石油工程专业英语钻井之前（Before Drilling)

1、part i before drillingcontentlesson 1 how it all beganlesson 2 the how and where of petroleumlesson 3 before drilling can beginlesson 1 how it all beganoil.petroleum.black gold.formed under the surface of the earth millions of years ago, man has long been aware of the existence of oil. yet, it has o

2、nly been in the last hundred years or so that man has fully realized its value and usefulness. in hardly more than a century, our modern society has become totally dependent upon the men and women and dreams and realities of the petroleum industry. today we depend upon petroleum products not only fo

3、r transportation, heating, and generating electricity, but also for fertilizers and fabrics, plastics and pantyhose. munitions and medicines, paints and pesticides, and thousands of other items we take for granted every day.other fuels, such as coal and uranium, would not be available without the di

4、esel fuel and petroleum-based explosives required to mine, transport, and process them, or the billions of cubic feet of natural gas necessary to manufacture the portland cement needed to build the generating stations they fuel. in short, as the past decade has painfully taught us, the worlds econom

5、y is based not on gold or political philosophies, but rather on the price of a barrel of crude.man first became acquainted with petroleum through natural “seeps,” or spots on the earths surface where shallow deposits of crude oiland often natural gasoozed upwards into pits, creeks, and marshes, or a

6、long beaches and bays. petroleum, as the “rock oil”, was called by the ancients, is referred to not only in the bible, but also in mans earliest recorded history. oil seeps and bitumen pits furnished the pitch and asphalt used in the mortar that built the tower of babel, the walls of ninevah, and so

7、lomons temple. it was from “slime pits” near the dead sea, that the egyptians obtained the bitumen they used to embalm their dead. in 3000 b.c. the sumerians were using oil-burning lamps, a practice adopted in greece around 250 b.c. in the east, sometime after 100 b.c., the chinese were digging well

8、s hundreds of feet deep to obtain salt water from which they extracted the sodium chloride to season and preserve their food. occasionally these wells also produced natural gas, which the chinese learned to use not only for heating and cooking, but also to pipe through bamboo tubes and burn to heat

9、the well water to hasten its evaporation.by 615 a.d., the japanese were digging wells nearly 1,000 ft deep in attempts to obtain “burning water,” a practice which was also occurring in burma and india at about the same time. and, along the banks of the caspian sea, men were digging shallow wells by

10、hand to obtain oil to light their lamps. as man found more and more of this strange substance, he slowly began to learn that it could be used in many ways. in 671 a.d., kallinikos of byzantium invented a primitive missile which he called greek fire. which carried an incendiary payload composed of pe

11、troleum, sulfur. resin, and rock salt, which the greeks used against their enemies, the arabs, during the siege of constantinople. the greeks also used petroleum in war at sea, pouring it on the water and igniting it, a fearsome weapon against wooden ships. even earlier, the legionnaires of ancient

12、rome won a battle by setting oil-soaked pigs aflame and driving them into the ranks of the approaching enemy.gradually, the use of petroleum began to spread across parts of asia and europe. but, in order for any new industry to come about, three factors must be present: a widely demonstrated need fo

13、r the product provided, a reliable and economical source of supply, and an established market price that would guarantee a return on investment sufficient to overcome the risks inherent in any new venture. thus, the time was not yet right for the birth of the worldwide petroleum industry, and it wou

14、ld not be until the europeans ventured west that the sleeping giant would begin to awaken.1.1 the new worldwhen the first explorers ventured into the new world, they found petroleum marshes as well as huge asphalt pools in trinidad, venezuela, and later, in california. as more and more adventurers m

15、ade the long voyage across the atlantic, they learned to come to these places, beach their sea-weary ships and caulk their leaks with boiled-down petroleum residues. not only did this seal the hulls, it also protected them against teredos, small, worm-like marine mollusks that inhabit tropical water

16、s and bore into wooden ships, destroying them. in the years to come, this practice of ship coating would grow into an industry of its own and create one of the first economic demands for petroleum products.1.1.1 latin americathe indians in what is now mexico, called this tarry substance chapapote, w

17、hile in venezuela and other parts of south america it was called mene. the pre-colombian peoples used chapapote or menewhich had worked its way to the earths surfaceas medicine in the form of liniments and ointments, to coat footwear, boats, and roofing, as glue, for illumination. and as incense. in

18、 1579, commander melcor de alfaro santa cruz had written home to spain describing the many uses of chapapote in mexico, which included toothpaste and chewing gum. however. venezuela may have become the worlds first petroleum exporting country when in 1539, several barrels of mene were shipped to spa

19、in, apparently in response to an urgent request for a “miracle drug” to cure the painful gout afflicting emperor charles . rumors having reached the royal ears of the great medicinal powers attributed by the indians to a mysterious substance found around lake maricaibo. thus the origins of todays pe

