bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Texture of Polycrystalline MoSxThin Films Magnetron Sputtered from a Metallic Target in Ar-H2S Atmospheres
Authors: Weiß Volkmar , Mientus Rainald , Ellmer Klaus 
Published: January 2017

AbstractThe textured film growth of polycrystalline MoSxfilms on Si substrates deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering with H2S from a molybdenum target has been investigated. Over a wide range of gas flow ratios FH2S/(FH2S+FAr) from 1% to 75% only x-ray diffraction patterns of randomly stacked S-Mo-S layers of the MoS2phase were detected which indicates turbostratic growth of the van-der-Waals layers comparable to the growth of graphite at low temperatures. The extended distance of the c-lattice planes depends on the sputtering conditions and can also be explained by the turbostratic model. Low deposition rates and high substrate temperatures improved the quality of the films towards the requested (001) texture and low c-lattice strain. The results from the in situ-energy dispersive x-ray diffraction (EDXRD) technique using synchrotron radiation allowed kinetic calculations of the time dependent behaviour of the peak area of the (0 0 21) Bragg reflection signals according to the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model. They revealed that the grain growth is restricted in dimensions if a completed nucleation is assumed.
Defining Procedural Distress in the NICU and What Can Be Done About It
Authors: Schiavenato Martin , Holsti Liisa 
Published: January 2017

AbstractProcedural distress is a common occurrence in the NICU and is tied to attempts to support the life and development of vulnerable premature infants. We discuss the epidemiology of procedural distress and the potential negative consequences on infant neurodevelopment. We define procedural distress in the NICU and outline three approaches to limit or to reduce its detrimental effects including minimizing the number of procedures, instituting measures for developmentally supportive care, and using preemptively pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic analgesia. Despite the pervasiveness of procedural distress in the NICU, clinical and administrative measures are available to ameliorate possible harmful outcomes.
Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School Promotes Student STEM Interest
Authors: Mosley Pauline , Ardito Gerald , Scollins Lauren 
Published: January 2017

The principal purpose of this investigation is to study the effect of robotic cooperative learning methodologies on middle school students’ critical thinking, and STEM interest. The semi-experimental inquiry consisted of ninety four six-grade students (forty nine students in the experimental group, forty five students in the control group), chosen by their principals. A critical thinking test was administered to evaluate the cognitive skills and STEM interest of the students. Instruction was implemented in two formats: cooperative learning and problem-based learning. The experimental group utilized robotic cooperative learning while the control group utilized problem-based learning. After four sessions of both instruction types with both groups the findings reveal that critical thinking of students is enhanced significantly by robotic cooperative learning (P<0.01).
Profil Suhu, Oksigen Terlarut, dan pH Secara Vertikal Selama 24 Jam di Danau Kelapa Gading Kabupaten Asahan Sumatera Utara
Authors: Sinaga Eva Lia Risky , Muhtadi Ahmad , Bakti Darma 
Published: January 2017

Lake Kelapa Gading is an artificial lake located in Asahan district of North Sumatra province. Thepurpose of this study was to determine: 1) description of conditions of temperature, dissolved oxygenand pH vertically in the water for 24 hours, 2) production and consumption of oxygen in the waters ofLake Kelapa Gading. The study was conducted in March-April 2016 with preliminary and mainresearch activities. There are three observation stations are stations 1 (near KJA), station 2 (the areanear the settlement) and station 3 (outlet). The measured temperature ranges from 30-35 ºC.dissolved oxygen highest in the surface waters of 5.12 mg / l during the afternoon and the lowestoccurred at a depth of compensation of 0.64 mg / l when the weather is rainy. The measured pHvalue ranging between 6-9. In general there is a decrease in temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pHwith increasing depth. The highest percent saturation of 71.30 % in the surface waters. Comparisonbetween photosynthesis to respiration indicates that there has been a deficit in respiration is greaterthan the value of photosynthesis. dissolved oxygen concentration has reached a deficit at a depth of36.5 cm to reach at night. Keywords: dissolved oxygen, lake, pH, saturation, temperature.
Nike (Awaous melanocephalus) Fishery and Mercury Contamination in the Estuary of BoneBolango River
Authors: Salam Aziz , Sahami Femy M , Panigoro Citra 
Published: January 2017

