The Petroleum Production Laboratory in Lab Room 305 is intended to assist students in understanding multiphase fluid behavior and flow measurement in vertical, deviated, and horizontal well tubing and in pipelines, corrosion testing and other necessary operational experiments on the properties which involves the produced materials out from the well until it reaches the surface facilities.

• Two (2) units of Computer Controlled Fluid Friction in Pipes which allows the detailed study of fluid friction head losses which occur when a fluid flows through pipes, fittings, valves and flow metering elements;
• One (1) Horizontal Three-Phase Separator (HTSC) made of optical-grade acrylic material to allow visualization of the separation process. Designed in compact space and better handling features, high tolerance of liquid level change and for sediment type of sample;
• One (1) Vertical Three-Phase Separator (VTSC) is a device that allows the study of the main characteristics of gravity separation and the effect of viscosity, flow and density difference in this separation vertically which is ideal for high flow rate, economical, ease for foam handling and for quick installation. Both HTSC and VTSC units will be equipped with outlet liquid and gas flow meters, liquid-level control valves, and a safety pressure-relief valve;
• One (1) Interfacial Tension Meter (IFT 700) which is a state-of-the-art image capture and processing system computes the relevant geometric parameters to derive the interfacial tension using the Laplace equation and can determine at reservoir-representative conditions of pressure and temperature, both the interfacial tension of two immiscible fluids using the pendant/rising drop methods and the contact angle of a liquid droplet on a solid surface using the sessile drop method;
• Three (3) Sigma 703 D Tensiometer a simple standalone and robust digital force tensiometer for accurate measurement of surface and interfacial tension and results are displayed in real- time on the large digital screen integrated into the instrument and can be transferred to a computer using the Data receiver software;
• Three (3) Sonic Sifter Particle Distribution Analyzers, with specially designed 3" Diameter (76.2 mm) acrylic-framed sieves and an oscillating air column that allows this unit to achieve efficiencies previously seen only sieving for materials in powdered, granular or pellet form and is capable of achieving separations ranging from 3 µm to 5.6 mm;
• One (1) HTHP Corrosion Tester is designed to perform corrosion tests under elevated temperature and pressure. The device is capable of heating the sample up to 400°F (204.4°C) and applying up to 5,000 PSI (34.5 MPa);
• Two (2) Brine Crystallization Tester to measure the temperature of a brine is at which salt crystals begin to form which primarily causes many problems, including filtration plugging, density changes, and an increase in viscosity;
• One (1) Hydraulic Fracturing Unit allows the performance of fracture tests with HPVC pressure intensifier. This fixture is typically used for hydraulic fracture, well bore stability, and permeability tests.

The Geology Laboratory is intended to familiarize students with minerals, rocks, Earth processes, geologic maps and field methods, and other Earth science techniques. The following equipment and materials are available for students:

• Extensive mineral and rock collection (more than 330 cataloged samples)
• Basic mineral and rock identification materials (hand lenses, dilute HCl, streak and glass plates, magnets, steal nails, copper pieces, geologic hammers)
• 20 reflecting-light microscopes.
• Two transmitted-light microscopes.
• Brunton (23) and Silva (20) geologic compasses.
• Datascope digital compass.

The Objective of the PVT (pressure, volume, and temperature) Reservoir Fluids Lab is to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of the fluid and predict its behavior versus pressure and temperature changes.

Accurate laboratory studies of PVT and phase-equilibria behavior of reservoir fluids are necessary for characterizing these fluids and evaluating their volumetric performance at various pressure levels. Many laboratory analyses can be made on a reservoir fluid sample. The amount of data desired determines the number of tests performed in the laboratory.

In this lab, which has been updated and equipped in 2022 with state of the art equipment, students perform experiments on the phase behavior of pure substances and hydrocarbon mixtures, make gas compressibility factor, differential liberation test, oil viscosity, density, and oil/gas interfacial tension measurements.

