Department of Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics, NTNU

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Department of Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics, NTNU
Institutt for Petroleumsteknologi og anvendt Geofysikk
Logo of the NTNU
Established: 1973
Type: Public university
Chairman: Jon Kleppe (Professor of Reservoir Engineering)
Staff: 36
Students: 390
Undergraduates: 180
Postgraduates: 160
Doctoral students: 50
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Campus: Gløshaugen/Lerkendal
Website: www.petroleum.ntnu.no

Contents

[edit] Background

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is the key university of science and technology in Norway. The Department of Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics (IPT) was established in 1973, shortly after the start of production (Ekofisk field) from the Norwegian continental shelf. The department came to include Petroleum Engineering as well as Geophysics, which is seen as a major strength of the petroleum education at NTNU. The department has elected chairman and vice chairman, and 4 informal groups of professors; geophysics, drilling, production and reservoir engineering. The stated primary purpose of maintaining the informal groups is to take care of the teaching in their respective disciplines. Each group is responsible for offering a sufficient number of courses, semester projects and thesis projects at M.Sc. and Ph.D. levels in their discipline, and to make annual revisions of these in accordance with the needs of society an industry. The total number of professors, associate professors, assistant professors and adjunct professors is 24. The administrative staff is led by a department administrator, and consists of a total of 6 secretaries. The technical support staff reports to the department head, and consists of 8 engineers and technicians. Until 2000, the department was part of the Applied Earth Sciences faculty, together with the Geology-department. After that, the department is part of the Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology (one of a total of 10 departments).

Brief historical statistics of the department:

  • Established in 1973
  • More than 2000 graduated M.Sc.´s
  • More than 100 Ph.D.´s graduated
  • Around 80 M.Sc.´s graduate every year
  • Around 10 Ph.D.´s graduate every year
  • Currently around 90 full-time teachers, researchers and staff
  • Around 300 students enrolled at upper B.Sc. and M.Sc. levels

[edit] Research

The department focus research within the following 5 areas: Petroleum geophysics, Reservoir engineering, Production engineering, Subsea engineering, Drilling engineering and Integrated operations.

Petroleum Geophysics:

Reservoir Engineering:

  • Experimental studies on novel methods for improved oil recovery, like chemical flooding, non-hydrocarbon gas flooding and microbial flooding
  • Development of improved methods for numerical simulation of enhanced oil recovery processes in conventional, fractured and heterogeneous reservoirs
  • Development of improved techniques for interpretation of well tests, specially related to compressible reservoirs
  • Development of phase-behaviour software for non-hydrocarbon injection gases for enhanced oil recovery

Production Engineering

  • Multiphase flow in wells and pipelines
  • Pumping and artificial lift
  • Flow assurance and conditon monitoring
  • Hydrate for transport of natural gas
  • Processing of oil and gas
  • Field development

Subsea Engineering:

  • All-electric subsea control systems including electrical connectors and valve actuators
  • Experimental and numerical studies of near well bore formation damage related to balanced drilling

Drilling engineering:

  • Horizontal drilling
  • Electric pulse drilling
  • Improved drilling fluid properties
  • Managed pressure drilling

Integrated operations: The department hosts the Center for Integrated Operations in the Petroleum Industry. Key research areas are drilling, reservoir management, production optimization, operation and maintenance.

[edit] Education

Petroleum geoscience and engineering studies

Directions of study

  • Petroleum geoscience and resource geology
    • Petroleum geophysics.
    • Petroleum geology.
    • Resource geology.
  • Petroleum engineering
    • Drilling engineering
    • Reservoir engineering.
    • Petroleum production.
    • Formation evaluation.

MSc in Petroleum Engineering/ Petroleum Geosciences

Two years M.Sc. studies – in petroleum engineering or petroleum geoscience taught in English. Each year, more than 70 student projects and 70 master theses are written in the department. Most of the student works are industry related.

PhD in Petroleum Engineering/ Petroleum Geosciences

Three-four years PhD studies – in petroleum engineering or petroleum geoscience taught in English. Each year, 5-10 doctoral theses are completed.

Field Courses

  • Svalex (Svalbard, Norwegian Arctics)
  • Pyrex (Pyrenees, Spain)
  • Omanex (Oman)
  • Petrox (England)

[edit] International

The department states that it intends to be strongly focused on the international profile with a friendly multi-cultural atmosphere. From the very beginning the international atmosphere existed at IPT in the form of teachers, researchers and students from various countries. IPT has been actively cooperating with countries like Russia, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Angola, USA, Australia; altogether more than 50 countries. There are two 2-years international programs leading to Master Degrees, one in Petroleum Engineering and one in Petroleum Geoscience. Exchange students may take shorter term education within this program. In addition Ph.D-positions are open to qualified international candidates. These positions also constitute the basis for international research cooperation. Professors have individual scientific cooperation with various foreign institutions. The funding comes from Norwegian agencies SIU (NORAD, QUOTA), The Research Council of Norway, oil companies Statoil, Hydro, Total, BP, and NTNU Scolarships; also from European Programs (Erasmus, Marie Curie, TIME, Socrates) and others. IPT cultivates personal international contacts as originators of new collaboration. Graduated Ph.D.s represent a particular bridging potential for new joint research.

