bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RETHINKING BITUMEN: FROM “BULLSHIT” TO A “MATTER OF CONCERN”
Authors: Gordon Jonathan
Published: April 2015

What is the current state of discourse about bitumen and how might it be changed? Philosopher Harry Frankfurt defines “bullshit” as any attempt at persuasion that is “unconnected to a concern with the truth” (Frankfurt). By looking at a variety of recent examples from the debates over bitumen extraction, “Rethinking Bitumen” argues that these debates have many of the characteristics that Frankfurt ascribes to “bullshit.” It is argued further that the debate’s disconnect from a concern with truth is rooted in what Bruno Latour calls “matters of fact” (“Critique” 226).  Attempts to persuade are built on “matters of fact”—which can be debunked by both sides as ideological—when they should be founded on the ecological consciousness of what Latour calls “matters of concern” (ibid.) Literature offers one means of effecting this transition from “matters of fact” to “matters of concern.” This article considers Marc Prescott’s play Fort Mac as one example of a literary text that creates an opportunity for engaging in ecological thinking about bitumen and for deploying affect and sensation to change the prevailing values about it, to see bitumen as a “matter of concern.”
CARBON DEMOCRACY: HISTORICIZING FRICTION?
Authors: Simpson Mark
Published: April 2015

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THIS IS NOT A PIPELINE: THOUGHTS ON THE POLITICO-AESTHETICS OF OIL
Authors: Pendakis Andrew , Biemann Ursula
Published: April 2015

This piece is a dialogue between Andrew Pendakis and video artist Ursula Biemann. In it they attempt to work through questions pertaining to the aesthetics of petroculture: How can one represent oil? Is there a generalized aesthetics of oil? What are the linkages between oil and secrecy? What strategies are best avoided in attempting to force into visibility the complex realities of oil culture?
Portfolio
Authors: Ury Tanya
Published: April 2015

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PORTRAITS D’UN IMAGINAIRE DE L’AVANT-GARDE : LE CARRÉ NOIR SUR FOND BLANC DE KAZIMIR MALEVITCH ET SES RÉINCARNATIONS ARTISTIQUES
Authors: Cloutier Geneviève
Published: April 2015

Kazimir Malevitch’s “Black Square” (1915) is one of the most recycled paintings in recent art history. More or less successfully, respectfully or ironically, artists from all around have gleefully reproduced it, ridiculed it, embezzled it and recycled it. In Russia, such has been the gravity of this phenomenon for the last thirty years, so that, it led to contemporary Russian art not being perceived as derived from Malevitch but on Malevitch. By retracing the long and tumultuous history of “Black Square” and its numerous artistic ‘reincarnations,’ this essay focuses on what these practices of reproduction tell us about the attitude of artists towards “Black Square” itself but also, perhaps mainly, about their relationship to an avant-garde with a controversial heritage of which this painting became the icon.
THE AESTHETICS OF VIOLENCE AND POWER IN ULI EDEL’S DER BAADER MEINHOF KOMPLEX
Authors: Soltau Noah
Published: April 2015

The confluence of art, politics, and aesthetics has a troubled and troubling history, and the article reflects on that by examining the aesthetics of Uli Edel’s filmDer Baader Meinhof Komplex in terms of its use of iconic historical and—in terms of film history—stereotypical images. The absence of conventional narrative structures in the film opens it up to methods of understanding and critique that use image and montage as a means of analysis, rather than examining a cogent (because absent) narrative. By cataloguing the use of different genre conventions and iconic film images and tropes, the article points toward the development of a “terror(ism)” genre.
ASKEW POSITIONS—SCHIEFLAGEN: DEPICTIONS OF CHILDREN IN GERMAN TERRORISM FILMS
Authors: Stehle Maria
Published: April 2015

This essay discusses the appearance of children in films that negotiate the legacies of West left-wing German and global terrorism. The four films discussed in this essay depict children in Schieflagen (askew positions), but use these images to create rather different political messages. InDeutschland im Herbst (1978), Die bleierene Zeit(1981) and Innere Sicherheit (2000), children are melodramatic devices that convey a sense of national tragedy, nostalgia for “innocence,” and/or a nationally coded sense of hope. As opposed to representing such an uncanny mixture between melodramatic victim and national symbol, children in the recent film collaborationDeutschland 09 (2009) are the face of the present. Deutschland 09 depicts children as disconnected from German history, which relieves them of the burden of national representation and, as a result, offers a potential for a less normative and more diverse perspective on Germany’s history and present. While their missing connection to national history leaves them to appear detached and confused, this confusion can be read as a search for different understandings of history and belonging in twenty-first century Germany.
Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrated by Female Partners of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom Veterans
Authors: LaMotte Adam D. , Taft Casey T. , Weatherill Robin P. , Panuzio Scott Jillian , Eckhardt Christopher I.
Published: April 2015

