bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Logical Modeling of Emotions for Ambient Intelligence
Authors: Adam Carole , Gaudou Benoit , Login Dominique , Lorini Emiliano
Published: October 2011

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is the art of designing intelligent and user-focused environments. It is thus of great importance to take human factors into account. In this chapter we especially focus on emotions, that have been proved to be essential in human reasoning and interaction. To this end, we assume that we can take advantage of the results obtained in Artificial Intelligence about the formal modeling of emotions. This chapter specifically aims at showing the interest of logic as a tool to design agents endowed with emotional abilities useful for Ambient Intelligence applications. In particular, we show that modal logics allow the representation of the mental attitudes involved in emotions such as beliefs, goals or ideals. Moreover, we illustrate how modal logics can be used to represent complex emotions (also called self-conscious emotions) involving elaborated forms of reasoning, such as self-attribution of responsibility and counterfactual reasoning. Examples of complex emotions are regret and guilt. We illustrate our logical approach by formalizing some case studies concerning an intelligent house taking care of its inhabitants.
Incorporating Human Aspects in Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments
Authors: Bosse Tibor , Hoogendoorn Mark , Klein Michel , van Lambalgen Rianne , van Maanen Peter-Paul , Treur Jan
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, we propose to outline the scientific area that addresses Ambient Intelligence applications in which not only sensor data, but also knowledge from the human-directed sciences such as biomedical science, neuroscience, and psychological and social sciences is incorporated. This knowledge enables the environment to perform more in-depth, human-like analyses of the functioning of the observed humans, and to come up with better informed actions. A structured approach to embed human knowledge in Ambient Intelligence applications is presented an illustrated using two examples, one on automated visual attention manipulation, and another on the assessment of the behaviour of a car driver.
Assistive Technologies in Smart Homes
Authors: Yamazaki Tatsuya
Published: October 2011

This book chapter provides a review of the assistive technologies deployed in smart spaces with a variety of smart home or house examples. In the first place, home networking technologies and sensing technologies are surveyed as fundamental technologies to support smart environment. After reviewing representative smart home projects from across the world, concrete assistive services related with the fundamental technologies in smart environment are deployed not only for the elderly and handicapped but for people in ordinary families as well. Adaptability is one of the key essences in the assistive technologies in smart environment and, for this purpose, human-ware studies including man-machine interfaces, ergonomics and gerontology are needed to be linked with the hardware specific fundamental technologies.
Inference of Human Intentions in Context Aware Systems
Authors: Oyama Katsunori , Chang Carl K. , Mitra Simanta
Published: October 2011

Most of context models have limited capability in involving human intention for system evolvability and self-adaptability. Human intention in context aware systems can evolve at any time, however, context aware systems based on these context models can provide only standard services that are often insufficient for specific user needs. Consequently, evolving human intentions result in changes in system requirements. Moreover, an intention must be analyzed from tangled relations with different types of contexts. In the past, this complexity has prevented researchers from using computational methods for analyzing or specifying human intention in context aware system design. The authors investigated the possibility for inferring human intentions from contexts and situations, and deploying appropriate services that users require during system run-time. This chapter first focus on describing an inference ontology to represent stepwise inference tasks to detect an intention change and then discuss how context aware systems can accommodate requirements for the intention change.
Behaviour Monitoring and Interpretation
Authors: Gottfried Björn
Published: October 2011

The body of this chapter is structured in the following way. An initial example is presented in Section 1. It makes clear what BMI is about from the point of view of an application example. Simultaneously, a framework is outlined that derives from this example. It will be shown how other application examples fit into this very same framework in the following sections. Each of those following examples introduces typical facets of BMI systems: spatial scales are relevant in that each object to be monitored is found at a specific spatial scale (Section 2); direct and indirect observations are to be distinguished since objects are either directly observed or indirectly by means of changes that occur in the environment (Section 3); monitoring processes either occur in reality or in virtual spaces or in mixed reality scenarios (Section 4); behaviours are either purposeful and active, or they reflect typical everyday behaviours (Section 5); it can be distinguished whether a monitoring system works by means of deploying local or allocentric techniques (Section 6); eventually, similar as each application is found at a specific spatial scale, temporal scales are to be distinguished considering both durations and the speed with which observed behaviours are carried out (Section 7). A discussion section closes this chapter with a couple of issues (Section 8): different purposes of BMI applications are identified; their relationships to related areas, namely Ambient Intelligence (AmI) and Smart Environments (SmE) is discussed; the importance of AI methods is pointed out; ethical issues are considered. Finally, an outlook on future work is presented (Section 9).
Proactive Assistance in Ecologies of Physically Embedded Intelligent Systems
Authors: Cirillo Marcello , Pecora Federico , Saffiotti Alessandro
Published: October 2011

