bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictive Policing and the Platformization of Police Work
Authors: Egbert Simon
Published: April 2019

Although the revolutionary potential of predictive policing has often been exaggerated, this novel policing strategy nonetheless implies something substantially new: the underlying methods of (crime) data analysis. Moreover, these police prediction tools matter not only because of their capacity to generate near-term crime predictions but also because they have the potential to generally enhance police-related data crunching, ultimately giving rise to the comprehensive datafication of police work, creating an ongoing drive for extensive data collection and, hence, surveillance. This paper argues that because of its enablement of crime data analysis in general, predictive policing software will be an important incubator for datafied police work, especially when executed via data mining platforms, because it has made police authorities aware that the massive amounts of crime data they possess are quite valuable and can now be easily analyzed. These data are perceived to be even more useful when combined with external data sets and when processed on the largest possible scale. Ultimately, significant transformative effects are to be expected for policing, especially in relation to data collection practices and surveillance imperatives.
Mobile Money Platform Surveillance
Authors: Martin Aaron
Published: April 2019

Drawing on evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper explores the various forms of surveillance present on mobile money platforms. At the most basic level, mobile money is the provision of financial services through a mobile device. Over the past decade, these platforms have witnessed astonishing rates of adoption in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, and elsewhere. While some authors have praised the transformative potential of mobile money, particularly in parts of the world in which large numbers of people remain “unbanked,” more critical voices have expressed concerns about the economic risks and regulatory challenges associated with mobile money. This article focuses on an underexplored but nevertheless significant feature of mobile money platforms: the ways in which they facilitate surveillance by service providers and government authorities. Relatively established forms of surveillance include mandates for identifying customers prior to service provision. I also discuss the monitoring of mobile money agents, who receive a commission for turning cash into electronic value (and vice versa). Well-established mobile money providers are said to operate in-house “bank-grade” monitoring systems to identify suspicious transactions and comply with anti-money laundering regulations. Government agencies are also implementing bespoke monitoring solutions in countries where authorities, distrustful of mobile money providers’ self-reported data, seek to more stringently enforce regulatory compliance while also maximizing tax revenues from mobile money transactions. An analysis of these different forms of surveillance reveals their multipurpose and multi-scalar nature. I argue that the impacts of mobile money platform surveillance need to be better understood, particularly from a financial inclusion perspective.
The Smart Home on FIRE: Amplifying and Accelerating Domestic Surveillance
Authors: Maalsen Sophia , Sadowski Jathan
Published: April 2019

Some of the largest tech companies in the world, not to mention a stream of smaller startups, are now our roommates. Homes have become the target for smart devices and digital platforms that aim to upgrade old appliances, like refrigerators, and provide new capabilities, like virtual assistants. While smart devices have been variously championed and demonized in both academic literature and popular media, this article moves critical analysis beyond the common—but still important—concerns with privacy and security. By directing our attention to the wider political economy of datafication, it reveals the increasingly influential, yet shadowy, role of industries outside the tech sector in designing and deploying surveillance systems in domestic spaces. Namely, the FIRE sector of finance, insurance, and real estate. When Amazon and Google moved into our homes, they also let in a suite of uninvited third parties.
Automating Surveillance
Authors: Andrejevic Mark
Published: April 2019

This article considers the changing logics of surveillance in the era of automated data collection and processing. It argues that automation results in the emergence of post-disciplinary forms of monitoring that no longer rely on the subject’s internalization of the monitoring gaze. Such forms of monitoring do not displace other forms of surveillance but represent a new development made possible by the promise that comprehensive data collection will allow prediction and pre-emption to replace deterrence. In the context of predictive analytics, simulated futures serve as the basis for ongoing processes of intervention that take place in the present. The parsimony of the panopticon, which traded on the uncertainty provided by its partial gaze, is replaced by the tendency toward comprehensive monitoring associated with the proliferation of distributed, embedded, always-on sensing networks. The resulting forms of automated surveillance are characterized by post-representational logics that I describe in terms of operationalism, environmentality, and framelessness.
Platform Policing and the Real-Time Cop
Authors: Wilson Dean
Published: April 2019

Policing, particularly in the United States, is being progressively datafied. This process has a historical trajectory that is crucial to the analysis and critique of new platform-based security architectures. Predictive policing has already attracted considerable attention, partially due to its seemingly novel fusion of predictive analytics and police work. Hyperbolic early claims—often mobilizing science fiction imagery—that the future could, in fact, be predicted, pointed towards utopic/dystopic imaginaries of seamlessly integrated control. Predictive policing is, however, increasingly only one component of cloud-based data systems that are coursing through police activity. The imaginary of these transformations can be analysed through the security imaginary of policing as a process of real-time data transmission, perpetually self-adjusting and self-augmenting through machine calculation. The historical contextualization of this imaginary suggests useful vectors of inquiry that position platform policing squarely within the mechanisms of contemporary capitalism.
Amazon: Surveillance as a Service
Authors: West Emily
Published: April 2019