Nike fish (Awaous melanocephalus) is a tiny-kind of fish harvested lunar-monthly in the estuary of BoneBolangoRiver in the City of Gorontalo. The fishing activity is showing steady increase recently as thecommodity finds its way to the international market. Fishermen are putting more efforts by escalating thecatching capacity of their gears. Meanwhile, mercury used by the artisanal and small-scale gold mining(ASGM) in the headwaters for amalgamation put another aspect to the A. melanocephalus fishery whenit wasted into the river down to the estuary. This paper describes A. melanocephalus fishery and thethreat of mercury contamination in the habitat and the fish itself. Field research was conducted in theestuary of Bone-Bolango River to observe the technology and methods of A. melanocephalus fishing.Samples of water and fish were taken for mercury content examination with Atomic AbsorptionSpectrophotometer (AAS). Secondary data on production and distribution were obtained fromgovernment offices. The result showed that the water and A. melanocephalus samples contain mercuryat levels exceeding the quality standards determined by government. Keywords: nike, mercury, food security, sustainable fishery
Electromagnetic Imaging Offers First Look at the Propped Rock
Authors: Rassenfoss Stephen 
Published: January 2017

Electromagnetic Imaging
A series of images that look like yellow lumps on a line are the first-ever images of the area around the wellbore where fractures have been propped open using specially coated proppant stimulated by electromagnetic (EM) energy.
The images created by Carbo Ceramics could represent a milestone on the journey to find an answer to a critical question facing unconventional producers— how much rock is being stimulated and propped with grains of sand or ceramic for maximum production?
“People see the value in this area; they are starved for this,” said Terry Palisch, global engineering adviser for Carbo, who described what is seen in the images as the propped reservoir volume.
Four groups of researchers are seeking a direct way to visualize what is left behind after fracturing. Three of the projects involve getting images by using proppant specially treated to be visible when stimulated by EM energy.
Microseismic images currently used in the industry to show fracturing results are based on the popping sounds of rocks rubbing against each other, like fingers snapping, but not the quiet, productive work of opening fractures and pumping in proppant to ensure they stay open.
“Microseismic doesn’t really tell us where the proppant has gone. It shows where failure events are occurring,” said Mukul Sharma, a petroleum engineering professor at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. He heads the Hydraulic Fracturing and Sand Control Joint Industry Project (UT Fracturing JIP) at UT, which is leading one of the projects mentioned earlier. “What matters is where the proppant is. In many rocks, the propped part of the fracture is the primary contributor to well productivity. That is the main advantage of electromagnetic (visualization) over microseismic.”
Imaging the area that has propped fractures is a starting point for multiple investigations into how to efficiently extract more than 10% of the oil in unconventional plays. It can define the length and height of propped fractures, offer more accurate measures of the productive rock for modeling, and tell engineers how to space wells to effectively stimulate the reservoir without hitting nearby wells.
Pressure Changes While Fracturing Add to Marcellus Well Production
Authors: Rassenfoss Stephen 
Published: January 2017

Marcellus Well Production
When it comes to hydraulic fracturing, steadiness may not be a virtue. That was the conclusion of a test to see if rapid pump rate variations would lead to greater production than conventionally fractured stages when the pressure was held steady.
The stages in which rapid pump variations were used to create pressure pulses produced an average of 18% more gas than the ones with steady pumping pressure, said Jordan Ciezobka, manager of research and development for the Gas Technology Institute (GTI), which did the test in the Marcellus with WPX Energy. The project was funded by the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA).
Based on early results, this simple method may “increase production with no change in the water or sand pumped,” he said during a presentation at the recent SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference.
Since then, a version of the method with “more aggressive rate changes engineered specifically to accommodate the completion design in the Permian Basin” has been tested at a site where it was monitored using microseismic, production logging, and radioactive tracers. Ciezobka said results from that test are expected soon.
The idea grew out of previous well monitoring research work in which microseismic testing detected a surge in seismic activity—an indication of more fracturing—whenever the pump speed had to be adjusted for operational reasons.
Where that happened during fracturing, the well’s output was greater, Ciezobka said. So the thinking was, “Why not redesign the frac pump rate to get higher microseismic activity and get more production?,” he said.
To test the theory, GTI set up a test where it used a variable pumping rate on 14 odd-numbered stages, and a steady rate on 13 even ones. The pump rate variations were done during the pad period, prior to pumping proppant. In a future test they plan to also vary the pressure while pumping proppant.
Other than the rapid pump rate changes, which required some practice by the crew to get it right, the odd- and even-numbered stages showed no differences.
But on average, the stages where the pumping rate varied produced 65.4 Mscf/D of gas, compared with 55.5 Mscf/D when the rate was constant, the paper said. The six highest production rates resulted from stages in which the pressure was varied.
When production from the test well was compared to a nearby well that had been conventionally fractured with 50% more proppant, the variable rate well’s production had declined at a lesser rate.
Another difference was surface treating pressure, which is an indication of the force required to pump fluid into the formation, which was lower when the pump pressure was varied. Analysis of the pressure decline rate after the pumps were shut down (water hammer diagnostic) indicated variable rate stages created, broader, more complex fractures, he said. JPT
EOR-For-Shale Ideas to Boost Output Gain Traction
Authors: Jacobs Trent 
Published: January 2017