The problem of intimate partner violence (IPV) is increasingly being studied among military populations, although there is a dearth of research examining IPV perpetrated against male veterans by their female partners. Returning veterans and their partners face several unique difficulties, including psychological and relationship distress, which may be important factors related to the partners’ perpetration of IPV. This study investigates correlates of psychological and physical IPV perpetrated by female partners of male Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans. Specifically, the correlates examined include female partners’ relationship satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as veterans’ relationship satisfaction, PTSD symptoms, and psychological and physical IPV perpetration. Results indicated several significant correlates of female partners’ psychological and physical IPV perpetration, including veterans’ psychological and physical IPV, veterans’ and partners’ relationship satisfaction, and veterans’ PTSD symptoms. In regression analyses, veterans’ psychological IPV was the only unique predictor of female partners’ psychological IPV, and veterans’ physical IPV was the only unique predictor of female partners’ physical IPV. Findings emphasize the role of veteran factors in their partners’ IPV perpetration.
Prediction of Remaining Life in Pipes using Machine Learning from Thickness Measurements
Authors: Sharifi Mona , Yao Ke-Thia , Raghavendra S. , Ershaghi Iraj , House Robert , Blouin Jacques
Published: April 2015

Offshore oil and gas platforms facilities include extensive piping components, pressure vessels, and other equipment. These are monitored regularly to minimize non-conformances for safety and integrity of platforms. This paper focuses on using field measurements of thickness in pipes to alert engineers to take appropriate actions when thickness falls below the minimum thickness. Data from the field at various thickness measurement locations (TMLs) are used to analyze for finding anomalies. Inspectors periodically measure at TMLs on pipes and record the thickness values. Based on these measurements they determine the remaining life time at a location before thickness falls below the minimum thickness. They do this by estimating corrosion rates and then calculate the next measurement date. When the measured thickness value at a TML is below the minimum they will issue action reports. With multiple measurements of thickness values at TMLs, we have developed a machine learning framework and algorithms to generate action alerts before corrosion lead to non-conformances. This approach is based on machine learning techniques to learn from examples when certain TMLs will have below the minimum thickness. Such alert prediction models are from a purely data driven approach and can help in prioritizing inspection schedule. The results show that our approach using machine learning is effective in capturing potential nonconformances in TMLs.
A Practical Approach to History-Matching Water-recycling in Waterflood Reservoir Simulation - Method and Case Studies in South Belridge Diatomite Waterflood
Authors: Yang Zhengming , Urdaneta Alfredo H.
Published: April 2015

Premature water breakthrough (water recycling) negatively affects waterfloods in low permeability, naturally fractured reservoirs such as the South Belridge Diatomite. Water recycling reduces the effectiveness of waterflooding by partially or entirely bypassing the reservoir matrix where most of the reservoir fluids are stored. Reservoir simulation is handicapped by the inability to accurately characterize the architecture and dynamic nature of the natural and induced fractures that yield high conductivity flow paths between injectors and producers. Generally, reservoir simulation can only represent the effective fluid flow by ignoring the ineffective water production that bypasses the matrix.

Detailed production performance analysis yields a practical approach to history-match the waterflood process under premature water breakthrough conditions. Basic reservoir rock-fluid flow characterization parameters must be tuned by history-match of primary production before water injection related effects dominate fluid flow under waterflooding. An analytical waterflood method is used to diagnose premature water breakthrough on a well-to-well basis and to calculate the volume of ineffective water injection. Effective injection and water production volumes are recalculated and used to achieve a history-match that honors oil production, reservoir pressure and injection/production volume balance. A field-scale case study is presented to demonstrate the application of the proposed approach.
Practical Concerns and Principle Guidelines for Screening, Implementation, Design, and Optimization of Low Salinity Waterflooding
Authors: Dang Cuong T.Q. , Nguyen Ngoc T.B. , Chen Zhangxin
Published: April 2015

Low Salinity Waterflooding (LSW) is an emerging attractive enhanced oil recovery method; however, the concept of LSW is relatively new and, most references focus only on the experimental and theoretical work, with somewhat contradictory results. This paper presents a systematic research to address the practical key points and various aspects of LSW design and development in terms of reservoir screening, fluid design, well placement, geological impact, and process optimization.

The starting point of this research is to analyze and compile a wide range of published results in the past twenty years. The general observations and proposed mechanisms are examined against each other to reveal the main reasons of the incremental oil recovery by LSW. Among the proposed hypotheses, wettability alteration towards more water wetness has been found as the main mechanism of LSW. Up to now, this hypothesis has been widely accepted and rigorously supported by recent explorations and results in this research area. Although LSW has been proven that it can significantly improve the ultimate oil recovery, injection of low salinity brine is not always guaranteed for an incremental oil recovery as indicated by several failure projects in promising reservoir candidates in the past. To overcome this challenge, a pre-screening criterion for LSW and hybrid LSW is introduced by taking into account the crucial effects of reservoir characterizations as well as facilities and operating conditions. Subsequently, we address the important key points for a LSW injection fluid design and the critical role of clay and well placement to the LSW performance. Finally, we discuss several effective approaches to maximize oil recovery in a LSW project.
Hollow-Glass Sphere Application in Drilling Fluids: Case Study
Authors: Minhas Arminder , Friess Brandon , Shirkavand Farid , Hucik Barry , Pena-Bastidas Teresa , Ross Bradley , Servinski Shawn , Angyal Frank
Published: April 2015

In an effort to continuously optimize drilling operations and economics, an operator examined the impact of adding hollow-glass spheres (HGS) directly to the drilling fluid formulation instead of performing underbalanced drilling operations. Both nitrogen and HGS were believed to reduce hydrostatic pressure of the mud column in the hole, resulting in higher drilling rates of penetration (ROP) and fewer mud losses to the wellbore.