This essay argues that Amazon, the leading e-commerce platform in many parts of the world, uses surveillance not just as a key tool in the platform logic of its growing constellation of businesses but also increasingly as a service to its consumers. In contrast to prevailing assumptions that platforms will obscure the surveillant aspects of their businesses and that users will resist the intrusive nature of corporate surveillance, Amazon’s business practices point to the rapid normalization, and even embrace, of surveillant logics by consumers. Given the importance of consumer data to its operations, Amazon increasingly designs services whose purpose is, at least in part, to collect more data about consumers. The zenith of Amazon’s surveillance capabilities of its customers is no doubt its family of Echo devices enabled by the artificial intelligence interactive-voice service Alexa, which connects to the cloud run by Amazon, itself, through Amazon Web Services. Alexa is similar to competing digital voice assistants like Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant, but with more cultural visibility, worldwide market penetration, and greater integration with a host of Internet-of-Things devices produced by a variety of manufacturers. Amazon seeks to make Alexa an indispensable service to consumers, one that sweetens the granular forms of surveillance in more private spaces and situations that it now has the capability to gather, relative to the company’s more established forms of surveillance. While a typical association with surveillance might be the alienation and disempowerment of social control, I suggest that Amazon’s practices of consumer surveillance cultivate a sense of intimacy, borne of being seen between consumer and brand. In other words, I advocate for recognizing the subjectification of contemporary practices of platform surveillance, in addition to its structural elements.
Platform Biometrics
Authors: Crampton Jeremy W
Published: April 2019

This article identifies and analyses the emergence of platform biometrics. Biometrics are measurements of behavioral and physical characteristics, such as facial expressions, gait, galvanic skin response, and palm or iris patterns. Platform biometrics not only promise to connect geographically distant actors but also to curate new forms of value. In this piece I describe Microsoft Face, one of the major facial biometric systems currently on the market; this software promises to analyze which of seven “universal” emotions a subject is experiencing. I then offer a critique of the assumptions behind the system. First, theories of emotion are divided on whether emotions can be reliably and measurably expressed by the face. Second, emotions may not be universal, nor are there likely only seven basic emotions. Third, I draw on the work of Rouvroy and Berns (2013) to identify emotion-recognition technologies as a classic example of algorithmic governance. To outcome algorithmic governance is to enable the subject to creation and govern surveillance.  Platform biometrics will therefore provide a key component of surveillance capitalism’s appropriation of human experience (neuro-liberalism).
Review of Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Authors: Ball Kirstie
Published: April 2019

This essay reviews The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshanna Zuboff. The review explores the themes of the book and their intersection with surveillance studies. It focuses on how a securitisation lexicon pervades the text and on the ways in which insecurities drive the expansion of mass surveillance.
The Zeta and Related Functions: Recent Developments
Authors: Srivastava H. M.
Published: April 2019

The main object of this survey-cum-expository article is to present an overview of some recent developments involving the Riemann Zeta function ζ(s), the Hurwitz (or generalized) Zeta function ζ(s, a), and the Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta function Φ(z, s, a), which have their roots in the works of the great eighteenth-century Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) and the Russian mathematician, Christian Goldbach (1690–1764). We aim at considering the problems associated with the evaluations and representations of ζ(s) when s ∈ N \ {1}, N is the set of natural numbers, with emphasis upon several interesting classes of rapidly convergent series representations for ζ(2n+1) (n ∈ N). Symbolic and numerical computations using Mathematica (Version 4.0) for Linux will also be provided for supporting their computational usefulness. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited.
CITRA PERUSAHAAN SEBAGAI VARIABEL PEMODERASI PENGARUH LAYANAN TERHADAP KEPUASAN PASIEN DAN NIAT BERALIH
Authors: Zakiy Muhammad
Published: April 2019