Low oil prices may not be the biggest threat to the long-term sustainability of the North American shale business.
Some are more concerned about the low recovery rates of horizontal shale wells, estimated to be about 7% on average— far short of the 40% achieved through primary and secondary (waterflooding) production in conventional reservoirs.
Refracturing has been touted as the next big thing to improve ultimate recovery, but such operations remain relatively expensive and may only temporarily reset production to initial rates once or twice in a well’s life.
To see long-term results and a doubling or tripling of current recovery rates, a number of experts say enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies must be developed to work in tight shale reservoirs. And due to persistently low natural gas prices, current efforts appear to be exclusively focused on oil and condensate producing wells.
It is early days for this area of EOR research. There is no consensus on which approaches will work best, how much they may cost, what the most pressing challenges are, or exactly when an EOR operation should begin.
“Our understanding is really small,” said Todd Hoffman, an assistant professor of petroleum engineering at Montana Tech University. “We’re coming from the conventional world where ‘this’ is how we did EOR and we may just have to throw all that out.”
Hoffman is one of several researchers trying to figure out how EOR methodologies can be adapted or reinvented for the oil-rich shale fields of North Dakota, Texas, and Canada.
One of the most popular ideas being studied is a huff-and-puff approach that uses a single horizontal well to alternate between producing oil and injecting natural gas or CO2 to re-pressurize the reservoir and displace oil.
Another idea is to apply continuous injections into one well and use an offset well as the producer. Others are looking into flooding the wells with surfactants and possibly acid to stimulate production.
In May, EOG Resources laid claim to the first economic demonstration of an injection-based EOR technology for tight oil in the US. The company said the development may have long-term production benefits and is competitive with drilling new wells.
But other than making it clear that the process has been successful and uses dry gas produced in the same field, EOG is withholding key operational details such as whether it involves the huff-and-puff technique or continuous injections.
A number of other innovative shale producers including Statoil, Nexen Energy, Continental Resources, and Marathon Oil have also either funded research or are known to be running pilots, but have not made their results public.
As most shale producers remain silent about their EOR efforts, there are a growing number of technical papers being published by university petroleum departments and reservoir engineering consultants. They are using computer models and corefloods to test their theories and have produced promising numbers that suggest there may be several practical ways to implement EOR strategies for shale.
Miscible and Immiscible Gas-Injection Pilots in a Middle East Offshore Environment
Authors: Carpenter Chris 
Published: January 2017

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper IPTC 18513, “A Case Study on Miscible and Immiscible Gas-Injection Pilots in a Middle East Carbonate Reservoir in an Offshore Environment,” by Jitendra Kumar, Pawan Agrawal, and Elyes Draoui, Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, prepared for the 2015 International Petroleum Technology Conference, Doha, Qatar, 7–9 December. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Hydrocarbon-gas injection improves microscopic-displacement efficiency and generally acts as pressure maintenance; however, unfavorable mobility ratio can affect the ultimate recovery negatively because of viscous fingering and gravity override. This paper describes a gas-injection pilot that has been implemented in offshore Middle East carbonate reservoirs (a second pilot is described in the complete paper) to assess injectivity, productivity, macroscopic-sweep efficiency, flow assurance, and operational efficiency in a field that has a long water-injection history.
Introduction
The carbonate field is part of the Lower Cretaceous Lower Lekhwair formation. The field is divided into A, B, and C reservoirs, 20 to 35 ft thick individually. Each reservoir is vertically separated by nonpay tight intervals of similar thickness, composed of argillaceous limestone, isolating each reservoir from the others. Depending on the reservoir, oolitic shoal facies can be more abundant. Near the flank area, the formation is water-wet, and, as one moves toward the crestal area, the formation becomes oil-wet.
The reservoir fluid is undersaturated at initial pressure of 4,200 psig at datum depth and a temperature of 220°F. Oil gravity is 40 °API, and oil contains 1–2 mol% carbon dioxide and an insignificant amount of hydrogen sulfide. All three reservoirs have common contact and similar oil properties, with a strong compositional gradient. Production from the field started in the late 1960s through natural depletion, which indicated weak aquifer support.
Before pilot implementation, laboratory experiments were performed to determine the feasibility of hydrocarbon-gas injection. Pressure/volume/temperature experiments showed that the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) is approximately 4,500 psia, which is higher than initial reservoir pressure, but the crude oil has a strong swelling effect. Unsteady-state coreflood experiments performed with a 200-cm-long core showed a recovery of 70% for immiscible flood and a recovery of 92% for miscible flood.
Full-field compositional simulation of gas injection incorporating a tuned equation of state indicated significant incremental oil and reasonable pressure support.
Colloidal-Dispersion Gel in a Heterogeneous Reservoir in Argentina
Authors: Carpenter Chris 
Published: January 2017

