Real-time lost circulation estimation and mitigation

Lost circulation is a challenging problem particularly in the Dammam formation of the Rumaila field, Iraq. Drilling engineers are challenged to select the optimum value for key drilling parameters such as equivalent circulation density (ECD), yield point (Yp), mud weight (MW), weight on bit (WOB), rate of penetration (ROP) and revelation per minute (RPM) to mitigate mud losses in this formation. Many of these drilling parameters are inter-related and the overall impact of changing key parameters requires extensive drilling experience or study.A multi-regression analysis was performed on mud loss event data for more than 300 wells drilled in the Dammam formation. From this analysis, a model was developed to predict the total mud losses. Mud loss was found to be significantly affected by MW, ECD, and ROP. Models for these key parameters were also developed from the multi-regression analysis. The models were confirmed with additional well data from new wells drilled in the field. The models developed in this work provides a method for setting predicted mud losses, then limiting the operational drilling parameters to mitigate such losses in the future wells in fields with similar lithology.Proactive approaches are made prior to entering the Dammam formation to prevent or mitigate the occurrence of the lost circulation. Key drilling parameters are estimated to use during drilling through this formation. In case preventive measures didn’t work, corrective actions are determined for each type of mud losses to provide effective remedies, minimize non-productive time, and reduce cost. The best lost circulation strategy to the Dammam formation is concluded and summarized depending on a comprehensive statistical work, the most important courses of the international oil companies, technical papers, textbooks, and economic evaluation to determine the successful remedies for each type of losses. These treatments are classified by relying on the mud losses classifications to avoid unwanted consequences due to inappropriate actions.     

Electrospinning of biopolymer nanofibers encapsulated with functional nanoparticles toward core-shell fluorescence encoding

Photochromism has been an efficient approach to improve authenticity of commercial products. In order to prepare an authentication nanofibrous film with mechanical reliability, it has been crucial to improve the engineering production route of the authentication materials. Herein, we electrospun photoluminescent nanofibrous film with a fiber diameter of 50–200 nm from the environmentally-friendly polylactic acid embedded with nanoparticles of rare-earth activated strontium aluminate (NRESA; 10–15 nm). The created nanocomposite film was colorless in daylight, and became an intense green in ultraviolet light. The strontium aluminate photochromic agent must be applied in the nanoparticle form to ensure film transparency by enhancing its dispersion without aggregation in the electrospun polylactic acid nanofiber bulk. An emission peak was observed at 518 nm after excitation of the pigment-polylactic acid nanofibers at 365 nm. Raising NRESA ratio increased the hydrophobic properties of the pigment-polylactic acid nanofibers without changing their visual or mechanical properties. The transparent films showed high photochromic reversibility without exhaustion under numerous exposure cycles of ultraviolet light and darkness. The nanofibrous mats were elastic and flexible. The current technique is an effective strategy for making a variety of anti-counterfeiting substances.     

Monitoring the Coefficient of Variation Using a Variable Sampling Interval Control Chart

The coefficient of variation (CV) is a quality characteristic that has several applications in applied statistics and is receiving increasing attention in quality control. Few papers have proposed control charts that monitor this normalized measure of dispersion. In this paper, an adaptive Shewhart control chart implementing a variable sampling interval (VSI) strategy is proposed to monitor the CV. Tables are provided for the statistical properties of the VSI CV chart, and a comparison is performed with a Fixed Sampling Rate Shewhart chart for the CV. An example illustrates the use of these charts on real data gathered from a casting process. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On fuzzy and probabilistic control charts

In this article, different procedures of constructing control charts for linguistic data, based on fuzzy and probability theory, are discussed. Three sets of membership functions, with different degrees of fuzziness, are proposed for fuzzy approaches. A comparison between fuzzy and probability approaches, based on the Average Run Length and samples under control, is conducted for real data. Contrary to the conclusions of Raz and Wang (1990b) the choice of degree of fuzziness affected the sensitivity of control charts.     

A detailed model for combustion characteristics of petroleum residue and heat transfer coefficients in a CFB combustor

The authors developed a mathematical model for predicting the combustion characteristics of petroleum residue in a circulating fluidized bed at various conditions. It is a 1D unsteady state model that can be predicted the char conversion, output temperature, and heat transfer coefficients. Results showed that the heating rate plays a major role in the process; higher heating rate causes higher output temperature and heat transfer coefficient. It also found that the oxygen ratio has a positive influence on the char conversion and heat transfer coefficients. The model was validated against experimental data available in the literature and found to be in good agreements.     