The main goal of this Chapter is to introduce SAM, an integrated architecture for concurrent activity recognition, planning and execution. SAM provides a general framework to define how an intelligent environment can assess contextual information from sensory data. The architecture builds upon a temporal reasoning framework operating in closed-loop between physical sensing and actuation components in a smart environments. The capabilities of the system as well as possible examples of its use are discussed in the context of the PEIS-Home, a smart environment integrated with robotic components.
Self-organizing Mobile Sensor Network
Authors: Lee Geunho , Chong Nak Young
Published: October 2011

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is a multidisciplinary approach aimed at enriching physical environments with a network of distributed devices, such as sensors, actuators, and computational resources, in order to support humans in achieving their everyday task. Within the framework of AmI, this chapter presents decentralized coordination for a swarm of autonomous robotic sensors building intelligent environments adopting AmI. The large-scale robotic sensors are regarded as a swarm of wireless sensors mounted on spatially distributed autonomous mobile robots. Therefore, motivated by the experience gained during the development and usage for decentralized coordination of mobile robots in geographically constrained environments, our work introduces the following two detailed functions: self-configuration and flocking. In particular, this chapter addresses the study of a unified framework which governs the adaptively self-organizing processes for a swarm of autonomous robots in the presence of an environmental uncertainty. Based on the hypothesis that the motion planning for robot swarms must be controlled within the framework, the two functions are integrated in a distributed way, and each robot can form an equilateral triangle mesh with its two neighbors in a geometric sense. Extensive simulations are performed in two-dimensional unknown environments to verify that the proposed method yields a computationally efficient, yet robust deployment.
Possibilities of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments in Educational Institutions
Authors: Mikulecký Peter , Olševicová Kamila , Bureš Vladimír , Mls Karel
Published: October 2011

The objective of the chapter is to identify and analyze key aspects and possibilities of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) applications in educational processes and institutions (universities), as well as to present a couple of possible visions for these applications. A number of related problems are discussed as well, namely agent-based AmI application architectures. Results of a brief survey among optional users of these applications are presented as well.
Opinion Mining and Information Retrieval
Authors: Shandilya Shishir K. , Jain Suresh
Published: October 2011

The explosive increase in Internet usage has attracted technologies for automatically mining the user-generated contents (UGC) from Web documents. These UGC-rich resources have raised new opportunities and challenges to carry out the opinion extraction and mining tasks for opinion summaries. The technology of opinion extraction allows users to retrieve and analyze people’s opinions scattered over Web documents. Opinion mining is a process which is concerned with the opinions generated by the consumers about the product. Opinion Mining aims at understanding, extraction and classification of opinions scattered in unstructured text of online resources. The search engines performs well when one wants to know about any product before purchase, but the filtering and analysis of search results often complex and time-consuming. This generated the need of intelligent technologies which could process these unstructured online text documents through automatic classification, concept recognition, text summarization, etc. These tools are based on traditional natural language techniques, statistical analysis, and machine learning techniques. Automatic knowledge extraction over large text collections like Internet has been a challenging task due to many constraints such as needs of large annotated training data, requirement of extensive manual processing of data, and huge amount of domain-specific terms. Ambient Intelligence (AmI) in wed-enabled technologies supports and promotes the intelligent e-commerce services to enable the provision of personalized, self-configurable, and intuitive applications for facilitating UGC knowledge for buying confidence. In this chapter, we will discuss various approaches of Opinion Mining which combines Ambient Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning methods based on textual and grammatical clues.
The Planned and Materialized Implementation of an Information System
Authors: Reijonen Pekka , Heikkila Jukka
Published: October 2011

The object of this case study is a marketing and sales information system in two local offices of a regional telephone company. A unified, advanced client/server system was needed due to the merging of three companies into a bigger regional company, keener competition, and the growing complexity of the services provided. The system is tailor-made to meet the needs of the industry and it was developed by a software vendor in close cooperation with the nation-wide alliance of regional telephone companies. This study illustrates the difficulties in simultaneously aligning an organization and implementing a new information system. Views on the skills and competence needed in using the system vary, and lead to the negligence of education and training. The consequent lack of skills and knowledge of some users, especially of those not using the system regularly, create profound problems in the whole work process and in productivity as the first, obvious work practices become the dominant mode of operation bypassing the desired integrated workflow. The findings are discussed and reflected to concepts of institutionalization, positive reinforcement, and productivity paradox. This case emphasizes the importance of the organizational implementation and adaptation process which ought to begin after the implementation of the technical system.
The Institutionalization of User Participation for Systems Development in Telecom Eireann
Authors: Butler Tom , Fitzgerald Brian
Published: October 2011

