Helium and argon isotope geochemistry of natural gases in China’s petroliferous basins

The age-accumulation effect of 40Ar in hydrocarbon source rocks was discussed in accordance with the decay law of radioactive elements. In terms of the mean values of 40Ar/36Ar, the old Sinian gas reservoirs (mean values of 40Ar/36Ar: 7009) were definitely distinguished from the Permian gas reservoirs (mean values of 40Ar/36Ar: 1017) in Weiyuan, Sichuan Province, and the gas source of the Permian gas reservoir (mean values of 40Ar/36Ar: 5222) in well Wei-7 with the Weiyuan structure is defined as the Sinian system. Based on the values of 40Ar/36Ar, the coal-type gases (The source rocks are of the C-P system; mean values of 40Ar/36Ar: 1125) are definitely distinguished from the oil-type gases (The source rocks are of the Tertiary system; mean values of 40Ar/36Ar: 590) in the Tertiary reservoirs of the Zhongyuan Oilfield. Besides, 40Ar/36Ar values also have a positive effect on the oil-source correlation of oil reservoirs in ancient hidden mountains. According to the crust-mantle interchange information reflected by 3He/4He values, petroliferous provinces in China can be divided into three major tectonic regions. (1) The eastern active region: The crust-mantle volatile matter exchanges actively, and the 3He/4He values are mainly around 10-6, partly around 10-7. (2) The central stable region: The 3He/4He values are all around 10-8. (3) The western sub-stable region: The 3He/4He values are mainly around 10-8, and around 10-7 on the edges of the basins. Helium contents of some gas wells in China’s eastern petroliferous region reach the industrial abundance (He≈0.05%–0.1%), the 3He/4He values reach 10-6, and the equivalent values for the mantle-source components in helium gas can reach 30%–50%. As viewed from this, a new type of crust-mantle composite helium resources has been proposed. Geneses of some CO2 gas reservoirs in the east of China and some issues concerning mantle-source methane were discussed in the light of the helium and carbon isotopes of CO2 and CH4 in natural gases. In the discussion on helium isotopic characteristics of inclusions in the reservoirs, it was discovered that the 3He/4He values are close to those in natural gases. That is to say, this phenomenon is related to regional tectonism. The 3He/4He, CO2/3He and CH4/3He data were used to discuss the tectonic activities of fault zones in a certain number of regions in China.     

南堡凹陷南部沙一段控砂模式

南堡凹陷盆地内部构造特征复杂,砂体时空分布差异较大。为了明确砂体分布规律,首先对南部缓坡带构造-沉积背景进行研究和岩心相观察,识别了沙一段辫状河三角洲前缘砂体;进而通过对南部缓坡带层序地层格架的建立、沉积学研究和地震地质解释,发现沙一段砂体同时受到顺源和逆源两种同沉积断裂坡折带类型控制。其中,顺源坡折带控制了断槽物源通道的走向,逆源坡折带改变了水流的流向,阻止了砂体的运移。据此,建立了南堡凹陷南部缓坡带沙一段同沉积断裂的控砂模式,得出沙一段砂体具有"沙垒田凸起供砂,断槽物源通道输砂,逆源坡折带阻砂和同沉积洼槽带聚砂"的发育特点。     

Beyond dual-porosity modeling for the simulation of complex flow mechanisms in shale reservoirs

The state of the art of modeling fluid flow in shale reservoirs is dominated by dual-porosity models which divide the reservoirs into matrix blocks that significantly contribute to fluid storage and fracture networks which principally control flow capacity. However, recent extensive microscopic studies reveal that there exist massive micro- and nano-pore systems in shale matrices. Because of this, the actual flow mechanisms in shale reservoirs are considerably more complex than can be simulated by the conventional dual-porosity models and Darcy’s law. Therefore, a model capturing multiple pore scales and flow can provide a better understanding of the complex flow mechanisms occurring in these reservoirs. This paper presents a micro-scale multiple-porosity model for fluid flow in shale reservoirs by capturing the dynamics occurring in three porosity systems: inorganic matter, organic matter (mainly kerogen), and natural fractures. Inorganic and organic portions of shale matrix are treated as sub-blocks with different attributes, such as wettability and pore structures. In kerogen, gas desorption and diffusion are the dominant physics. Since the flow regimes are sensitive to pore size, the effects of nano-pores and micro-pores in kerogen are incorporated into the simulator. The multiple-porosity model is built upon a unique tool for simulating general multiple-porosity systems in which several porosity systems may be tied to each other through arbitrary connectivities. This new model allows us to better understand complex flow mechanisms and eventually is extended into the reservoir scale through upscaling techniques. Sensitivity studies on the contributions of the different flow mechanisms and kerogen properties give some insight as to their importance. Results also include a comparison of the conventional dual-porosity treatment and show that significant differences in fluid distributions and dynamics are obtained with the improved multiple-porosity simulation.     

A semi-implicit method for incompressible three-phase flow in porous media

In this paper, we present a semi-implicit method for the incompressible three-phase flow equations in two dimensions. In particular, a high-order discontinuous Galerkin spatial discretization is coupled with a backward Euler discretization in time. We consider a pressure-saturation formulation, decouple the pressure and saturation equations, and solve them sequentially while still keeping each equation implicit in its respective unknown. We present several numerical examples on both homogeneous and heterogeneous media, with varying permeability and porosity. Our results demonstrate the robustness of the scheme. In particular, no slope limiters are required and a relatively large time step may be taken.     

