An analytical model to predict the volume of sand during drilling and production

Sand production is an undesired phenomenon occurring in unconsolidated formations due to shear failure and hydrodynamic forces. There have been many approaches developed to predict sand production and prevent it by changing drilling or production strategies. However, assumptions involved in these approaches have limited their applications to very specific scenarios. In this paper, an elliptical model based on the borehole shape is presented to predict the volume of sand produced during the drilling and depletion stages of oil and gas reservoirs. A shape factor parameter is introduced to estimate the changes in the geometry of the borehole as a result of shear failure. A carbonate reservoir from the south of Iran with a solid production history is used to show the application of the developed methodology. Deriving mathematical equations for determination of the shape factor based on different failure criteria indicate that the effect of the intermediate principal stress should be taken into account to achieve an accurate result. However, it should be noticed that the methodology presented can only be used when geomechanical parameters are accurately estimated prior to the production stage when using wells and field data.     

Network structure and reaction mechanisms in high pressure and peroxide vulcanization of polybutadiene: Microstructural changes studied by 13C solid-state NMR

This article is concerned with the microstructural changes during peroxide and high pressure vulcanization of polybutadiene that is unfilled and filled with carbon black. The main tool is ¹³C solid-state NMR; it shows that vinyl unsaturations are consumed in both filled and unfilled samples under peroxide and high pressure vulcanization. Chemical shift calculations of unvulcanized polybutadiene show good agreement with the observed peaks. Calculations of proposed structures, based on a possible reaction mechanism, suggest that a large number of peaks will appear, each at very low intensity. Nevertheless, some changes can be seen as a result of the crosslinking reaction, and the results provide support for the suggested reaction mechanism. Thus, the proposed addition crosslinking mechanism over vinyl unsaturations seems to be a reasonable explanation of the crosslink formation in high pressure vulcanization. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 2799–2806, 1999     

The assay of the coccidiostat clopidol in animal feeds by high-pressure liquid chromatography

A simple method for the assay of the coccidiostat clopidol by high performance liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.) is described. After extraction the solution is neutralised and filtered and injected on the h.p.l.c.-column. It is quantified by u.v.-detection. The method has been tested on commercial feed samples. The agreement with a standard reference method is good. The precision of the proposed method has a standard deviation of 2%. The recovery of added clopidol is 101% with a standard deviation of 2.4%. No interferences to the method have been found.     

Gold and Cobalt Oxide Nanoparticles Modified Poly-Propylene Poly-Ethylene Glycol Membranes in Poly (ε-Caprolactone) Conduits Enhance Nerve Regeneration in the Sciatic Nerve of Healthy Rats

Reconstruction of nerve defects is a clinical challenge. Autologous nerve grafts as the gold standard treatment may result in an incomplete restoration of extremity function. Biosynthetic nerve conduits are studied widely, but still have limitations. Here, we reconstructed a 10 mm sciatic nerve defect in healthy rats and analyzed nerve regeneration in poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) conduits longitudinally divided by gold (Au) and gold-cobalt oxide (AuCoO) nanoparticles embedded in poly-propylene poly-ethylene glycol (PPEG) membranes (AuPPEG or AuCoOPPEG) and compared it with unmodified PPEG-membrane and hollow PCL conduits. After 21 days, we detected significantly better axonal outgrowth, together with higher numbers of activated Schwann cells (ATF3-labelled) and higher HSP27 expression, in reconstructed sciatic nerve and in corresponding dorsal root ganglia (DRG) in the AuPPEG and AuCoOPPEG groups; whereas the number of apoptotic Schwann cells (cleaved caspase 3-labelled) was significantly lower. Furthermore, numbers of activated and apoptotic Schwann cells in the regenerative matrix correlated with axonal outgrowth, whereas HSP27 expression in the regenerative matrix and in DRGs did not show any correlation with axonal outgrowth. We conclude that gold and cobalt-oxide nanoparticle modified membranes in conduits improve axonal outgrowth and increase the regenerative performance of conduits after nerve reconstruction.     

Fatigue assessment of cut edges in high strength steel – Influence of surface quality

The influence of surface roughness on the fatigue strength in high strength steels and different cutting processes are studied. Fatigue testing is conducted on S700 and S960 material for different plate thicknesses cut in dog bone specimens using oxygen, plasma, laser and waterjet cutting. The surface roughness is measured for all specimens and residual stress measurements are carried out. Estimations of the fatigue strength are made based on the measured surface roughness and the ISO 9013:2002 standard for thermal cutting quality tolerances. The testing shows a 15–70 % increase in the fatigue strength compared to the estimation, proving a weak connection between the surface quality levels in ISO 9013:2002 and the fatigue test results. Different codes and design recommendations (IIW, EC3 and EN 13001) for fatigue strength of cut surfaces are compared with the fatigue test results which clearly shows an increased fatigue strength with enhanced quality and steel grades. However, the codes and design recommendations do not allow for any fatigue strength improvement with improved quality and increased yield strength.     

