The Damaging Effects of Abstracting the Deep Aquifers’Groundwater in Jordan-Quality Constraints

The deep aquifers in Jordan contain non-renewable and fossil groundwater and their extraction is quasi a mining process, which ends in the depletion of these resources. Although aquifers in the majority of groundwater basins in Jordan are vertically and horizontally interconnected stratification in different water quality horizons with generally increasing water salinity with the depth is observed. Many officials and planners advocate the extraction of deep salty and brackish water to be desalinated and used in household, industrial, and agricultural uses. In this article, the quality of the groundwater in the different deep aquifers and areas in Jordan is discussed. The results of this study show that the consequences of the deep groundwater exploitation are not restricted to depletion of the deep aquifers but also that the overlying fresh groundwater will, due to vertical and horizontal interconnectedness of the different aquifers, percolate down to replace the extracted deep groundwater. This will cause the down-percolating fresh groundwater to become salinized in the deep saline aquifers, which means that extracting the deep brackish and saline groundwater is not only an emptying process of the deep groundwater but also it is an emptying process of the fresh groundwater overlying them. The results allow to conclude that any extraction of the deep groundwater in areas lying to the north of Ras en Naqab Escarpment will have damaging impacts on the fresh groundwater in the overlying fresh groundwater aquifers. This article strongly advises not to extract the deep brackish and saline groundwater, but to conserve that groundwater as a base supporting the overlying fresh groundwater resources, and that will help in protecting the thermal mineralized water springs used in spas originating from these deep aquifers. The increasing water needs of the country can be covered by the desalination of seawater at Aqaba, which is the only viable option for Jordan at present and in the coming decades.

Development of an ultra-high-pressure rotary combined dynamic seal and experimental study on its sealing performance in deep energy mining conditions

With the continuous development of deep oil and gas,minerals,geothermal resources,and other resources,there are increasingly more stringent requirements for equipment.In particular,the ultra-highpressure dynamic seals of deep mining device need to be developed.Therefore,considering the use of dynamic seals in unique deep mining environments,an ultra-high-pressure rotating combined dynamic seal was designed and developed and its sealing performance was experimentally measured and analyzed.The results show that the experimental device can operate stably under a pressure of up to150 MPa and a rotating speed of 76 r/min,and can also operate normally under a rotating speed of up to 140 r/min and a sealing pressure of 120 MPa.During the operation of the ultra-high-pressure rotating combined dynamic seal,the sealing ring does not show obvious damage,which vouches for its sealing performance.No leakage of flow and pressure was detected in the all seal structures within the sealing pressure range of 0-150 MPa.Therefore,the dynamic sealing performance of the device is intact under ultra-high-pressure conditions and can be applied in deep mining environments at a certain depth.The research and development of this device can aid future deep energy exploration and exploitation.

Deep original information preservation by applying in-situ film formation technology during coring

Accurately obtaining the original information of an in-situ rock via coring is a significant guiding step for exploring and developing deep oil and gas resources.It is difficult for traditional coring technology and equipment to preserve the original information in deep rocks.This study develops a technology for insitu substance-preserved(ISP),moisture-preserved(IMP),and light-preserved(ILP)coring.This technology stores the original information in real time by forming a solid sealing film on the in-situ sample during coring.This study designed the ISP-IMP-ILP-Coring process and tool.In addition,an ISP-IMP-ILPCoring process simulation system was developed.The effects of temperature,pressure,and film thickness on the quality of the in-situ film were investigated by performing in-situ film-forming simulation experiments.A solid sealing film with a thickness of 2-3 mm can be formed;it completely covers the core sample and has uniform thickness.The film maintains good ISP-IMP-ILP properties and can protect the core sample in the in-situ environment steadily.This study verifies the feasibility of“film formation during coring”technology and provides strong support for the engineering application of ISP-IMP-ILPCoring technology.