Engineering

Student Web Page Objective: To introduce students to engineering disciplines at Shell:

petroleum engineering, mechanical engineering, and chemical engineering

Visit the student page with your class. Inform students that there are additional
engineering disciplines at Shell and in the energy industry. Examples are drilling
engineers, who design the best way to drill into a reservoir; facility engineers, who
design physical facilities including offshore platforms; and safety engineers. Students
can learn more about these and other types of engineers in petroleum at Society of
Petroleum Engineers (www.spe.org/spe/jsp/basic/0,2396,1104_1008240_0,00.html)
and the American Petroleum Institute site: www.api.org.

Also point out that Shell engineers work in many environments, such as offshore
platforms, refineries, chemical plants, or in the field at remote well sites.

Ask students if they’ve thought about the way engineers impact their daily lives. Then
point out that practically everything students see around them involved engineering. The
CDs that they listen to, the camera on their cell phone, the computer they are looking at
– engineers were involved in developing all of these.

Ask students:
• What general steps do you think engineers go through when developing ideas?
• How do you think new ideas are generated?
Brainstorming with others, researching possible solutions to engineering problems,
staying on top of new technology, and trying out ideas to improve a situation or create
something new are all aspects of engineering.

Activity: Submersible Buoyancy

National Science Education Standards from the National Academy of Sciences

http://newton.nap.edu/html/nses/

Science as Inquiry (Grades 5- 8)

CONTENT STANDARD A: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should
develop:
UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
• Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations.
Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or
events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some
involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and
phenomena; and some involve making models.
• Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations.
Different scientific domains employ different methods, core theories, and
standards to advance scientific knowledge and understanding.
• Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.
Science as Inquiry (Grades 9-12)
CONTENT STANDARD A: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should
develop:
UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
• Scientists conduct investigations for a wide variety of reasons. For example, they
may wish to discover new aspects of the natural world, explain recently observed
phenomena, or test the conclusions of prior investigations or the predictions of
current theories.
• Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data.
New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new
methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The
accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration,
depends on the technology used.
• Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry. Mathematical tools and models
guide and improve the posing of questions, gathering data, constructing
explanations and communicating results.

Skills: observing, calculating, measuring

Objective: Students will observe the amount of load required to float, submerge, and
partially submerge a 1 L plastic bottle.
Challenge Activity: Students will conduct an experiment on buoyancy and calculate
the amount of water required to float, submerse, and partially submerge a 1 L plastic
bottle.
Materials: water, washtub, 1 L plastic bottles, table of fluid density, 500 ml graduated
cylinder
Time considerations:
• preparation – 30 minutes
• activity – one, 50 minute period

Try this experiment yourself before presenting it to your students.

Background: (Shell note: have diagram of semi-submersible rig)

Exploring for oil in an offshore environment requires some very special types of vessels.
Rigs are used to drill for oil. If oil is discovered, a production platform is used to
“produce” the well. This means that the oil is brought up out of the ground and sent into
a pipeline that passes to many other locations before arriving at your local gas station.
Engineers are responsible for knowing the fundamentals behind all types of offshore
structures. They must consider all aspects of the design and structure of a platform
including its buoyancy and stability.

A very important type of rig is a semi-submersible. Semi-submersibles can be used for

drilling or production depending on the type of equipment carried. This type of vessel is
supported by large floating structures. The floating structures combined with computer
controlled positioning enable the semi-submersible to stay afloat in just the right
position. Buoyancy calculations are critical to keeping submersibles afloat. These
structures can operate in a wide variety of water depths from 600 to 6,000 feet of water.
Buoyancy is very important to a semi-submersible structure. Objects that float in water
are affected by two forces: buoyancy and gravity. Every object has a center of mass
that is acted upon by the Earth. Buoyancy is related to the volume of liquid displaced,
the density of the liquid, and the force of gravity. The formula for calculating buoyancy
is:

Buoyant Force = weight of the liquid displaced by the object

Styrofoam floats because it is not very dense. But how would a steel semi-submersible
float? It floats because it does not displace much water. It doesn’t displace much water
even though steel is denser than water. The steel of the ship surrounds a tremendous
amount of air space which reduces the ship’s total density. Density is calculated using
the formula:

Density = Mass/Volume

To better understand buoyancy, and how engineers create semi-submersible rigs that
float on water, examine this question: How much load can a
1 L plastic bottle hold before it sinks?

Procedure:
1. To answer this question, ask students to take a number of measurements and
then make some calculations. They should use the formula:
Load in grams = volume of the submerged section x density of water
2. Then, have them answer the questions below or do the calculations with them:
o What is the mass of 1 ml of water?
o How much volume does 1 ml of water occupy?
o How much load does it take to displace 1 ml of water?
o How many ml of water will a 1 L bottle hold?
3. Next, take a large washtub and fill it with water.
4. Have a student place an empty 1 L plastic bottle with the cap on into the tub.
Does it float?
5. Have another student remove the cap from the bottle and fill the bottle up to the
halfway point. Replace the cap. If it can still float, how much of the bottle is
above the waterline?
6. Have another student remove the cap from the bottle and fill completely with
water. Replace the cap. Is it still floating?

Answers:
1. The mass of 1 ml of water is 1 gram.
2. 1 ml of water occupies a volume of water that is 1 cm tall, 1 cm wide, and 1 cm deep.
This is the same as 1 cm3 also know as 1 cc.
3. To displace 1 ml of water you would need 1 gram because 1 ml of water has a mass
of 1 gram.
4. A 1 L bottle will hold 1,000 ml.
5. A 1 L bottle filled halfway will displace 500 ml of water.
6. A 1 L bottle completely filled with water will displace 1,000 ml of water.

Challenge Activity:
1. Complete the equation when the bottle is completely empty, half full, and
completely full:
Mass of the displaced water = volume of the water x density of water
2. Which is heavier: 1 pound of feathers or 1 pound of bricks?
3. Which material is denser: brick or a feather?

Challenge Activity Answers:

1.a. Completely empty: the mass of the displaced water is 0.
1.b. Half full: the mass of the displaced water is 500 g.
1.c. Completely full: the mass of the displace water is 1,000 g.
2. Both weigh one pound.
3. A brick is denser than a feather.

Load in grams = volume of the submerged section x density of water

Empty bottle = 0 = 0 ml water x 1g/1 ml of water

Halfway full = 500 g = 500 ml x 1 g/1 ml of water
Completely full = 1,000 g = 1,000 ml x 1 g/1 ml of water

Helpful Links
Information on Buoyancy:
Nova Online, Buoyancy Basics. www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lasalle/buoybasics.html

Society of Manufacturing Engineers. www.sme.org/memb/neweek/actbuoy.htm

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Education Center has educational resources on a

variety of topics, including buoyancy. http://education.usace.army.mil/index.html

Information on Engineering:
American Institute of Chemical Engineers has a careers and education section.
www.aiche.org

American Society for Engineering Education has information for students and lesson
ideas for teachers on engineering. www.engineeringk12.org

The Junior Engineering Technical Society provides information on aptitudes needed

for various engineering jobs. www.jets.org/latestnews/JOCRF-article.cfm