Crushing and embedment of proppant packs under cyclic loading:An insigh to enhanced unconventional oil/gas recovery

Crushing and embedment are two critical downhole proppant degradation mechanisms that lead to a significant drop in production outputs in unconventional oil/gas stimulation projects.These persistent production drops due to the non-linear responses of proppants under reservoir conditions put the future utilization of such advanced stimulation techniques in unconventional energy extraction in doubt.The aim of this study is to address these issues by conducting a comprehensive experimental approach.According to the results,whatever the type of proppant,all proppant packs tend to undergo significant plastic deformation under the first loading cycle.Moreover,the utilization of ceramic proppants(which retain proppant pack porosity up to 75％),larger proppant sizes(which retain proppant pack porosity up to 15.2％)and higher proppant concentrations(which retain proppant pack porosity up to 29.5％)in the fracturing stimulations with higher in-situ stresses are recommended to de-escalate the critical consequences of crushing associated issues.Similarly,the selection of resin-coated proppants over ceramic and sand proppants may benefit in terms of obtaining reduced proppant embedment.In addition,selection of smaller proppant sizes and higher proppant concentrations are suggested for stimulation projects at depth with sedimentary formations and lower in-situ stresses where proppant embedment pre-dominates.Furthermore,correlation between proppant embedment with repetitive loading cycles was studied.Importantly,microstructural analysis of the proppant-embedded siltstone rock samples revealed that the initiation of secondary induced fractures.Finally,the findings of this study can greatly contribute to accurately select optimum proppant properties(proppant type,size and concentration)depending on the oil/gas reservoir char-acteristics to minimize proppant crushing and embedment effects.     

A review of research on the shaft resistance of rock-socketed piles

Acta Geotechnica - Shaft resistance generally dominates at the service loads of rock-socketed piles and therefore is always a topic of large research interest. This paper reviews the research...     

Treatment of Integrated Steel Plant Wastewater Using Conventional and Advanced Techniques

The integrated steel industry is considered as one of the important industrial sectors, and its outputs are inputs for other sectors including construction, engineering, medical and scientific equipment, and defence. Massive production, consumption, and export of steel signify a country's economic index. This review outlines the World's steel production quantities, the processes involved, and wastewater generation from the industry and its treatment. Wastewater generated from steel plants is highly complex and requires intensive treatment before discharge into natural water bodies. Technologies adopted for treating wastewater generated from steel industries are deliberated, focusing on coking wastewater treatment. Microbial mediated processes provide an effective means of degrading the contaminants, but the toxicity of certain compounds during higher pollutant load inhibits its further treatment. However, these processes can be integrated with either electrochemical technologies or advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), which can reduce the toxicity level. Hence, when a highly concentrated and complex mixture of contaminants is considered, an integrated approach is a resourceful option in terms of cost-effectiveness and treatment efficiency.     

The Taguchi approach to the evaluation of the influence of different testing conditions on the mechanical properties of rock

Laboratory testing is often used to derive the mechanical properties of rock. Testing conditions heavily influence the results of such laboratory experiments in which factors, including the water content, diameter of samples, slenderness of sample and strain (or loading) rates are of great importance. This paper evaluates the influences of four major test conditions: water content, strain rate, sample diameter and sample slenderness, on the peak uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and modulus of elasticity (MoE) of sandstone. Following the Taguchi approach, an experimental study was conducted on cylindrical sandstone specimens, and the results were interpreted using signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results reveal that water content is the most influential test condition for peak UCS and the influence of sample diameter, slenderness and strain rate decreases in the cited order. MoE is greatly affected by sample slenderness, whereas the other three test conditions show an approximately similar and smaller influence. These characteristics were further verified by the ANOVA results. These behaviours are consistent with the results reported in the literature. Finally, the Taguchi approach, which is a very useful and versatile technique, which has not been effectively applied in rock mechanics and rock engineering, was successfully used to evaluate the influences of different test conditions on the peak UCS and MoE of laboratory rock samples.     

A Novel Testing Apparatus for Hydromechanical Investigation of Rocks: Geo-Sequestration of Carbon dioxide

This paper presents the design, development and application of a new multi-phase high-pressure and elevated temperature rock hydromechanical testing apparatus for the investigation of reservoir and cap rock behaviour in carbon geo-sequestration projects. The triaxial apparatus is designed to support high confining stress, injection pressures and higher temperatures to imitate the natural thermo-hydro-geomechanical conditions of deep underground geological formations. The apparatus also includes an acoustic emission device for the study of the mechanical failure behaviour of rocks under compression. The apparatus is designed to support a range of different rock specimen sizes from 34 to 54?mm in diameter. Since sequestration projects involve the injection of supercritical carbon dioxide, which is extremely sensitive to temperature and pressure, and is highly corrosive in nature, special precautions were taken in the design and manufacture of the apparatus. The data acquisition system is powered and calibrated in accordance with each of the sensors and is guided by a series of in-house developed and commercial softwares for data storage and analysis. The methodology for conducting advanced testing on cap rock and reservoir rocks with the injection of water and supercritical CO₂ is presented with the appropriate theory. Some preliminary tests have been carried out on sandstone specimens sourced from the Melbourne region using the newly designed apparatus and the results are presented in this paper.     