[edit] Innovation

New companies, on average one new company each year, are founded by professors and/or students, including: Agir Boosting Technology, Geoprobing Technology, Markland Technology, Natural Gas Hydrate, Pera, Petreco, [1], Sensorlink, Seres, Technoguide, Volve, Voxelvision, Waptheweb.

New courses and teaching methods are introduced and new groups of students recruited, increasingly from developing countries with a virgin petroleum industry. In addition to continuous development in the content of the main courses, the emphasis of the teaching has moved in the direction of more group work. Examples are the cross disciplinary student projects “The Virtual Reality Village” and "The Gullfaks Village". The department is one of the largest users of computers at the university – the use of computers ranges from reservoir and production simulation to 3D representation of seismic and geological data.

The department has close relations to the petroleum industry. Research and development results obtained in the department are readily disseminated to the industry, leading to new technology and practices. The department collaborate with a multitude of oil companies and service suppliers through research based innovation centres, research programs and student projects.

The premier center-based innovation in the deparment takes place in the Centre for Integrated Operations where 11 oil companies and service suppliers are collaborating on an 8 years program.

Innovation programs in the department includes the ROSE-program (ROck SEismic) carrying out R&D on rock properties for seismic and other petroleum related applications.

[edit] Trivia

  • The department is located 200 meters from Lerkendal Stadium, home of Rosenborg, one of Scandinavia's most successful football teams.
  • 50.6% of the new students in 2006 were females, being the first time the number of females was greater than the number of men.
  • 40% of the master students are from abroad.
  • The department has a relative high number of PhD students, of which a great portion is from foreign countries.
  • Two of the professors own an oil well in Oklahoma, USA.
  • The Norwegian tycoon Øystein Stray Spetalen graduated from IPT with a degree in petroleum Engineering in 1986.
  • The department is a center for research driven innovation (SFI) within integrated operations.

[edit] Facilities

  • Research laboratories
  • Student laboratories
  • Lecture rooms
  • Library
  • Servers & computer halls
  • CT-laboratory
  • Hydrate - laboratory /calorimeter laboratory
  • VR-laboratory
  • Control room/Integrated Operations room
  • Mechanical workshop
  • Electronics workshop
  • Conference & meeting rooms
  • Canteen/coffee bar

[edit] Staff

Current faculty members:

  • Adjunct Professor Lasse Amundsen, Applied Geophysics
  • Professor Harald Asheim, Petroleum Production
  • Adjunct Professor Cai Puigdefabregas, Applied Geophysics
  • Adjunct Professor Jörg Ebbing, Applied Geophysics
  • Adjunct Professor Erling Fjær, Rock Mechanics
  • Professor Michael Golan, Petroleum Production
  • Professor Jon Steinar Gudmundsson, Petroleum Production
  • Associate Professor Emeritus Hans Herfjord, Petroleum Production
  • Professor Rune Holt, Rock Mechanics
  • Adjunct Professor Odd Steve Hustad, Reservoir Engineering
  • Professor Tom Jelmert, Reservoir Engineering
  • Adjunct Professor Cor Kenter, Rock Mechanics
  • Professor Jon Kleppe, Reservoir Engineering
  • Professor Martin Landrø, Applied Geophysics
  • Assistant Professor Helge Langeland, Petrophysics
  • Professor Emeritus Ole Bernt Lile, Applied Geophysics
  • Operational Center Manager Jon Lippe, Center for Integrated Operations
  • Professor Arild Rødland, Drilling Engineering
  • Adjunct Professor Jan Steinar Rønning, Applied Geophysics
  • Professor Sigbjørn Sangesland, Subsea Technology
  • Associate Professor Pål Skalle, Drilling Engineering
  • Associate Professor Egil Tjåland, Applied Geophysics
  • Professor Ole Torsæter, Reservoir Engineering
  • Professor Bjørn Ursin, Applied Geophysics
  • Professor Curtis H. Whitson, Reservoir Engineering

Current administrative staff:

  • Anne Lise Brekken, Executive Officer
  • Turid Halvorsen, Secretary
  • Solveig Johnsen, Executive Officer
  • Tone Sanne, Secretary
  • Marit Raaness, Office Manager
  • Madelein Wold, Executive Officer

Current technical staff:

  • Gunnar Bjerkan, Chief Engineer
  • Terje Bjerkan, Engineer
  • Håkon Myhren, Engineer
  • Lars Sandvik, Engineer
  • Åge Sivertsen, Chief Engineer
  • Roger Overå, Dept. Engineer
  • Erlend Våtevik, Chief Engineer