AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Mini-Waterflood: A New Cost Effective Approach to Extend the Economic Life of Small, Mature Oil Reservoirs

Project Final Report-08123-07-The goal of this project is to investigate a new, "mini-waterflood" strategy for enhancing oil recovery from small, mature fields. The project combines reservoir simulation and core displacement studies to evaluate the feasibility of the mini-flood concept. The broader objective is to provide small producers with knowledge and tools needed to improve recovery and extend the life of small, depleted oil fields.

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Integrated computer-enhanced remote viewing system. Quarterly report No. 2, January--March 1993

The Interactive, Computer-Enhanced, Remote Viewing System (ICERVS) is a system designed to provide a reliable geometric description of a robotic task space in a fashion that enables robotic remediation to be carried out more efficiently and economically than with present systems. The key elements are a faithful way to store empirical data and a friendly user interface that provides an operator with timely access to all that is known about a scene.

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Development of coal-feeding systems at the Morgantown Energy Research Center. [62 refs]

The Morgantown Energy Research Center (MERC) has developed a variety of systems since 1945 for feeding crushed and pulverized coal into coal conversion reactor vessels. This paper describes their part and current work on these systems including pneumatic methods for feeding pulverized coal, slurry feeders, and coal pumps, methods for steam pickup, and a method for drying a water-coal slurry in a steam-fluidized bed subsequent to feeding the coal into a reactor vessel.

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High-volume, high-value usage of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by-products in underground mines - Phase I: Laboratory investigations. Quarterly report, October 1993--December 1993

This project proposes to use pneumatically or hydraulically emplaced dry-flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by-products to backfill the adits left by highwall mining. Backfilling highwall mine adits with dry-FGD materials is technically attractive. The use of an active highwall mine would allow the dry-FGD material to be brought in using the same transportation network used to move the coal out, eliminating the need to recreated the transportation infrastructure, thereby saving costs. Activities during the period included the negotiations leading to the final cooperative agreement for the project and the implementation of the necessary instruments at the University of Kentucky to administer the project. Early in the negotiations, a final agreement on a task structure was reached and a milestone plan was filed. A review was initiated of the original laboratory plan as presented in the proposal, and tentative modifications were developed. Selection of a mine site was made early; the Pleasant Valley mine in Greenup County was chosen. Several visits were made to the mine site to begin work on the hydrologic monitoring plan. The investigation of the types of permits needed to conduct the project was initiated. Considerations concerning the acceptance and implementation of technologies led to the choice of circulating fluidized bed ash as the primary material for the study. Finally, the membership of a Technical Advisory Committee for the study was assembled.

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Scale-up of mild gasification to a process development unit. Quarterly report, August--November 1993

The overall objective of this project is to develop the IGT Mild-Gasification (MILDGAS) process for near-term commercialization. The specific objectives of the program are to: design, construct, and operate a 24-tons/day adiabatic process development unit (PDU) to obtain process performance data suitable for further design scaleup; obtain large batches of coal-derived co-products for industrial evaluation; prepare a detailed design of a demonstration unit; and develop technical and economic plans for commercialization of the MILDGAS process. The MILDGAS process is a continuous closed system for producing liquid and solid (char) co-products at mild operating conditions up to 50 psig and 1300 F. The 1 ton/hr PDU facility that is to be constructed is comprised of a 2.5-ft ID adiabatic gasifier for the production of gases, coal liquids, and char; a thermal cracker for upgrading of the coal liquids; a three-stage condensation train to condense and store the liquid products; and coal feeding and char handling equipment. The facility will also incorporate support equipment for environmentally acceptable disposal of process waste. This quarter, the authors completed preparation of the draft of the permitting documentation that will be required by the Illinois EPA for the permit to construct the PDU. SIUC`s comments are currently being incorporated into the version of the permitting document that will be submitted to the Illinois EPA. The Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared by DOE and submitted in September, 1993 to the State of Illinois and the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge for comments. Neither organization found any issue with the EA that would prevent construction of the PDU at the proposed site. They did submit comments which are being taken into consideration in revising the EA.

