Diffusion Mass Transfer in Miscible Oil Recovery: Visual Experiments and Simulation

Co-and counter-current type transfers due to diffusion and -free- convection caused by the buoyant forces between fracture and matrix were studied experimentally using 2-D glass-bead models. Mineral oil and kerosene were used as the displaced phase. The model saturated with oil was exposed to solvent phase (pentane) under static conditions (no flow in fracture) to mimic matrix-fracture interaction during gas or liquid solvent injection in naturally fractured reservoirs. Displacement fronts and patterns were analyzed and quantified using fractal techniques to obtain correlations between the fractal properties and displacement type. Displacements resulted in a mixture of bulk diffusion and -free- convection mainly depending on the interaction type (co- or counter-current), oil type, and displacement direction (horizontal and vertical). Conditions yielding different types of displacement patterns were identified. Finally, a stochastic model that was inspired from invasion percolation and diffusion limited aggregation algorithms was developed for the horizontal displacement cases. The experimental observations were matched to the displacement patterns obtained through the stochastic modeling.     

基于不同光谱技术的原油样品的荧光分析

应用同步扫描、三维发射以及目前石油荧光仪所采用的二维发射荧光分析技术对胜利油田15个井区25种原油样品在10-4 g·L-1～10 g·L-1浓度范围内进行了光谱采集,对比分析了不同光谱技术所获取的光谱信息与浓度之间的相应关系。结果表明,对于原油这种多组分样品,二维发射光谱难以满足分析要求;三维光谱信息丰富但数据采集与提取困难。同步扫描光谱具有简单快捷、光谱特征丰富明显、干扰小等特点,选择Δλ为40 nm获得的原油同步扫描光谱可反映三维光谱的主要信息。与二维发射光谱和三维光谱相比,同步荧光法在原油样品分析中显现出较大优势和发展空间,可望发展成为石油录井中对岩屑岩芯样品含油量的定量分析的新方法。     

Superhydrophobic MoS2-based multifunctional sponge for recovery and detection of spilled oil

Oil spills are a major threat to the marine ecosystem, requiring immediate solutions to remove spilled oil from oceanic environments. In this study, we report a superhydrophobic molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge and demonstrate its high proficiency in spilled oil recovery and oil spill detection based on oil-water separation ability. This novel oil sorbent is fabricated by a simple dip-coating to incorporate MoS₂ flakes into PDMS sponge. The optimized MoS₂-sponge displays a water contact angle of >152°, demonstrating excellent superhydrophobicity and high oil absorption (>97 wt%) for a variety of oils, including vegetable oil and fuel waste. Moreover, the material retains excellent oil absorption capability upon repetitive compression cycles. The versatility of this novel sorbent has been extended for the real-time spontaneous detection of oils by taking advantage of electrically conductive MoS₂ layers.     

A novel hybrid cavitation process for enhancing and altering rate of disinfection by use of natural oils derived from plants

The present study is an attempt to improvise the hydrodynamic cavitation methodology for effective disinfection of water and also to suggest prototype development for practical application. The enhancement in the disinfection efficiency was evaluated specifically for the effect of pressure, temperature, pH, microbial inoculum size and also on effect of different additives for the two model microbial strains, gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus). The efficacy of the hydrodynamic cavitation is evaluated for the two types of flows/cavitation devices – linear flow in the case of orifice and vortex flow for vortex diode. The vortex diode requires significantly lower pressures, 50% lower as compared to orifice for the similar extent of disinfection. While the bacterial disinfection at high temperature is known, the usefulness of hydrodynamic cavitation is especially evident at ambient conditions and the process is effective even at very high concentrations of bacteria, not reported so far. The reactor geometry also has significant effect on the disinfection. The present study, for the first time, reports possible use of different natural oils such as castor oil, cinnamon oil, eucalyptus oil and clove oil in conjunction with hydrodynamic cavitation. The nature of oil modifies the cavitation behavior and an order of magnitude enhancement in the cavitation rate was observed for the two oils, eucalyptus and clove oil for a very small concentration of 0.1%. The increased rates of disinfection, of the order of 2–4 folds, using oil can drastically reduce the time of operation and consequently reduce cost of disinfection. A possible mechanism is proposed for the effect of oil and hydrodynamic cavitation in cell destruction through the rupture of cell wall, oxidative damage and possible DNA denaturation. A cavitation model using per pass disinfection was used to correlate the data. The increased efficiency using oils and possible benefits of the developed process, where natural oils can be perceived as biocatalysts, can have significant advantages in practical applications.     

Structural properties and antioxidant activities of polysaccharides isolated from sunflower meal after oil extraction

Making full use of sunflower seeds, including oil and the polysaccharides extracted from the meals which oil has been extracted, is one way to enhance their industrial value. Such meals contain abundant polysaccharides; however, the application of polysaccharides isolated from sunflower remaining meals after oil extraction has not been investigated. In this study, polysaccharides were isolated by alkali from sunflower meals after different oil extraction processes, and their structural properties and antioxidant activities were compared. The results indicated that these polysaccharides displayed significant variability in monosaccharide composition and molecular weight. Differences in structural properties could result in differences in functional antioxidant properties. The polysaccharide (SPHE-1) obtained from the meals after traditional hexane extraction exhibited the best antioxidant activities, including DPPH free radical-scavenging assay and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity among all the polysaccharide fractions. The research provides valuable information for making efficient use of sunflower seeds in the food industry.     

许—模型下误差方差的可容许估计

本文讨论了在许－模型下非负二次估计类中误差方差的可容许估计的条件。     

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of stain-etched luminescent porous silicon films

The surface and in-depth chemical nature of the photoluminescent stained Si layer obtained with a novel procedure based on HF/HNO₃ is presented. Oxide-free porous Si surfaces result from controlled preparation, storing and handling of samples, as revealed by parallel X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray-induced Auger electron spectroscopy measurements, coupled with Ar⁺ ion sputtering. The present findings support the model for the porous layer of oxidized samples of Si grains embedded in a silica gel matrix.     

On the morphology of stain-etched porous silicon films

Morphology of stain-etched porous silicon films was investigated by a non-destructive technique, based on reflectance spectrometry: dielectric function profiles were computed by spectral reflectance via a finite difference model, and porosity was deduced by the effective medium approximation. Theoretical calculations were supported by high-resolution electron microscopy observations. The relations among oxidising species concentration in the etching solution, porosity profile and surface reflectance of the films were investigated.     

Dynamics of non-Newtonian fluid interfaces in a porous medium: Incompressible fluids

This paper concerns the applications of frontal advance theory to the dynamics of a moving flat interface in a porous medium, when both displacing and displaced fluids are of power law behaviour. The rheological effects of non-Newtonian behaviour of these fluids on the interface position and its velocity are numerically illustrated and discussed with regard to the practical implications in oil displacement mechanisms. The results obtained should be useful in finding an optimal policy of injection in order to control the dynamics of the moving interface in field projects of enhanced oil recovery floods.