Invert emulsion fluid was blended with HGS on three drilling rigs using a specialized, environmentally acceptable mixing system to help reduce density. HGS concentration and fluid density were monitored and maintained while drilling over the period of one to three weeks for these three wells. The proper type of centrifuge and its setup is fundamental to maintaining low-gravity solids (LGS) at an acceptable level for proper fluid management while maintaining the desired concentration of HGS.

Drilling mud density was reduced, as expected, and mud loss was minimized as a result. Overall costs were reduced because of less invert emulsion fluid loss, a reduction in the amount of lost-circulation material mixed compared to previous wells in the area, and less time spent on the drilling rig attributed to not having to stop to mix lost-circulation material or prepare new invert emulsion fluid volumes to replace losses. A significant ROP increase was not observed during this trial. The addition of HGS is a cost-effective solution to help reduce fluid loss in the Kakwa field of the Western Canadian Sedimentary basin. This trial helped reduce overall rig time, and fluid loss experienced was less than in previous wells in which this technology was not used.

This paper provides information on HGS as an economic alternative to nitrogen to help reduce the hydrostatic pressure of invert emulsion drilling fluids using a small-footprint, environmentally acceptable mixing system.
Methods to Maximize Completion Efficiency in the Eagle Ford Reservoir
Authors: Smith Charles H , Bashkirtseva Alena
Published: April 2015

Unconventional reservoirs depend on an effective system of completion to achieve good production. The rock is less rigid than conventional formations and, in some circumstances, will display a plastic nature. Portions of the rock could demonstrate a flow capacity that could complicate flow paths created by fracture stimulation. The Eagle Ford exhibits some of these potentially troublesome characteristics.

Dipole sonic logs have been used to establish Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio for the frac design. These same measurements are useful in unconventional reservoirs, but more complex data are necessary. Traditional two-dimensional (2-D) models of these values do not necessarily maintain their relationship in the horizontal portions of the well. The determination of vertical and horizontal components of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio from the dipole sonic can be incorporated into the treatment design.

The ability of the reservoir fluids to migrate through the fractures created by the treatment also requires some additional attention. If the fluids will not release into the created fractures, this portion of the reservoir will be unproductive. Just as in traditional reservoirs, permeability must be defined as an important reservoir parameter. Permeability established by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) determines the most efficient treatment area of the reservoir. These considered together help provide the best potential completion in unconventional reservoirs, including the Eagle Ford.

This paper includes examples of the NMR determination of apparent permeability, along with examples of dipole-sonic vertical and horizontal calculations from the Eagle Ford. These calculations are used to determine the best landing horizon for the horizontal well and the best completion sections in the horizontal wellbore.
New Rotary Steerable Drilling System Delivers Extensive Formation Evaluation for High Build Rate Wells
Authors: Biscaro Enrico , D'Alessandro John David , Moreno Adriana , Hahn Matthias , Lamborn Raymond , Al-Naabi Mohammed H. , Bowser Aaron C.
Published: April 2015

A new high build-up rate (HBR) rotary-steerable drilling system (RSS) with comprehensive logging-while-drilling (LWD) capabilities was developed and commercialized. The new HBR RSS was designed to provide extensive LWD services, including propagation and deep resistivity, neutron and density porosity measurements, borehole imaging and many others at build-up rates up to 12°/100 ft. Using closed-loop control and a short steering sleeve that decouples steering functionality from drilling dynamics, the system can perform open-hole sidetracks and drill high dogleg severity (DLS) curves and laterals in one run with precise directional control and well placement, without exceeding the fatigue limits of the LWD tools.

In many areas around the world, rotary-steerable systems have replaced steerable motors because of the inherent advantages of RSS technology [1], including improved directional control, reduced wellbore tortuosity [2] and comprehensive logging-while-drilling (LWD) measurements. However, some applications require drilling and evaluating wellbores with higher build-up rates (BUR) than possible with a standard RSS. Developments in drilling tool design have increased the achievable BUR of rotary steerable systems to values on par with those of steerable motors. This achievement introduces a challenge related to the bending loads of the sophisticated LWD tools positioned behind the HBR RSS. When run with a steerable motor, the high bending loads on the LWD tools are primarily in static, because the curvature is created in a sliding mode of the drillstring. When run with a HBR RSS, the LWD tools are exposed to high cyclic bending loads because the string is constantly rotating. As a result of this challenge, the selection of LWD measurements available in HBR RSS applications is very limited.