This study aims to see the effect of service quality from 3 PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital in Jogja, Sleman and Bantul on customer satisfaction and customer switching intention which is moderated by the company's image. This study uses Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA), with a total sample of 111 customers/patients at the Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Hospital. The data was collected online and offline by purposive sampling technique. This study proves that service quality is the main predictor in increasing customer satisfaction of PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta hospital. However, the test results explain that the company's image is not able to moderate the influence of service quality on the customer satisfaction and switching intention. The results of this study also provide theoretical and practical contributions related to theoretical, methodological and practical issues.
PENGARUH KEPUASAN KONSUMEN TERHADAP PEMBENTUKAN KOMITMEN PELANGGAN DAN e-WOM PADA PENGGUNA APLIKASI e-MONEY “OVO”
Authors: Oktaviani Naulia , Astuti Widji , Firdiansjah Achmad
Published: April 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of customer satisfaction on the formation of customer commitment and e-WOM. Commitments are divided into three, namely affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment and are located as intervening variables. Data was collected from 100 e-money “OVO” application users in Malang who met the criteria determined by the researcher. The hypothesis is tested by path analysis using Smart PLS 3.2. The results of the study show that consumer satisfaction has a strong influence on the formation of affective commitment and normative commitment and encourages e-WOM behavior. Continuous commitment has no significant effect on e-WOM, because some customers decide to continue using OVO but choose not to disseminate OVO information to others. There is an indirect effect between customer satisfaction and EWOM through costumer commitment as intervening. Managerial advice that can be obtained is that the position of customer satisfaction is very important in marketing digital products because it is able to build customer commitment and encourage consumers to participate in disseminating product information to the public. The limitations of this study are in terms of numbers that are less representative so that further research is expected to expand the area used as the object of study and increase the number of respondents to the study so that the results obtained are expected to be better.
Production d’hydrogène par procédés biologiques
Authors: Menia Sabah , Nouicer Ilyés , Bakouri Yasmina , M’raoui Abdelhamid , Tebibel Hammou , Khellaf Abdallah
Published: April 2019

L’hydrogène, s’il est produit à partir de matières premières renouvelables, est une source alternative viable pour remplacer les combustibles fossiles conventionnels en raison de son potentiel énergétique élevé (122 kJ/g). Quand l’hydrogène est utilisé comme carburant, son principal produit de combustion est l’eau, qui peut être recyclée pour produire plus d’hydrogène, mais contrairement aux combustibles fossiles, l’hydrogène n’est pas facilement disponible dans la nature et les méthodes de production couramment utilisées sont assez coûteuses. Actuellement, environ 98 % de l’hydrogène provient des combustibles fossiles. Globalement, 40 % de l’hydrogène est produit à partir de gaz naturel ou de reformage à la vapeur d’hydrocarbures, 30 % à partir de pétrole, 18 % à partir de charbon et 4 % partir d’électrolyse de l’eau. Cependant, ces processus sont coûteux et pas toujours respectueux de l’environnement. Les procédés biologiques pour la production d’hydrogène peuvent fonctionner dans des conditions opératoires moins énergivores et plus respectueuses de l’environnement par rapport aux méthodes chimiques conventionnelles. Cette approche est non seulement écologique, mais ouvre aussi de nouvelles voies pour l’exploitation de ressources énergétiques renouvelables illimitées. En outre, ils peuvent également utiliser différents déchets, ce qui facilite le recyclage des déchets. La production d’hydrogène biologique utilisant la biomasse riche en hydrates de carbone comme ressource renouvelable est l’une des différentes méthodes dans lesquelles les processus peuvent se produire via un processus anaérobie et un processus de photosynthèse. Dans cet article, les différents procédés biologiques de production de l’hydrogène sont décrits et comparés.
A CT-scanner study of foam dynamics in porous media
Authors: Ouali Chakib , Rosenberg Elisabeth , Barré Loic , Bourbiaux Bernard
Published: April 2019

We report an experimental study of N2-foam injection in a Bentheimer sandstone coupled with X-ray Computed Tomography (CT-scanner). The measurements of pressure drop and gas saturation at different flow rates and foam qualities allowed us to describe the foam dynamics under transient and steady-state flow conditions. The brine displacement by foam shows a transient piston-like displacement pattern taking place in two successive phases. Saturation profiles reveal permanent entrance effects related to the injection procedure, and transient downstream end effects related to the gradual foam build-up. Entrance effects are attenuated with a high foam quality and at low total flow rate. The rheological behavior of foam was studied in terms of apparent foam viscosity and foamed-gas mobility as a function of foam quality and gas interstitial velocity. In the low-quality regime, foam exhibits a shear-thinning behavior that can be modelled by a power function. Furthermore, for a fixed total velocity, the quasi-invariance of strong foam apparent viscosity values is shown to result from the slight increase of trapped gas saturation, within the commonly-admitted assumption of invariant foam texture in the low-quality regime. An increase in gas mobility was observed above a certain value of the foam quality. That transition between low-quality and high-quality regimes was related to a limiting capillary pressure of foam in the porous medium under consideration.
Palaeostructure, evolution and tight oil distribution of the Ordos Basin, China
Authors: Gao Shengli , Yang Jinxia
Published: April 2019

