoir model designed to suit changes in the downhole condition. In his study he identified that there is a greater tendency for the material used to seal zones for abandonment to fail in wells situated where there is instability in the pressure, temperature and stress state due to changes that occur downhole. He concluded that when the plug is subjected to maximum tensile stress it failed due to the low tensile strength of the conventional class G cement. Though he suggested the use of pre-stressed cement as they adapt more to changes downhole, his work did not cover the problem of rock-cement de-bonding which is a problem that greatly reduces the sealing capacity of cement. In the study done by R.C. Smith et al., 1984, on the successful method of setting cement plug, he investigated the ongoing failures of cement plug s due to the instability caused by the difference between the density of the cement and the drilling mud. In his work, he suggested the use of mud thickened with bentonite before spotting the cement so as to allow a greater density difference. With respect to the problem of controlling the direction of flow of the cement slurry a diverter placed at the end of the tubing to help divert the direction of flow and improve stability. Drilling fluid can also be used as a plugging material by adding a cementitous additive. The additive can either be fly ash of blast furnace slag which have the characteristics of a cement as they harden when the mixed with water. Cement is not naturally occurring but manmade and like any other manmade material, it is expected to age, wear-off, and, degrade overtime under different subsurface condition, which may differ from the time it was initially set [W. Zhou et. al 2005]. Plugging oil well is a common operation, which is increasing as mature field reach the end of their producing life. In general, plugging and abandonment of a well involves filling a certain length of casing or open hole with a volume of cement mixture designed for it in order to provide adequate sealing against upward migration of formation fluid. After the cement plug is place in the desired location it is left to harden over time. The placement of the cement plug is a major part of abandonment, as failure of this will cause commingling of fluids from different formation. The setting and spotting of cement plugs can be done in various ways depending on the wellbore condition and regulatory requirement. A review of the worldwide acceptable plugging procedure shows the a minimum of three cement plugs is required of which two are, the first plug is put in place by squeezing the cement plug through the perforation into the former producing zone in order to seal off any further influx of reservoir fluid into the Wellbore[2]. The second plug is usually set towards the middle of the Wellbore or near a protective casing shoe. Finally the third plug is set about200- 300ft below the mud line. In general, the length of a plug ranges from 100to 200ft depending on the regulatory requirements. Any additional plug set is dependent on the well bore condition. Although observations and studies show that cement plugs have the ability to perform as expected for up to several decades, uncertainty exists that the material can maintain its isolation integrity for several thousands of years. Recent study shows that abandoned wells in which CO2 was used in the enhanced oil recovery technique prior to abandonment have the potential to leak and allow CO2 migration notwithstanding the fact that the well has been properly abandoned [Scherer, G.W et al, 2005]. This is mainly due to corrosion and degradation of the casing and cement. This degradation and corrosion occurs when carbonic acid formed from the dissolution of CO2 in brine attacks the cement and casing [Scherer, G.W et al, 2005] a process, which is dependent on the temperature of the formation, cement composition, brine and the rock mechanics and composition. Potential leakage of reservoir fluids through degraded cement plugs is hence of primary concern. Various work on inter-formational flow shows that there is still the possibility of flow between formations even with a successful plugging of different interval. This case can arise when the abandoned well is near an active well. Javandel et al developed the first analytical model; their model showed the possible of flow to an upper formation in response to a lower injection pressure build up in a lower formation. Striz and wiggings carried out further work by developing a coupled model to predict flow using a steady state approach to create a transient flow. This model can be used to developed abandoned fluid flow using available field data. In recent studies, statistics show that in the US one in every three well drilled for hydrocarbon is dry and have to be plugged and abandoned[D.G Calvert, et al 1994]. Wells are drilled for various reasons ranging from industrial, oil and gas, to municipal uses, but in the end these well have to be abandoned [D.G Calvert, et al 1994]. Some wells were abandoned before any regulation