Gas Condensate Two Phase Flow Performance in Porous Media Considering Capillary Number and Non-Darcy Effects

Retrograde condensation frequently occurs during the development of gas condensate reservoirs. The loss of productivity is often observed due to the reduced relative permeability to gas as condensate accumulates near the well bore region. How to describe the condensate blockage effect exactly has been a continuous research topic. However, up to now, the present methods usually over-estimate or underestimate the productivity reduction due to an incorrect understanding of the mechanism of flow in porous medium, which inevitably results in an inaccurate prediction of production performance. It has been found in recent numerous theoretical and experimental studies that capillary number and non-Darcy flow have significant influence on relative permeability in regions near the well bore. The two effects impose opposite impacts on production performance, thus leading to gas condensate flow showing characteristics different from general understanding. It is significant for prediction of performance in gas condensate wells to understand the two effects exactly. The aim of the paper is to describe and analyze the flow dynamics in porous media accurately during the production of gas condensate reservoirs. Based on the description of three-zone flow mechanism, capillary number and non-Darcy effect are incorporated in the analysis of relative permeability, making it possible to describe the effect of condensate blockage. The effect of capillary number and inertial flow on gas and condensate relative permeability is analyzed in detail. Novel Inflow Performance Relation (IPR) models considering high velocity effects are formulated and the contrast analysis of different IPR models is conducted. The result shows that the proposed method can help predict the production performance and productivity more accurately than conventional methods.

Numerical simulation of two-phase flow in fractured porous media using streamline simulation and IMPES methods and comparing results with a commercial software

Streamline simulation is developed to simulate waterflooding in fractured reservoirs. Conventional reservoir simulation methods for fluid flow simulation in large and complex reservoirs are very costly and time consuming. In streamline method, transport equations are solved on one-dimensional streamlines to reduce the computation time with less memory for simulation. First, pressure equation is solved on an Eulerian grid and streamlines are traced. Defining the "time of flight", saturation equations are mapped and solved on streamlines. Finally, the results are mapped back on Eulerian grid and the process is repeated until the simulation end time. The waterflooding process is considered in a fractured reservoir using the dual porosity model. Afterwards, a computational code is developed to solve the same problem by the IMPES method and the results of streamline simulation are compared to those of the IMPES and a commercial software. Finally, the accuracy and efficiency of streamline simulator for simulation of two-phase flow in fractured reservoirs has been proved.

A control volume based finite element method for simulating incompressible two-phase flow in heterogeneous porous media and its application to reservoir engineering

Applying the standard Galerkin finite element method for solving flow problems in porous media encounters some difficulties such as numerical oscillation at the shock front and discontinuity of the velocity field on element faces.Discontinuity of velocity field leads this method not to conserve mass locally.Moreover,the accuracy and stability of a solution is highly affected by a non-conservative method.In this paper,a three dimensional control volume finite element method is developed for twophase fluid flow simulation which overcomes the deficiency of the standard finite element method,and attains high-orders of accuracy at a reasonable computational cost.Moreover,this method is capable of handling heterogeneity in a very rational way.A fully implicit scheme is applied to temporal discretization of the governing equations to achieve an unconditionally stable solution.The accuracy and efficiency of the method are verified by simulating some waterflooding experiments.Some representative examples are presented to illustrate the capability of the method to simulate two-phase fluid flow in heterogeneous porous media.

Effect of two-step solid solution on microstructure andδphase precipitation of Inconel 718 alloy

Inconel 718 is the most popular nickel-based superalloy and is extensively used in aerospace,automotive,and energy indus-tries owing to its extraordinary thermomechanical properties.The effects of different two-step solid solution treatments on microstructure andδphase precipitation of Inconel 718 alloy were studied,and the transformation mechanism fromγ″metastable phase toδphase was clarified.The precipitates were statistically analyzed by X-ray diffractometry.The results show that theδphase content firstly increased,and then decreased with the temperature of the second-step solid solution.The changes in microstructure andδphase were studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.An intragranularδphase formed in Inconel 718 alloy at the second-[100]_(δ)[011]γ step solid solution temperature of 925℃,and its orientation relationship withγmatrix was determined as//and(010)_(δ)//(111)γ.Furthermore,the Vickers hardness of different heat treatment samples was measured,and the sample treated by second-step solid solution at 1010℃ reached the maximum hardness of HV 446.84.

Wave field in two-phase media by the convolutional differentiator method

This paper applies the convolutional differentiator method, based on generalized Forsyte orthogonal polynomial （CFPD）, to simulate the seismic wave propagation in two-phase media. From the numerical results we can see that three types of waves, fast P-waves, S-waves and slow P-waves, can be observed in the seismic wave field. The experiments on anisotropic models demonstrate that the wavefront is elliptic instead of circular and S-wave splitting occurs in anisotropic two-phase media. The research has confirmed that the rules of elastic wave propagation in fluid-saturated porous media are controlled by Biot＇s theory. Experiment on a layered fault model shows the wavefield generated by the interface and the fault very well, indicating the effectiveness of CFPD method on the wavefield modeling for real layered media in the Earth. This research has potential applications to the investigation of Earth＇s deep structure and oil/gas exploration.