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Selective methane oxidation over promoted oxide catalysts. Quarterly report, December 1993--February 1994

A great deal of experimental research was carried out in previous quarters with sulfate-doped Sr/La{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalysts that are very active for the oxidative coupling of methane. Data analysis has been continued, and the results are discussed further in this quarterly report. In addition to data analysis, a new postdoctoral research scientist has been employed this quarter to work on this research project, particularly in terms of developing catalysts and processes for switching the product selectivity away from C{sub 2} hydrocarbons and to oxygenates. Analysis of the catalytic testing data demonstrates that the 1 wt% SO{sub 4}{sup 2{minus}}/1 wt% Sr/La{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst is stable at reaction temperatures below 600{degrees}C. Even after extensive testing in which reaction parameters such as gas hourly space velocity and temperature were systematically varied, the catalyst exhibited reproducible activity in terms of CH{sub 4} conversion and selectivity to C{sub 2} hydrocarbons. It is shown that the La{sub 2}O{sub 3}, Sr/La{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and SO{sub 4}{sup 2{minus}}/Sr/La{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalysts exhibit the same correlation between CH{sub 4} conversion and C{sub 2} hydrocarbon selectivity (i.e. as CH{sub 4} conversion increases, the C{sub 2} hydrocarbon selectivity increases) and in ethene/ethane selectivities ({approx}1/1, especially at higher conversions). This indicates that the mechanism for activating methane on the catalysts is probably the same for all the catalysts. The high C{sub 2} selectivity at high CH{sub 4} conversion appears to be due to the depletion of oxygen at high conversions, and this enhances the driving force toward partial oxidation products. At the same time, the lower levels of CO{sub 2} produced decrease the poisoning effect of carbonate formation on the catalyst.

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Demonstration of innovative applicatiions of technology for cost reductions to the CT-121 FGD process. Quarterly report No. 4, January--March 1991

The objective of this project is to demonstrate on a commercial scale several innovative applications of cost-reducing technology to the Chiyoda Thoroughbred-121 (CT-121) process. CT-121 is a second generation flue gas desulfurization (FGD) process which is considered by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Southern Company Services (SCS) to be one of the most reliable and lowest cost FGD options for high-sulfur coal-fired utility boiler applications. Demonstrations of the innovative design approaches will further reduce the cost and provide a clear advantage to CT121 relative to competing technology.

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Commercialization of waste gob gas and methane produced in conjunction with coal mining operations. Final report, August 1992--December 1993

The primary objectives of the project were to identify and evaluate existing processes for (1) using gas as a feedstock for production of marketable, value-added commodities, and (2) enriching contaminated gas to pipeline quality. The following gas conversion technologies were evaluated: (1) transformation to liquid fuels, (2) manufacture of methanol, (3) synthesis of mixed alcohols, and (4) conversion to ammonia and urea. All of these involved synthesis gas production prior to conversion to the desired end products. Most of the conversion technologies evaluated were found to be mature processes operating at a large scale. A drawback in all of the processes was the need to have a relatively pure feedstock, thereby requiring gas clean-up prior to conversion. Despite this requirement, the conversion technologies were preliminarily found to be marginally economic. However, the prohibitively high investment for a combined gas clean-up/conversion facility required that REI refocus the project to investigation of gas enrichment alternatives. Enrichment of a gas stream with only one contaminant is a relatively straightforward process (depending on the contaminant) using available technology. However, gob gas has a unique nature, being typically composed of from constituents. These components are: methane, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor. Each of the four contaminants may be separated from the methane using existing technologies that have varying degrees of complexity and compatibility. However, the operating and cost effectiveness of the combined system is dependent on careful integration of the clean-up processes. REI is pursuing Phase 2 of this project for demonstration of a waste gas enrichment facility using the approach described above. This is expected to result in the validation of the commercial and technical viability of the facility, and the refinement of design parameters.

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Wetland treatment of oil and gas well wastewaters. Quarterly technical report, November 25, 1992--February 24, 1993

During the first quarter of the above contract, all the elements of Task 1 were completed. The first quarterly report presented an overview of a wetland and its increasing use in industrial wastewater treatment. An idealized, reaction engineering description of wetlands was presented to demonstrate how the various processes that occur in a wetland can be modeled. Previous work on the use of wetlands to remove BOD, TSS, Phosphorus and Nitrogen was reviewed. Recent literature on the application of wetland technology to the treatment of petroleum-related wastewater was critically evaluated and an outline of the research plans for the first year was delineated. Further, our literature search (nominally completed under Task 1) unearthed more recent studies (some unpublished) and a summary was included in the second quarterly report. In the second quarterly report, results of our efforts on the construction of a laboratory-type wetland were also reported. Initial studies on the use of wetland amendments such as modified-clays and algae cells were presented and discussed. Adsorption of heavy metal ions, Cu{sup 2 } and Cr(VI) onto soils drawn from the laboratory-type wetland built as a part of this contract has been undertaken and these results are presented and discussed in this quarterly report. A number of studies on the design and preparation of modified-clays for the adsorption of Cr(VI) and {beta}-naphthoic acid (NA) has been carried out during this quarter and these are also described and discussed in this report. The choice of {beta}-naphthoic acid (NA) as an ionogenic organic compound was made on the basis of a recent personal communication to the Project Director that NA is a major contaminant in many oil and gas well wastewaters.