It was in 1984 that Telecom Éireann first introduced institutional mechanisms which facilitated employee participation in the formulation and execution of corporate strategy. However, almost ten years elapsed before the full benefits of user participation were realized in the development and implementation of organizational information systems. Two systems development projects that are perhaps exemplars of the manner in which user participation was and still is effected in Telecom Éireann, and which offer unique insights into this multi-faceted phenomenon, are described herein. This case study not only illustrates why user participation is important for systems development in organizations, it also provides evidence that user participation is insufficient for success in systems development if appropriate attention is not given to change management issues associated with the implementation of developed systems. The lessons learned by Telecom Éireann in addressing such issues helped it to evolve its participative policies into a partnership approach to organizational change that helped ensure the success of its strategy of IT-enabled organizational transformation.
Managing the NICS Project at the Royal Canadian University
Authors: Iacovou Charalambos L.
Published: October 2011

This case describes the installation of an IBM mainframe computer at the Royal Canadian University. The goal of the described project was to establish a Numerically Intensive Computing Service (NICS) in order to provide “first-class” computing facilities to the researchers. Due to a number of factors, NICS failed to meet its objectives and the university abandoned the project within the first two years of its operations. The factors that contributed to its failure include: advancements in computing technology and changes in the computing style of end users; political and other nontechnical considerations in selecting the system; and the weak and adversarial relationship between the computer center staff and the senior university administrators. These factors, with a special emphasis on organizational issues, are discussed throughout the case. At the end of the case, the reader is invited to provide solutions for managing the current failure situation and minimizing its negative consequences.
Business Process Reengineering for the Use of Distance Learning at Bell Canada
Authors: Whalen Tammy , Wright David
Published: October 2011

The Bell Online Institute (BOLI) represents a radical change to the way Bell Canada provides internal training to its 27,000 employees. BOLI specializes in Web-based training, one type of technology enabled (distance) learning. Web-based training is a significant departure from the more traditional classroom-based practices at the Bell Institute for Professional Development, which is the organization that oversees all employee training at Bell Canada. This case study examines the use of Web-based training at Bell Canada in the context of business process reengineering. We present a theoretical context and a practical guide to how technology enabled learning changes the business processes in an organization. The study defines the processes that are required to deliver Web-based training, the value to the internal and external business practices of the organization, and the costs for each process. The wider applications of this case study are identified and will be of interest to those in other organizations that are moving from classroom delivered training to distance delivery. This case study describes changes in the organization that result from reengineering, including the impact Web-based learning has on training plans, student needs assessments, the ability to provide specialized curricula, training students and instructors in using new technologies, and establishing a principle of continuous improvement. Alternative ways of achieving project objectives are presented, along with organizational impact, technology alternatives, and cost-benefits.
Leveraging Objects for Mission-Critical Applications
Authors: Raisinghani Mahesh S. , Adams Bruce
Published: October 2011

This case study is based on an enterprise-wide consulting project for a financial services firm in a major metropolitan area of the southwest United States. This case addresses the underlying principles (i.e., techniques and processes) and real-world practical application of object orientation (O-O). The objectives of this case study are to reinforce the student’s foundation in fundamental OO concepts, to provide an in-depth example of the application of O-O analysis and design techniques and formalisms and to enable the student to transfer this knowledge to the student’s actual work. The merit of the development process described here, Compass, is that it presents a repeatable process for delivery of client server architectures, object oriented systems, and distributed objects and components. It helps manage three interdependent variables common to most projects, i.e., deliverables, resources, and time, in a cost effective and efficient manner. The concept behind Compass is to integrate the best-proven solutions currently available, drawing upon several best-ofbreed approaches used within the Information Services industry.
Virtual Communities and Social Capital
Authors: Blanchard Anita , Horan Tom
Published: October 2011

Robert Putnam (1993) has developed a theory of social capital to explain the effect of decreasing community participation and civic engagement on declining institutional performance. Subsequently, there has been much speculation as to whether emerging virtual communities can counteract this trend. We apply the findings of computer-mediated communication and virtual communities to the networks, norms, and trust of social capital and also examine the possible effects of virtual communities on the privatization of leisure time. We conclude that social capital and civic engagement will increase when virtual communities develop around physically based communities and when these virtual communities foster additional communities of interest. Through a preliminary analysis, we identified potential communities of interest including education, exchange of general community information, and opportunities for government and political participation. We conclude with a discussion of current trends and research needs.
The Co-Evolution of Society and Multimedia Technology
Authors: Stewart James , Williams Robin
Published: October 2011