The authors present the design, simulation criteria and commercial results of the new HBR RSS in several operating environments, including the Western region of the USA and the Middle East. Drilling high DLS curves increased the length of laterals by several hundred feet, enabling additional reservoir exposure and ultimate recovery. The system drilled entire sections in one run and improved operational efficiency by the elimination of sliding. If formation tops arrived unexpectedly, or faults were encountered during geo-steering, the new HBR RSS system reduced the out of zone depth interval, thereby increasing recoverable reserves. The innovative HBR RSS system is used in many applications around the world to drill and evaluate complex wells with high DLS, as well as straight laterals, with precision and efficiency.

Lessons learned during the commercial application of this functionality and technologies are presented with the industry to ensure the maximum value is achieved in the shortest amount of time possible.
Modeling and Simulation of WAG Injection Processes - The Role of Counter-Current Flow
Authors: Sherafati Marjan , Jessen Krisitan
Published: April 2015

In this work, we investigate the effect of flow reversals from co-current to counter-current flow on the displacement performance of Water Alternating Gas (WAG) injection processes. In WAG processes, gas migrates towards the top of the formation while water tends to move towards the bottom of the formation. The segregation of gas, oil and water phases will result in counter-current flow occurring in the vertical direction in the reservoir. Previous experimental and theoretical studies of counter-current flow have shown that the relative mobility of each of the phases in the system is considerably less when counter-current flow prevails as compared to co-current flow settings. A reduction of relative permeability in the vertical direction results in a dynamic anisotropy in relative mobility. This effect has, to the best of our knowledge, not previously been considered in the simulation of WAG processes.

A new flow model that accounts for flow reversals in the vertical direction has been introduced into a three-phase compositional IMPEC simulator. In order to investigate the impact of flow reversals, results from the new flow model are compared to cases where counter-current flow effects are ignored. A range of displacement settings, covering relevant gravity numbers and miscibility conditions (near-miscible and multi-contact miscible), have been investigated to gauge the impact of mobility reductions due to flow reversals. Simulations with different slug sizes are also included in this study. Significant differences, in terms of saturation distribution and oil recoveries, are observed between the conventional flow model (ignoring mobility reductions due to counter-current flow) and the proposed new model accounting for counter-current flow effects on phase mibilty in the vertical direction. Accordingly, we recommend that an explicit representation of flow transitions between co-current and counter-current flow (and the related impact on phase mobilities) should be considered to ensure accurate and optimal design of Water Alternating Gas injection processes.
Stability Analysis of Multilateral High Density Pad Wells in the Three Forks Formation
Authors: Ostadhassan M. , Zamiran S. , Jabbari H. , Osouli A. , Bubach B. , Oster B.
Published: April 2015

In order to increase the productivity from the Three Forks Formation, drilling horizontal well and multilateral ones, in particular, seems inevitable. A multilateral well is defined as a single well with one or more wellbore branches radiating from a main vertical borehole. A successful multilateral well that replaces several vertical wellbores will not only increase production, but also reduces overall drilling and completion costs, and allows more efficient hydraulic fracturing operations. Reducing surface impoacts while developing a field is a major benefit of this drilling plan. Well placement and design to have enough stability where in-situ stresses are disturbed dramatically due to short well spacing and stress shadowing is a crucial task, which should be studied prior to any drilling operation. Instability problems in multilateral wells can result from stress interplay among nearby wellbores.

In this paper, instability of the borehole around the horizontal section of the high-density multilaterals, also known as pad drilling is studied. This drilling technique is growing very fast in the Williston Basin to increase production from two main hydrocarbon layers in the basin, Bakken and Three Forks Formations. Focusing on the Three Forks Formation, mechanical properties of this rock unit such as Poisson's ratio, Young's modulus and Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) have been extensively investigated and reported through filed data and lab experiments. These parameters, along with the calculated in-situ principal horizontal and vertical stresses, were input into a numerical simulation software, Flac 2D, to understand drilling impacts and to analyze borehole instability through a geomechanical model. For the final results, we have presented stress perturbation, rock displacements and creation of different failure zones around the borehole in the vertical and horizontal direction after the medium is penetrated.
Low-Salinity Brine Enhances Oil Production in Liquids-Rich Shale Formations
Authors: Nguyen Christina , Kothamasu Ramya , He Kai , Xu Liang
Published: April 2015

Low-salinity waterflooding has proven to be an appealing technique for enhancing oil recovery in conventional reservoirs. However, few studies have been conducted on low-salinity brines (LSBs) for hydraulic fracturing in liquids-rich shale plays with or without surfactant. Additionally, as operators tend to shift from fresh water to 100% produced water, the implications of such a switch must be understood from a production standpoint. Therefore, the effects of LSBs on oil recovery from liquids-rich shale should be investigated.