Whether or not the tight oil in the Triassic Yanchang Formation of the Ordos Basin is controlled by structural factors is a controversial issue, the relationship between the structural factors of the strata and the distribution of tight oil is limited to the study of current structures. The traditional view is that structural factors have no obvious control over the formation and distribution of the oil reservoir. Taking the Chang 8 member of the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin as an example, this paper studies respectively the burial of strata-hydrocarbon generation history of the individual well and the structural evolution history of strata in the basin by using software tools of the Genex burial-hydrocarbon generation history restoration and TemisFlow evolution of stratigraphic structures. It is considered that the hydrocarbon generation period of the source rock of the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin is from early Middle Jurassic to end of Early Cretaceous. By reconstructing the evolution and structure of the Chang 8 member during the hydrocarbon accumulation period, combined with a comprehensive analysis on the distributional characteristics of the Chang 8 oil reservoir, we found the palaeoslopes and palaeohighs of the Chang 8 reservoir to represent areas in which tight oils were distributed. Palaeo-structural characteristics of the target layer exhibit control over the Chang 8 reservoir. The new theory underlying tight oil exploration, which is based on the recovery of the palaeogeomorphology of the target layer during the hydrocarbon generation period, incorporates the vital roles of key controlling factors over tight oil accumulation, so that the mind-set on tight oil exploration in the Ordos Basin has evolved.
Reliability and Validity: Linking Evidence to Practice
Authors: Kamper Steven J.
Published: April 2019

The previous Evidence in Practice article introduced the idea of the “construct,” or what you are interested in measuring, for example, pain, disability, or strength. As there are often numerous measures available for any given construct, how do you choose which to use? Of the number of considerations that go into this, none are more important than reliability and validity. It is no overstatement to say that if a measure is not both sufficiently reliable and valid, then it is not fit for purpose. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2019;49(4):286–287. doi:10.2519/jospt.2019.0702
Innovative Autonomous Maritime ISO-Container Vehicles AMISOC Vehicles
Authors: Whang James S.
Published: April 2019

The maritime world has been facing difficulty "last mile" logistic dilemmas of natural/manmade access barriers, lack of infrastructure, shallow waters, elevated sea states, adverse weather conditions (e.g., storms, foggy/misty, lightlessness, windy, stormy, or icy/snowy), unknown bathymetry, etc. The industries facing such dilemma have included (1) offshore petroleum exploration/production; (2) offshore mining other than petroleum; (3) marine pollution abatement; (4) humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR); (5) offshore firefighting and search and rescue (SAR); (6) offshore energy generation, storage and transmission; and (7) military sectors. A new breed of Autonomous Maritime ISO-Container Vehicles (AMISOC Vehicles) has been invented for effectively solving the above decade-old "last mile" logistic dilemmas. Another dilemma also facing the maritime industries is the ship-to-ship, ship-to-platform or platform-to-ship transfer of cargos at sea. These cargo transfer operations at sea are expensive, difficult to perform and risky which have plagued reliable, efficient and cost-effective sustainment of offshore petroleum exploration/production platforms under adverse weather periods and/or at elevated sea states (e.g., >3+). To be more fully presented in this paper hereinafter, unique and innovative autonomous/unmanned vehicles that are container-box based (or AMISOC vehicles) and their companion technology known as in-situ launch and recovery devices (LRDs) (remotely controllable) have been invented to inexpensively and reliably solve the above critical maritime dilemmas offshore.
Design and Experimental Study of New-Type Supercritical Steam and Flue Gas Generator for Offshore Oilfield
Authors: Liu Yigang , Zou Jian , Han Xiaodong , Wang Qiuxia , Zhang Hua , Liu Hao , Wang Hongyu , Wu Wenwei , Wang Cheng
Published: April 2019

Steam and flue gas stimulation technology has been applied for heavy oil exploitation in Bohai Oilfield for almost ten years. For the special fuel and water requirement of the current thermal generator, large amount of diesel and desalinated seawater are needed during the thermal injection process. Besides, treatment of the produced oily wastewater on the platform becomes more difficult as the oil output increases.

Aimed at solving the existing problems and taking the advantage of characteristics of the supercritical water, a new type of supercritical steam and flue gas generator for offshore oilfield is proposed and studied. The newly proposed generator is mainly consisted of two sections, which are the supercritical water gasification reactor and combustion reactor, respectively. The produced oily wastewater could be directly used for steam generation. A series of experiments are carried out for its feasibility research and structure optimization.

A prototype of the generator is made for indoor experiment. During the gasification process, wastewater and the organic material mixed inside is placed in the supercritical conditions in the gasification reactor whose temperature and pressure are about 600-700°C and 23MPa, respectively. And the reaction product would be mainly H2, CO2 and water. Gasification Experiments of both the diesel and oily wastewater are conducted. And the combustion experiment is also conducted and the gasified gas is reacted with O2 under conditions of 25MPa and 500-550°C. Composition of the produced fluid in each experiments are analyzed. Besides, the structure of the generator is also designed and optimized for improving its working efficiency.