Multimedia technology is becoming ubiquitous in modern society, and it is having profound effects on institutions and our expectations of the future. The technology is very fluid, and its development is shaped by a great many social factors. Prediction of the co-evolution of multimedia technology and society needs to be informed by a research framework that focuses attention on the key social, psychological, political and economic influences on technology and technology use, and the emergence of stable uses, infrastructures, standards and development paths. The paper criticises ‘technological determinist’ approaches, which simply seek to extrapolate social change from technological potential. It shows how a three layer model of component, systems and application technologies can be used to integrate findings from the use and development of technology in specific sectors. Three cases of technology-based predictions are examined, and lessons for understanding technology futures are illustrated by research in different industry and user sectors.
Ethics, Law and Information Technology
Authors: O’Connell Brian M.
Published: October 2011

Following a brief consideration of the role of rhetoric in law, science and policy, this chapter explores how rhetorical accounts of new technologies influence the course of legislative, judicial and regulatory decisions. It proposes that such themes have the powerful capacity to determine outcomes and to shape modern concepts of individual as well as societal freedoms and rights.
Technological Change, Virtual Learning, and Higher Education
Authors: Shields Mark A.
Published: October 2011

This chapter takes a critical look at the current enthusiasm for on-line distance education and virtual learning, as well as some deeper cultural and institutional implications of technological modernization for higher education’s future. I address four complex questions: Does computer-based instruction really improve pedagogy and add value to the learning process? Will the spread of computing and information technologies reinforce, even exacerbate, broader social inequalities? Can on-line education contribute to sustainable intellectual communities in cyberspace? Are pressures for commercialization undermining the ethos of higher education?
World Information Flows and the Impact of New Technology
Authors: Ferguson Kerry
Published: October 2011

Communication is the fastest growing industry in the world due to a transformation of world information flows caused by the convergence of telecommunication, information technology and mass media institutions. The emerging conglomerates are leading the world towards the information age. The new technology at their disposal is creating ever increasing world information flows which are changing political, economic and cultural landscapes, and redefining work, education and development. The speed and uptake of new technology could not have been predicted and its far reaching political, economic and social implications have only recently begun to emerge. This chapter argues an international communication policy is necessary to ensure the world does not divide into the information rich and the information poor.
Addressing the Metadata Gap
Authors: Murphy Lisa D.
Published: October 2011

Digital documents are crucial for day-to-day organizational work, but as yet their management is personalized, erratic, unsystematic; both the research on text databases and the practice of document management can benefit from an improved understanding of this complex context and the roles of metadata in it. We will review empirical studies of document work in organizations and consider both traditional and emerging roles for metadata in ad hoc document work settings. After identifying these roles, we will analyze a metadata standard implemented in HTML (the Dublin Core) for its suitability for supporting metadata use in this context. Directions for practice and research are offered prior to the concluding remarks.
Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management
Authors: Andreu Rafael , Sieber Sandra
Published: October 2011

In today’s competitive landscape firms must develop idiosyncratic, difficult-to-imitate capabilities. This requires effective knowledge deployment and development. In this chapter, we discuss why knowledge and organizational learning are crucial for today’s firms’ competitiveness and propose a model of individual and collective learning based on problem solving. We then explore its implications and examine how KM can be harnessed to foster learning in organizations.
Building Virtual Relationships in Distributed Organizational Environment
Authors: Ratcheva Violina , Vyakarnam Sahilendra
Published: October 2011