20、troleum industry are closely entwined with the history of latin america, and many latin nations have contributed to the industry that has changed the world.1.1.2 north americalater, as europeans penetrated the northern portion of the hemisphere, they found that the indians from california to what is

21、 now pennsylvania and canada were also familiar with this strange black substance that came from within the earth, and had developed many practical uses for it. in southern california, they applied asphalt to baskets or cloth to make them waterproof. these baskets were used to carry water since they

22、 were not only lighter than pottery, but unbreakable as well. asphalt was also used to caulk their boats and waterproof their roofs. in 1788, peter pond, exploring western canada in what is now alberta, reported that the cree indians were using tar from the athabasca river to caulk their canoes and

23、also as medicine.today, one of the most widely used skin ointments in the world is known in english as “indian petrolatum,” or, “petroleum jelly,” a scientific name derived from the greek which obscures its american indian invention, in making this nearly colorless gelatinous material of olefin hydr

24、ocarbons and methane, the indians found one of the first practical uses of petroleum. they applied it to human and animal skins to protect wounds, stimulate healing, and to keep the skin moist. they also used it to lubricate the moving parts of tools. today, petroleum jelly has found its way to the

25、most remote parts of the earth, including the sahara where nomadic tribesmen smear it on their skin to protect themselves from the relentless sun, dry wind, and pounding sand.the indians to pennsylvania used a number of open pits as oil wells, a fact noted by the white settlers of the quaker state w

26、ho, in the nineteenth century, not only launched the american petroleum industry from this spot. but in so doing, created the impetus that would move the world into the petroleum society.as the settlers began to move westward into the interior of this vast land, the need was not for oil, but, as had

27、 been the case in other parts of the world, for salt, so they could preserve their food for the long winter months. those living in the ohio valley and the westward slope of the alleghenies found they could drill wells through the rock down into subsurface brine deposits. when the brine was brought

28、to the surface, it was boiled down and the resulting salt used to cure their meat.but some of these crude, hand-drilled wells produced oil as well as salt. since the oil contaminated the salt, it was considered a nuisance by the colonists who either drained it into nearby creeks or into sump pits wh

29、ere it was burned. however, plantation owner george washington considered his virginia estates “bitumen spring” to be of value. harking back to the days of the indian healers, a few entrepreneurs bottled this residue and sold it as a widely acclaimed “cure-all” through itinerant wagon shows and loca

30、l druggists.1.1.3 the search for lightsamuel m. kier, a pittsburgh druggist who owned some brine wells near tarentum, pennsylvania, was one of these. in addition to salt, kiers wells also produced much petroleum. from this “useless” by-product. kier bottled his oil, labeled it “pennsylvania rock oil

31、,” and advertised it far and wide. but, it failed to find a ready market. undaunted, kier then devised a crude still to convert his petroleum into a lamp oil. his “rock oil” burned, but it had a bad odor, and produced a heavy, black smoke. although kier was not successful, suddenly the first birth p

32、ains of the oil industry were felt because man began to realize there was a widespread need for petroleum. by mid-nineteenth century, the idea of popular education had spread widely; more and more people could read and write. and, there was more to read since this was also a great period of growth f

33、or the newly popular newspapers and magazines which were now beginning to be published for the masses instead of for an elite few. but for the most part, the world was still largely an agrarian society. on farms, and in the cities which were becoming industrialized. people worked a minimum of twelve

34、 hours a day, or from dawn to dark. this made reading a leisure time activity, which had to be done at night, after the days labors were completed. therefore, in order to read, people needed light. light was also needed by the new factories of the industrial age if they were to be able to operate du

35、ring the short and dark winter days and survive economically. many used tallow candles which were both expensive and ineffective, or, sperm oil from whales, which though relatively clean burning, was becoming more and more expensive because even then the great herds of whales had been hunted to the

36、point of extinction. in both america and europe a search was on for a source of light that could be manufactured to sell at a reasonable price, burn cleanly, and provide effective illumination.in a few large cities, plants had been built to process artificial gas from coal or to furnish natural gas

37、from wells located in the towns themselves. gas lights illuminated the streets at night, and indoors “jets”thousands of times brighter than candiesnot only brightened homes, but also made the forerunners of the modem factory possible for the first time. gaslight quickly became enormously popular, bu

38、t the piping was crude and expensive to install, which meant that gas was available only in metropolitan areas. so the search, including attempts to produce a light source from petroleum, continued.in 1849 ,james young, a scotsman, obtained a patent for processing cannel coal (or more likely, cannel

39、 shale which is prevalent in scotland), which he distilled into what he called coal oil. it became popular almost immediately, and the worlds first refining industry sprang up in britain as young issued licenses on his patent for the production of coal oil in both great britain and the united states

40、.1.1.4 canadaa brilliant and innovative canadian, was responsible for the next step in the birthing. abraham gesner, a medical doctor who was also an amateur geologist and self-taught chemist from nova scotia, began experimenting in the 1840s with producing lamp oils from both asphalt and coal. usin