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 174704, “CDG in a Heterogeneous Fluvial Reservoir in Argentina: Pilot and Field-Expansion Evaluation,” by D. Diaz and N. Saez, YPF; M. Cabrera, InLab; E. Manrique, Consultant; and J. Romero, M. Kazempour, and N. Aye, Tiorco, prepared for the 2015 SPE Enhanced Oil Recovery Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 11–13 August. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
The Loma Alta Sur (LAS) field is a multilayer fluvial sandstone reservoir in the Neuquén basin of Argentina. Reservoir heterogeneities and an adverse mobility ratio (30-cp oil) led to an early water breakthrough soon after water injection started. Colloidal-dispersion- gel (CDG) injection was considered a viable strategy to improve oil recovery in the field.
LAS-58 CDG Pilot Summary
The CDG pilot was implemented in the LAS-58 injector located on the northeastern side of the field. LAS-58 is an irregular pattern that began water injection in 2002, showing an early water breakthrough. The operator estimates that after 3 years of water injection in the LAS-58 pattern, cumulative secondary oil recovery is only 5.48% of original oil in place (OOIP). The LAS-58 pattern includes 10 producers: six first-line producers with well spacing ranging from 138 to 164 m and four second-line producers.
The first tracer-injection program was implemented in March of 2003, 3 months after initial water injection in the LAS-58 injector. The fastest tracer breakthrough was observed in offset producer LAS-18 (50 days). However, the amount of tracer recovered in LAS-18 and LAS-26 was below 1.5% of the total injected. Producer LAS-49 showed the second-fastest breakthrough but with a cumulative tracer recovery of 4%.
Each of the CDG-injection phases was followed by water injection at similar injection rates. The total volume of CDG injected (62 179 m3) represented 3.06% of the pore volume of the LAS-58 pilot area. Phase I consisted of a small injection volume intended to test CDG injectivity and did not affect pilot oil-production response but definitively contributed to adjusting the polymer concentration used in the pilot through Phases II and III of CDG injection.
The main observation after Phase II of CDG injection was a very distinctive change in the injection profile of the LAS-58 injector. The water-injection flow paths were diverted into the middle (Mandrel 2) and bottom (Mandrel 1) zones of the pay zone because of the reduction in injectivity in the thief zones located at the top (Mandrel 3) of the reservoir. In October 2007, the incremental oil production for the 10 offset producers was reported as 133,292 bbl, with a reduction in water production of 406,949 bbl.
E&P Notes (July 2016)
Authors: Jacobs Trent 
Published: January 2017

E&P Notes
Small Bubbles, Big Rewards for Separation Technology
Reminiscent of the song made famous by late Hawaiian crooner Don Ho, tiny bubbles are the focal point of a new innovation aimed at transforming produced water from a costly byproduct into a valuable asset.
Termed nanobubbles, they are several times smaller than a human red blood cell, which allows them to play with the physics of how dissolved gas interacts with liquids, according to Nano Gas Technologies. The suburban Chicago-based startup says its technology is capable of cheaply producing these nanobubbles to treat produced wastewater that is among the “worst of the worst.”
The technology works by pushing gas, either oxygen or nitrogen, through a nozzle head that shoots the tiny bubbles into a treatment tank. The result is what the company’s chief executive officer, Len Bland, calls “fluffy water” that causes suspended solids to fall and oil to float to the top where it is easily skimmed off.
“If you want to put it in technical terms,” he said, “we change the specific gravity of the liquid so that it enables the oil that is stuck in the water to rise.”
Search for Flight MH 370 Shows Durability of AUVs
The unprecedented search effort for Malaysian Airlines flight 370 has yet to achieve its main goal of locating the vanished aircraft and the 227 persons on board. However, it has served as an endurance test of sorts for offshore surveying systems such as the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which just a couple of years ago was considered an emerging technology with a small track record. Edward Saade, president of the ocean surveying firm Fugro Pelagos, the company contracted by the Australian government to carry out much of the search operation, said he knows of no other commercial project where AUVs have been successfully deployed for such an extensive period of time.
Speaking at the 2016 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Saade said that to cover large swaths of subsea terrain as quickly as possible and capture high-resolution data, Fugro first deployed vessels equipped with conventional deep-tow side scanning sonar. Then starting in January of last year, the AUV vessel was deployed from Perth.
“The purpose of the AUV was to try and get into all those areas that turned out to be blocked in the side-scan operation, either by the steep slopes or other types of data anomalies,” Saade said. “We would preprogram the AUV, launch it and it would do its thing for about 24–28 hours and very effectively fill in all the gaps.”