Small and medium-size companies are increasingly competing globally by forming horizontal alliances. To support this process there is a growing need for formation of virtual teams across company boundaries that can jointly develop new products and processes. A review of previous research shows that, although virtual teams have been well defined as a concept, the key variables involved in the formation of inter-organisational teams and the managerial implications remain comparatively unknown. The chapter provides a process perspective for researching virtual team formation and interaction patterns. By combining cross-disciplinary theoretical approaches, the reported study offers a conceptual overview for collective teaming in virtual settings. The research findings so far confirm that virtual team formation and evolution follow specific development patterns, which can be described as cyclical self-energising processes.
Intranets and Business Model Innovation
Authors: DeTienne Kristen Bell , Jensen Robert J.
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a conceptual/theoretical analysis of intranets and knowledge management in virtual organizations for both academics and practitioners. Virtual organizations are a major part of the new business models that have recently emerged. Intranets are introduced as a tool for managing knowledge in virtual, as well as traditional, organizations. The chapter begins with an overview of knowledge management and how it relates to virtual organizations, including a discussion of the forces creating the need for knowledge management and some of the components of knowledge management. The chapter then introduces intranets as a tool and methodology for managing knowledge, especially in virtual organizations. It discusses a number of key issues related to intranets and knowledge management, including the intranet’s ability to span geographic and temporal boundaries, to share information, to facilitate communication and to become a collaborative work space. Other issues discussed include methods for dealing with information overload, the ability of intranets to help provide identity and cohesion for virtual teams, and so forth. The chapter gives clear examples of how intranets are a vital knowledge management tool in virtual organizations, as well as in other new business models. Finally, the chapter ends with a discussion of future trends in intranets in connection with knowledge management in virtual organizations.
Organizing Global Knowledge Management in a Dispersed Organization
Authors: Pan Shan L.
Published: October 2011

Knowledge has been identified as one of the most important resources that contribute to the competitive advantage of an organization. Such realization has led to a number of studies that have attempted to understand how organizations explore and exploit knowledge from a technological perspective. However, the chapter aims to go beyond the technological perspective by addressing the organizational and social issues of organizing global knowledge sharing. The research is based on an empirical investigation of knowledge sharing processes from an international organization. Through the social construction approach, the chapter traces the interactions between global knowledge management (KM) practices and the organizational context over time.
Tailoring Software Development Processes Along TQM Concepts
Authors: Ditsa Geroge E.M.
Published: October 2011

A number of researchers (e.g., Rockart and Scott-Morton, 1984; Porter, 1985, 1992; Gilmour and Hunt, 1993; Leonard-Barton and Sinha, 1993; Alter, 1996) have emphasised the potential that information systems have for providing the competitive edge. The perception that an organisation is at a competitive disadvantage without computer systems has significantly increased users’ expectations for information systems. These expectations have been further increased by the sensational media promotions of new computer products and services in the marketplace. Some vendors, acting in their own self-interest, may make inflated claims about their products putting more gap between users’ expectations for information systems and the actual services delivered by the systems. The information technology industry has come under growing pressure to produce high-quality systems quickly and inexpensively to satisfy to growing user expectations (Lederer and Mendelow, 1990). This chapter looks at how some of the concepts of TQM can be applied to narrow the user expectations gap for information systems.
Systems Analysis with Workflow Modeling
Authors: Yen Vincent C.
Published: October 2011

Workflow modeling has received more attention in recent years since the publication of standards by the Workflow Management Coalition in 1995. In this chapter, we give a brief introduction to what workflow is and then discuss how workflow analysis may help facilitate standard analysis methodologies such as traditional analysis and the object-oriented analysis. An example is given to illustrate the usefulness of the workflow modeling as an added system analysis tool.
Process Model for Round-trip Engineering with Relational Database
Authors: Maciaszek Leszek A.
Published: October 2011

Iterative and incremental development of client/server database systems requires a round-trip engineering support, in particular in a design-implementation cycle. This paper identifies some more difficult round-trip engineering scenarios and defines processes needed to handle those scenarios. The processes conform to the current state-of-the-practice in forward and reverse engineering with relational databases. The paper identifies limitations of a tool-driven round-trip engineering. The limitations can be linked to three reasons: (1) the inability of a CASE/4GL tool to always generate correct incremental code after schema has been changed, (2) the need for a CASE/4GL to understand the reverse-engineered procedural parts written (or modified) in the implementation phase, (3) the requirement that a database content (extension) be re-instated at the end of each design-implementation cycle. Technical limitations introduce a risk that design models and a database implementation become misaligned and the design-implementation cycle cannot be continued for iterative and incremental software production. Project managers need a process model to impose necessary rigour on design and programming teams to alleviate technical restrictions. The paper defines a project management strategy that enforces appropriate automated and manual processes on database development teams.
Enhancing a Rigorous Reuse Process with Natural Language Requirement Specifications
Authors: Felice Laura , Leonardi Carmen , Favre Liliana , Mauco Maria Virginia
Published: October 2011