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Scale-up of miscible flood processes. Quarterly report, July 1, 1993--September 30, 1993

Progress is reported for a comprehensive investigation of the scaling behavior of gas injection processes in heterogeneous reservoirs. The interplay of phase behavior, viscous fingering, gravity segregation, capillary imbibition and drainage, and reservoir heterogeneity is examined in a series of simulations and experiments. Compositional and first-contact miscible simulations of viscous fingering and gravity segregation are compared to show that the two techniques can give very different results. Also, analyzed are two-dimensional and three-dimensional flows in which gravity segregation and viscous fingering interact. The simulations show that 2D and 3D flows can differ significantly. A comparison of analytical solutions for three-component two-phase flow with experimental results for oil/water/alcohol systems is reported. While the experiments and theory show reasonable agreement, some differences remain to be explained. The scaling behavior of the interaction of gravity segregation and capillary forces is investigated through simulations and through scaling arguments based on analysis of the differential equations. The simulations show that standard approaches do not agree well with results of low IFT displacements. The scaling analyses, however, reveal flow regimes where capillary, gravity, or viscous forces dominate the flow.

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Assessment of technologies for hazardous waste site remediation: Non-treatment technologies and pilot scale facility implementation -- monitoring technology. Final report

The objective of this study was to investigate and evaluate existing proven technologies for the monitoring of hazardous waste sites during remediation activities and to protect the health and safety of all related entities while complying with government regulations. The study began with a literature search to determine manufacturers and related instrumentation which would be applicable to the most complex (in terms of toxicity and mediums affected) sites. Criteria for monitoring and analyses were established and a functional analysis was performed to select the most appropriate instrumentation available. Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry is the most widely accepted method for generating quantitative data given the characterization of the Winfield site. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, while not a new technology, has the distinct advantage of measuring simultaneously hundreds of gaseous pollutants which can also be sparged from water and this technology received the highest score as per the functional analysis. To protect workers and the public surrounding remediation sites which are known to contain VOCs, on site monitoring prior to, and during the excavation operations, is recommended until enough data are obtained to assess the health risks to workers. The conclusion of this study is to recommend evaluation of both the mobile GC/MS and FTIR systems simultaneously in identical operating conditions.

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Characterization of oil and gas waste disposal practices and assessment of treatment costs. Technical progress report, January 1, 1994--March 31, 1994

This report covers work completed during the sixth quarter for the project. The project consists of three tasks: the first relates to developing a database of waste volumes and disposal methods used by the industry; the second and third tasks are aimed at investigating technologies that could be used for the treatment of produced waters and developing cost estimates for those technologies. The remainder of this report describes progress related to the three tasks in the project. Overall, construction of the Production Environmental Database (PED) is ongoing. While much of the data has been collected and entered into the database, a few data categories are still missing, for example, soils and geology and geohydrology. Work is currently under way to collect these data. In addition, a detailed data analysis has begun in order to develop relationships between oil and gas activities and environmental characteristics. In terms of the treatment of produced water, much of the work in the past quarter was focused on analyzing the costs associated with the treatment and disposal of waste residuals such as sludges.

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Geophysical and transport properties of reservoir rocks. Final report for task 4: Measurements and analysis of seismic properties

The principal objective of research on the seismic properties of reservoir rocks is to develop a basic understanding of the effects of rock microstructure and its contained pore fluids on seismic velocities and attenuation. Ultimately, this knowledge would be used to extract reservoir properties information such as the porosity, permeability, clay content, fluid saturation, and fluid type from borehole, cross-borehole, and surface seismic measurements to improve the planning and control of oil and gas recovery. This thesis presents laboratory ultrasonic measurements for three granular materials and attempts to relate the microstructural properties and the properties of the pore fluids to P- and S-wave velocities and attenuation. These experimental results show that artificial porous materials with sintered grains and a sandstone with partially cemented grains exhibit complexities in P- and S-wave attenuation that cannot be adequately explained by existing micromechanical theories. It is likely that some of the complexity observed in the seismic attenuation is controlled by details of the rock microstructure, such as the grain contact area and grain shape, and by the arrangement of the grain packing. To examine these effects, a numerical method was developed for analyzing wave propagation in a grain packing. The method is based on a dynamic boundary integral equation and incorporates generalized stiffness boundary conditions between individual grains to account for viscous losses and grain contact scattering.