The proposed new-type supercritical steam and flue gas generator has the characteristics of high efficiency, waste water treatment and higher temperature and pressure delivery capacity. And there would be a promising perspective for its application on offshore platform.
Innovative Epoxy Resin Formulation
Authors: Alanqari Khawlah , Al-Yami Abdullah , Wagle Vikrant , Al-Jubran Mohammed
Published: April 2019

Polymer resin systems have many advantages over conventional cement. Since resins are solids free, they can be used in low injectivity zones such as narrow fractures where conventional cement cannot be pumped. In order to ensure successful field applications of resin systems, downhole temperature must be checked. The objective of this paper is to introduce a high temprarure resin system compared to conventional ones, evaluate the stability of epoxy resin formulation at high temperatures and identify the optimum temperature for successful application.

Despite the many advantages of polymer resins, they have few limitations that can affect their performance and the success. One important limitation of resins is temperature sensitivity. Temperature affects the speed of the reaction of the resin with the curing agent. Therefore, it is important to design the polymer resin according to downhole conditions. As curing temperature approach glass transition temperature, the mechanical properties of the cured resin are compromised.

Resin formulation #1 investigated in this study was used in the field for different applications. However, all the application were performed in tempratures lower than 225 °F due to temperature limitation.

The objective of this paper is to investigate new resin formulation and its suitability to be applied in deeper section where temperature is way above 225 °F reaching in some application to more than 290 °F. The resin formulation was cured through polymerization process using an amine curing agent to improve properties even further. The final cured polymer was then analyzed through DSC, TGA, and SEM experiments.
Lithofacies Controls on Mechanical Properties and Brittleness in Qusaiba Shale, Rub’ Al-Khali Basin, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mustafa Ayyaz , Abdulraheem Abdulazeez , Abouelresh Mohamed Ibrahim , Sahin Ali
Published: April 2019

The lower Silurian Qusaiba Shale is one of the major source rocks for Paleozoic petroleum reservoirs in Saudi Arabia and is considered a potential shale gas resource. The study aims to evaluate the prospectivity and improve the production potential of Qusaiba shale by defining the lithofacies and mineralogy as controlling factors for brittleness and other mechanical parameters.

The continuous 30 feet subsurface cores and log data of Qusaiba Shale from Rub’ Al-Khali Basin were utilized for the study. Geological characteristics on the core were fully demonstrated in terms of size, mineralogy, color, primary structures and diagenetic features to identify lithofacies. In addition, 30 thin sections were used to study micro scale geological characteristics. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determined the mineralogical compositions. Surface morphology visualization and elemental analysis were performed using the scanning electron microscope supplemented with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Acoustic velocity measurements and compressive strength tests were performed on 15 core plugs (5 from each lithofacies).

Based on the above-mentioned analyses, three lithofacies were identified: (1) Micaceous laminated organic-rich mudstone facies (Lithofacies-I), (2) Laminated clay-rich mudstone facies (Lithofacies-II), and (3) Massive siliceous mudstone facies (Lithofacies-III). Mineralogical composition resulted in variable amounts of quartz ranging from 39 to 40, 45-55 and 60 to 78% for Lithofacies-I, II and III, respectively. Lithofacies-I having relatively lower quartz and higher clay percentage and total organic content (12% by volume) exhibited low stiffness. Mineralogy- and elastic parameters-based brittleness indices exhibited ductile behavior of this lithofacies. Lithofacies-II with relatively higher quartz (45 to 55%) and lower clay contents and TOC (3-5%) than Lithofacies-I resulted in relatively higher stiffness and brittleness. The brittleness index exhibited brittle behavior for silica rich Lithofacies-III (low TOC< 3%) as reflected by Young's modulus (average 32 GPa) and low Poisson's ratio (average 0.25). Hence, it is concluded that mineralogy and geological characteristics are the main controlling factors on mechanical properties and brittleness. The integration of three essential disciplines i.e. geology, mineralogy and geomechanics, plays the key role to better evaluate the production potential by highlighting the sweet spots within the heterogeneous shale gas reservoirs.
Consistent Evaluation of the Organic Content of the Qusaiba Shale Using Digital-Rock Methodology
Authors: Abouelresh Mohamed , Khodja Mohamed , Husseini Rizwanullah , Al-Mukainah Hani , Ali Abdelwahab
Published: April 2019

Unconventional hydrocarbon resources continue to engender increasing attention as potential energy sources. This is reflected in the ongoing research aiming at gaining a better understanding of potential unconventional reservoirs. In this note, we describe a study focused on an organic-rich, potential gas-producer shale from Saudi Arabia, namely the Qusaiba Shale. The study aims, in particular, to quantify organic matter content, mineral content, and porosity using digital-rock methodology validated by laboratory measurements.

