Seal integrity and feasibility of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> sequestration in the Teapot Dome EOR pilot: geomechanical site characterization

This paper reports a preliminary investigation of CO₂ sequestration and seal integrity at Teapot Dome oil field, Wyoming, USA, with the objective of predicting the potential risk of CO₂ leakage along reservoir-bounding faults. CO₂ injection into reservoirs creates anomalously high pore pressure at the top of the reservoir that could potentially hydraulically fracture the caprock or trigger slip on reservoir-bounding faults. The Tensleep Formation, a Pennsylvanian age eolian sandstone is evaluated as the target horizon for a pilot CO₂ EOR-carbon storage experiment, in a three-way closure trap against a bounding fault, termed the S1 fault. A preliminary geomechanical model of the Tensleep Formation has been developed to evaluate the potential for CO₂ injection inducing slip on the S1 fault and thus threatening seal integrity. Uncertainties in the stress tensor and fault geometry have been incorporated into the analysis using Monte Carlo simulation. The authors find that even the most pessimistic risk scenario would require ∼10 MPa of excess pressure to cause the S1 fault to reactivate and provide a potential leakage pathway. This would correspond to a CO₂ column height of ∼1,500 m, whereas the structural closure of the Tensleep Formation in the pilot injection area does not exceed 100 m. It is therefore apparent that CO₂ injection is not likely to compromise the S1 fault stability. Better constraint of the least principal stress is needed to establish a more reliable estimate of the maximum reservoir pressure required to hydrofracture the caprock.     

Shear strength characterization of municipal solid waste at the Suzhou landfill, China

The current practice of slope stability analysis for a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill usually overlooks the dependence of waste properties on the fill age or embedment depth. Changes in shear strength of MSW as a function of fill age were investigated by performing field and laboratory studies on the Suzhou landfill in China. The field study included sampling from five boreholes advanced to the bottom of the landfill, cone penetration tests and monitoring of pore fluid pressures. Twenty-six borehole samples representative of different fill ages (0 to 13 years) were used to perform drained triaxial compression tests. The field and laboratory study showed that the waste body in the landfill can be sub-divided into several strata corresponding to different ranges of fill age. Each of the waste strata has individual composition and shear strength characteristics. The triaxial test results showed that the MSW samples exhibited a strain-hardening and contractive behavior. As the fill age of the waste increased from 1.7 years to 11 years, the cohesion mobilized at a strain level of 10% was found to decrease from 23.3 kPa to 0 kPa, and the mobilized friction angle at the same strain level increasing from 9.9° to 26°. For a confinement stress level greater than 50 kPa, the shear strength of the recently-placed MSW seemed to be lower than that of the older MSW. This behavior was consistent with the cone penetration test results. The field measurement of pore pressures revealed a perched leachate mound above an intermediate cover of soils and a substantial leachate mound near the bottom of the landfill. The measurements of shear strength properties and pore pressures were utilized to assess the slope stability of the Suzhou landfill.     

Implementing low-cost landslide risk reduction: a pilot study in unplanned housing areas of the Caribbean

Landslides pose a serious physical and environmental threat to vulnerable communities living in areas of unplanned housing on steep slopes in the Caribbean. Some of these communities have, in the past, had to be relocated, at costs of millions of dollars, because of major slides triggered by tropical storm rainfall. Even so, evidence shows that: (1) risk reduction is a marginal activity; (2) there has been minimal uptake of hazard maps and vulnerability assessments and (3) there is little on-the-ground delivery of construction for risk reduction. This article directly addresses these issues by developing a low-cost approach to the identification of the potential pore pressure changes that trigger such slides we seek to address these three commentaries directly. A complex 45–60° slope site in St Lucia, West Indies was selected as a pilot for a modelling approach that uses numerical models (FLAC and CHASM) to verify the need for surface water management to effectively reduce landslide risk. Following the model confirmation, a series of drains were designed and constructed at the site. Post-construction evidence indicates the methodology to be sound, in that the site was stable in subsequent 1-in-1 to 1-in-4 year rainfall events. A critical feature of the approach is that it is community-based from data acquisition through to community members participating in construction.     

