Prediction of hydrocarbon recovery from turbidite sandstones with linked-debrite facies: Numerical flow-simulation studies

A series of two-dimensional numerical flow simulations were carried out to investigate the production characteristics of a sheet sandstone bed with a linked-debrite interval. A deterministic geological model was used based on a two-dimensional representation of a bed from the Marnoso Arenacea Formation. The model was 60 km long and 1 m thick and contained three zones, arranged in a vertical facies arrangement typical of many linked-debrite beds: i) a lower, coarse-to-medium grained, clean turbidite sandstone interval; ii) a middle, muddy sandstone, debrite interval; iii) an upper, fine-grained, clean, laminated sandstone interval. Simulation involved only a 3-km long sector of the model, with one injector well and one production well, placed 1-km apart in the middle of the sector model. The simulated sector was moved progressively down the length of the bed, in 1-km steps, sampling different parts of the bed with different facies proportions. The petrophysical properties of the debrite interval were varied to produce different porosity–permeability cases. All other modelling parameters, including the upper and lower interval petrophysics, were kept constant. Results indicate that, in most cases, key production parameters such as cumulative oil production with time and water cut are proportional to the volume of movable oil between the wells. This relationship does not hold, however, for cases with relatively low values of debrite porosity (≤0.15) and permeability (k_h ≤ 100 mD) where the debrite interval accounts for more than 20% of the interwell volume. In these models, production efficiency declines systematically with reducing reservoir quality and increasing debrite percentage, resulting in relatively low oil production and early water breakthrough.     

MHD Models and Laboratory Experiments of Jets

Jet research has long relied upon a combination of analytical, observational and numerical studies to elucidate the complex phenomena involved. One element missing from these studies (which other physical sciences utilize) is the controlled experimental investigation of such systems. With the advent of high-power lasers and fast Z-pinch machines it is now possible to experimentally studysimilar systems in a laboratory setting. Such investigations can contribute in two useful ways. They can be used for comparison with numerical simulations as a means to validate simulation codes. More importantly, however, such investigations can also be used to complement other jet research, leading to fundamentally new knowledge. In the first part of this article, we analyze the evolution of magnetized wide-angle winds in a collapsing environment. We track the ambient and wind mass separately and describe a physical mechanism by which an ionized central wind can entrain the ambient gas giving rise to internal shells of molecular material on short time scales. The formation of internal shells in molecular outflows has been found to be an important ingredient in describing the observations of convex spurs in P-V diagrams (Hubble wedges in M-V diagrams).In the second part, we present astrophysically relevant experiments in which supersonic jets are created using a conical wire array Z-pinch. The conically convergent flow generates a standing shock around the axis which collimates the flow into a Mach ～ 30 jet. The jet formation process is closely related to the work of Cantó et al. (1988) for hydrodynamic jet collimation. The influence of radiative cooling on collimation and stability is studied by varying the wire material (Al, Fe, and W).     

Tectonic framework of the Celtic Sea and adjacent areas with special reference to the location of the Variscan Front

Structural trends in the Celtic Sea area indicate that Variscan deformation patterns were inherited from Caledonian basement structures, and that the regional fold alignment is arcuate with a regional WSW-ENE direction rather than WNW-ESE (Armorican). There is no lateral structural continuity between Southern Ireland and South Wales-Southwest England. Three major structural provinces arranged en échelon across the Variscan foldbelt are recognised: (a) Southwest England, where there was complex deformation of a major basin; (b) the South Wales-Mendips foreland area, with strong basement/cover interaction and (c) the Southern Ireland graben and flanking platform province. Late Palaeozoic depositional patterns indicate that Southern Ireland and Southwest England were separated by a WSW-ENE trending platform bounded on the north by the inherited Wexford Boundary Lineament and to the south by a previously unidentified major Palaeozoic fault zone, here termed the Bristol Channel Lineament. The South Wales-Mendips Variscan successions accumulated on this intervening Wales-Celtic Sea platform, and were partly influenced by rejuvenated Caledonian fault lines. It is suggested that the northern margin of the Rheno-Hercynian foldbelt (the Variscan Front) be taken along the Bristol Channel Lineament, which can be traced for some 400 km southwestwards towards the Goban Spur on the continental margin. This permits a rationalisation of both tectonic and major facies boundaries in locating the front. It is also suggested that the structurally localised nature of the Southern Ireland basin be recognised by designating it as the Southern Ireland Zone of the Variscan foldbelt.The sites of Mesozoic rifting in the Celtic Sea and adjacent areas, although complex in detail, appear to have been located along the Wexford Boundary and Bristol Channel Lineaments.     

