Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with discovering underground regions containing crude oil as well as natural gas, which is another nonrenewable energy resource. Once these regions are found, petroleum engineers work with other specialists to determine how to remove the petroleum. They decide on drilling methods, which can involve designing and constructing equipment as well as processes that get as much petroleum as possible out of the ground. Petroleum engineers may use water to cause the oil to float to the surface. This recovery method depends on two physical properties: miscibility and density. Miscibility describes a substance s ability to mix and thoroughly blend with another substance. Substances that are not able to mix and blend together are said to be immiscible. Density describes the mass of a certain volume of a substance. Density is used to determine the buoyancy (ability to float) of materials. Since oil and water are immiscible and oil has a lower density than water, oil is more buoyant than water. This means that when oil and water are mixed, oil floats on top of the water. As the water level rises, the oil is forced out of the ground