Well placement optimization subject to realistic field development constraints

This work considers the well placement problem in reservoir management and field development optimization. In particular, it emphasizes embedding realistic and practical constraints into a mathematical optimization formulation. Such constraints are a prerequisite for the wider use of mathematical optimization techniques in well placement problems, since constraints are a way to incorporate reservoir engineering knowledge into the problem formulation. There are important design limitations that are used by the field development team when treating the well placement problem, and these limitations need to be articulated and eventually formalized within the problem before conducting the search for optimal well placements. In addition, these design limitations may be explicit or implicit. In this work, various design limitations pertaining to well locations have been developed in close collaboration with a field operator on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Moreover, this work focuses on developing constraint-handling capability to enforce these various considerations during optimization. In particular, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is applied to optimize for the well locations, and various practical well placement constraints are incorporated into the PSO algorithm using two different constraint-handling techniques: a decoder procedure and the penalty method. The decoder procedure maps the feasible search space onto a cube and has the advantage of not requiring parameter tuning. The penalty method converts the constrained optimization problem into an unconstrained one by introducing an additional term, which is called a penalty function, to the objective function. In contrast to the penalty method, only feasible solutions are evaluated in the decoder method. Through numerical simulations, a comparison between the penalty method and the decoder technique is performed for two cases. We show that the decoder technique can easily be implemented for the well placement problem, and furthermore, that it performs better than the penalty method in most of the cases.     

Reliability Analysis of Earth Slopes Considering Spatial Variability

The paper presents a computational procedure for reliability analysis of earth slopes considering spatial variability of soils under the framework of the Limit Equilibrium Method. In the reliability analysis of earth slopes, the effect of spatial variability of soil properties is generally included indirectly by assuming that the probabilistic critical slip surface is the same as that determined without considering spatial variability. In contrast to this indirect approach, in the direct approach, the effect of spatial variability is included in the process of determination of the probabilistic critical surface itself. While the indirect approach requires much less computational effort, the direct approach is definitely more rigorous. In this context this paper attempts to investigate, with the help of numerical examples, how far away are the results obtained from the indirect approach from that obtained from the direct approach. In both the approaches, it is required to use a model of discretization of random fields into finite random variables. A few such models are available in the literature for one-dimensional (1D) as well as two-dimensional (2D) spatial variability. The developed computational scheme is based on the First Order Reliability Method (FORM) coupled with the Spencer Method of Slices valid for limit equilibrium analysis of general slip surfaces. The study includes bringing out the computational advantages and disadvantages of the three commonly used discretization models. The sensitivity of the reliability index to the magnitudes of the scales of fluctuation has also been studied.     

Stabilization of Expansive Soil with Cement Kiln Dust and RBI Grade 81 at Subgrade Level

The present research work deals with an expansive high plastic clayey soil with cement kiln dust (CKD) and stabilizer (RBI Grade 81). The physical and engineering properties of soil are plasticity, compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), consolidation and California bearing ratio (CBR) of the clayey soil and clay treated with CKD and stabilizer were determined. Soil chemistry was examined before and after treatment using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and elemental dispersive spectrometer. The clay mixed with CKD, CKD and RBI Grade 81 was found that optimum contents are 10 % (CKD), 15 % CKD with 4 % RBI Grade 81, respectively. The result indicates that CKD alone will decrease maximum dry density and increase optimum moisture content. CKD with RBI Grade 81 slightly increases maximum dry density and decreases optimum moisture content. UCS increased with CKD alone and CKD with RBI Grade 81 from 88.3 to 976 kN/m², respectively. CBR values were increased by the addition of CKD, CKD with RBI Grade 81 from 1.65 to 21.7 %. With the curing time of 3, 14 and 28 days, UCS and CBR values were increased due to pozzolanic reaction from cementations material. The treated soil has considerable reduction in compression index. SEM images clearly indicate the formation of CSH and CAH gel.     

The Blasting Test and Blasting Vibration Monitoring of Vertical Crater Retreat Mining Method in the Luohe Iron Mine

Because the land requisition and demolishing became difficult more and more, the mining scheme of Luohe iron mine was changed from caving method to filling method. In order to ensure the safety of the residence and the underground tunnel cavern within the mobile belt of the underground mining, the Luohe iron mine did the blasting test on the vertical crater retreat mining method and blasting vibration monitoring. The blasting experiments use common emulsified oil explosives and non-electric initiation system. The way of caved ore adopts the cutting groove and bench side. The NUBOX-6016 intelligent vibration monitor was chosen in the blasting vibration monitoring. Twice experiments on the blasting vibration monitoring were done on the surface or in the underground refuge cavern. The first test select the three monitoring points on the ground and the second select two monitoring points on the ground and a monitoring point in the underground refuge cavern. The blasting vibration monitoring data were conducted by the regression analysis in the Sodev’s empirical formula. The vibration attenuation formula about the underground blasting vibration transmitting in three directions is derived. The blasting test on the vertical crater retreat mining method and the blasting vibration were analyzed. It is estimated if the vibration damage possibly the surface buildings and related facilities of mine.     

Two Methods for Predicting Reliability Index and Critical Probabilistic Slip Surface of Soil Slopes

Two methods of reliability analysis of soil slopes are studied, and the representative flow charts of both methods are illustrated. Method 1 can predict the reliability index and the critical probabilistic slip surface directly and it is computational efficient, but it needs the development of new codes for integrating the reliability analysis code and the slope stability code. Method 2 makes the reliability analysis code call the slope stability analysis code directly, and each code can be considered as an intact part. The main result of Method 2 is the reliability index of soil slope. Combined with the proposed method for locating the critical slip surface, Method 2 can also predict the probabilistic slip surface. Although Method 2 needs much more callings of the subprogram of slope stability analysis code, it needs not the developing of new computer program. Thus, Method 2 is easy to use and can be applied to different reliability analysis methods and slope stability analysis methods.