Borehole Stability Analysis of Horizontal Drilling in Shale Gas Reservoirs

Serious wellbore instability occurs frequently during horizontal drilling in shale gas reservoirs. The conventional forecast model of in situ stresses is not suitable for wellbore stability analysis in laminated shale gas formations because of the inhomogeneous mechanical properties of shale. In this study, a new prediction method is developed to calculate the in situ stresses in shale formations. The pore pressure near the borehole is heterogeneous along both the radial and tangential directions due to the inhomogeneity in the mechanical properties and permeability. Therefore, the stress state around the wellbore will vary with time after the formation is drained. Besides, based on the experimental results, a failure criterion is verified and applied to determine the strength of Silurian shale in the Sichuan Basin, including the long-term strength of gas shale. Based on this work, horizontal well borehole stability is analyzed by the new in situ stress prediction model. Finally, the results show that the collapse pressure will be underestimated if the conventional model is used in shale gas reservoirs improperly. The collapse pressure of a horizontal well is maximum at dip angle of 45°. The critical mud weight should be increased constantly to prevent borehole collapse if the borehole is exposed for some time.     

Diurnal Variations of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide Vertical Fluxes in a Subtropical Estuarine Marsh on Neap and Spring Tide Days

Measuring fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is fundamental to estimating their impact on global warming. We examined diurnal variations of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) vertical fluxes in a tidal marsh ecosystem. Measurements were recorded on neap and spring tide days in April and September 2010 in the Shanyutan wetland of the Min River estuary, southeast China. Here, we define a positive flux as directing into the atmosphere. CH₄ fluxes on the diurnal scale were positive throughout, and CH₄ emissions into the atmosphere on neap tide days were higher than on spring tide days. CH₄ releases from the marsh ecosystem on neap tide days were higher in the daytime; however, on spring tide days, daily variations of CH₄ emissions were more complex. The marsh ecosystem plays a twofold role in both releasing and assimilating CO₂ and N₂O gases on the diurnal scale. Average CO₂ fluxes were positive on the daily scale both on neap and spring days and were greater on the neap tide days than on spring tide days. Diurnal variations of N₂O fluxes fluctuated more. Over the diurnal period, soil temperature markedly controlled variations of CH₄ emissions compared to other soil factors, such as salinity and redox potential. Tidal water height was a key factor influencing GHGs fluxes at the water–air interface. Compared with N₂O, the diurnal course of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes in the marsh ecosystem appeared to be directly controlled by marsh plants. These results have implications for sampling and scaling strategies for estimating GHGs fluxes in tidal marsh ecosystems.     

微动物探方法探测采空区

采空区探测通常采用瞬变电磁法与地震勘探方法,前者采用人工电场,后者采用人工震源,但二者施工难度大,数据采集也困难.微动探测是从台阵微动记录的垂直分量中提取瑞利波相速度频散曲线,再通过对频散曲线的反演估算地下介质S波速度,利用其低速异常解释采空区.以铜川东坡煤矿某区的探测为例,在煤层埋深50m左右、微动探测深度100m的情况下,即解释的采空区与地面电法解释的结果高度一致.     

Stress-induced evolution of anisotropic thermal conductivity of dry granular materials

Various factors, such as the volumetric fraction of constituents, mineralogy, and pore fluids, affect heat flow in granular materials. Although the stress applied on granular materials controls the formation of major pathways for heat flow, few studies have focused on a detailed investigation of its significance with regard to the thermal conductivity and anisotropy of the materials. This paper presents a numerical investigation of the stress-induced evolution of anisotropic thermal conductivity of dry granular materials with supplementary experimental results. Granular materials under a variety of stress conditions in element testing are analyzed by the three-dimensional discrete element method, and quantitative variations in their anisotropic effective thermal conductivity are calculated via the network model and conductivity tensor measurements. Results show that the directional development of contact area and fabric under anisotropic stress conditions leads to the evolution of anisotropy in thermal conductivity. The anisotropy induced in thermal conductivity by shear stress is higher than that induced by compressive stress because shear stress causes more significant changes in microstructural configurations and boundary conditions. The shear-stress-induced evolution of anisotropy between principal thermal conductivities depends on dilatancy as well as shearing mode, and the shear-driven discontinuity localizes the conductivity. Factors involved in the stress-induced evolution and their implications on the thermal conductivity characterization are discussed.     

Investigation of manganese tolerance and accumulation of two Mn hyperaccumulators Phytolacca americana L. and Polygonum hydropiper L. in the real Mn-contaminated soils near a manganese mine

Up to date, very few studies have examined the phytoextraction ability of hyperaccumulators in the real soils contaminated with heavy metals following the identification of the hyperaccumulators using hydroponics tests. In the present study, amended with a chemical-mobilizing agent of ethylene diamine triacetic acid (EDTA), the manganese accumulation, tolerance and the hyperaccumulating ability of two hyperaccumulators Phytolacca americana L. (Phytolaccaceae) and Polygonum hydropiper L. (Polygonaceae) proved by previous hydroponics tests were examined using pot experiments with paddy soils contaminated with Mn (1,047 ± 53 mg kg^?1) collected from one site in the vicinity of one manganese mine in Xiushan county of Chongqing, China. Results showed that the root and shoot biomass of P. americana and the chlorophyll production of P. hydropiper were significantly inhibited by EDTA treatments while the chlorophyll production of P. americana was oppositely obviously promoted by EDTA. It is noteworthy that, with or without EDTA treatment, the shoot Mn concentrations of both plant species were significantly below the hyperaccumulator threshold, indicating these two plants concealed their hyperaccumulating ability in the studied soils. Thus, further detailed studies need to be conducted to promote the metal hyperaccumulating capacity of these two plant species under comparably low Mn-contaminated soil conditions as shown in this study before the successful application of these Mn hyperaccumulators identified in laboratories to the phytoextraction of lightly or moderately Mn-contaminated agricultural soils.     