Preferential sputtering as a method of producing metallic iron,inducing major element fractionation and trace element enrichment

The mechanism responsible for the formation of finely divided metallic iron in lunar samples has been the subject of considerable debate. A review of the data currently available from laboratory simulation studies would appear to favour an origin involving preferential sputtering of oxygen atoms by the solar wind.Using a model presented here we find that it is thermodynamically predictable that preferential sputtering would lead to the formation of free iron. Likewise titanium should be enriched in particle surfaces due to the formation of Ti₂O₃ from TiO₂. Other major elements will be fractionated according to the ratio of their heat of sublimation to the heat of dissociation of their oxide. The changes induced in the surfaces of fine grains will be of considerable importance when these particles are incorporated into complex grains. Thus, we suggest that preferential sputtering may be implicated in the major element fractionations observed for glassy agglutinates. A 1% component of Fe∮ is able to account easily for the enrichment in the total iron observed.If sufficient exposure time is available preferential sputtering may be able to produce metallic iron-rich layers ca. 40Åthick on the surfaces of lunar grains. Most of this metal would derive from helium sputtering rather than hydrogen bombardment. Provided reduction takes place predominantly in fine particles with a mean grain size <10 μm diameter which are subsequently incorporated into glassy agglutinates, preferential sputtering could account for all the free iron in the lunar soil.For elements of atomic number ca. Z = 30 and above, thermodynamic effects become insignificant compared to momentum transfer considerations. Heavy (Pb, Hg) and medium heavy elements (Rb, Sr) could all be enriched by preferential sputtering. Monovalent elements (e.g. K, Rb) in silicates will have a lower binding energy and knock-on collisions with incoming solar wind atoms could cause their increased abundance in fine fractions of lunar soil.     

The Evolution Of Turbulence Across A Forest Edge

An experiment was set-up to investigate the adjustment of turbulence over a roughness transition (moorland to forest). Results from this experiment support the development of an internal boundary layer (IBL) at the transition, which propagates upwards by turbulent diffusion as a function of distance downwind from the transition. Spectra and length-scale results uphold the hypothesis that, over a transition to a rough surface, the variance distribution shifts towards smaller wavelengths/length scales. However, results suggest that the adjustment of streamwise velocity variance may be faster than the adjustment of the vertical velocity variance. The concept of an equilibrium layer developing above the new surface is supported. Fetch requirements for equilibrium are, however, found to differ between first order and second order (flux) statistics, with second order statistics requiring a longer fetch. Results indicate that fetch should exceed 25 times the height of the measurement above the zero plane, which is a 2° (±0.5) growth angle, for flux equilibrium.     

Acoustic sounder observations from an elevated location

Details of the top of the atmospheric boundary layer obtained using an acoustic sounder at the summit of an 847 m mountain are presented.     

Mobile Visibility Querying for LBS

This article describes research carried out in the area of mobile spatial interaction (MSI) and the development of a 3D mobile version of a 2D web‐based directional query processor. The TellMe application integrates location (from GPS, GSM, WiFi) and orientation (from magnetometer/accelerometer) sensor technologies into an enhanced spatial query processing module capable of exploiting a mobile device's position and orientation for querying real‐world spatial datasets. This article outlines our technique for combining these technologies and the architecture needed to deploy them on a sensor enabled smartphone (i.e. Nokia Navigator 6210). With all these sensor technologies now available on off‐the‐shelf devices, it is possible to employ a mobile query system that can work effectively in any environment using location and orientation as primary parameters for directional queries. Novel approaches for determining a user's visible query space in three dimensions based on their line‐of‐sight (ego‐visibility) are investigated to provide for “hidden query removal” functionality. This article presents demonstrable results of a mobile application that is location, direction, and orientation aware, and that retrieves database objects and attributes (e.g. buildings, points‐of‐interest, etc.) by simply pointing, or “looking”, at them with a mobile phone.