AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Preliminary evaluation of a process using plasma reactions to desulfurize heavy oils. Final report

Western Research Institute (WRI) has conducted exploratory experiments on the use of microwave-induced plasmas to desulfurize heavy oils. Batch mode experiments were conducted in a quartz reactor system using various reactive and nonreactive plasmas. In these experiments a high-sulfur asphalt was exposed to various plasmas, and the degree of conversion to distillate, gas, and solids was recorded. Products from selected experiments were analyzed to determine if the plasma exposure had resulted in a significant reduction in sulfur content. Exploratory experiments were conducted using reactive plasmas generated from hydrogen and methane and nonreactive plasmas generated from nitrogen. The effects of varying exposure duration, sample temperature, and location of the sample with respect to the plasma discharge were investigated. For comparative purposes two experiments were conducted in which the sample was heated under nitrogen with no plasma exposure. Distillates containing approximately 28% less sulfur than the feedstock represented the maximum desulfurization attained in the plasma experiments. It does not appear that plasma reactions using the simple configurations employed in this study represent a viable method for the desulfurization of heavy oils.

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Improved oil recovery in fluvial dominated deltaic reservoirs of Kansas - Near-term, Class I

Common oil field problems exist in fluvial dominated deltaic reservoirs in Kansas. The problems are poor waterflood sweep efficiency and lack of reservoir management. The poor waterflood sweep efficiency is due to 1) reservoir heterogeneity, 2) channeling of injected water through high penneability zones or fractures, and 3) clogging of injection wells due to solids in the injection water. In many instances the lack of reservoir management results from 1) poor data collection and organization, 2) little or no integrated analysis of existing data by geological and engineering personnel, 3) the presence of multiple operators within the field, and 4) not identifying optimum recovery techniques.

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Analysis of oil-bearing Cretaceous sandstone hydrocarbon reservoirs, exclusive of the Dakota Sandstone, on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico

This is the Phase One contract report to the United States Department of Energy, United State Geological Survey and the Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribe on the project entitled ``Outcrop Analysis of the Cretaceous Mesaverde Group: Jicarilla Apache Reservation, New Mexico.''Field work for this project was conducted during July and August 1998, at which time fourteen measured sections were described and correlated on or adjacent to Jicarilla Apache Reservation lands. A fifteen section, described east of the main field area, is included in this report, although its distant location precluded use in the correlation's and cross-sections presented herein. Ground-based photo mosaics were shot for much of the exposed Mesaverde outcrop belt and were used to assist in correlation. Outcrop gamma-ray surveys at six of the fifteen measured sections using a GAD-6 scintillometer was conducted. The raw gamma-ray data are included in this report, however, analysis of those data is part of the ongoing Phase Two of this project.

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Advanced Reservoir Characterization in the Antelope Shale to Establish the Viability of CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery in California's Monterey Formation Siliceous Shales, Class III

The primary objective of this project was to conduct advanced reservoir characterization and modeling studies in the Antelope Shale of the Bureau Vista Hills Field. Work was subdivided into two phases or budget periods. The first phase of the project focused on a variety of advanced reservoir characterization techniques to determine the production characteristics of the Antelope Shale reservoir. Reservoir models based on the results of the characterization work would then be used to evaluate how the reservoir would respond to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes such as of CO2 flooding. The second phase of the project would be to implement and evaluate a CO2 in the Buena Vista Hills Field. A successful project would demonstrate the economic viability and widespread applicability of CO2 flooding in siliceous shale reservoirs of the San Joaquin Valley.

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Reactivation of an Idle Lease to Increase Heavy Oil Recovery through Application of Conventional Steam Drive Technology in a Low Dip Slope and Basin Reservoir in the Midway-Sunset Field, San Jaoquin Basin, California, Class III

During the initial phase of the project a multifaceted feasibility study was carried out to examine whether the pilot project could be justified technically and economically at this site. This study included: (1) Recompletion of 9 shut-in wells and drilling of a additional producer and a new temperature observation well. A core was taken from the reservoir interval in the new producer, Pru-101. The wells were produced by conventional cyclic steaming over a period of 15 months to establish a production baseline for the site, (2) Characterization of the stratigraphy and petrophysical properties of the Monarch Sand reservoir using existing well logs and analyses on samples in the core taken from Pru-101. The resulting data were used to develop a geostatistical model of the reservoir at the Pru Fee property and a specific reservoir simulator for the pilot test site on the property, and (3) Use of the reservoir simulator to test various steamflood and cyclic steaming production options leading to design of a production strategy for the pilot steamflood based on a four pattern, 9-spot array covering 8 ac near the center of the 40 ac Pru Fee property. The array chosen required drilling additional producers and injectors to supplement the existing wells recompleted in the initial phase of the project.