稀土金属产品中放射性的测定

对于稀土金属产品的总α总β放射性测定,采用一般分析方法前期制样难度大,不易达到制成样品源的粒度。本法通过将稀土金属产品制成削状,用适量盐酸和硝酸低温加热溶解,再加入硫酸蒸干使试液中残渣最后形成硫酸盐,通过研磨混匀的方式,制成满足有效厚度且少于最大取样量的样品源,从而实现总α总β放射性的测量。     

岩石的流变性质与断层模型

本文以断层带的为形机制为主题，简要总结了与此相关的岩石流变性质的研究结果，讨论了已有的几个断层带模型，并就进一步应开展的研究课题提出了一些建议。     

An Improved GWR Approach for Exploring the Anisotropic Influence of Ore-Controlling Factors on Mineralization in 3D Space

Natural Resources Research - Spatial non-stationarity is a common geological phenomenon, and the formation of orebodies is a typical non-stationary process. Therefore, a quantitative study of the...     

Generalized Mathematical Morphological Method for 3D Shape Analysis of Geological Boundaries: Application in Identifying Mineralization-Associated Shape Features

The shapes of geological boundaries such as contacts and faults play a crucial role in the transportation, deposition and preservation of metals in magmatic and hydrothermal systems. Analyzing the shapes of geological boundaries, in particular those associated with mineralization, is an important step in 3D mineral prospectivity modeling. However, existing methods of shape analysis are limited in the adaptation of various shapes, scales and topologies of geological boundaries. This paper presents a general method of shape analysis based on mathematical morphology (MM), which is a generalization of the original MM method for shape analysis. The generalization extends the applicability of the original MM method from closed surfaces to general surfaces, while inheriting the real 3D and multi-scale analysis capabilities of the original method. This is achieved by regarding MM operations on 3D sphere structural elements as their equivalent operations, and redefining the operations to general surfaces. The generalized MM method enables us to handle complex 3D shapes such as overturned and/or recumbent geological boundaries as well as incomplete shapes due to weathering processes and data unavailability. The proposed method was applied to analyze the shape of an intrusive contact in the Fenghuangshan Cu ore field, Eastern China, whose shape was in the form of a non-closed surface. This analysis revealed a stronger spatial association between the large concave parts of the contact zone and the mineralization. Due to its enhanced adaptability to different shapes, the generalized MM method, compared with the original MM method, allows us to capture shape features that are more plausible for the geological setting.

     

The broad band spectral index of TeV blazars detected by Fermi LAT

Using γ-ray data detected by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and multi-wave band data for 35 TeV blazars sample, we have studied the possible correlations between different broad band spectral indices ( $\alpha_{\rm r.ir}$ , $\alpha_{\rm{r.o}}$ , $\alpha_{\rm r.x}$ , $\alpha_{\rm r.\gamma}$ , $\alpha_{\rm{ir.o}}$ , $\alpha_{\rm ir.x}$ , $\alpha_{\rm ir.\gamma}$ , $\alpha_{\rm o.x}$ , $\alpha_{\rm o.\gamma}$ , $\alpha_{\rm r.x}$ , $\alpha_{\rm x.\gamma}$ ) in all states (average/high/low). Our results are as follows: (1) For our TeV blazars sample, the strong positive correlations were found between $\alpha_{\rm r.ir}$ and $\alpha_{\rm{r.o}}$ , between $\alpha_{\rm r.ir}$ and $\alpha_{\rm r.x}$ , between $\alpha_{\rm r.ir}$ and $\alpha_{\rm r.\gamma}$ in all states (average/high/low); (2) For our TeV blazars sample, the strong anti-correlations were found between $\alpha_{\rm r.ir}$ and $\alpha_{\rm x.\gamma}$ , between $\alpha_{\rm{r.o}}$ and $\alpha_{\rm ir.\gamma}$ , between $\alpha_{\rm{r.o}}$ and $\alpha_{\rm o.\gamma}$ , between $\alpha_{\rm{r.o}}$ and $\alpha_{\rm x.\gamma}$ , between $\alpha_{\mathrm{ir.o}}$ and $\alpha_{\rm o.\gamma}$ , between $\alpha_{\rm r.x}$ and $\alpha_{\rm x.\gamma}$ , between $\alpha_{\rm ir.x}$ and $\alpha_{\rm x.\gamma}$ in all states (average/high/low). The results suggest that the synchrotron self-Compton radiation (SSC) is the main mechanism of high energy γ-ray emission and the inverse Compton scattering of circum-nuclear dust is likely to be a important complementary mechanism for TeV blazars. Our results also show that the possible correlations vary from state to state in the same pair of indices, Which suggest that there may exist differences in the emitting process and in the location of the emitting region for different states.