Richards

Would you believe that we’ve been publishing this journal for 3 years now? It's been an exciting time working with SPE to develop this journal, and I hope that you all have enjoyed reading it. I've been the Executive Editor since the journal’s inception, but now it's time for me to pass the baton to the incoming Executive Editor, Sally Thomas. Sally is a process engineer, like myself, by background and has been reviewing papers for the SPE longer than I have. I did have the pleasure of meeting her at one of the ATCEs a few years ago. I hope that you will continue to support Sally and this journal as we take it to the next level under her leadership. It’s time for me to bow out gracefully, so without further verbiage here are the papers that we have for you to read this quarter.

SPE 114218--Model-Based Monitoring and Leak Detection in Oil and Gas Pipelines. This paper demonstrates how pipeline leak detection systems can be built around a model-based system. SPE 115672—Interim Report on Pressure Effect on Waxy Crude Pipeline Restart Conditions Investigated by a Model System deals in a very timely manner with waxy crude pipeline restarting. There are a number of waxy crudes around the world that may benefit from a study of this paper. I hope you find it interesting. SPE 120257--Pilot-Scale Engineered Wetland Design for Produced Water Treatment. This is an exciting paper on a subject that has been growing in popularity recently. Engineering wetlands are seen by many as a solution to the environmentally sound disposal of produced water without incurring the cost of reinjection for reservoirs that do not require water injection. SPE 129538--Predicting When and Where Hydrate Plugs Form in Oil-Dominated Flowlines. This paper illustrates the work done to improve hydrate prediction in oil pipelines. Historically, most hydrate research has been based in gas pipelines, but this paper helps to fill the knowledge gap for oil pipelines. SPE 116424--CO₂ Storage: Managing the Risk Associated With Well Leakage Over Long Timescales. This paper discusses the risks of long-term storage of carbon dioxide caused by well leakage from carbon sequestration. The issues here must be similar to depleted and abandoned oil and gas reservoirs. SPE 105765--Thermochemical Process To Remove Sludge From Storage Tanks. This is an interesting paper that deals with the approach Petrobras took with cleaning crude oil storage tanks on an offshore floating production and storage unit. Minimizing downtime was critical as there are no installed "spare" storage tanks on an FPSO.

I hope you do enjoy reading our selection. We are always looking out for new papers within the remit of this journal for peer review. If you would like to submit a paper, please contact Managing Editor of Peer-Reviewed Journals Chris Carpenter at ccarpenter@spe.org. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding SPE Projects, Facilities and Construction, please send them to either myself or to Sally Thomas; our contact details may be found on the SPE website.