and guidelines were defined, these wells may have either been plugged improperly or not plugged at all and these now poses a threat to the quality of the groundwater. For the aim of regulating bodies to be achieved i.e. achieving underground water protect and hence environmental protect, the operating companies must understand that following the different regulatory requirement alone is not sufficient to guarantee a lasting protection of the environment [4]. It is sometimes difficult for operators to abide by the regulatory requirements as well as developing a plan which would both serve to seal off the reservoir and provide long-term protection of the environment while justifying the overall cost in general [4]. Currently there is a high rise in abandonment of ageing and mature field which either have reached their economic limit or are no longer producing (refer). Methods of ABANDONMENT The initial stage of a decommissioning process is the plugging and abandonment of the wells, during this stage, the tubing, casing strings, and, conductors are cut below the mud line and removed, zones are sealed with cement plug to isolate the flow path between the reservoir fluids and other zones as well as the surface. Zones not sealed with cement plug are filled with mud with fluid having the proper weight and consistency to prevent movement of other fluids into the wellbore. Most abandonments follow a general methodology that is adjusted to meet individual well requirements. As procedures can and do change significantly for each well, cement plug design should frequently be attuned to reach minimum wait-on-cement (WOC) times with varying downhole conditions. Near-wellbore geology should be assessed, and the wellbore and annuli properly cleaned to avoid microannuli and poor cement bonding. Traditional techniques include cement squeezes, gel squeezes, and mechanical plugs such as bridge plugs and packers. Cement and gel technologies are mainly used for behind casing repair, and mechanical options are usually confined to plugging the casing. In the general process of abandonment there as basic steps which are followed to ensure successful plug and abandonment program. This includes the planning process, wellbore equipment testing, designing, well geometry assessment. PA PLANNING The most essential decision after when to abandon a well [11] is how. Preparation is a key ingredient in plug and abandonment of a well. In order to abandon a well successfully careful planning and effective plugging and abandonment procedure is crucial to prevent gas or fluids from moving to the surface or to other subsurface formations. In addition to the environmental risks that come with poor seals, corrective plugging may be necessary, increasing the cost and difficulty of abandoning a well. However, operators and service companies have several options for obtaining complete, permanent abandonment. For every well, there is a variation as each well PA is unique and different. The techniques used to achieve this process are generally based on industry practice, research, and conformance with the relevant regulatory compliance requirement. The synthesis of practical knowledge, current technology and regulatory requirements results in the most effective wellbore plugging and abandonment possible. Wellbore equipment testing. A preliminary inspection and survey of the wellhead and wellbore condition is carried out to determine if the valves on the wellhead are in operable condition, if it is found not to be in operable condition they are hot-tapped. The wellbore is surveyed using a slickline unit to check for any obstructions in the well, to confirm measured depth and also to gauge the internal diameter of the tubing. After the survey and removal of the slickline, the annuli and tubing is filled with fluid using a well pump is installed at the wellhead to ascertain an injection rate into the perforations. The tubing and casing are also pressured up to check for integrity. Casing annuli are also pressure tested to check for communication problems between casing strings and to record the test pressure over a period of time. The integrity and reliability of the primary cement is assessed in order to ensure that the cement sheath is still providing isolation across the reservoir and the cap rock. A well control plan is designed to establish reservoir condition and subsequently the contingency responses to any event which may occur during the abandonment process. DESIGN OF A WELL ABANDONMENT PROGRAM Prior to plugging and abandoning a well, a review of the existing well design, record of past work, previous well performance and geologic and reservoir condition is carried out by the operator. The investigation of everything that may relate to the health and safety issues as well as regulatory requirements is also performed, after which the design of the abandonment program begins. The design is done based the existing wellbore and reservoir conditions depending on the findings from the review and investigation. This allows the operator to plan an abandonment