Pankaj Gupta
Need a PhD Topic for Oil and Gas Industry, Please Help!
I have signed up for a part time PhD course in Oil and Gas Management. I am looking for a research topic related to Refinery and Petrochemical section. I have been a Mechanical engineer and have 10 years of experience in Refinery and Petrochemical plants in Maintenance and Reliability departments. Still I find it difficult […]
Continue reading Need a PhD Topic for Oil and Gas Industry, Please Help!
Laura Urner 7:30 am on April 28, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
A topic has to be generated from the research gap. For that you need to study a lot of literature that is available pertaining to maintenance issues in oil refineries and what has been done in it. A research gap could be anything, lack of research or poor techniques. When you find that gap, you need to propose how you will fill it. Your topic should be related to that. That’s what I think.
Diana Freeh 10:12 am on May 6, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It’s good that you have already narrowed down your research area. What you can do is search the websites of the companies in this domain. See their content, and look for what they are currently working on, their divisions and the work they are doing in it. That will tell you the current progression of your industry. You can get topic ideas from there.
Preeti Nirman 5:59 am on May 13, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Congratulations for your first step 🙂
There are a lot of things that are to be considered before settling for a topic.
First, you got to narrow down your research area first and then you have to find what nobody has found up till now.
Get on some data and then work on refining your topic.
A topic has to be doable, which can be completed within the time allotted. Don’t take on something that you won’t be able to do.
Write a problem statement, get it checked with your supervisor.
That’ll do.
Pankaj Gupta 4:38 am on May 25, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
There are so many papers, it’s impossible to read down every research. I am somewhere around the line: “evaluating challenges and recommending strategies for oil refinery industries”. Now, there are so many research papers that relate to this, so I can write literature review on it, but how do I get something new?
Diana Freeh 12:30 pm on June 1, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Select the region where you want to conduct your research. Don’t be too keen on finding the gap first. The topic can be tentative. I read these tips for selecting a topic, have a look:
http://www.thesishelpcenter.com/quick-tips/the-criterion-of-choosing-a-topic.htm
Leonardo Carvalho Pereira 11:46 am on June 3, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Pankaj! I can suggest you few areas/departments where you can work on maintenance and reliability:
• Oil & Gas and Corporate Social Responsibility
• Oil & Gas Logistics and Supply Chain Management
• Oil & Gas Strategic Operations Management
• General Issues in Oil & Gas Operations
You can work in these areas as they don’t really require any lab work. You can easily go for interviews or surveys. Also, as per your convenience, you can merge two of these areas.
Pankaj Gupta 11:49 am on June 22, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think that settling with a topic that has limited scope will be the most smart option. So I’ll go with “evaluating challenges and recommending strategies for Indian oil refineries: an empirical study”.
Alex Kruger 4:46 am on July 5, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Sounds good enough, do prepare your problem statement though. Because that is what will back you topic.