A simple and accurate dynamical modeling of quantum‐dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

In this article, quantum‐dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD‐SOAs) have been modelled using state space method. To derive this model, we have manipulated the rate equation model of the QD‐SOA, where the average values of the occupation probabilities along the QD‐SOA cavity are considered as the state variables of the system. Using these variables, the distance dependence of the rate equations is eliminated. The derived state space model gives the optical gain and output signal of the amplifier with a high accuracy. Simulation results show that the derived model is not only much simpler and faster than conventional rate equation models, but also the optical gain and output signal of the investigated QD‐SOA are calculated with a higher precision compared to the rate equation model. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radiation synthesis and characterization of styrene/acrylic acid/organophilic montmorillonite hybrid nanocomposite for sorption of dyes from aqueous solutions

Organophilic montmorillonite (OMMT) was synthesized by cationic exchange reaction of Na⁺‐MMT and vinyl benzyl triethyl ammonium chloride (VBTAC) as a reactive organic modifier in an aqueous solution. A series of styrene (St)/acrylic acid (AA)/OMMT nanocomposite hydrogel containing different wt% of OMMT was synthesized through in situ polymerization using γ‐ray. The samples were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscope (TEM), whereas thermal stability was examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption capacity and rate for both Acid Green B (anionic) and Maxilon C.I. Basic (cationic) dye including adsorption kinetics and isotherm were investigated at 30°C. TEM measurements showed spherical nanosized particles of average diameter 30–40 nm and XRD suggested the formation of exfoliated nanocomposite. TGA measurements showed that the addition of OMMT did not enhance the thermal stability where the onset temperature of the degradation for all samples was around 125°C. The effect of some important parameters on dye adsorption such as solution pH, initial dye concentration, and contact time was investigated. The equilibrium data obtained in batch experiments were correlated to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equations. Results showed that the adsorption of Acid Green B fitted well to the Langmuir model while the adsorption pattern of Maxilon C.I. Basic followed the Freundlich isotherm, which suggests heterogeneity of the adsorption sites on the nanocomposite. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:2353–2364, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A Role for Xanthurenic Acid in the Control of Brain Dopaminergic Activity

Xanthurenic acid (XA) is a metabolite of the kynurenine pathway (KP) synthetized in the brain from dietary or microbial tryptophan that crosses the blood-brain barrier through carrier-mediated transport. XA and kynurenic acid (KYNA) are two structurally related compounds of KP occurring at micromolar concentrations in the CNS and suspected to modulate some pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric and/or neurodegenerative diseases. Particularly, various data including XA cerebral distribution (from 1 µM in olfactory bulbs and cerebellum to 0.1–0.4 µM in A₉ and A₁₀), its release, and interactions with G protein-dependent XA-receptor, glutamate transporter and metabotropic receptors, strongly support a signaling and/or neuromodulatory role for XA. However, while the parent molecule KYNA is considered as potentially involved in neuropsychiatric disorders because of its inhibitory action on dopamine release in the striatum, the effect of XA on brain dopaminergic activity remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that acute local/microdialysis-infusions of XA dose-dependently stimulate dopamine release in the rat prefrontal cortex (four-fold increase in the presence of 20 µM XA). This stimulatory effect is blocked by XA-receptor antagonist NCS-486. Interestingly, our results show that the peripheral/intraperitoneal administration of XA, which has been proven to enhance intra-cerebral XA concentrations (about 200% increase after 50 mg/kg XA i.p), also induces a dose-dependent increase of dopamine release in the cortex and striatum. Furthermore, our in vivo electrophysiological studies reveal that the repeated/daily administrations of XA reduce by 43% the number of spontaneously firing dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area. In the substantia nigra, XA treatment does not change the number of firing neurons. Altogether, our results suggest that XA may contribute together with KYNA to generate a KYNA/XA ratio that may crucially determine the brain normal dopaminergic activity. Imbalance of this ratio may result in dopaminergic dysfunctions related to several brain disorders, including psychotic diseases and drug dependence.