program that will satisfy the goal of making the well safe from future resources. PA design needs to be integrated in the planning of the well, and should be considered in a single budget. There are many factors which must be put into consideration in order to design an effective abandonment program , such as, the reservoir status, the integrity of the primary cement, hole cleaning and cement placement technique, the temperatu re and pressure of the well, the type of fluid in the well, the age of the well, the status of the cap rock. Fluid Type Drilled wells produce fluids in liquid and gaseous form, wells which contain sour fluids i.e. sulphur rich would be expected to have accelerated corrosion rates and stress cracking depending on the age and wellbore construction, may impair the capacity to perform plug and abandonment, to mitigate this components which are corrosion resistant can be used. Reservoir status In the design of PA, it is necessary to consider the reservoir status concerning its stability, the current pressure and temperature, the pressure at the initial stages of well development and the permeability of the reservoir both horizontal and vertical. With the information, plug and abandonment is then designed to withstand the pressure of the well after finally reach equilibrium. Cap rock Status It is also necessary to take into consideration the cap rock status i.e. is it still impermeable, has production activities induced fracture or has weathering taken effect. Placing the Plugs After the design and planning of the abandonment program, calculations must be made to determine the amount of cement required and the number of wiper plugs needed to separate the cement plugs from the rest of the fluids. The use of wiper plugs enables the formation of a stable platform on which the cement can be set. A wiper plug is placed in the wellbore, and then a predetermined quantity of cement slurry is pumped on top of it. Because of its weight, the slurry becomes a driving force. The slurry falls to the bottom of the hole, pushing the wiper plug ahead of it and forcing existing air and produced fluids back into the formation. Another plug and perhaps a bit more cement finish the job. In most wells, where there is one permaeble zone, one plug and one volume of cement and the surface plug are all that is needed. In other wells, additional wiper plugs, additional cement slurry, and probably spacers of water or drilling fluid are used consecutively until all of the air and fluid is forced out into the formation, there is zilch pressure on the pipe, and it is apparent from the returns that the whole wellbore is appropriately sealed. The quantity and kind of spacer fluid that can be used is dependent on individual state regulations. The remaining casing at the top of the well is cut off 3 ft below ground level. Along with this general methodology, each region stipulates its own abandonment methods based on field conditions and local regulations as can be seen in the following examples. PA steps in Los Angeles Basin in as follows [12]: The abandonment program is prepared with the support of a qualified engineer. A schematic showing the current mechanical condition of the well is prepared. The geologic condition of the well, including the structure, faulting, and producing zones is assessed. The depth and position of cement plug that will cover the producing zones and any potable water zones if applicable is measured and verified. Choice of whether to use perforating or cavity shots is made. The casing is pressure tested after setting cement retainers. The different equipment required for the job is determined and assembled. Estimate of abandonment/re-abandonment costs is made. In contrast, the steps followed for the Hutton tension-leg platform (TLP) in the East Shetland Basin of the North Sea involved three phases [13]: Perform standalone wireline intervention. Perform drilling unit intervention to set the cement plugs after the first wireline plug has been set. Cut casing 10 ft below the seabed and recover casing stumps. Another abandonment performed in the North Sea followed a different procedure [14]: A permanent cement primary barrier placed immediately above the reservoir. A secondary barrier placed as a back-up to the first barrier. A third barrier then placed near the surface to isolate shallow water-bearing sands. Severed completion tubing and recover wellhead. In Western Canada, the traditional abandonment procedure of wells with casing vent flows included the following: The source of the casing vent flow is estimated or determined. If the source zone is shallower than the producing zone, the producing zone is abandoned. The source zone is perforated. Depending on the feed rate obtained at the estimated source depth, either a bradenhead or a retainer squeeze is performed. Retrievable tools are used as required. Typically, Class G cement with Calcium Chloride and some fluid-loss control is utilized. The slurry is placed and a static squeeze pressure of 7 MPa is attempted. As needed, cement is drilled out and