Rock plugs are selected from whole cores representative of the organic-rich, Qusaiba Shale. The core plugs are first digitized using high-resolution μ CT scan and the obtained 3D models are segmented to separate the total organic content (TOC) volume, rock matrix, and pore network. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and quantitative scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses are undertaken to determine elemental and mineralogical composition. To characterize porosity at a level adequate for shale, the samples also undergo SEM imaging, as well as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. Subsequently, numerical upscaling is applied and comparison of numerical and experimental results is performed.

Petrography and mineralogy analyses show that the major mineral components of the Qusaiba Shale samples are silica, feldspars, mica, clay, and pyrite. SEM imaging reveals that, at the nanoscale, the samples are characterized by a variety of pore types, sizes, and morphologies. Porosity comes in two types: intergranular and organic, with intergranular porosity being the dominant type. Compaction and horizontal alignment of the detrital mineral grains control the development of intergranular porosity while the distribution of organic particles, as well as their maturity, are the key factors controlling the formation of organic porosity. Integrating SEM images, high-resolution X-ray scans, and NMR measurements provides the information utilized to quantitatively determine the mineral and organic contents of the samples. Preliminary results exhibit a consistent agreement between the upscaled digital-rock-based estimates and the experimental measurements.

The main contribution of this study is an affordable, Digital Rock Physics (DRP)-based characterization of the organic content, mineral content, and pore-network structure of samples representative of Saudi Arabia's potential shale gas reservoirs that is consistent with laboratory measurements.
Application of the Broadband Seismic Acquisition in Huizhou Sag, Pearl River Mouth Basin, China
Authors: Chen Zhaoming , Yang Dengfeng , Luo Wei , Xu Yingjing
Published: April 2019

The Huizhou sag of the Pearl River Mouth Basin is one of the first areas to try to operate the broadband seismic acquisition with variable-depth streamer in the offshore seismic exploration of China. Different from the conventional acquisition, the streamer of the broadband seismic acquisition is depth variable. Through broadband seismic acquisition and processing, the ghost waves can be effectively identified and removed to broaden the seismic frequency band. In order to make good use of the broadband seismic data, we firstly test the reliability of broadband seismic data through a forward model and post-stack seismic inversion. Then the targets in Huizhou sag is taken as an example to do the inversion experiments. The results show: the broadband seismic acquisition can effectively suppress the interference of the wavelet side-lobe and the multiples and can obviously improve the signal-to-noise ratio; meanwhile, it can enhance the accuracy to identify the thickness of the reservoir and can improve the fidelity of seismic data.
Use of N115 Carbon Nano-Fluid for Solar Powered Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage for Extracting Bitumen
Authors: Lalu Lijo P. , Lal Ravinav
Published: April 2019

Showing concern for the high emission of green house gases, the governments all over the world are coming up with more stringent rules to check the emission level. Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage is a highly energy intensive process where huge amount of steam is generated by heating natural gas or coal thereby generating a very large share of green house gases. Therefore, solar energy seems to be lucrative in the following ways: world areas with abundant solar irradiation level can be tapped to reduce the fossil fuel consumption, minimizing the cost spent on fossil fuel and the emissions level at the same time. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) looks a very promising technique but it comes with its own limitations mainly due to the requirement for huge area for setting up the solar collectors. Water Soluble Carbon-N115 is a sub-micrometer particle that has size less than the wavelength of light. Due to this reason, instead of scattering light, it absorbs light. The nano-particle gets enveloped in a thin layer of steam when put in a water bath. The vapour is released after reaching liquid-air interface and the nano-particles revert back to the solution to repeat the vaporization process and they exchange heat with the fluid, slightly raising the fluid temperature resulting in boiling of the fluid volume as a parallel effect. The paper discusses a model incorporating this nano-particle for the reduction of solar field footprint by more than a quarter and thereby reducing the cost and operational area. The paper also suggests the places across the globe where the proposed method can be deployed for generating steam and ultimately injecting it for producing oil above the surface from a tar-sand reservoir.
Application of Full Wavefield Migration in Obtaining True Amplitude Below Gas Cloud
Authors: Mad Zahir Mohamad Hafizal , Md Sahad Salbiah , Ishak M Anwar , Ghazali Ahmad Riza
Published: April 2019

