Estimating in-place volume and reservoir connectivity with real-time and periodic surveillance data

This paper demonstrates the value of collecting and interpreting real-time data. With an intensive data gathering strategy, starting at wells' inception to the mature production phase, we show how transient pressure and rate data can be used to manage a complex carbonate gas reservoir. In particular, reservoir connectivity is discerned with pulse testing and with the leading-edge p/q graph, and continuous updates of in-place volume are made with both static and dynamic material-balance methods and corroborating the same with rate-transient analysis.Interwell connectivity information was deduced during underbalanced drilling by way of interference test between two pairs of wells. Thereafter, transient-pressure tests on individual wells characterized the layered, dual-porosity system, with production logs corroborating the notion of layering. Production maturity over three years has paved the way for estimating connected in-place gas volume associated with each well using the transient-PI, and also with a new method introduced here. This new approach entails plotting both static and dynamic material-balance data on the same graph, yielding the same solution.Errors associated with real-time rate measurements presented interpretation challenges for rate-transient analysis; however, application of a physics-based filtering algorithm resolved this issue. Flow-after-flow tests that were embedded in monthly variable-rate production allocations, in turn, allowed us to obtain average-reservoir pressure explicitly to do the static material-balance analysis.     

Modeling and forecasting natural gas demand in Bangladesh

Natural gas is the major indigenous source of energy in Bangladesh and accounts for almost one-half of all primary energy used in the country. Per capita and total energy use in Bangladesh is still very small, and it is important to understand how energy, and natural gas demand will evolve in the future. We develop a dynamic econometric model to understand the natural gas demand in Bangladesh, both in the national level, and also for a few sub-sectors. Our demand model shows large long run income elasticity – around 1.5 – for aggregate demand for natural gas. Forecasts into the future also show a larger demand in the future than predicted by various national and multilateral organizations. Even then, it is possible that our forecasts could still be at the lower end of the future energy demand. Price response was statistically not different from zero, indicating that prices are possibly too low and that there is a large suppressed demand for natural gas in the country.     

Epitaxial growth of Dy2O3 thin films on epitaxial Dy-germanide films on Ge(0 0 1) substrates

Ultra-thin films of Dy are grown on Ge(0 0 1) substrates by molecular beam deposition near room temperature and immediately annealed for solid phase epitaxy at higher temperatures, leading to the formation of DyGe_x films. Thin films of Dy₂O₃ are grown on the DyGe_x film on Ge(0 0 1) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Streaky reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns reveal that epitaxial DyGe_x films grow on Ge(0 0 1) substrates with flat surfaces. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum suggests the growth of an orthorhombic phase of DyGe_x films with (0 0 1) orientations. After the growth of Dy₂O₃ films, there is a change in RHEED patterns to spotty features, revealing the growth of 3D crystalline islands. XRD spectrum shows the presence of a cubic phase with (1 0 0) and (1 1 1) orientations. Atomic force microscopy image shows that the surface morphology of Dy₂O₃ films is smooth with a root mean square roughness of 10 Å.     

Trace metal contents in barbeque (BBQ) charcoal products

In this study, the concentrations of trace elements contained in solid barbeque (BBQ) charcoal products have been investigated. Eleven brands of charcoal products were analyzed, consisting of both Korean (3 types) and imported products (eight types from three countries) commonly available in the Korean market places. The concentrations of trace metals in solid charcoal varied widely across metal types and between samples with the overall range of 5 μg kg(-1) (As) to 118 mg kg(-1) (Zn). The patterns of metal distribution between different products appeared to be affected by the properties of raw materials and/or the processes involved in their production. Although concentrations of certain trace metals were significantly high in certain charcoal samples, their emission concentrations were below legislative guidelines (e.g., the permissible exposure limit (PEL) set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)). In light of the potential harm of grilling activities, proper regulation should be considered to control the use of BBQ charcoal from a toxicological viewpoint to help reduce the potential health risks associated with its use.     

Compatibility assessment of CVD growth of carbon nanofibers on bulk CMOS devices

We compare the level of deterioration in the basic functionality of individual transistors on ASIC chips fabricated in standard 130 nm bulk CMOS technology when subjected to three disparate CVD techniques with relatively low processing temperature to grow carbon nanostructures. We report that the growth technique with the lowest temperature has the least impact on the transistor behavior.     

