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Essay / Conventional and Unconventional Systems in Petroleum Geology
Table of ContentsIntroductionMain AssessmentConclusionIntroductionA system is defined as a set of interacting parts that are designed to function as a whole unit. The systems view involves a methodical study of the connections between the parts of the components and how each of them works together (Christiansen and Hamblin, 2014). This has helped geologists, engineers, and researchers better understand how the Earth works and the relationships between each of these elements (Christiansen and Hamblin, 2014). Most systems are open, meaning they can exchange matter and energy across their boundaries and share them throughout the area. Such types of systems are often considered dynamic in nature because they generally have no boundaries within them. Natural systems, however, have a predefined limit. The boundaries of these systems may either be covered by a stream or covered by rocks, or be considered arbitrary in nature because they are defined for the purposes of research. Anything outside the system is considered its environment and the environment is not considered part of the system (Christiansen and Hamblin, 2014). Systems are considered an integral part of science because they encompass all of Earth's components such as air, fire, water and rocks, allowing engineers and geologists to gain a deeper understanding complete world (Butz, 2008). no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Among the systems present on Earth, the two main ones found are conventional systems and unconventional systems. The aim of this assessment is to explain and evaluate the differences observed between conventional and unconventional systems. This would make it possible to understand what we can get from it in relation to the hydrocarbon resources that are collected. Additionally, examples would also be provided to clearly illustrate the differences present in the two systems as well as the hydrocarbon resources also found there. These would help in understanding what types of gases and oils can be produced from them and used as fuel or oil. Primary Assessment Conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources are generally formed during the thermal progression of rocks or fossils. These two terms are generally used to refer to a certain amount of fuels that can be used to contribute to a reserve if the resources are extracted economically. The difference between them, however, is that they are a different set of resources that can be extracted and the ease with which fuels can be obtained from them. Conventional resources such as oil and gas are made from traditional resources. resources are generally formed using standard or simple methods to extract products (Everett et al., 2012). The extraction of fossil fuels from these is generally done using standard processes that are used to remove them from deposits. In general, conventional resources are considered more comfortable and less expensive to produce, as they do not require any specialized technology to extract them, and accepted methods can be exploited to collect them (Everett et al., 2012). Due to their simplicity and the cost-effectiveness of theirproduction, we can see that conventional resources are generally among the first resources used in industrial activities. Additionally, conventional oils are hydrogen-charged compounds. which are made up of short hydrocarbon chains and made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms ranging from C1 to C60. As a result, we can see that they have lower molecular weights than unconventional oils (Gordon, 2012). Given that most of their energy comes from hydrogen while carbon is only there to transport hydrogen atoms, conventional oils can be seen to produce more energy with less waste than their unconventional counterparts. On the other hand, unconventional oils are considered harder. because we see that part of the resources are trapped in reservoirs surrounded by reduced permeability and porosity. This results in increased difficulty, or it is generally impossible for oil or gas to flow through the pores and exit into standard wells. In order to extract these resources, specialized techniques and tools are generally used which can be expensive to produce. For the extraction of oils such as shale oil, a hydraulic fracturing stage is used to form multiple cracks in the resource so that oil and gas can flow through them. In the case of oil sands, an in situ deposit should use steam-assisted gravity drainage which is capable of forming thick bitumen from underground deposits. All of these methods are considered expensive compared to the methods generally used for the extraction of conventional oils (Everett et al., 2012). However, we see that these allow the production of hydrocarbon products from places that were not previously accessible or from which it was impossible to extract. These resources can usually be transformed into reserves which could then be used economically. These types of resources are generally identified by their distinct characteristics. The heavier the oil, the more carbon it contains, is rich in sulfur and is filled with impurities. These oils are generally heavier than conventional oils (Gordon, 2012). Due to the contaminants found in them, impure oils typically require significant energy input to be upgraded and processed into synthetic crude oil which could then be used to make petroleum-based products or fuels. (Gordon, 2012). Generally speaking, some of the newer oils are found to be in solid form and must be extracted by mining or heating until they can flow (Gordon, 2012). These new forms of fats are generally considered to be less valuable than traditional or conventional oils because they require more time to process and produce, which also makes them less marketable. Unconventional systems have generally played a vital role in the growing demand for global oil and gas production, as evidenced by the creation of tar sands, coalbed methane and gas, as well as the rapid increase in production shale gas and tight oil, present in countries such as the United States. States. (Jia, 2017). Additionally, Venezuela and Canada are two major tar sands and heavy oil producing countries. These are generally used more than decades of oil, and natural gas production has led to intensive use of conventional resources. Thanks to this,..