Reusability is the ability to use the same software elements for constructing many different applications. Formal specifications can help to semiautomatic design processes based on reusable components. However, during the first stages of development, when the interaction with the stakeholders is crucial, the use of client-oriented requirements engineering techniques seems to be necessary in order to enhance the communication between the stakeholders and the software engineers. In this chapter, we propose a systematic reuse approach that integrates natural language requirement specifications with formal specifications in RSL (RAISE Specification Language). On the one hand, some heuristics are described to develop a formal specification in RSL starting from models belonging to the Requirements Baseline. On the other hand, we have defined a reusable component model that integrates RSL specifications at different levels of abstraction, as well as presented a process with reuse based on the model.
Extended Spatiotemporal UML
Authors: Price Rosanne , Tryfona Nectaria , Jensen Christian S.
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents a conceptual modeling language for spatiotemporal applications that offers built-in support for capturing spatially referenced, time-varying information. More specifically, the well-known object-oriented Unified Modeling Language (UML) is extended to capture the semantics of spatiotemporal data. The extension, Extended Spatiotemporal UML, maintains language clarity and simplicity by introducing a small base set of fundamental modeling constructs: spatial, temporal, and thematic. These constructs can then be combined and applied at attribute, attribute group, association, and/or class levels of the object-oriented model; where the attribute group is an additional construct introduced for attributes with the same spatiotemporal properties. A formal functional specification of the semantic modeling constructs and their symbolic combinations is given and an example is used to illustrate the simplicity and flexibility of this approach.
Knowledge and Object-Oriented Approach for Interoperability of Heterogeneous Information Management Systems
Authors: Chung Chin-Wan , Kim Chang-Ryong , Dao Son
Published: October 2011

For the interoperability of heterogeneous information management systems, schema mapping approaches have been used to build a unified view. The schema mapping approach offers full transparencies and is very powerful from the user’s point of view. However, the traditional mapping approach needs to be strengthened for information management systems that have non-traditional data types, no schema, or incompatible schemas. We have incorporated numerous concepts and constructs associated with the knowledge and object-oriented paradigm such as abstract views with a set of procedures, encapsulation, inheritance and class composition hierarchies to resolve the above problem. This extension also accommodates the ability to determine and explicitly represent the semantics in the schema. Additionally, we have outlined a query processing method using the unified view. We are currently developing a prototype to support seamless access to structured data and unstructured data managed by different information management systems.
Characterization of the Pinda Reservoir (Angola): Delivering New Insight Through Advanced LWD Imaging Tools and Techniques
Authors: Railton Andrew , Clark Caroline Elizabeth , Celia Santos
Published: October 2011

The Pinda Reservoir was the first producing reservoir of the Lower Congo Basin in Angola and as such its mixed clastic and carbonate lithologies have been extensively characterized over the previous two decades. Understanding the Pinda Reservoir is often challenging due to highly complex lithologies and the relationships of secondary porosity to permeability. This paper describes how, use of advanced logging-while-drilling (LWD) imaging technologies, in combination with innovative real-time and post-processing methods delivers new insight into previously established interpretations of the reservoir.

The study used data acquired in two development wells drilled within the Pinda Reservoir offshore Angola. A selection of LWD images, of a quality never previously achieved within the Pinda Reservoir, were acquired. These included: bulk density, photoelectric effect, density correction (Delta-Rho), and high-resolution electrical images. In addition, real-time resistivity images were employed to identify intervals suitable for formation pressure testing and improve operational efficiency.

The overall objective of the acquisition programme was to effectively characterize the reservoir to the maximum possible extent given the technologies available. A key component of this was the imaging technology and examples are shown of the various image types and their associated interpretations. These included; structural dip computation, borehole quality indicators, sedimentological feature description, and characterization of fractures, faults and vugs as well as in-situ stress indicators.

Innovative methods of acquisition and analysis were deployed for the first time in Angola, delivering comprehensive evaluation of the formation and adding new understanding into what is historically the most significant producing reservoir in Angola. The operator now considers the acquisition of this type of data as a key component to the future development of the Pinda Reservoir.

Introduction

The reservoir data used in this study was obtained from two wells (Angola_x12 and Angola_x15) which formed part of a three-well infield drilling programme undertaken in an offshore block Angola. The primary well objectives for Angola_x12 and Angola-x15 were to assess and produce hydrocarbon from the Pinda Reservoir.
Challenges and Solutions of Stimulating Carbonate Reservoirs in Timano-Pechora, Russia
Authors: Faizov Yuri , Levanyuk Olesya Vladimirovna , Fu Diankui , Ivanova Olga , Lungwitz Bernhard R. , Mauth Kevin D.
Published: October 2011