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Scaling of pressurized fluidized beds. Quarterly report, January--March 1994

Construction and installation of the quarter-scale cold model of the Tidd pressurized bubbling bed combustor is complete. The cyclone and filter box have been installed, and the bed is fully instrumented. A data acquisition system has been set up to obtain time-varying pressure measurements from the cold model. Additional software to reduce orifice plate pressure drop measurements into flows, was completed. The capability to calculate the power spectral density (PSD) and probability density function (PDF) for the pressure fluctuation data has also been established. The last major work item remaining before data can be obtained from the model is to segregate the cold bed particles to obtain the required mean particle diameter and size distribution. As mentioned in the last quarterly report, a linear low-density polyethylene produced by Union Carbide was chosen as the cold bed material. Union Carbide distributes the granular polyethylene in 1200 lb{sub m} boxes. The large volume of particles makes the use of standard laboratory sieving methods impractical. We are currently attempting to segregate the particles by fluidizing them in the cold model. Different size particles will be carried out of the bed at different superficial velocities depending on their terminal velocities. The elutriated particles can then be collected using the cyclone separator.

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Evaluation of cement production using a pressurized fluidized-bed combustor

There are several primary conclusions which can be reached and used to define research required in establishing the feasibility of using PFBC-derived materials as cement feedstock. 1. With appropriate blending almost any material containing the required cement-making materials can be utilized to manufacture cement. However, extensive blending with multiple materials or the use of ash in relatively small quantities would compromise the worth of this concept. 2. The composition of a potential feedstock must be considered not only with respect to the presence of required materials, but just as significantly, with respect to the presence and concentration of known deleterious materials. 3. The processing costs for rendering the feedstock into an acceptable composition and the energy costs associated with both processing and burning must be considered. It should be noted that the cost of energy to produce cement, expressed as a percentage of the price of the product is higher than for any other major industrial product. Energy consumption is, therefore, a major issue. 4. The need for conformance to environmental regulations has a profound effect on the cement industry since waste materials can neither be discharged to the atmosphere or be shipped to a landfill. 5. Fifth, the need for achieving uniformity in the composition of the cement is critical to controlling its quality. Unfortunately, certain materials in very small concentrations have the capability to affect the rate and extent to which the cementitious compound in portland cement are able to form. Particularly critical are variations in the ash, the sulfur content of the coal or the amount and composition of the stack dust returned to the kiln.

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Advanced Turbine Systems Program conceptual design and product development. Quarterly report, [August 3, 1993--October 31, 1993]

This Quarterly Technical Progress Report covers the period August 3 through October 31, 1993, for Phase II of the Advanced Turbine Systems (ATS) Program by Solar Turbines Incorporated under DOE Contract No. DE-AC21-93MC30246. The objective of this program is to provide the conceptual design and product development plan for an industrial gas turbine system to operate at a thermal efficiency of 50 percent and developable to 60 percent. Solar`s ATS Engine Design Team reviewed the intercooled and recuperated (ICR) gas turbine concept defined in the Program proposal, validated certain assumptions associated therewith, and began the process of actualizing this concept in terms of achievable turbomachinery components. Given the probable use of a free power turbine arrangement, both 1-spool and 2-spool compressor arrangements were examined with both fixed and variable turbine geometry. Off-design performance, both part-load and full-load over a range of inlet air temperatures, was examined. During this period certain simplifying assumptions were made regarding the amount of cycle air extracted for use in turbine cooling and the distribution of its return to the cycle. The exact influence of turbine cooling air extraction on cycle performance (thermal efficiency) will be highly dependent upon turbine airfoil material selection, its life/temperature capabilities, etc. Thus, cycle performance will be subject to some degree of change as the design progresses. Even now, improvements made to the cycle performance model will result in variation in presented results. As a general rule, later results will always supersede earlier results when there is an apparent conflict.

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