Ana Sousa

• Master of Engineering
• Engineer at Technical University of Lisbon

The Chinese government has unveiled its commitment to attain carbon neutrality by 2060. Central to this strategic endeavour is the integration of hydrogen as a preeminent energy vector in the emerging energy paradigm. This chapter analyses the viability of electrolysis as a central mechanism for supplying hydrogen, with a specific focus on green hy...

In the oil and gas industry, wax formation and deposition are common problems, particularly during production and transportation. To better understand the expected behaviour of a given waxy crude oil and consequently select the best solution to prevent wax deposition, it is vital to conduct laboratory tests or numerical simulations to model its per...

Within the oil and gas industry, there is unanimity that wax deposits-driven pipeline blockages are a critical environmental concern and an economic liability of up to billions of dollars. However, a quantitative assessment of such an impact and, especially, of the different individual impacts that add up is absent from the current scientific liter...

Partial and total blockages due to wax deposition in wells and pipelines gather consensus as a billion-dollar problem in the oil and gas industry. However, an exact quantification is still required for production shifts towards heavy and paraffinic oils, extreme climate regions, and ultra-deep offshore oilfields. Motivated by such a problem, this r...

In the petroleum industry, oil and water emulsions are frequent, not only in oilfield operations but also during the transportation and refining processes. Once depicting emulsion formation and stabilization, it is essential to analyse how it is possible to reverse the process, demulsifying the emulsion. Depending on operating conditions and fluid...

To predict the superficial ground temperature due to solar radiation as a function of the depth and rock physical properties, the Finite Volume Method was employed upon an energy conservation model. ANSYS Transient Thermal was selected to simulate a 3D geological volume, 1625 m wide, 2000 m long and with variable height as a function of topographic...

Deposition of waxes, asphaltenes, scales or hydrates is one of the most challenging operational problems in the oil and gas industry, both during production and transportation. Direct inspection procedures, such as employing a closed-circuit television system, allow visual assessment of the blockage, yet discretely in time and, consequently, of low...

Fixed ocean structures safe and economical usage is usually limited by its fatigue resistance. Thus, the remaining fatigue life (RFL) assessment of such structures is essential to evaluate its collapse risk, to extend its service beyond an initially established horizon and to allow evidence-based inspection planning. While numerous approaches have...

Have not only water-in-oil emulsions been a ubiquitous flow assurance challenge in oilfield operations, but also future perspectives suggest its increasing importance. In fact, as oil reserves are becoming depleted, the crude oil is becoming heavier, and the quantity of produced water is increasing. Understanding water-in-oil emulsions behaviour is...

In line with the growing environmental awareness developed along the last decades, modern societies are urged to evolve into sustainable economics where the reuse of organic wastes represents the key feedstock for a green transaction. The oil phase obtained from different biomasses has the potential to be a source of food supplements, medicines, co...

Wax deposition inside the tubing walls endures being a critical operational challenge faced by the petroleum industry. The build-up of wax deposits may lead to the increase of pumping power, as well as the decrease of flow rate or, even, to the total blockage, with production losses and high operational costs. The current paper is a critical review...

Prediction of maximum scour depth at complex bridge piers is frequently decisive for the safe design of bridges. Some methods are available for this purpose but, due to the discrepancies of their predictions, such methods deserve further validation on the basis of new and independent data sets. For this purpose, clear-water experiments were perform...

Throughout the last two decades, seismic design standards evolved to ever more comprehensive and detailed prescriptions, stressing out the need for design methods that deal with earthquake effects not as actions, but as a design philosophy. The Eurocode 8 adoption as national law throughout the European Union countries and informally in many parts...

Wax deposition is one of the most challenging flow assurance issues in oil production processes. The related problems span from reservoirs to refineries, but their consequences can be particularly challenging when the affected area is difficult to reach, such as producing wells. The wax deposition in the areas adjoining the bore, the bore face, the...

Albeit its constitutional claim for quality, Brazilian academia has largely been referred to as unmeritocratic and academic hiring is still inward-oriented. Lattes platform, a public curricular information system, reflects elements of this protectionism. This article assesses two ‘obsessions’ in Brazilian academia: (i) the ‘mandatory’ Lattes CV, an...

Wax deposition is a flow assurance challenge, causing operational problems in the petroleum industry. Flowing through the production and transport infrastructures, crude oil is prone to cooling effects to the surrounding areas. If the temperature of a waxy crude oil drops below the wax appearance temperature (WAT), solid paraffin crystals will star...

Prediction of maximum local scour depth at bridge complex piers is necessary for safety and economy of bridges’ design. In references, numerous methods are available to predict the equilibrium scour depths. Validation of these methods is important in order to choose which one will give a reasonable prediction of the local scour depth. In this study...