This paper presents an alternative solution for gas cloud imaging using full wavefield migration (FWM). The application of FWM method have been applied on both synthetic dataset with gas cloud event and existing field with gas cloud issue. The full wavefield migration is an inversion-based imaging algorithm that utilizes the complete reflection measurements: primaries as well as all multiples, both surface and internal to obtain the total reflections measurement. It combines the primary and higher order scattering reflection from the gas cloud to estimate the true amplitude response below the gas cloud. Successful applications to both synthetic and field data examples demonstrate that FWM improves the imaging illumination and resolution below gas cloud as compared to conventional migration.
Seismic Acquisition of Walkaway VSP and Walk Around VSP in the Xihu Sag of East China Sea Basin
Authors: Xiong Zhong , Jiang Zhiqiang , Jiang Yu
Published: April 2019

A pre-exploration well was drilled in the Xihu Sag of East China Sea basin, and commercial oil and gas flow had been achieved. But the oil and gas bearing trap had a big depth with low closure height and small area. The resolution of seismic data acquired by towed streamer is low, so it's difficult to obtain seismic velocity precisely. There were great risk and uncertainty in description of the trap and distribution of gas-bearing sandstone, reservoir prediction of sweet spot, direct hydrocarbon indication, and reserves assessment.

In consideration of the drilling platform on the trap, seismic acquisition technique of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP were introduced, meanwhile some innovative methods in source, receivers and geometry were applied. Twenty three-component hydrophones were composed as signal receivers which had a sample interval of ten meters in the well, two straight shot lines and two loop shot lines were designed around the drilling platform. Besides, volume and depth of air gun array were optimized, and the sailing route of seismic source vessel was planned properly in order to improve the efficiency of collecting work.

The collecting work of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP was accomplished efficiently, and more than seventy kilometers VSP seismic data was achieved. Afterwards, the new data was processed finely in company with zero offset VSP data, so high resolution VSP profiles and accurate seismic velocity were obtained. Reprocess to original seismic data acquired by towed streamer was implemented on the basis of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP data. The quality of normal seismic data was improved through reprocess constrained by walkaway VSP data, and S/N and resolution were much higher than old data. So it would be credible to research the distribution of gas-bearing sandstone and direct hydrocarbon indication using the reprocessed seismic data.

It was the first time to use joint acquisition technique of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP in offshore China which was an important breakthrough. High resolution VSP seismic profiles and precise seismic velocity could be acquired, and the data was important basis for refined evaluation of pre-exploration targets. It's very necessary to popularize and utilize these new techniques further.
Allied In-Situ Injection and Production for Fractured Horizontal Wells to Increase Hydrocarbon Recovery in Tight Oil Reservoirs: A Case Study in Changqing Oilfield
Authors: Yu Haiyang , Chen Zhewei , Yang Zhonglin , Cheng Shiqing , He Youan , Xian Bo
Published: April 2019

Poor energy supplement and low hydrocarbon recovery are the two main shortcomings for water or gas injection in tight oil reservoir development. Horizontal well flooding can improve oil recovery and sweep efficiency of water flooding. However, the economic benefits need to be considered for long horizonal well injection. Based on a case of Changqing Oil filed, this paper presents a novel development approach, Allied In-Situ Injection and Production (AIIP), for fractured horizontal wells to increase hydrocarbon recovery, and explores its feasibility with simulation work, compared with traditional water flooding method. The impact for the existence of natural fractures in tight oil reservoir is also studied in this work. Although requiring costly special equipment, a series of simulations prove that AIIP is a more reliable and efficient approach to increase the performance of fractured horizontal wells compared to conventional methods, oil recovery and oil rate were improved significantly after AIIP was conducted. Water injectivity increased sharply than traditional water flooding with a lower injection pressure. The existence of natural fracture in tight oil formation improved the water flow inside the formation, leading better sweep efficiency and higher oil recovery factor. However, water cut in producers increased faster in natural facture enriched model than that of basic model. Thereforem it is essential to evaluate the performance of AIIP process before application.
An Analysis on Isochronal Facies-Controlled Pre-Stack Seismic Inversion Prediction of Tight Sandstone Reservoir- A Case of Fuyu Formation in Zhaoyuan Area in North Songliao Basin, China
Authors: Chen Meiyi , Ji Qingsheng , Chen Shoutian , Qin Longpu , Cong Peihong
Published: April 2019