Techno-economic analysis of processes with integration of fluidized bed heat exchangers for H2 production – Part 2: Chemical-looping combustion

This work covers a techno-economic assessment for processes with inherent CO₂ separation, where a fluidized bed heat exchanger (FBHE) is used as heat source for steam reforming in a hydrogen production plant. This article builds upon the work presented in Part 1 of this study by Stenberg et al. [1], where a process excluding CO₂ capture was examined. Part 2 suggests two process configurations integrating steam reforming with a chemical-looping combustion (CLC) system, thus providing inherent CO₂ capture. The first system (case CM) uses natural gas as supplementary fuel whereas the second system (case CB) uses solid biomass, which enables net negative CO₂ emissions. In both systems, the reformer tubes are immersed in a bubbling fluidized bed where heat for steam reforming is efficiently transferred to the tubes. The processes include CO₂ compression for pipeline transportation, but excludes transport and storage. The CLC system is designed based on key parameters, such as the oxygen carrier circulation rate and oxygen transport capacity. The first system displays a process with net zero emissions and a hydrogen production efficiency which is estimated to 76.2%, which is almost 8% higher than the conventional process. The levelized production cost is 1.6% lower at below 2.6 €/kg H₂. The second system shows the possibility to reduce the emissions to ?34.1 g CO₂/MJ_H2 compared to the conventional plant which emits 80.7 g CO₂/MJ_H2. The hydrogen production efficiency is above 72% and around 2% higher than the conventional process. The capital investments are higher in this plant and the levelized hydrogen production cost is estimated to around 2.67 €/kg. The cost of CO₂ avoidance, based on a reference SMR plant with CO₂ capture, is low for both cases (?4.3 €/ton_CO2 for case CM and 2.7 €/ton_CO2 for case CB).     

Biaxial strength and slow crack growth in porous alumina with silica sintering aid

Biaxial strength, fracture toughness and subcritical crack growth are reported for coarse grained porous alumina ceramics. The materials were prepared with a varying amount of a silica sintering aid, which resulted in the formation of a glassy secondary phase at the grain boundaries. Crystalline mullite was additionally found in the material with the highest silica content. The biaxial strength, measured by Ball-on-Ring and Ball-on-3-Balls, was highest for the material without mullite at the grain boundaries, and the biaxial strength decreased with increasing porosity. The fracture toughness of the materials was in the range of 1.7–1.9 MPa m^0.5. Measurements of subcritical crack growth by a modified lifetime method in air and aqueous environments demonstrated a higher crack growth rate in water and acid relative to in air. The effect of porosity and grain boundary phase were discussed in relation to subcritical crack growth and fracture mode in the coarse grained alumina ceramics.     

Joint imputation of whole-genome sequence variants and large chromosomal deletions in cattle

Genotype imputation, often focused on SNP and small insertions and deletions (indels; size ≤50 bp), is a crucial step for association mapping and estimation of genomic breeding values. Here, we present strategies to impute genotypes for large chromosomal deletions (size >50 bp), along with SNP and indels in cattle. The pipelines include a strategy for extending the whole-genome sequence reference panel for large deletions, a 2-step genotype refinement approach using Beagle4 and SHAPEIT2 software, and finally, joint imputation of SNP, indels, and large deletions to the existing SNP array-typed population using Minimac3 software. Using these pipelines we achieved an imputation accuracy of the squared Pearson correlation (r²) > 0.6 at minor allele frequencies as low as 0.7% for SNP and indels, and 0.2% for large deletions. This highlights the potential of our approach to build a haplotype reference panel and impute different classes of sequence variants across a wide allele frequency spectrum with high accuracy.     

Characterization of rubber-cellulose-fibre composites by mechanical measurements and electron microscopy

Mechanical measurements, SEM micrographs and crosslink density measurements on cellulose-fibre-filled natural rubber suggest that there are bonds between untreated cellulose fibres and the rubber matrix. Mechanical tests indicate that the dispersion or lack of dispersion of the fibres in the matrix is at least as influential a parameter in determining the strength of the composite as is the adhesion between fibre and matrix. Stress/strain measurements indicate that there is no obvious correlation between adhesion and the shape of the stress/strain curve unless the curve is clearly jagged.