In-situ hydrocarbon formation and accumulation mechanisms of micro- and nano-scale pore-fracture in Gulong shale, Songliao Basin, NE China

By conducting experimental analyses, including thermal pyrolysis, micro-/nano-CT, argon-ion polishing field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR), the Gulong shale oil in the Songliao Basin was investigated with respect to formation model, pore structure and accumulation mechanism. First, in the Gulong shale, there are a large number of pico-algae, nano-algae and dinoflagellates, which were formed in brackish water environment and constituted the hydrogen-rich oil source materials of shale. Second, most of the oil-generating materials of the Qingshankou Formation shale exist in the form of organo-clay complex. During organic matter thermal evolution, clay minerals had double effects of suppression and catalytic hydrogenation, which expanded shale oil window and increased light hydrocarbon yield. Third, the formation of storage space in the Gulong Shale was related to dissolution and hydrocarbon generation. With the diagenesis, micro-/nano-pores increased, pore diameter decreased and more bedding fractures appeared, which jointly gave rise to the unique reservoir with dual media (i.e. nano-scale pores and micro-scale bedding fractures) in the Gulong shale. Fourth, the micro-/nano-scale oil storage unit in the Gulong shale exhibits independent oil/gas occurrence phase, and shows that all-size pores contain oils, which occur in condensate state in micropores or in oil-gas two phase (or liquid) state in macropores/mesopores. The understanding about Gulong shale oil formation and accumulation mechanism has theoretical and practical significance for advancing continental shale oil exploration in China.

Wetting Characteristics of Insect Wing Surfaces

Biological tiny structures have been observed on many kinds of surfaces such as lotus leaves,which have an effect on the coloration of Morpho butterflies and enhance the hydrophobicity of natural surfaces.We investigated the micro-scale and nano-scale structures on the wing surfaces of insects and found that the hierarchical multiple roughness structures help in enhancing the hydrophobicity.After examining 10 orders and 24 species of flying Pterygotan insects,we found that micro-scale and nano-scale structures typically exist on both the upper and lower wing surfaces of flying insects.The tiny structures such as denticle or setae on the insect wings enhance the hydrophobicity,thereby enabling the wings to be cleaned more easily.And the hydrophobic insect wings undergo a transition from Cassie to Wenzel states at pitch/size ratio of about 20.In order to examine the wetting characteristics on a rough surface,a biomimetic surface with micro-scale pillars is fabricated on a silicon wafer, which exhibits the same behavior as the insect wing,with the Cassie-Wenzel transition occurring consistently around a pitch/width value of 20.

A Modified Characteristics Finite Element Method for the Electroneutral Micro-Fluids

In this paper,a numerical method for the electroneutral micro-fluids based on thefinite element method will be given.In order to deal with the non-linearity of the equation,the modified characteristics method will be used to deal with the tempo-ral derivates term and the convective term.In this way,the non-linear equation can be linearlized.Then,we will give the unconditional stability and optimal error estima-tion.At last,some numerical results are given to show the effectiveness of our method.From the stability analysis we can see that the method is unconditionally stable.The numerical results show that our method is robust.