In this study, LSBs with or without surfactant were injected into the crushed, oil saturated Muskwa shale from Canada. Laboratory results suggest that LSB (≤4% KCl) extracts more hydrocarbon than high salinity brine (HSB) (≥8% KCl). Notably, additional oil recovery was observed when surfactant was used in LSB. Interfacial tension (IFT) reduction decreased with increasing salinity but remained constant for LSB with surfactants across all salinities examined. Short-lived oil in water emulsions were observed in LSB in the presence of surfactant. Additionally, LSBs with surfactant were injected into a microfluidic based reservoir on a chip (ROC) device, where pore size was comparable to that of shale. The visualized oil recovery on the ROC was consistent with that found in core flooding tests.

These reported results provide a potential methodology for optimizing source water before hydraulic fracturing operations. LSBs with properly tailored surfactant additives are imperative to helping enhance well productivity.
Conductivity of Proppant-Packs under Variable Stress Conditions: An Integrated 3D Discrete Element and Lattice Boltzman Method Approach
Authors: Mollanouri Shamsi M.M. M , Farhadi Nia Sh. , Jessen K.
Published: April 2015

The conductivity of the proppant-pack plays a critical role in the productivity of a hydraulically fractured well. Here we combine the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and the Lattice Boltzmann Model (LBM) to investigate the conductivity of proppant-packs under variable confining stress. Three different proppant-packs including well graded, uniformly graded and poorly graded proppants are used to generate loose packing of spherical rigid particles with no initial contact. We then use a DEM algorithm, with specified confining stress, to compact the proppant-packs. A representative elementary volume of the pack is subsequently used for fluid flow simulations. LBM is used to calculate a detailed flow field at the pore scale and the Darcy-scale permeability is then calculated from the average pore-scale velocity and pressure information. The results show, as expected, that the porosity and permeability of the proppant-pack decreases with increasing confining pressure. The permeability of well graded proppant-packs is more sensitive to the stress while uniformly graded packs are more permeable than poorly graded proppant-packs. The calculated permabilities are in good agreement with available experimental data for a range of confining pressures. In addition, the permeability estimated from the Kozeny-Carman equation based on calculated porosities compares well with calculated permeabilities.
Shale Asset Production Evaluation by Using Pattern Recognition
Authors: Esmaili S. , Mohaghegh S. D. , Kalantari-Dahaghi A.
Published: April 2015

Shale gas as one of the most important source of energy in US requires long-term development plans and reservoir management. Better understanding of the inherent complexities of shale system and identifying the key contributing parameters are essential for optimum operation of such assets. Different assessment techniques such analytical, numerical and statistical analyses have been applied to large multi-variable data set from shale assets with different degrees of success.

In this paper, advanced Data-Driven Analytics that incorporates pattern recognition capabilities of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Mining is used to understand and rank the contribution and influence of rock characteristics and design parameters during the production from shale. Advanced Data-Driven Analytics provides much needed insight into hydraulic fracturing practices in Shale. Unlike analytical and numerical techniques that are based on “Soft Data,” Advanced Data-Driven Analytics incorporates “Hard Data”. “Hard Data” refers to field measurements (facts) such as drilling information, well logs (Gamma ray, density, sonic, etc.), hydraulic fracturing fluid type and amount, proppant type, amount and concentration, ISIP, breakdown and closure pressures, and rates, while “Soft Data” refers to variables that are interpreted, estimated or guessed (and never measured), such as hydraulic fracture half length, height, width and conductivity or the extent of the Stimulated Reservoir Volume (SRV).

In this study, a spatio-temporal database including well locations and trajectories, reservoir characteristics, completion, hydraulic fracturing, and production parameters for a large number of horizontal wells in Marcellus Shale is generated. The impact of parameters such as up-dip versus down dip deviation of wells, TOC, porosity, stimulated lateral length and cluster spacing, etc. on production from wells in a shale asset is analyzed and the understandable trends and patterns in the database are identified. The analyses are performed using production from multiple time intervals (i.e. different production indicators) throughout the life of wells.
Spontaneous Imbibition Study: Effect of Connate Water Composition on Low-Salinity Waterflooding in Sandstone Reservoirs
Authors: Shehata Ahmed M. , Nasr El-Din Hisham A.
Published: April 2015

Extensive experimental work has indicated that low-salinity waterflooding is an enhanced oil recovery technique that improves oil recovery by lowering and optimizing the salinity of the injected water. Most of the low-salinity waterflooding studies focused on the injection brine salinity and composition. The question remains, how does the salinity and composition of the reservoir connate water affect the low-salinity waterflooding performance? Therefore, in this work different connate water compositions were used to investigate the role of reservoir connate water on the performance of low-salinity waterflooding.

In this paper, nine spontaneous imbibitions experiments were performed. Two sandstone types (Bandera and Buff Berea) with different clay contents were used. The mineralogy of the rock samples was assessed by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray fluorescence. This work describes the experimental studies of the spontaneous imbibition of oil by low-salinity and high-salinity brines using 20 in. length outcrop samples. The main objectives of the spontaneous imbibition study was to investigate the role of the composition of the reservoir connate water (Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+), the effect of rock permeability, and test the effect of temperature (77 and 150°F) on the performance of the low-salinity waterflooding recovery. The volume of the produced oil was monitored and recorded against time on a daily basis. Imbibition brine samples were analyzed at the end of each experiment.