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Using Chemicals to Optimize Conformance Control in Fractured Reservoirs

This research project has three objectives. The first objective is to develop a capability to predict and optimize the ability of gels to reduce permeability to water more than that to oil or gas. The second objective is to develop procedures for optimizing blocking-agent placement in wells where hydraulic fractures cause channeling. The third objective is to develop procedures to optimize blocking-agent placement in naturally fractured reservoirs. This research project consists of three tasks, each of which addresses one of the above objectives. Work is directed at both injection wells and production wells and at vertical, horizontal, and highly deviated wells.

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Simultaneous SO{sub 2}/No{sub x} abatement using zeolite-supported copper. Progress report, October 1--December 31, 1995

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been used to investigate the nature of copper ions supported on oxides and on zeolites. The results show that, unfortunately, EPR may not be a very useful predictor of the catalytic activity of supported copper catalysts.

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Research on oil recovery mechanisms in heavy oil reservoirs

The research described here was directed toward improved understanding of thermal and heavy-oil production mechanisms and is categorized into: (1) flow and rock properties, (2) in-situ combustion, (3) additives to improve mobility control, (4) reservoir definition, and (5) support services. The scope of activities extended over a three-year period. Significant work was accomplished in the area of flow properties of steam, water, and oil in consolidated and unconsolidated porous media, transport in fractured porous media, foam generation and flow in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media, the effects of displacement pattern geometry and mobility ratio on oil recovery, and analytical representation of water influx.

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National Geoscience Data Repository System, Phase III: Implementation and operation of the repository

The American Geological Institute's (AGI) National Geoscience Data Repository System (NGDRS) was initiated in response to the fact that billions of dollars worth of domestic geoscience data are in jeopardy of being irrevocably lost or destroyed as a consequence of the ongoing downsizing of the U.S. energy and minerals industry. Preservation and access to domestic geological and geophysical data are critical to the energy security and economic prosperity of the nation. There is a narrow window of opportunity to act before valuable data are destroyed. The data truly represent a national treasure and immediate steps must be taken to assure their preservation.

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Ammonium attenuation in aquifer material impacted with high levels of organic wastes. Final report

Total concentrations of ammonium (NH{sub 4}{sup  1}) have been found to exceed the State of Wyoming ground water quality standard for Class 1 aquifers near Torrington, Wyoming. The cause of the NH{sub 4}{sup  1} contamination is thought to be associated with fertilizer use and/or the leaching of organics into the ground water from impoundments holding wastes from sugar beet processing. This type of contamination could be expected from other industrial processes, including those associated with the use of fossil fuels. In an initial step in understanding and solving the ground water contamination problem, Western Research Institute (WRI) conducted a laboratory investigation to understand the aquifer system as it relates to the chemistry of NH{sub 4}{sup  1} as it moves through the aquifer material. The data collected during the attenuation tests do provide an indication that the attenuation of NH{sub 4}{sup  1} in the ground water system will occur. In addition, the results show the redox condition of the site and the possible chemical reactions that are influencing the ground water quality.

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A note on the evaporation of a stagnant liquid

The main objective of this report was the understanding of the effect of higher pressures on the velocity of the gas-liquid interface. Experimental evidence (Le Romancer et al.) suggests that high-pressure gas injection results under certain conditions in a decrease of the rate of the interface motion, a result that may be due to gas dissolution and diffusion in the liquid phase. To explore this possibility, it was considered in this paper a simple 1-D model of this process as illustrated schematically in a figure. A liquid A, originally occupying a semi-infinite medium, is subject to evaporation and diffusion in a flowing gas B, the composition of which at the top of the medium (at z = 0) remains constant. Due to the possible high pressure in the gas, component B may solubilize and counter-diffuse in the liquid phase.

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Productivity and injectivity of horizontal wells

One of the key issues addressed was pressure drop in long horizontal wells and its influence on well performance. Very little information is available in the literature on flow in pipes with influx through pipe walls. Virtually all of this work has been in small diameter pipes and with single-phase flow. In order to address this problem new experimental data on flow in horizontal and near horizontal wells have been obtained. Experiments were conducted at an industrial facility on typical 6 1/8 ID, 100 feet long horizontal well model. The new data along with available information in the literature have been used to develop new correlations and mechanistic models. Thus it is now possible to predict, within reasonable accuracy, the effect of influx through the well on pressure drop in the well.