微量陨石激光熔样稀有气体测定方法

微量陨石激光熔样稀有气体测定方法是一种可以在微米尺度上对几毫克陨石样品进行准确稀有气体同位素分析的方法,克服了传统全岩熔融法在测量时存在样品用量大、前处理过程复杂和样品稀有气体分布不均导致不同组分的宇宙射线暴露历史无法进一步区分等问题。但是由于该方法所用样品体积小和样品用量低,要求实验室具有超低本底的稀有气体提取系统,目前国内在微量陨石稀有气体分析技术方面尚处于起步阶段。本文采用金刚石激光样品窗成功研制了超低本底的气体提取系统,通过系统体积标定和天平称量误差、热本底、干扰元素、质量歧视及质谱灵敏度等参数的校正,在中国科学院地质与地球物理研究所建立了微量陨石激光熔样稀有气体测定方法,并对毫克级微量钙长辉长无球粒陨石Millbillillie粉末标样进行了稀有气体同位素含量和比值测定,计算获得准确一致的宇宙暴露年龄。该方法的建立,将为我国迅速发展的比较行星学和深空探测提供重要技术支撑。     

Influence of nearshore sediment dynamics on the distribution of heavy mineral placer deposits in Sri Lanka

Beach sediments in Sri Lanka contain industrial-grade heavy mineral occurrences. Samples of both offshore and onshore sediments were collected to examine the provenance, mineralogy and geochemical compositions of the heavy mineral occurrences. Coastal morphodynamic changes along the coastline of Sri Lanka were analyzed using the time-series satellite images. These coastal morphodynamic changes were used to identify the prominent directions of monsoon-influenced longshore currents, coastal sediment accretion and depositional trends and their relationships to the provenance of the heavy minerals. Results show the concentrations of detrital ilmenite, zircon, garnet, monazite, and rutile vary in the onshore and offshore sediments. The heavy mineral potential of the northeastern coast is high (average contents of about 45–50% in the Verugal deposit, 70–85% in the Pulmoddai deposit, and 3.5–5.0% in offshore samples stretching from Nilaveli to Kokkilai), compared to sediments in southwest (average content about 10% in onshore sediments and 2% in offshore sediments from the mouth of the Gin River). Therefore, no economic-grade heavy mineral placers were identified in the offshore environments. The high concentrations of heavy minerals in beach sediments and low concentrations in offshore sediments suggest operation of a panning system in the surf zone to form enriched placer deposits. Major and trace element compositions of beach sediments show marked enrichments of TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, La, Ce, Zr, Cr, Nb, Th and V compared to average Upper Continental Crust (UCC) values. Analysis of prominent coastal longshore transport patterns identifies bidirectional sediment transport in the northeast coast of Sri Lanka. In the southwestern coast, two transport directions occur with anti-clockwise transport from Galle to Hambantota, and clockwise transport from Hikkaduwa to Wadduwa. The heavy minerals in the placers were mainly derived from Precambrian metamorphic rocks, and transported to the coast through the river systems of Sri Lanka.     

An experimental study of single and two-phase fluid flow through fractured granite specimens

Triaxial tests on the two-phase flow of air and water through fractured granite specimens were performed to discover whether the two-phase fluid flow within rock fractures was laminar or turbulent. The two-phase flow characterization was carried out based on the macroscopic two-phase steady state flow model and the homogeneous steady state flow model. Rock specimens with a single natural fracture (joint roughness coefficient, JRC < 10) were tested using two-phase, high pressure triaxial rig. Experimental results show that the estimated Reynolds numbers for various inlet fluid pressures are well below 1000. The findings of this study reveal that both single and two-phase flow through rock fractures (JRC < 10) can be characterized as laminar flows at moderate inlet fluid pressures. However, for single-phase air flow, an increase in inlet air pressures may result in the formation of turbulent flow.     

Modelling of intact and jointed mudstone samples under uniaxial and triaxial compression

Rock mass is a highly complex entity where the strength and deformation behaviour can be significantly affected by its secondary structures such as joints, fissures and bedding planes. Whilst many research works have been conducted to study the behaviour of a specific rock mass, a thorough understanding of its strength and deformation behaviour incorporating different joint sets has not been established. In this study, a comprehensive numerical modelling using a three-dimensional distinct element code, 3DEC, was undertaken to study the strength and deformation behaviour of a mudstone, locally found in Melbourne, in unconfined and confined states. The initial unconfined model established for intact mudstone was calibrated against the well-established laboratory-based empirical strength relationships and subsequently compared with some strength test data available for field samples. The intact unconfined model was then extended to study the strength behaviour in the confined state. The results obtained from this confined intact model were compared with existing strength criteria and were found in good agreement. The confined model was extended further to investigate the effects of joint sets and dip angles on the rock mass strength and deformation behaviour by incorporating two different joint configurations (one-joint and two-joint) with varying dip angles (0°–90°). This study found that the rock mass strength in a confined state varied significantly between the two joint configurations.