The Natural Gas market in the U.S is growing rapidly with evidence that the nation has enough shale reserves to power the country for the next century. To ensure continued economic benefits through the use of this environmentally desired energy source, it becomes important to optimize the transportation network system design. Transportation through pipelines is one of the most common methods used to distribute Natural Gas from source to destination. This transportation system, consisting of pipelines, compressors and other supporting equipment, must be optimized, considering all relevant parameters to minimize cost and increase profit. The research presented here improves on the fuel cost minimization models in literature to incorporate pipeline elevation and safety requirements. A new model is proposed to consider the entire transportation network as a single system and optimize it considering all relevant parameters. The optimization model is setup as a mixed integer nonlinear program. The proposed model is used to optimize the pipeline network for a case study, evaluate the model as well as investigate design capacity and installed capacity of pipeline network.

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This thesis explores in detail intuition or the often neglected, non-analytical aspects of the strategic decision-making process.  In doing so, it makes a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge on strategic decision-making. In order to fully explore the strategic decision-making process, analysis (analytical aspects) and the interaction of both intuition and analysis are also considered.  Companies involved in the present study are classified according to three types based on the results:   Analytical, Intuitive and See-Saw.  This forms a useful means of comparison between companies. A model is developed drawn from the empirical analysis, which highlights that there are various aspects within the organisational and industry environment, including analysis and intuition, which influence inter-organisational variation in strategic decision-making.  Variation in the strategic decision-making process is important to consider because it may be a source of competitive advantage for individual companies.  The applied implications of the model are also discussed. The upstream oil and gas industry, a dynamic environment characterised by uncertainty, provided the setting for the current study.  Data was collected in both Australia and the U.K.  Fifty face-to-face interviews were conducted within eleven operators and one serve company.  This information was also supplemented with documentary material.  Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) provided the research strategy.  It is intended the empirical results will increase the clarity and understanding of the strategic decision-making process, ultimately leading to better and more informed decisions being made.

Gas hydrates are a topic of great interest and intense investigation. Traditionally, these compounds have been seen as a nuisance to the oil and gas industry, which can plug pipelines and cause hours of costly downtime. More recently, gas hydrates have been viewed as a possible energy source due to the vast amount of methane trapped in the form of gas hydrate. Many researchers have also proposed the possibility of transporting natural gas in the form of gas hydrate may be safer and more economical than using liquid or compressed natural gas. Gas hydrate may also offer the possibility of reducing greenhouse gas emissions via the sequestration of carbon dioxide. / Surfactants have been found to act as both promoters and inhibitors of hydrate formation. In the present study, the formation rate, solubility and mass transfer conductance of methane in the presence of Gemini surfactant, a new class of surfactants, was studied with varying concentration of Gemini surfactant. The experiments to determine the formation rates of methane hydrate were conducted at 4°C and 6500 kPa. While the experiments to determine solubility and mass conductance were carried out at 4°C and 3800 kPa. The resulting values were used to determine experimental accuracy and reproducibility by comparing the values obtained with literature values and by analyzing the distribution of the data obtained. Solubility measurements were extremely close to literature values with only a 1.4% difference. The distribution of solubility values and formation rates did not deviate significantly between replicates indicating a high degree of reproducibility; however, a lot of variability was observed in mass transfer conductance. This may be attributed to the fact that mass transfer was not determined experimentally by regressing a coefficient to fit a curve, which may be less accurate than other experimentally determined parameters. / In the second part of the study, the formation rate, solubility and mass transfer conductance of methane were determined using aqueous Gemini surfactant solutions. The experiments to determine the formation rates of methane hydrate were conducted at 4°C and 6500 kPa. While the experiments to determine solubility and mass transfer conductance were carried out at 4°C and 3800 kPa. The resulting values were used to determine the effect of Gemini surfactant on the properties of interest by comparing the values obtained with aqueous Gemini surfactant with the values previously obtained for pure water. The results obtained showed that solubility increased with increasing concentrations of Gemini surfactant with solubility increasing by up to 18% for higher concentration of Gemini surfactant. The mass transfer conductance was also found to increase by up to 49%; however other than the existence of an increase, no conclusive relationship could be determined between the concentration of Gemini surfactant and mass transfer conductance. / Finally, the formation rate of gas hydrates was found to decrease slightly, relative to water, at low concentrations, increased linearly at subsequently higher concentrations and ultimately plateau at a maximum. This trend was in agreement with similar experiments found in literature and the increase in formation rate may be attributed to the increase in both solubility and mass transfer conductance when using aqueous Gemini surfactant.

Internal combustion engine emissions are currently a major source of air pollution. The harmful impact of engine emissions can be reduced when engines are fuelled by alternatives to petrol and diesel such as natural gas. The use of lean burn technology in spark-ignition engines has been dominant; however, the lean burn technique can not economically satisfy the increasingly restricted future emission standards particularly for NOx emissions. In this thesis, the use of the stoichiometric air-fuel mixture with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technique in a spark ignition natural gas engine is investigated. The aim of the research is to optimize the key engine operating conditions in order to obtain the lowest NO emissions accompanied with low fuel consumption and high power. This is achieved via both experimental and computer simulation research. / PhD Doctorate

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1975. / Bibliography: leaves 35-36.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-169).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MS)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Douglas J. Dollhopf. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-108).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, November, 1997. / Title from PDF t.p.