Finite element equations and numerical simulation of elastic wave propagation in two-phase anisotropic media

Based on Biot theory of two-phase anisotropic media and Hamilton theory about dynamic problem,finite element equations of elastic wave propagation in two-phase anisotropic media are derived in this paper.Numerical solution of finite element equations is given.Finally,Properties of elastic wave propagation are observed and analyzed through FEM modeling.

MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF TWO-PHASE FLUID NONLINEAR FLOW IN LOW-PERMEABILITY POROUS MEDIA WITH APPLICATIONS

A mathematical model of two-phase fluid nonlinear flow in the direction of normal of ellipse through low-permeability porous media was established according to a nonlinear flow law expressed in a continuous function with three parameters, a mass conservation law and a concept of turbulent ellipses. A solution to the model was obtained by using a finite difference method and an extrapolation method. Formulas of calculating development index not only before but also after water breaks through an oil well in the condition of two-phase fluid nonlinear flow in the media were derived. An example was discussed. Water saturation distribution was presented. The moving law of drainage front was found. Laws of change of pressure difference with time were recognized. Results show that there is much difference of water saturation distribution between nonlinear flow and linear flow; that drainage front by water moves faster, water breaks through sooner and the index gets worse because of the nonlinear flow; and that dimensionless pressure difference gets larger at the same dimensionless time and difficulty of oil development becomes bigger by the nonlinear flow. Thus, it is necessary that influence of nonlinear flow on development indexes of the oil fields be taken into account. The results provide water-flooding development of the oilfields with scientific basis.

Digital image processing of saturation for two-phase flow in planar porous media model

In this paper, the accuracy of estimating stained non-wetting phase saturation using digital image processing is examined, and a novel post-processing approach for calculating threshold is presented. In order to remove the effect of the background noise of images and to enhance the high-frequency component of the original image, image smoothing and image sharpening methods are introduced. Depending on the correct threshold, the image binarization processing is particularly useful for estimating stained non-wetting phase saturation. Calculated saturation data are compared with the measured saturation data during the two-phase flow experiment in an artificial steel planar porous media model. The results show that the calculated saturation data agree with the measured ones. With the help of an artificial steel planar porous media model, digital image processing is an accurate and simple method for obtaining the stained non-wetting phase saturation.

Microscale Infrared Observation of Liquid-Vapor Phase Change Process on the Surface of Porous Media for Loop Heat Pipe

Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) performance strongly depends on the performance of a wick that is porous media inserted in an evaporator. In this paper, the visualization results of thermo-fluid behavior on the surface of the wick with microscopic infrared thermography were reported. In this study, 2 different samples that simulated a part of wick in the evaporator were used. The wicks were made by different two materials: polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and stainless steel (SUS). The pore radii of PTFE wick and SUS wick are 1.2 μm and 22.5 μm. The difference of thermo-fluid behavior that was caused by the difference of material was investigated. These two materials include 4 different properties: pore radius, thermal conductivity, permeability and porosity. In order to investigate the effect of the thermal conductivity on wick’s operating mode, the phase diagram on the q-keff plane was made. Based on the temperature line profiles, two operating modes: mode of heat conduction and mode of convection were observed. The effective thermal conductivity of the porous media has strong effect on the operating modes. In addition, the difference of heat leak through the wick that was caused by the difference of the material was discussed.

Numerical simulation for separation of multi-phase immiscible fluids in porous media

Based on a lattice Boltzmann method and general principles of porous flow, a numerical technique is presented for analysing the separation of multi-phase immiscible fluids in porous media. The total body force acting on fluid particles is modified by axiding relative permeability in Nithiarasu＇s expression with an axiditional surface tension term. As a test of this model, we simulate the phase separation for the case of two immiscible fluids. The numerical results show that the two coupling relative permeability coefficients K12 and K21 have the same magnitude, so the linear flux-forcing relationships satisfy Onsager reciprocity. Phase separation phenomenon is shown with the time evolution of density distribution and bears a strong similarity to the results obtained from other numerical models and the flows in sands. At the same time, the dynamical rules in this model are local, therefore it can be run on massively parallel computers with well computational efficiency.

Phase evolution of plasma sprayed Al_2O_3-13%TiO_2 coatings derived from nanocrystalline powders

Commercial nanosized alumina and titania particles were selected as raw materials to prepare the blended slurry with composition of A1203-13%TiO2 （mass fraction）, which were reconstituted into micrometer-sized granules by spray drying, subsequently sintering at different temperatures to form nanostructured feedstock for thermal spraying, and then A1203-13%TiO2 nanocoatings were deposited by plasma spraying. The evolution of morphology, microstructure, and phase transformation of the agglomerated powder and as-sprayed coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The results show that A1203 retains the same a phase as the raw material during sintering, while TiO2 changes from anatase to futile. During plasma spraying, some a-A1203 phases solidify to form metastable y-A1203, and the volume fraction of a-A1203 decreases as CPSP increases. However, peaks of the TiO2 phase are not observed from the as-sprayed coatings except for the coatings sprayed at the lower CPSP. As the CPSP increases, nanostructured TiO2 is dissolved easily in y-A1203 or z-A1203＇TiO2 phase. After heat treatment, y-A1203 in the coatings transforms to a-A1203, and rutile is precipitated.