perforations are tested for seal. Often, several attempts are made in order to obtain a static squeeze pressure of 7 Mpa on surface or mitigate the casing vent flow. Techniques for Abandonment The techniques used for plugging and abandonment of drilled well worldwide are generally based on industry practise. These techniques include; Rig Coil tubing unit Rigless abandonment COIL TUBING UNIT The flexibility of coiled tubing has recently been tailored to develop rigless abandonment [15,16]. This method, focuses on harmonizing all well services to accomplish utmost efficiency. Coiled-tubing unit [fig.] abandonment, like any other method, is more effective when appropriate cementing procedure is used from the kick-off of the well, from original zonal isolation with the primary cement sheath to plugging and abandonment. Early prevention of microannulus can help operators obtain a complete final seal. Five main criteria are recommended for optimal abandonment performance with coiled tubing: Mobility; All equipment should be mounted on wheels for increased mobility. Self-sufficiency; the service company provides nearly all activities. Dry location; Fluids are not drained on or near the wellsite. Single operation; the job is completed in one visit to the wellsite. Low mileage; Move time is reduced and transport optimized for maximum efficiency in unit and camp moves. In this abandonment technique geological consideration like the type and condition of the reservoir and caprock formations are take into account. Permanent seals typically must be made between producing zones and at impermeable caprock formations. The condition and configuration of cement, perforations, tubulars, and downhole equipment are also considered. In addition to providing complete, permanent seals, the use of coiled-tubing can help increase abandonment efficiency. This method can provide the following advantages: Increased tripping speeds Increased rig-move efficiency Precise placement of cement plugs; exact spotting of plugs at the interval of interest even in deep well as coil tubing can be reciprocated while pumping. Suitable for use on live wells; it is possible to run CTU for remedial cement squeeze in live well as the wellbore can be controlled using the BOP and stripper assembly. No need to pull production tubing; existing tubing and wellheads do not have to be removed to access the producing interval. Success using the coil tubing method has been recorded in Oman. REGULATORY REQUIREMENT FOR ABANDONMENT IN THE NORTHSEA AND USA In the early years on the oil and gas industry, many wells were drilled and some were found to be dry and subsequently were abandoned without much consideration given to the manner in which the wells were abandoned. Sometimes tree stumps were thrown in the well as a means to plug it [3], during this era the preservation of the groundwater, in general, the environment was not a major issue, and there was no defined regulation by the oil states or agencies. During the tail end of the 1930s different states and agencies in the US started establishing regulations, this defined requirement to ensure better well abandonment [D.G Calvert, et al 1994]. The number of regulation guiding well abandonment has risen along with the rising need to protect the environment in countries around the world. Today most countries have some form of regulation that addresses well abandonment requirement; though these regulations are not uniform and differ from country to country and body to body, they provide a minimum standard for operating companies. For instance for the state of California in the United States of America, the different governing bodies have their own regulations which are as follows; Minerals Management Services (MMS): The basic plugging requirements are found in 30 CFR 250.110 Subpart G. Department of Conservation, Division of Oil: Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOC) The California Code of Regulations Title 14 Division 2, Chapter 4 beginning with Section 1745 focuses on the fundamental plugging requirements. California State Lands Commission (CSLC): The fundamental plugging requirements in the California Code of Regulations Title 2 Section 2128(q). Abandonment in the North Sea In the North Sea as in US, the regulations differ. The different countries that make up the North Sea have their different governing bodies and subsequently different regulation. The law in the UK, Norway, Denmark and Holland holds the last operator of a well accountable and responsible to pay for all the cost incurred in permanently abandoning the well. It also holds them accountable for any leakage and any clean up that may be required in the event of a leak. Abandonment programs in the Northsea are designed to meet the guidelines for abandonment issued by the operation association or government. For the UK sector of the north sea, abandonment guidelines is issued by the UKOOA, similarly for the Norwegian sector the guidelines are contained in the NORSOK/PTIL D-010 standard and for the Netherlands it is contained in the Dutch Mining