Results demonstrate that the spontaneous imbibition oil recovery ranged from 38 to 69% OOIP for high permeability Buff Berea cores (164-207.7 md), while oil recovery of the low permeability Bandera cores (31.1-39.2 md) ranged from 20 to 51.5% OOIP at 77°F and 14.7 psia. The oil recovery decreased when the average pore-throat radius decreased. The reservoir connate water composition has a dominant influence on the oil recovery rate. The changes in the ion composition of reservoir connate water (Ca2+, Mg2+, and Na+) showed a measurable change in the oil production trend. Reservoir cores saturated with connate water containing divalent cations of Ca+2 and Mg+2 showed higher oil recovery than for cores saturated with monovalent cations Na+. In all cases, a measurable ion exchange was observed, while there was no significant change in the pH of the imbibition brine during the experiment. The ions exchange effect was more pronounced than the pH effect in the low-salinity waterflooding performance for Buff Berea and Bandera sandstone. As the temperature increased from 77 to 150°F, an additional oil recovery up to 15.4% of OOIP was observed by spontaneous imbibition for Buff Berea cores.
Capillary Pressure Measurement using Reservoir Fluids in a Middle Bakken Core
Authors: Karimi S. , Kazemi H.
Published: April 2015

In the United States, the organic-rich shale resource has become a great source of high-quality light oil to meet the domestic energy demand. For reservoir evaluation and enhanced oil recovery planning, knowing shale wettability characteristics is critical. To address these issues, we measured a series of capillary pressures in a shale sample using formation fluids. Specifically we measured drainage, imbibition, and forced imbibition capillary pressures to quantify wettability, and the mobile fluid saturation window in the shale matrix.

In this study, we report on the use of a centrifuge to generate a complete envelope of drainage and imbibition capillary pressure data for a Middle Bakken core plug. In addition to capillary pressure measurement, we measured the irreducible water and oil saturation, and fluid production versus time during different centrifuge cycles. We used the latter measurements and data to calculate relative permeability for oil and water.

The experiments were very time consuming because of the low core permeability; however, carefully designed centrifuge experiments are valuable for reservoir engineering evaluations and reservoir simulation studies. Contrary to a common perception, mercury intrusion capillary pressure measurements cannot be converted to usable oil-water or gas-liquid capillary pressure data for use in reservoir studies (thus, not a good substitute for direct measurements with reservoir fluids). The mercury intrusion data is only useful for pore-size distribution calculations.

Because of the small pore throats and low permeability of shale reservoirs, capillary pressures affect both the primary and enhanced oil recovery in shale reservoirs. For instance, forced imbibition cycle is very steep, and the mobile oil saturation window is very narrow. Thus, based on our measurements, we conclude that water flooding oil recovery in Middle Bakken formation is unlikely to succeed. On the other hand, centrifuge gas displacement in core plugs showed a greater promise for oil recovery success.
The Development of Artificial-neural-network-based Universal Proxies to Study Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) and Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) Processes
Authors: Sun Qian , Ertekin Turgay
Published: April 2015

Steam injection is one of the most broadly deployed enhanced oil recovery techniques in heavy oil reservoirs. Numerical reservoir simulation plays a significant role in studying the mechanism and design of the field development strategies of steam injection procedures. Artificial neural network (ANN) is considered as a powerful subsidiary tool for high fidelity numerical models for its fast computational speed, especially when large volume of simulation runs are required (Monte Carlo simulation, sensitivity analysis and population-based optimization). This paper focuses on the discussion of the development of ANN-based proxy models studying steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) and cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) procedures. The proxy models will consider rock and fluid properties such as relative permeability and temperature dependent fluid viscosity as variables so that they will be capable of handling different types of reservoirs and formation fluids. Half of the SAGD well pair is selected as the minimum unit to study. The ANN model will predict the oil flow rate and cumulative oil production profiles of a SAGD project. To better utilize the injected heat, the CSS procedure in this paper is designed in such a way that the cycle will automatically switch when the oil flow rate in the production phase drops down to a certain threshold value. The project will be terminated when the initial flow rate of one cycle could not maintain the threshold oil flow rate. Following this design scheme, the total number of cycles within the production life will be an unknown. Given a certain set of input parameters, the proxy model will predict the number of CSS cycles and the corresponding oil flow rate and cumulative production profiles. The CSS proxy model developed in this work could be implemented in studying both conventional oil sands and naturally fractured reservoirs. Furthermore, the proxy models developed in this work could be implemented as screening tools which provide engineers with an opportunity to obtain fast recovery estimation of SAGD and CSS projects. They may also assist high fidelity model in history matching, or be employed as proxies in sensitivity analysis and population-based optimization. The ANN proxy models discussed in this paper are parts of a comprehensive ANN-based screening toolbox which is an ensemble extensive EOR processes.
Hunting Billbug (Sphenophorus venatus vestitus) Response to Insecticide Application in Warm‐Season Turfgrass and Implications for Management
Authors: Reynolds Diane Silcox , Brandenburg Rick L.
Published: April 2015