强降雨条件下土质边坡瞬态稳定性分析

基于实际降雨气象资料,设计了单峰降雨和8个不同时间间隔的双峰降雨计算方案,利用非饱和土力学理论,对边坡的瞬态稳定性进行了计算和分析,研究了水分在坡体内的运移对边坡稳定性的时间空间影响效应,同时考察了降雨入渗造成的土性渗透特性的改变。分析发现：一次降雨的影响历时约12 d,降雨后约0.5 d该类土质边坡最危险;不同时间间隔的两次降雨对边坡稳定的影响比单峰降雨的最小安全系数滞后约0.3 d～0.8 d,影响历时基本保持不变;土体物理力学性质、边坡最危险滑动面及其对应的安全系数随水分在坡体内渗透运移而变化。     

三维抛物方程Douglas交替方向隐格式的稳定性和收敛性

作者研究三维变系数抛物方程 Douglas交替方向隐格式的稳定性和收敛性。采用 H1能量估计方法 ,证明格式按离散 H1范数是绝对稳定的 ,并且收敛阶为 O(Δ t2 + h2 )     

Effect of Cyclic Loading Frequency on Undrained Behaviors of Undisturbed Marine Clay

Based on a series of cyclic triaxial tests, the effect of cyclic frequency on the undrained behaviors of undisturbed marine clay is investigated. For a given dynamic stress ratio, the accumulated pore water pressure and dynamic strain increase with the number of cycles. There exists a threshold value for beth the accumulated pore water pressure and dynamic strain, below which the effect of cyclic frequency is very small, but above which the accumulated pore water pressure and dynamic strain increase intensely with the decrease of cyclic frequency for a given number of cycles. The dynamic strength increases with the increase of cyclic frequency, whereas the effect of cyclic frequency on it gradually diminishes to zero when the number of cycles is large enough, and the dynamic strengths at different frequencies tend to the same limiting minimum dynamic strength. The test results demonstrate that the reasons for the frequency effect on the undrained soil behaviors are beth the creep effect induced by the loading rate and the decrease of sample effective confining pressure caused by the accumulated pore water pressure.     

低风速下海面附近气温场对海气动量通量的影响

实用测的海上和层平均风剖面数据和温度剖面数据，通过数据回归和迭代方法计算出了在不同大气稳定情况下的海面阻力系数。得到了与前人理论计算一致的结论：海面阻力系数随海面大气稳定度的增加而减小，另外，我们还发现：在海面风速小于１３ｍ／ｓ时，不能认为气温剖面外推到海面的值与海面水温的是一致的。这样若用海气温差作为衡量海面上方大气的稳定程度，难于得到上面给出了理结论。这一点同前人的理论计算结果是不相同的。     

钢筋混凝土梁结构断裂损伤诊断方法

提出一种基于BP神经网络的结构破损诊断方法,该方法以结构破损前后柔度的变化作为破损诊断网络输入,为了解决由于系统响应样本数据空间分布不均匀对网络收敛速度及网络诊断影响问题,对网络训练样本采用广义空间格点进行了交换,模拟算例及应用实例均表明,本文方法能准确诊断结构破损位置与破坏程度,是一种有效的结构破损诊断方法.     

1999年渤海浮游植物生物量的数值模拟

以浮游植物量、浮游动物量、营养盐浓度 (包括无机氮和无机磷 )以及碎屑量为生态变量 ,在HAMSOM水动力学模式的基础上构建了 1个三维浮游生态动力学NPZD模型。采用此模型研究了渤海 1999年浮游植物量和初级生产力的变化情况 ,模拟结果与实测基本相符。模拟结果表明 :1999年渤海浮游植物量的变化大致呈双峰分布 ,春季水华出现在4,5月份 ,秋季水华出现在 9,10月份 ;受透明度和局地水深的影响 ,渤海湾和辽东湾北部浮游植物量的年变化呈夏季大、冬季小的单峰分布。 1999年渤海不同海区初级生产力的变化特征是 :除莱州湾一年中有春、夏 2个峰值外 ,其它 3个海区都是夏季高、冬季低的单峰分布 ;1999年整个渤海年平均的初级生产力为 2 5 7mgC/m2 /d。