Investigation into the effect of silica nanoparticles on the rheological characteristics of water-in-heavy oil emulsions

The effect of silica nanoparticles on the rheological characteristics of water-in-heavy oil emulsions has been investigated.Enhanced oil recovery methods for heavy oil production(most especially,thermal fluid injection)usually result in the formation of water-in-oil(W/O)emulsion.In reality,the emulsion produced also contains some fine solid mineral particles such as silica,which,depending on its quantity,may alter the viscosity and/or rheological properties of the fluid.A series of binary-component emulsions were separately prepared by dispersing silica nanoparticles[phase fraction,βs,=0.5%–5.75%(wt/v)]in heavy oil(S/O suspension)and by dispersing water[water cut,θw=10%–53%(v/v)]in heavy oil(W/O emulsion).Ternary-component emulsions comprising heavy oil,water droplets and suspended silica nanoparticles(S/W/O)were also prepared with similar ranges ofθw andβs.The viscosity was measured at different shear rates(5.1–1021.4 s-1)and temperatures(30–70°C).Both binary-component and ternary-component emulsion systems were observed to exhibit nonNewtonian shear thinning behaviour.The viscosity of the heavy oil and W/O emulsions increased in the presence of silica nanoparticles.The effect was,however,less signifi cant belowβs=2%(wt/v).Moreover,a generalized correlation has been proposed to predict the viscosity of both binary-component and ternary-component emulsions.

前列腺癌患者适形放射治疗最佳射野安排的评价(英文)

Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate the optimal field arrangement for conformal radiotherapy (CFRT) for prostate cancer patients.Methods:Thirty patients with prostate cancer of different grades and stages were treated with 3D conformal radiotherapy to minimize the dose to bladder,rectum and head of both femora using four fields (4F),five fields (5F),six fields (6F) and ARC techniques to minimize the risk of over dose to bladder,rectum and femoral heads.Patients received a total dose between 76 to 78 Gy given in 38 to 39 fractions over 7.5 to 8 weeks.Results:It was observed that V95,D95,D50 and D5 values for planning target volume (PTV) were comparatively higher when planned by 5 fields technique than when planned by fixed field technique (91%,91%,90% and 91.4% for skip-scan technique versus 85%,87%,86% and 88% by fixed field).The organs like rectum and urinary bladder get much higher dose when treated by fixed field techniques than rotation or 5 fields technique,when comparison was made for V95,V50 and DM values for rectum and urinary bladder obtained by 5 fields technique planning and 4/6 field planning,the value for 5 fields technique was found to be lower than 4/6 field technique (1%,70% and 51% versus 13%,91% and 55% for rectum and 4%,25% and 51% versus 16%,38% and 56% for urinary bladder respectively).Conclusion:Similarly for femoral heads,planning by full rotational technique had been observed to be beneficial as compared to when planning was done by fixed field technique (0%,0% and 29% versus 0%,1% and 28%).