Texture Evaluation of a Bi-Modal Structure During Static Recrystallization of Hot-Deformed Mg-Al-Sn Alloy

In this study, Mg-Al-Sn alloy was hot compressed at 523 K (250 °C) and annealed at 623 K (350 °C) for various times. The initial as-deformed microstructure was partially dynamic recrystallized with strain-induced precipitates on the recrystallized grain boundaries. After annealing at 623 K (350 °C), static recrystallization (SRX) of the bimodal microstructure took place where, at this temperature, no static precipitates formed. The goal of this work was to study the effect of dynamic precipitation on the texture evolution during the SRX process. Progressive texture evolution was studied during annealing by electron backscattered diffraction technique through a microstructure-tracking process. It was found that the grain-coarsening mechanism during the early stage of annealing is not totally controlled by the basal-oriented grains. Also, it was found that the dynamic precipitates may have significant influence in the early texture weakening during annealing of a bimodal structure.     

The introduction of an autumn and spring activity week into the first year of a chemical engineering undergraduate program in Malaysia

This paper outlines the design and implementation of two activity weeks in the autumn (first) and spring (second) semester of a first year Chemical Engineering program at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. Part of both the Chemical and Chemical with Environmental Engineering curriculum, these week long activity weeks were developed to foster students independent learning using open ended tasks, all linked through one overarching “industrial theme”. Designed to combine topics from a number of different taught modules into single problems, the activity weeks introduced students to multimodular problems whose solutions required a student centred approach utilising enhanced student-staff interaction. Feedback is presented from both staff and students, along with problems encountered during implementation and how these were overcome. Students were generally positive about the learning experience, and student performance during the weeks was greater than in the subsequent exams. However, this performance and enhanced interaction with staff came with an associated increase in teaching time required to plan and implement such activities.     

Preparation and photocatalytic H2-production on α-Fe2O3 prepared by sol-gel

In this work, the hematite α-Fe₂O₃ was synthesized by sol-gel method and characterized by X-ray diffraction and optical properties. The XRD patterns realized at different temperatures, show that pure hematite is obtained above 500 °C. The diffuse reflectance gives respectively direct and indirect optical transitions at 2.17 and 2.04 eV, in agreement with the red color. The capacitance measurement of α-Fe₂O₃ indicates p type behavior with a conduction band (?1.14 V vs. SCE), more cathodic than the H₂ evolution (～?0.8 V vs. SCE). The oxide was successfully tested for the hydrogen production under visible irradiation (29 mW cm^?2). α-Fe₂O₃ is photo-electrochemically stable in alkaline medium by hole consumption reactions involving X^2? (= SO₃^2? and S₂O₃^2?) as hole scavengers. The best photocatalytic activity for H₂ production was obtained on α-Fe₂O₃, calcined at 500 °C, in (Na₂S₂O₃ 0.025 M, pH ～ 13), with an average evolution rate of 0.015 cm³ h^?1 (mg catalyst)^?1 and a quantum efficiency of 0.26%. The system shows a tendency toward saturation, due to the competitive reduction of end products with the water reduction and the cathodic shift of the H₂ potential.     

A Single Analog-to-Digital Converter That Converts Two Separate Channels (I and Q) in a Broadband Radio Receiver

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) architecture that simultaneously converts two channels is presented. The ADC is intended for use in portable broadband radio receivers that employ in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signal paths and will provide an optimal combination of low cost, low power, and high performance. The architecture is pipeline based and employs two separate first stages followed by shared stages for the remainder of the pipeline. A clock generation system for generating all of the required nonoverlapping clock phases is also presented. A prototype ADC with 10 bit resolution and a 40 MHz sample rate that employs the proposed ADC architecture has been fabricated using a 90 nm all-digital CMOS process and occupies an area of 1.727 mm² for a per-channel area of 0.864 mm². The measured performance for the two-channel ADC is a peak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 58.4 dB and 56.5 dB, respectively, and differential nonlinearity (DNL) and integral nonlinearity (INL) of -0.48/+0.58 LSB and plusmn1 LSB, respectively, with a power dissipation of 50 mW (including analog, digital, and clock generator power) from a 2.5 V supply (1.2 V for the digital section), giving a per-channel power dissipation of 25 mW.