Located in northern Russian, the Timano-Pechora province covers a large variety of oil and gas fields with different formation properties and characteristics. These include formation temperatures (BHST) ranging from ~ 40°C to ~100°C, permeability of 20 to 400 mD, and the presence of 1 to 3% H2S. Many wells have long, perforated intervals of up to 80 to 100 m and produce heavy oil with high-wax-appearance. Stimulation treatments in the region also face such operational challenges as harsh surface weather conditions, difficulty in flowback from low formation pressure, and long shut-in times. Because most of the wells have electric submersible pumps (ESPs) in place, well interventions are often limited to straddle packer or coiled-tubing operations. Some wells are remotely located, with only 2 to 3 months of road accessibility. In addition, there is limited information available for wells to be treated. The supply and purity of acids, as well as inhibitors added by the manufacturer, can also present potential problems, such as incompatibility with other additives and formation of emulsions.

To address the challenges of acidizing in the Timano-Pechora region, a comprehensive laboratory and field approach was applied. To achieve better zonal coverage in these heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs, a viscoelastic surfactant (VES)-based self-diverting acid system was deployed. It consists of a VES and HCl. The new system self-diverts triggered by the increases in viscosity as the acid dissolves calcite and dolomite. The viscosity of spent fluid is reduced by produced hydrocarbon, leaving no solid residue to cause formation damage. Field results demonstrate the effectiveness of the new acid system. The simplicity of the system makes it the fluid of choice, especially in sour environments. The absence of metallic crosslinkers in this system eliminates problems associated with sulfide precipitation in sour wells.

Introduction

Timano-Pechora oil and gas province is located in Northern Russia spanning across Komi republic, Arkhangelsk and Nenets regions (see regional map in Fig. 1). This remote region covers a large variety of oil and gas fields with different formation properties and characteristics, formations and challenges. Although exploration drilling was started as early as1890, the first light oil field (Chibyuskoe field) was only discovered 40 years later in 1930, which was followed with heavy oil field (Yaregskoe field) in 1932. The region currently has more than 75 fields representing over 230 different carbonate and sandstone formations. Those oilfields, both brown and green, are owned by several government and private E&P companies. While the brown fields are mostly on third development stage, the green fields are located extremely remotely with almost no road accessibility.
Extended Reach Wells Outside Of Industry Standard Practices
Authors: Biddle Nathan Allan , Camargo Gabriel Rocha , Dos Santos Pena Vila Priscila , Collares Andre , Orellana Grover Luis , Beasley Roy , Brecknock David
Published: October 2011

Drilling shallow water directional wells with a reach vs. vertical depth ratio of 2.6:1 to a TVD of ~2200m has become a routine practice in the industry. Extended reach wells with this profile are no longer considered "extreme reach" and standard practices are being taught and implemented on a daily basis. An example of these standard extended reach practices include applications such as; controlled ROP's, cuttings bed clean-up cycles, high 3-6rpm mud rheologies, casing flotation, frequent drag tests and minimized backreaming. These practices have been tested and proven in numerous wells. However, following these standards does not always lead to the best results or most efficient well construction.

The Polvo project is a shallow water development located in the South part of the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil. During development drilling, both well design and drilling procedures stepped away from the extended reach "standards", resulting in improvement in drilling performance and wellbore quality. Several unorthodox drilling practices that were implemented on Polvo contributed to the drilling team setting various Brazilian records for longest extended reach wellbore and fastest ROP in two different hole sizes.

This paper intends to summarize the successes that were achieved on Polvo and detail the drilling practices that were implemented. The focus of the paper is on practices that went against industry standards and were proven to improve ROP, decrease trip time and improve casing running which provided a 35% overall reduction in well delivery time and cost.

Emphasis is placed on lessons learned that were applied to design and operations for the drilling of the Pol-O ERD well (Measured depth of 6,489m and step-out of 5,615 m). Pol-O is the Brazilian record holding well for total step-out and ROP in 8-1/2?? hole size.

As development of new fields in Brazil increases, the importance of efficiently drilling extended reach wells is becoming critical. The experiences and learning's on Polvo can assist the industry (expressly in the Campos Basin) with drilling practices to improve performance and decrease well delivery cost.