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Development of the instrumentation and modeling for heat transfer characteristics in CFBC. Semi-annual report, September 30, 1996--March 29, 1997

The system tests were conducted by the bench-scale CFB system. Pressure drops of the distributor plate and the cyclone were measured. Tests conducted without the feeding solids into the CFB riser were analyzed. The primary air flow rate was measured by the specially designed pilot tube. The air flow rate was a function of the pressure drop. Tests were also conducted with feeding solids into the rider under different primary air flow rate. The solid feed rate increased as the aeration flow rate increased. The void fraction was reduced with an increasing pressure drop in the CFB riser column. The millet particles were tested by the modified CFB system. The computer-assisted data acquisition system was developed to measure the pressure of different locations along the riser wall. Seven pressure transducers were connected to the pressure taps on the riser wall. Before using the pressure transducers, each transducer was carefully calibrated by the specially designed pressure calibration system. The aeration flow rate was adjusted to change the solid feed rate. The differential pressures were recorded by the data acquisition system. The pressure drop along the riser column was the function of the riser column height. The pressure drop decreased as the riser column height increased.

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The utilization of the microflora indigenous to and present in oil-bearing formations to selectively plug the more porous zones thereby increasing oil recovery during waterflooding, Class 1

The objectives of this project were (1) to demonstrate the in situ microbial population in a fluvial dominated deltaic reservoir could be induced to proliferate to such an extent that they will selectively restrict flow in the more porous zones in the reservoir thereby forcing injection water to flow through previously unswept areas thus improving the sweep efficiency of the waterflood and (2) to obtain scientific validation that microorganisms are indeed responsible for the increased oil recovery. One expected outcome of this new technology was the prolongation of economical life of the reservoir, i.e. economical oil recovery should continue for much longer periods in areas of the reservoir subjected to the MPPM technology than it would if it followed its historic trend.

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Modification of chemical and physical factors in steamflood to increase heavy oil recovery

This report covers the work performed in the various physicochemical factors for the improvement of oil recovery efficiency. In this context the following general areas were studied: (1) The understanding of vapor-liquid flows in porous media, including processes in steam injection; (2) The effect of reservoir heterogeneity in a variety of foams, from pore scale to macroscopic scale; (3) The flow properties of additives for improvement of recovery efficiency, particularly foams and other non-Newtonian fluids; and (4) The development of optimization methods to maximize various measures of oil recovery.

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Investigation of Multiscale and Multiphase Flow, Transport and Reaction in Heavy Oil Recovery Process

The emphasis of this work was on investigating the mechanisms and factors that control the recovery of heavy oil, with the objective to improve recovery efficiencies. For this purpose, the interaction of flow, transport and reaction at various scales (from the pore-network to the field scales) were studied. Particular mechanisms investigated included the onset of gas flow in foamy oil production and in in-situ steam drive, gravity drainage in steam process, the development of sustained combustion fronts and the propagation of foams in porous media. Analytical, computational and experimental methods were utilized to advance the state of the art in heavy oil recovery. Successful completion of this research was expected to lead to improvements in the recovery efficiency of various heavy oil processes.

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A 2-D Pore-Network Model of the Drying of Single-Component Liquids in Porous Media

The drying of liquid-saturated porous media is typically approaching using macroscopic continuum models involving phenomenological coefficients. Insight on these coefficients can be obtained by a more fundamental study at the pore- and pore-network levels. In this report, a model based on pore-network representation of porous media that accounts for various process at the pore-scale is presented. These include mass transfer by advection and diffusion in the gas phase, viscous flow in liquid and gas phases and capillary effects at the gas-liquid menisci in the pore throats.

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Increased Oil Production and Reserves from Improved Completion Techniques in the Bluebell Field, Uinta Basin, Utah, Class I

The objective of this project was to increase oil production and reserves by the use of improved reservoir characterization and completion techniques in the Unita Basin Utah. To accomplish this objective, a two-year geologic and engineering characterization of the Bluebell field was conducted. The study evaluated surface and subsurface data, currently used completion techniques, and common production problems. It was determined that advanced case- and open-hole logs could be effective in determining productive beds and that staged-interval (about 500 ft [150 m] per stage) and bed-scale isolation completion techniques could result in improved well performance.