41、g a process similar to youngs, he became the first in north america to distill a hydrocarbon into lamp fuel. in 1853, he moved his operation to new york and began producing coal oil. the following year he introduced a new product called “kerosene,” from the greek words for oil and wax. even though c

42、oal oil and the early kerosene were smelly, smoked badly, and cost dearly, they immediately became far more popular than whale oil, which had risen in price to $2.50 per gallon, which placed it far beyond the reach of most consumers. gesner began to issue licenses under his american patent, and by 1

43、860, there were more than 70 plants in the united states producing an estimated 23,000 gals of coal oil per year from natural asphalts, soft coal, and shale.all of this would last only a few short years however, for it was to be kerosine refined from petroleum, not coal oil, that would light the wor

44、ld. up until the mid-1850s all crude oil had either been skimmed from seeps or produced as an unwanted by-product of brine wells, and was considered by many to be good only as a medicine show novelty. but two brothers in a tiny village in canada west, as ontario was called in 1854, would change all

45、that and in so doing, change the world. henry and charles nelson tripp of enniskillen township on the north shore of lake ontario, a metropolis inhabited by 37 settlers. 34 cows. and 16 hogs, founded the worlds first incorporated oil company, international mining and manufacturing. their interests w

46、ere not in lamp oil, but in possible industrial uses for the black, tar-like substance from gum beds located on their property. in 1850 a chemist with the canadian geological survey had pointed out that the gum had possible commercial use as paving material, a sealant for ship bottoms, and as raw ma

47、terial for the manufacture of illuminating gas. by 1854 they were digging the bitumen by hand, and boiling it down in open cast iron kettles. their major trust was to sell their product for paving and for marine use as ship coating. even though the hamilton gas company reported that gas made from th

48、e bitumen produced far more illumination than the gas produced from coal, the tripps ignored this market and by 1856 their company failed and was forced to sell its gum beds. it was to the buyer of their 600 ac of potential oil land that fame as the founder of the north american oil industry would c

49、ome.james miller williams was a carriage maker from hamilton, ontario. in 1857 he set up a simple refinery on black creek and set out to drill for oil, correctly assuming that if he penetrated below the surface of the asphalt beds he would find more oil. his first well was abandoned after the pipe b

50、roke off at 27 ft, but in 1858 he successfully produced oil from a depth of 49 ft. whereas the tripps had mined the bitumen from its surface beds, williams began pumping crude oil from a reservoir beneath them, which he then refined into lamp oil. in i860 he reincorporated as the canadian oil compan

51、y. this was north americas first integrated oil company, since its activities included exploration, production, refining, and marketing. that same year, nearly 100 wells were drilled in the oil springs area with the successful ones producing 12 to 23 b/d (barrels per day). then, on january 16, i862,

52、 the greatest gusher the world had ever seen blew in at oil springs. spouting crude more than 20 ft into the air, it flowed at an astonishing 2.000 b/d. refineries quickly sprang up across ontario, but almost as quickly, the momentum of the growing industry flowed south across the border (figure 1-1

53、).figure 1-1 james miller williams courtesy the oil museum of canada1.2 the united statesin 1857, col. a. c. ferris, a major supplier of lamp oil, saw samples of samuel kiers rock oil in use. he purchased some and ran it through his processing plant. it produced such a superior lighting oil that he

54、sent agents far and wide buying crude for $20/bbl, a price the world would not see again for more than a century. some of this oil he purchased from williams in ontario, although most of his supply came haphazardly from brine wells, oil springs, or oil seeps. suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle began

55、 to come together, there was a growing need for the product, a firm market price had been established, so all that remained was the development of a reliable supply of raw material in quantity, in this case, crude oil.1.2.1 the birth of the industryjames miller williams may well have been the father

56、 of the modern oil industry, but history, fickle as always, has chosen to award that honor to an american, col. edwin drake(figure 1-2). a former railway conductor, the “colonel” was an affectation adopted to impress the towns-people of oil creek. pennsylvania, where drake, as representative of the

57、pennsylvania rock oil company, spent three unsuccessful years trying to skim oil in marketable quantities from the same springs the indians had used years before. when the company failed, drake organized the seneca oil company to try again. this time he looked at the brine wells that had been drille

58、d at nearby tarantum and made the momentous decision to try to obtain oil in quantity by drilling for it a decision that brought him ridicule and derision from the local population.figure 1-2 colonel edwin drake courtesy the drake well museumhe assembled a steam-powered cable-tool drilling rig much

59、the same as the ones used by the salt water drillers and began operations. that he was successful was due in no small part to the skill and dedication of his driller, william a, “uncle billy” smith, a blacksmith and experienced brine well driller. after penetrating 30 ft of rock. drake struck oil at a total depth of 69 1/2 ft. the well was not a gusher the oil had to be pumped to the surface, but it was the first “oil-well” in the united states and the lamp oil produce