Introduction

The Polvo field is located approximately 100km off the southeastern coast of Rio de Janeiro state in the Campos Basin (Figure 1). The development area is situated within the BMC-8 block which was acquired in the 2nd round of lease auctions in Brazil by Devon Energy do Brasil (Devon). In May 2011, all of Devon's assets were acquired by BP Energy do Brasil (BP) whom currently owns and operates the Polvo field. All development drilling in the Polvo field takes place from a platform based drilling rig above a total water depth of 104m (NOTE: All depths listed in this paper are based upon RKB, therefore water depth is included).
A Flow Assurance Assessment Of Possible Low Temperature Excursions Within A Flowline/Pipeline System
Authors: Mcdermott Chris , Dewalt Brad
Published: October 2011

During the course of a flow assurance analysis of most deepwater field developments, low temperature excursions within the flowline/pipeline system is an area of concern that sometimes receives too little attention or is frequently not considered early enough in the design process. If this issue is not adequately addressed, it may limit the operational flexibility of the development, compromise material selection or certification and result in potential operational hazards being overlooked.

This paper will attempt to address these concerns while discussing the following aspects of this important design issue:–Description of operational scenarios where low temperature excursions are likely to occur.–Considerations in selecting applicable design cases while cautioning against selection of design cases that result in overly restrictive design criteria.–Review of relevant design guidelines and codes currently applicable to low temperature design issues.–Overview of design procedures for effectively evaluating low temperature excursions.–Modeling considerations when evaluating low temperature excursions using a variety of simulation tools.–The possible impact on project interfaces and the resulting effects on project schedule and challenges to equipment certification.–Overview of remedial measures if low temperature excursions present operational problems.

In addition, this paper will include two design examples:–Low temperature on start up across a subsea choke valve.–Low temperature excursion due to rapid depressurization of a small pipeline volume, e.g. riser only blowdown.

These design examples will be used to examine the issues stated above while providing a useful heuristic to assess any low temperature design issues within a flowline/pipeline system.

Introduction

The focus of this paper will be on low temperature excursions that occur within the subsea domain of an offshore system. This paper will not consider the low temperatures experienced in a topside flare system downstream of a blowdown valve, which is often a valid concern but is typically examined in detail during the topsides design.

The two main scenarios that the paper will consider are:Low temperature across a subsea choke during the cold restart of a well: If the system downstream of the choke has been depressurized to a low pressure prior to restarting the well, there will be a large differential pressure across the valve due to potentially high shut in tubing pressures. If the tubing is filled with a gas column, very low temperatures can be experienced downstream of the subsea choke due to Joule Thomson cooling during restart. The magnitude of the temperature drop will be impacted by the fluid composition and the initial pressure differential.Blowdown of a gas filled riser: When a small volume of gas is depressurized, the gas will undergo a rapid expansion, which can result in low temperatures upstream of a topsides blowdown valve.
Feedback from Experience on Structural Integrity of Floating Offshore Installations
Authors: Biasotto Paulo , Rouhan Antoine
Published: October 2011

Industry has experienced a significant increasing on the number of floating systems in the recent years. Current order book and potential projects under study indicate also that this number might increase even more significantly along the next 10 years. At some point in their lives, these facilities will present ageing signs such as corrosion, buckling and fatigue.

The paper provides feedback from experience on structural integrity assessment of production and drilling units and presents significative technical aspects identified along several projects. Failure mechanisms such as corrosion, fatigue and buckling are discussed, as well the techniques to analysis and assess structural integrity, remediations to address anomalies and defects, inspection planning and execution.

The use of adequate techniques and new technologies are important parameters in the overall integrity management process, but there might not be a single right way or process to ensure structural integrity, thus consensus may not be always achieved. Nevertheless, a successful implementation and continuation of Structural Integrity Management programs is strongly dependent on operators understanding of risks and potential consequences, in such way that integrity managers and staff involved in integrity activities are committed with such programs and they are well understood by stakeholders and across different organizations.

The paper will highlight best practices and procedures applied to structural integrity management of floating offshore installations, including not only technical aspects, but also integrity management review process, data and communication management.
The Role of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in Deepwater Life of Field Integrity Management
Authors: Mcleod Daniel , Jacobson John R.
Published: October 2011

Integrity Management of deepwater fields requires routine general visual inspections of critical infrastructure. To date the only means of conducting general visual inspection is through the use of ROVs. Deepwater ROV spreads are large and heavy requiring large support vessels with dynamic positioning capability and a significant number of personnel at sea.

The capabilities of unmanned underwater vehicles have been enhanced through developments in Autonomous technology progressing to the point that autonomous underwater vehicles can now routinely conduct general visual inspection of subsea facilities. Benefits of Autonomous inspection include:–Reduced cost of operations–Faster inspection–Automatic Change Detection–Georegistered inspection data–Simultaneous operations from a single support vessel–Large standoff distances from the facility being inspected–Increased safety of operations–Reduced environmental impact–Reduced specification requirements on support vessel○Smaller footprint○Dynamic Positioning not required