1 AAPG
abbr:
American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
AAPL
abbr:
American Association of Petroleum Landmen.
abaft
adv:
1. toward the stem of a ship or mobile offshore drilling rig. 2. behind. 3. farther aft than. See
aft.
abandon
v:
to cease producing oil and gas from a well when it becomes unprofitable or to cease further work on a newly drilled well when it proves not to contain profitable quantities of oil or gas. Several steps are involved: part of the casing may be removed and salvaged; one or more cement plugs are placed in the borehole to prevent migration of fluids between the different formations penetrated by the borehole; and the well is abandoned. In most oil-producing states, it is necessary to secure permission from official agencies before a well may be abandoned.
abandoned well
n:
a well not in use because it was a dry hole originally, or because it has ceased to produce. Statutes and regulations in many states require the plugging of abandoned wells to prevent the seepage of oil, gas, or water from one stratum of underlying rock to another.
abandonment
n:
termination of a jurisdictional sale or service. Under Section 7(b) of the Natural Gas Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must determine in advance that the "present or future public convenience and necessity" or depletion of gas supplies requires termination.
abandonment pressure
n:
the average reservoir pressure at which an amount of gas insufficient to permit continued economic operation of a producing gas well is expelled.
abd
,
abdn
abbr:
abandoned; used in drilling reports.
abnormal pressure
n:
pressure exceeding or falling below the pressure to be expected at a given depth. Normal pressure increases approximately 0.465 pow1ds per square inch per foot of depth or 10.5 kilopascals per metre of depth. Thus, normal pressure at 1,000 feet is 465 pounds per square inch; at 1,000 metres it is 10,500 kilopascals. See
pressure gradient.
aboard
adv:
on or in a ship, offshore drilling rig, helicopter, or production platform.
abrasion
n:
wearing away by friction.
ABS
abbr:
American Bureau of Shipping.
abscissa
n:
the horizontal coordinate of a point in a plane obtained by measuring parallel
to
the x-axis. Compare
ordinate.
absolute
(abs)
adj:
independent or unlimited, such as an absolute condition, or completely unadulterated, such as alcohol.
absolute density
n:
the density of a solid or liquid substance at a specified temperature. Sometimes referred
to
as true density or density in vacuo. See
density.
absolute dynamic viscosity
n:
the force in dynes that a stationary flat plate with a surface area of 1 square centimetre exerts on a similar parallel plate 1 centimetre away and moving in its own plane with a velocity of 1 centimetre per second, the space between the plates being filled with the liquid in question. It is a measure of the resistance that the liquid offers
to
shear. absolute error
n:
the difference between the result of a measurement and the true value of the measured quantity as determined by means of a suitable standard device.
absolute humidity
n:
the amount of moisture present in the air. It may be expressed in milligrams of water per cubic metre of air. Compare
relative humidity.
absolute kinematic viscosity
n:
the value obtained when the absolute dynamic viscosity is divided by the density (expressed in grams per cubic centimetre) of the liquid at the temperature concerned.
absolute mass
n:
the expression of a fluid's weight (mass) in terms of its weight in a vacuum.
absolute open flow
n:
the maximum flow rate that a well could theoretically deliver with zero pressure at the face of the reservoir.
absolute ownership
n:
the theory that minerals such as oil and gas are fully owned in place before they are extracted and reduced to possession. Despite this theory, title to oil and gas may be lost by legitimate drainage and by the rule of capture. Also called ownership in place. See
rule of capture.
absolute permeability
n:
a measure of the ability of a single fluid (such as water, gas, or oil) to flow through a rock formation when the formation is totally filled (saturated) with that fluid. The permeability measure of a rock filled with a single fluid is different from the permeability measure of the same rock filled with two or more fluids. Compare
effective permeability, relative permeability.
absolute porosity
n:
the percentage of the total bulk volume of a rock sample that is composed of pore spaces or voids. See
porosity.
absolute pressure
n:
total pressure measured from an absolute vacuum. It equals the sum of the gauge pressure and the atmospheric pressure. Expressed in pounds per square inch.
absolute temperature scale
n:
a scale of temperature measurement in which zero degrees is absolute zero. On the Rankine absolute temperature scale, which is based on degrees Fahrenheit. water freezes at 492' and boils at 672". On the Kelvin absolute temperature scale, which is based on degrees Celsius, water freezes at 273
°
and boils at 373
°. See
absolute zero.
absolute viscosity
n:
the property by which a fluid in motion offers resistance to shear and flow. Usually expressed as newton seconds/metre.
absolute zero
n:
a hypothetical temperature at which there is a total absence of heal Since heat is a result of energy caused by molecular motion, there is no motion of molecules with respect to each other at absolute zero.
absorb
v:
I. to take in and make part of an existing whole. 2. to recover liquid hydro- carbons from natural or refinery gas in a gas- absorption plant. The wet gas enters the absorber at the bottom and rises to die top, encountering a stream of absorption oil (a light oil) travelling downward over bubble-cap trays, valve trays, or sieve trays. The light oil removes, or absorbs, the heavier liquid hydrocarbons from the wet gas. See
bubble-cap tray, sieve tray, valve tray.