Based on the seismic prediction difficulties of the tight sandstone reservoir in Fuyu formation in Zhaoyuan area, single-well sequence division and connecting-well sub-layer correlation are carried out according to logging and lithologic data, and short-cycle interface position is calibrated precisely after a mutual calibration of logging and seismic data. Horizon tracing in the whole area is also carried out to build high-frequency isochronous stratigraphic framework. On this basis, the log facies modes and the sedimentary facies of the short-cycles under a high-frequency isochronous stratigraphic framework are analyzed in the target area, sand-body geometric scale parameters and their relations and sand-body development degree are calculated out, and a sand-body geological model is also built out. According to the seismic data and layer-by-layer geological model of sand bodies, a spatial distribution probability model of facies-controlled sand bodies is built out, which is used to constrain the pre-stack seismic data in facies-controlled inversion calculation. Based on the results of facies-controlled inversion, the tight sandstone prediction is carried out. Finally, a method of isochronal facies-controlled pre-stack seismic inversion prediction of tight sandstone reservoir is formed and it realizes the effective prediction of superimposed sand bodies in target area. Compared with actual drilling results, the sandstone of more than 2m has clear depiction and the sandstone of between 1-2m also has response, which indicates that this method is feasible and practicable.
Investigation of Anhydrite Dissolution as a Potential Low Salinity Waterflooding Mechanism Using Carbonate Reservoir Rocks
Authors: Uetani Takaaki , Kaido Hiromi , Yonebayashi Hideharu
Published: April 2019

Many mechanisms have been proposed for low salinity waterflooding enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in carbonate rocks over the last decade, and they are still in debate. One suggested mechanism is the dissolution of anhydrite (CaSO4) mineral from a rock material, which generates sulfate ions in-situ, and subsequently acts as a wettability modifier chemically. Another suggested mechanism is the increase in permeability due to mineral dissolution. Primary objective of this work was to verify whether dissolution of anhydrite could be the key low salinity waterflooding EOR mechanism.

Spontaneous imbibition tests were conducted using six rock samples from two carbonate oil reservoirs. The first reservoir rock contains anhydrite, while the second reservoir does not contain anhydrite. If anhydrite dissolution is the key mechanism, then the amount of increased oil recovery due to low salinity brine should correlate with the amount of anhydrite dissolved from the rock. Our experimental results, however, did not suggest such a relationship. Hence, anhydrite dissolution was considered unlikely as the key mechanism of low salinity EOR for the crude-oil, brine and rock (COBR) system used in this study.
Resolving Shallow Reef Effect with New Water Layer Demultiple Method and Diving Wave Tomography: A Case Study from South China Sea
Authors: He Jiao , Li Rong , Yang Sherman , Liu Zheng , Zhu Ming
Published: April 2019

The survey with shallow reef is located at the Pearl River Mouth Basin of South China sea. Water depth is around 100 meters but variable across the survey. The shallow reef is in the middle of survey. It is about 14km width and 10km length spatial size. With such huge spatial size, it had posed big challenges to subsurface reservoir imaging.

Firstly, the variable water bottom generates complicated water layer related multiples, especially at the shallow reef area. Meanwhile, with limited near offset information in the legacy NAZ data, accurate water layer multiple model is very difficult to predict with conventional methods.

Secondly, the shallow reef mainly composed of carbonates, which have higher velocity compared to surrounding sediments. This high velocity carbonates thus cause severe distortion to the wave field propagated through and severely distorted the underlying reflections. Without correct imaging of reef at shallow, little confidence can be brought to deeper structures imaging, and interpretation.
Assessment of Oil Migration Pathway Dimension by Modelling Analysis of Geotracer Distributions
Authors: Yang Yunlai , Arouri Khaled
Published: April 2019

Oil migration system is assessed by mathematical modelling analysis of carbazole distributions among five oil fields spread over 15,000 km2. Mathematical modeling results show that: 1) concentrations of carbazoles in reservoir oils is inversely related to the ratio of relative migration distance over the volume of oil-in-place, 2) derived equivalent cross-sectional areas for the migration channels are in the range of 1000 – 1500 m2 (mean of 1200 m2) which is equivalent to a half circular channel of 51 – 62 m in diameter (mean 55 m), and 3) the volume of oil left in the migration channels could be significant.
The Fracture Network Inversion Based on Gas Production Profile
Authors: Mi Lidong , Yan Bicheng , Liu Qianjun , Ren Zongxiao
Published: April 2019

The fracture description plays an important role in shale gas well production performance prediction, late production refracturing design and infill well trajectory design. Based on the development and geological parameters of Fuling shale gas field, the enhanced discrete fracture network (EDFN) numerical simulator is used to study the influence of fracture length, total fracture length, stage spacing and relative position of fractures on the contribution ratio of fracture stage. According to the relationship among JY46-3HF gas production profile, gas production contribution ratio and fracture characteristic parameters, a fracture network model is established. The simulation results of gas production contribution ratio of each fracture stage are highly consistent with the measured data. The research results show that: the contribution ratio of gas production in each fracture stage is positively related to the total cumulative fracture length, and the fracture spacing and relative position of fractures affect the contribution ratio of fracture stage to shale gas well by the size of matrix area controlled by fracture.