The major equipment in this lab includes:

1. Five Educational PVT Cell (Educational Fluid EVAL) to conduct various phase behavior tests.

(The educational Fluid Eval is a compact PVT cell designed for small volume PVT, thermodynamic properties and phase behavior studies of black oil and gas condensate samples. The PVT cell is composed of an efficient fluid mixer mounted on the piston, a dedicated visual head, two sampling valves, an accurate pressure transducer and an electric heater enabling a homogeneous temperature control. A digital camera system monitors the liquid/gas interface through the sapphire windows. During differential vaporization or flash liberation, the removal of the gas phase is facilitated by the full visibility of the gas/oil interface through the cell window. For oil studies, the cell is in an upright position, and is inverted for gas condensate experiments, working pressure is up to 10,000 psi and Temperature Ambient to 175°C (350 °F).

2. Five Anton Paar Viscometers to conduct oil viscosity measurements at different temperatures.

3. Five Anton Paar Densitometers DMA-4200 M for measuring oil density at different temperatures and pressures.

4. Four Multi-Stage Separators to accurately simulate the reservoir fluid surface separation process and allow the optimum pressure variation regime to be determined by monitoring pressure and/or temperature-related changes in formation volume factor and gas-oil ratios.

The Drilling Fluids and Cementing Laboratory is located in Lab Room 304 and is equipped with highly sophisticated machines and apparatuses that are used and can be found in an actual drilling and cementing operation. The teaching laboratory permits students to explore the petroleum field practices by performing all of the major mud and cement testing procedures on a drilling rig and major cement testing by service companies. Students blend the drilling fluids, brines and other requirements from scratch based on a given formulation. After that, they will observe the effects of adding solids, liquid polymer, and gasses to oil and water base fluids and measure all necessary properties such as viscosity, density, electrical conductivity and more others. Students also measure cement set times, cement viscosity build up with increased solids and other additives, and cement strength including ultrasonic testing of cement strength during lab activities.

The laboratory has five test lab stands, which permits class sections of up to 20 students each, and contains the following major pieces of equipment: 

• Six (6) Fann 35A, 6 speed Rheometers for measuring mud and cement viscosity;
• Three (3) OFITE Model 900 digital viscometers for drilling mud and cement.
• Five (5) Low-Temperature and Low-Pressure API filter presses;
• Five (5) High Temp and High-Pressure Filter Pressure which determines the fluids loss approaching the reservoir;
• Five (5) Extreme Pressure Lubricity Meter to measure film strength;
• Five (5) Resistivity Meter for electrical resistance of fluids, slurries and semi-solids;
• One (1) Twin Cell UCA and SGSM for compressive strength using continuous acoustic signal;
• One (1) MPRO Analyzer for elastic mechanical properties ratio and other mechanical property evaluation;
• One (1) Quizix Pump, for high precision and accuracy pump for HC and other oil products;
• One (1) Hydraulic Tester, to measure the tension, compression, flexure and shear strength of cement samples;
• Two (2) Retort (50ml) to determine the percentage of Oil, Water and Solids of drilling fluids and cuttings samples.
• Five (5) Marsh Funnel for the relative viscosity and gel strength purposes;
• Five (5) Pressurized and Conventional Mud Balance to check the fluids density at the surface condition;
• Five (5) pH Meters for the Hydrogen-ion activity (acidity and alkalinity) measurement;
• One (1) Dynamic HTHP Filter Press which evaluates the filtration volume and cake building properties in motion;
• Three (3) Constant Speed cement mixer for oil well cements and fracturing fluids preparation;
• Five (5) Sand Content Kit to test concentration of the drilled solids carried from the well bore;
• One (1) Atmospheric Cement Consistometer which is used to precondition the cement slurries as per API10 specifications;
• One (1) HTHP Benchtop Consistometer for the thickening time of well cements in reservoir conditions;
• Five (5) Hamilton Mixers for mixing drilling fluids and brine formulation;
• One (1) HTHP Consistometer to deliver the results of cement thickening time in stimulated downhole conditions;
• Five (5) Alkalinity Test Set for pilot test, water and brine analysis purposes.

Students are introduced to the measurement of grain size, porosity, permeability, two-phase steady-state relative permeability, capillary pressure, fluid saturation and Archie’s equation parameters.

The major equipment in this lab includes:

• Five core-flooding units with resistivity meters.
• One solvent-extraction unit with multiple extractors for fluid saturation measurement.
• Two Multi plugs porous plate desaturators for Capillary Pressure measurement.
• Five digital scales for various experiments associated with weights such as glass bead porosity measurements.
• Five helium Porosimeters for porosity measurements
• One Petrographic machine for thin section preparation.
• Core drill and Core trimming machines.