Hunting billbugs have recently emerged as a widespread pest of warm‐season turfgrasses. Traditional management strategies developed for other billbug species, such as the bluegrass billbug, in cool‐season turfgrass are not effective against hunting billbugs in warm‐season turfgrass. Limited field trials in warm‐season turfgrass for hunting billbug control found little to no differences among insecticides used, primarily due to insufficient billbug numbers collected. Therefore, a technique was developed using plastic containers filled with turfgrass to determine the efficacy of several insecticides on adult and larval hunting billbugs. This technique allowed for >90% of the adults and >85% of the larvae released into respective containers to be recaptured after 7 days. Products containing bifenthrin, clothianidin, cyantraniliprole, or the combination of bifenthrin + clothianidin produced 89.5, 83.3, 82.2, and 85.4% mortality in adult billbugs, respectively. Overall percent control of the larval stage was too low to develop control recommendations, where imidacloprid produced the highest mortality at 33.6%. Turfgrass managers should implement a monitoring plan to identify periods of peak adult hunting billbug activity and schedule insecticide applications during these times.
Analysis of Patterns of Pedotransfer Function Estimates: An Approach Based on Classification Trees
Authors: Boschi Raquel Stucchi , Antunes Rodrigues Luiz Henrique , Lopes-Assad Maria Leonor R. C.
Published: April 2015

Patterns in the errors of three pedotransfer functions (PTFs) for estimating water retention at −10 and −1500 kPa were investigated using a data set of Brazilian soils. Of the three PTFs, one was developed using soils from temperate regions, one using soils from different tropical areas, and one was specifically based on Brazilian soils. We used classification tree models to obtain rules that represent patterns in PTF errors, reflecting differences between measured and predicted water content values. These errors were classified as acceptable or unacceptable according to a defined threshold. The tree models had an accuracy of about 70% and could be used to identify the main attributes that control PTF performance. For the temperate PTF, the main error controls were silt content at −10 kPa and clay content at −1500 kPa. Overall, acceptable errors at one pressure head occurred under the same conditions as the unacceptable errors at the other pressure head. The tree rules reflected the differences between the data sets used to generate the PTFs and the data set used to evaluate the PTFs. Geographical closeness appeared to be insufficient to ensure good performance of a PTF. Rather, the statistical distribution of the input attributes used to develop PTFs plays a more important role in error classification. Classification trees allow us to better understand the factors that control PTF performance and how these factors interact.
Intravenous lipid emulsion in treatment of cardiocirculatory disturbances caused by glyphosate-surfactant herbicide poisoning
Authors: Jovic-Stosic Jasmina , Putic Vesna , Perkovic-Vukcevic Natasa , Babic Gordana , Djordjevic Snezana , Segrt Zoran
Published: April 2015

Introduction. Glyphosate is the first widely used herbicide against weed in
genetically modified crops. Though glyphosate itself has a low toxicity,
commercial products are more dangerous because of increased toxicity due to
surfactants addition. There is no specific antidote for the poisoning with
glyphosate-surfactant (Gly-SH). In recent times, the efficacy of intravenous
lipid emulsion (ILE) administration for the treatment of acute poisoning
caused by Gly- SH has been investigated. Case Report. A 50-year-old man was
admitted 3 hours after self-poisoning with herbicide containing glyphosate
and polyoxyethyleneamine, as a surfactant. On admission, the patient was in a
coma, hypotensive (80/50 mmHg) and without spontaneous breathing.
Electrocardiogram showed widecomplex tachycardia, and arterial blood gas
(ABG) revealed acidosis (pH 7.07). Conventional treatment included mechanical
ventilation, intravenous fluids, bicarbonate and dopamine. As there was no
improvement, ILE was started. The patient received 100 mL of 20% Intralipid?
bolus followed by infusion of 400 mL over 20 minutes. Prior to expiration of
infusion, a gradual rise in blood pressure was noted, and within 2 hours
sinus rhythm was restored. Conclusion. This case report suggests that the use
of ILE may be an additional option for the treatment of cardiocirculatory
disturbances caused by commercial products of glyphosate herbicide.
Temporal Trend in the Transfer of Sellafield-Derived 14C into Different Size Fractions of the Carbonate Component of NE Irish Sea Sediment
Authors: Muir Graham K P , Cook Gordon T , Tripney Brian G , MacKenzie Angus B , Stewart Helena , Tierney Kieran M
Published: April 2015