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Fractured petroleum reservoirs

Total compressibility in a fractured reservoir is estimated using the pressure response due to gravitational potential variations. Both the moon and the sun gravitational potentials are accounted for using the full expression by inclusion of longer-period components. The semi-diurnal and diurnal pressure data show substantial long-term variations. The gravitational potential also contains the same variation trend; the ratio between the potential and pressure has a fairly uniform value over successive cycles. The computed total compressibility is also fairly constant and independent of the cycle. Results show the effects of the time interval over which the pressure measurements are performed as well as the location.

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Application of Artificial Intelligence to Reservoir Characterization - An Interdisciplinary Approach

The primary goal of this project is to develop a user-friendly computer program to integrate geological and engineering information using Artificial Intelligence (AI) methodology. The project is restricted to fluvially dominated deltaic environments. The static information used in constructing the reservoir description includes well core and log data. Using the well core and the log data, the program identifies the marker beds, and the type of sand facies, and in turn, develops correlation's between wells. Using the correlation's and sand facies, the program is able to generate multiple realizations of sand facies and petrophysical properties at interwell locations using geostatistical techniques. The generated petrophysical properties are used as input in the next step where the production data are honored. By adjusting the petrophysical properties, the match between the simulated and the observed production rates is obtained.

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Energy recovery from coal wastes: Final report

The CRB process recovers energy from finely-divided coal refuse. Typical waste fines comprise two main constituents; coal and mineral amtter that in turn consists mainly of clays. In the CRB process a slurry of raw coal waste, preferably finer than 28 mesh, is treated with about 0.3--0.5% of a proprietary polymer by weight and then with a small amount of acid, which is quickly neutralized by the natural buffering capacity of the refuse. The carbon-containing matter then tends to agglomerate with itself rather than with the free minerals. A screen or a cyclone then separates the coal from the mineral matter which is allowed to settle in a pond and then discarded. The coal may be dried, formed into pelets or briquets if desired, and sold. Bench-scale tests were performed of coal recovery with CRB. Properties of process product and reject material were analyzed. Experimental data and analysis results are appended.

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Co-firing high sulfur coal with refuse derived fuels. Final report

This project was designed to evaluate the combustion performance of and emissions from a fluidized bed combustor during the combustion of mixtures of high sulfur and/or high chlorine coals and municipal solid waste (MSW). The project included four major tasks, which were as follows: (1) Selection, acquisition, and characterization of raw materials for fuels and the determination of combustion profiles of combination fuels using thermal analytical techniques; (2) Studies of the mechanisms for the formation of chlorinated organics during the combustion of MSW using a tube furnace; (3) Investigation of the effect of sulfur species on the formation of chlorinated organics; and (4) Examination of the combustion performance of combination fuels in a laboratory scale fluidized bed combustor. Several kinds of coals and the major combustible components of the MSW, including PVC, newspaper, and cellulose were tested in this project. Coals with a wide range of sulfur and chlorine contents were used. TGA/MS/FTIR analyses were performed on the raw materials and their blends. The possible mechanism for the formation of chlorinated organics during combustion was investigated by conducting a series of experiments in a tube furnace. The effect of sulfur dioxide on the formation of molecular chlorine during combustion processes was examined in this study.

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A data-fitting procedure for chaotic time series

In this paper the authors introduce data characterizations for fitting chaotic data to linear combinations of one-dimensional maps (say, of the unit interval) for use in subgrid-scale turbulence models. They test the efficacy of these characterizations on data generated by a chaotically-forced Burgers` equation and demonstrate very satisfactory results in terms of modeled time series, power spectra and delay maps.

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Jointly Sponsored Research Program. Final report

The Jointly Sponsored Research Program (JSRP) is a US Department of Energy (DOE) program funded through the Office of Fossil Energy and administered at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center. Under this program, which has been in place since Fiscal Year 1990, DOE makes approximately $2.5 million available each year to the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) to fund projects that are of current interest to industry but which still involve significant risk, thus requiring some government contribution to offset the risk if the research is to move forward. The program guidelines require that at least 50% of the project funds originate from nonfederal sources. Projects funded under the JSRP often originate under a complementary base program, which funds higher-risk projects. The projects funded in Fiscal Year 1996 addressed a wide range of Fossil Energy interests, including hot-gas filters for advanced power systems; development of cleaner, more efficient processing technologies; development of environmental control technologies; development of environmental remediation and reuse technologies; development of improved analytical techniques; and development of a beneficiation technique to broaden the use of high-sulfur coal. Descriptions and status for each of the projects funded during the past fiscal year are included in Section A of this document, Statement of Technical Progress.

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