Absorbent 2 acidity Absorbent
n:
see
absorption oil.
absorber
n
:
1.
A vertical, cylindrical vessel that recovers heavier hydorcarbons from a mixture of predominantly lighter hydrocarbons. Also called absorption tower.
2.
A vessel in which gas is dehydrated by being bubbled through glycol. See
absorb.
absorber capacity
n:
the maximum volume of natural gas that can be processed through an absorber at a specified absorption oil rate, temperature, and pressure without exceeding pressure drop or any oilier operating limitation.
absorption
n:
1. the process of sucking up, taking in and making part of an existing whole. Compare
adsorption.
2. the process in which short wave radiation is retained by regions of the earth.
absorption dynamometer
n:
a device that measures mechanical force. The energy measured is absorbed by frictional or electrical resistance.
absorption gasoline
n:
the gasoline extracted from natural gas by putting the gas into contact with oil in a vessel and subsequently distilling the gasoline from the heavier oil.
absorption oil
n:
a hydrocarbon liquid used to absorb and recover components from natural gas being processed. Also called wash oil.
absorption plant
n:
a plant that processes natural gas with absorption oil.
absorption-refrigeration cycle
n:
a mechanical refrigeration system in which the refrigerant is absorbed by a suitable liquid or solid. The most CODlD1only used refrigerant is ammonia; the most commonly used absorbing medium is water. Compare
compression- refrigeration cycle.
absorption tower
n:
see
absorber.
abstract-based title opinion
n:
a title opinion based on a complete abstract of title and other relevant documents. Compare
stand- up title opinion.
abstract company
n:
a private company in the business of preparing abstracts of title and performing related services. Also called abstract plant.
abstract of title
n:
a collection of all of the recorded instruments affecting title to a tract of land. Compare
base abstract.
abstract plant
n:
see
abstract company.
abyssal
adj:
of or relating to the bottom waters of the ocean.
Ac
abbr:
altocumulus.
AC
abbr:
alternating current.
accelerated aging test
n:
a procedure whereby a product may be subjected to intensified but controlled conditions of heat, pressure, radiation, or other variables to produce, in a short time, the effects of long- time storage or use under normal conditions.
acceleration stress
n:
when a crane is hoisting a load, the additional force the load imposes on a wire rope or a sling when the load's speed increases.
accelerator
n:
a chemical additive that reduces the setting time of cement. See
cement, cementing materials.
accelerometer
n:
an instrument that detects changes in motion or measures acceleration. accessory equipment
n:
any device that enhances the utility of a measurement system, including readouts, registers, monitors, and liquid- or flow-conditioning equipment. accrete
v:
to enlarge by the addition of external parts or particles.
accumulate
v:
to amass or collect. When oil and gas migrate into porous formations, the quantity collected is called an accumulation.
accumulator
n:
1. a vessel or tank that receives and temporarily stores a liquid used in a continuous process in a gas plant. See
drip accumulator.
2. on a drilling rig, the storage device for nitrogen-pressurised hydraulic fluid, which is used in operating the blow out preventers. See
blowout preventer control unit.
accumulator bottle
n:
a bottle-shaped steel cylinder located in a blowout preventer control unit to store nitrogen and hydraulic fluid under pressure (usually at 3,(XK)pounds per square inch). The fluid is used to actuate the blowout preventer stack.
accuracy
n:
the ability of a measuring instrument to indicate values closely approximating the true value of the quantity measured.
accuracy curve of a volume meter
n:
a plot of meter factor as a function of flow rate used to evaluate the meter's performance. See
flow rate, meter factor:
acetic acid
n:
an organic acid compound sometimes used to acidise oil wells. It is not as corrosive as other acids used in well treatments. Its chemical formula is C2~O2' or CH3COOH.
acetylene welding
n:
a method of joining steel components in which acetylene gas and oxygen are mixed in a torch to attain the high temperatures necessary for welding. As an early type of welding (it was also called oxyacetylene welding), its primary disadvantage was the seepage of molten weld material onto the interior surface of the pipe, often leading to corrosion problems.
ACGIH
abbr:
American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists.
acid
n:
any chemical compound. one element of which is hydrogen, that dissociates in solution to produce free hydrogen ions. For example, hydrochloric acid. HCI, dissociates in water to produce hydrogen ions, H+, and chloride ions, CI-. This reaction is expressed chemically as HCI + H+ + CI-. See
ion.
acid brittleness
n:
see
hydrogen embrinlement.
acid clay
n:
a naturally occurring clay that, after activation, usually with acid, is used mainly as a decolourant or refining agent, and sometimes as a desulphuriser, coagulant, or catalyst.
acid fracture
v:
to part or open fractures in productive hard limestone formations by using a combination of oil and acid or water and acid under high pressure. See
formation fracturing.
acid gas
n:
a gas that forms an acid when mixed with water. In petroleum production and processing, the most common acid gases are hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide. Both cause corrosion, and hydrogen sulphide is very poisonous.
acidity
n
: the quality of being acid. Relative acid strength of a liquid is measured by pH. A liquid with a pH below 7 is acid. See
pH.
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