From 1994 onwards, radiocarbon discharges from the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant have been made largely to the northeast Irish Sea. They represent the largest contributor to UK and European populations of the collective dose commitment derived from the entire nuclear industry discharges. Consequently, it is important to understand the long-term fate of 14C in the marine environment. Research undertaken in 2000 suggested that the carbonate component of northeast Irish Sea sediments would increase in 14C activity as mollusk shells, which have become enriched in Sellafield-derived 14C, are broken down by physical processes including wave action and incorporated into intertidal and subtidal sediments. The current study, undertaken in 2011, tested this hypothesis. The results demonstrate significant increases in 14C enrichments found in whole mussel shells compared to those measured in 2000. Additionally, in 2000, there was an enrichment above ambient background within only the largest size fraction (>500 μm) of the intertidal inorganic sediment at Nethertown and Flimby (north of Sellafield). In comparison, the present study has demonstrated 14C enrichments above ambient background in most size fractions at sites up to 40 km north of Sellafield, confirming the hypothesis set out more than a decade ago.
Assistive technology design and development for acceptable robotics companions for ageing years
Authors: Amirabdollahian Farshid , Akker Rieks op den , Bedaf Sandra , Bormann Richard , Draper Heather , Evers Vanessa , Pérez Jorge Gallego , Gelderblom Gert Jan , Ruiz Carolina Gutierrez , Hewson David , Hu Ninghang , Koay Kheng Lee , Kröse Ben , Lehmann Hagen , Mart Patrizia , Michel Hervé , Prevot-Huille Hélène , Reiser Ulrich , Saunders Joe , Sorell Tom , Stienstra Jelle , Syrdal Dag , Walters Michael , Dautenhahn Kerstin
Published: April 2015

A new stream of research and development responds to changes in life expectancy across the world. It includes technologies which enhance well-being of individuals, specifically for older people. The ACCOMPANY project focuses on home companion technologies and issues surrounding technology development for assistive purposes. The project responds to some overlooked aspects of technology design, divided into multiple areas such as empathic and social human-robot interaction, robot learning and memory visualisation, and monitoring persons’ activities at home. To bring these aspects together, a dedicated task is identified to ensure technological integration of these multiple approaches on an existing robotic platform, Care-O-Bot®3 in the context of a smart-home environment utilising a multitude of sensor arrays. Formative and summative evaluation cycles are then used to assess the emerging prototype towards identifying acceptable behaviours and roles for the robot, for example role as a butler or a trainer, while also comparing user requirements to achieved progress. In a novel approach, the project considers ethical concerns and by highlighting principles such as autonomy, independence, enablement, safety and privacy, it embarks on providing a discussion medium where user views on these principles and the existing tension between some of these principles, for example tension between privacy and autonomy over safety, can be captured and considered in design cycles and throughout project developments.
Attractive, Informative, and Communicative Robot System on Guide Plate as an Attendant with Awareness of User’s Gaze
Authors: Yonezawa Tomoko , Yamazoe Hirotake , Utsumi Akira , Abe Shinji
Published: April 2015

In this paper, we introduce an interactive guide plate system by adopting a gaze-communicative stuffed-toy robot and a gaze-interactive display board. An attached stuffed-toy robot on the system naturally show anthropomorphic guidance corresponding to the user’s gaze orientation. The guidance is presented through gaze-communicative behaviors of the stuffed-toy robot using joint attention and eye-contact reactions to virtually express its own mind in conjunction with b) vocal guidance and c) projection on the guide plate. We adopted our image-based remote gaze-tracking method to detect the user’s gazing orientation. The results from both empirical studies by subjective / objective evaluations and observations of our demonstration experiments in a semipublic space show i) the total operation of the system, ii) the elicitation of user’s interest by gaze behaviors of the robot, and iii) the effectiveness of the gaze-communicative guide adopting the anthropomorphic robot.
Theoretical Considerations for Chronic Pain Rehabilitation
Authors: Lotze Martin , Moseley G. Lorimer
Published: April 2015

Conventional rehabilitation of patients with chronic pain is often not successful and is frustrating for the treatment team. However, theoretical developments and substantial advances in our understanding of the neurological aspects of chronic pain are changing these experiences. Modern theoretical models of pain consider pain to be a perceptual inference that reflects a “best guess” that protective action is required. This article argues that keen observation and open and respectful clinician-patient and scientist-clinician relationships have been critical for the emergence of effective rehabilitation approaches and will be critical for further improvements. The role in modern pain rehabilitation of reconceptualizing the pain itself—by “Explaining Pain,” careful and intentional observation of the person in pain, and the strategic and constant communication of safety—is emphasized. It also is suggested that better understanding of the neural mechanisms underpinning chronic pain has directly informed the development of new therapeutic approaches, which are being further refined and tested. Conventional pain treatment (where the clinician strives to find the pain-relieving medication or exercise) or pain management (where the clinician helps the patient to manage life despite unabating pain) is being replaced by pain rehabilitation, where a truly biopsychosocial approach allows clinicians to provide patients with the knowledge, understanding, and skills to reduce both their pain and disability. A brief overview is provided of the key aspects of modern pain rehabilitation and the considerations that should lead our interaction with patients with chronic pain.