Numerical simulation for solid- liquid phase change of metal sodium in combined wick

Based on the finite volume method and the enthalpy-porous model the solid-liquid phase change of sodium in the combined wick is numerically studied.The one-temperature model is used since the thermal conductivity of sodium is close to that of the combined wick materials.The non-Darcy law and natural convection in the melting process are taken into account.The results show that a thin metal fiber felt in the combined wick can result in a faster melting rate of the sodium and a shorter time for the molten sodium to reach the maximum velocity which can shorten the time for the high-temperature heat pipe startup.A thick metal fiber felt in the combined wick can result in a uniform temperature distribution in the vertical heating wall and a small wall temperature difference which can reduce the possibility of an overheat spot.

Synthesis and Solid Phase Extraction Performance Study of NNAL-specific Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Using Dummy Templates

Dummy molecularly imprinted polymers （DMIPs） for 4-（methylnitrosamino）-1-（3-pyridyl）-1-butanol （NNAL） were produced using three structural analogues as dummy template molecules. The chosen analogues were 4-（acetymethylamino）-1-（3-pyridyl）-butanol, 4- （methylamino）-1-（3-pyridyl）-1-butanol, and 1-（3-pyridyl）-1,4,-butanediol. The molecular recognition characteristics of the produced polymers were evaluated by X-ray photoelec- tron spectroscopy （XPS） and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR）. Interactions between NNAL and methacrylic acid should be cooperative hydrogen bonds while the ni- trogen atom of the pyridine ring and the oxygen atom of the nitroso group in NNAL are two of the hydrogen-bond acceptors. It was further demonstrated that DMIP synthesized by 4-（acetymethylamino）-1-（3-pyridyl）-butanol had the best binding performance by XPS and FT-IR. Then dummy molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction （DMISPE） was developed for the determination of the analyte using the hit polymer as the sorbing material. Under optimal conditions, the recovery of NNAL dissolved in standard solution reached 93%. And the investigated polymer exhibited much higher binding of NNAL when nicotine was acted as the competitive molecule. Also the proposed method was applied to the measurement of NNAL spiked in blank urine samples with recoveries ranging from 87.2% to 101.2%.

Phase velocity in 2D TTI media

We derive an expression for phase velocity in 2D tilted transverse isotropy （TTI） media. Snapshots of phase velocity in TTI and transverse isotropy （TI） model media are simulated and analyzed using the derived expression. In addition, the x-component character differences between the modeled phase velocities of the two media models are compared and analyzed.

TWO PHASE COMPRESSIBLE FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA

We study the mathematical model of two phase compressible flows through porous media. Under the condition that the compressibility of rock, oil, and water is small, we prove that the initial-boundary value problem of the nonlinear system of equations admits a weak solution.

Modification and refinement mechanism of Mg_2Si phase in Sr-containing AZ61-0.7Si magnesium alloy

The effect of Sr on modification and refinement of the Mg 2 Si phase in an AZ61-0.7Si magnesium alloy has been investigated and analyzed.The results indicate that Sr can effectively modify and refine the Chinese-script shaped Mg2Si phase in the AZ61-0.7Si alloy.By adding 0.06wt.%-0.12wt.%Sr to AZ61-0.7Si alloy,the Mg2Si phase in the alloy can be changed from the initial coarse Chinese-script shape to fine granule and/or irregular polygonal shapes.Accordingly,the Sr-containing AZ61-0.7Si alloy exhibits higher tensile and creep properties than the AZ61-0.7Si alloy without Sr modification.The mechanism on modification and refinement of the Mg2Si phase in Sr-containing AZ61-0.7Si alloy is possibly related to the following two aspects:(1)adding Sr may form the Al4Sr phase which can serve as the heterogeneous nucleus for the Mg2Si particles and/or(2)adding Sr may lower the onset crystallizing temperature and increase the undercooling level.

Multiparameter least-squares reverse time migration for acoustic–elastic coupling media based on ocean bottom cable data

In marine seismic exploration,ocean bottom cable technology can record multicomponent seismic data for multiparameter inversion and imaging.This study proposes an elastic multiparameter lease-squares reverse time migration based on the ocean bottom cable technology.Herein,the wavefield continuation operators are mixed equations:the acoustic wave equations are used to calculate seismic wave propagation in the seawater medium,whereas in the solid media below the seabed,the wavefields are obtained by P-and S-wave separated vector elastic wave equations.At the seabed interface,acoustic–elastic coupling control equations are used to combine the two types of equations.P-and S-wave separated elastic migration operators,demigration operators,and gradient equations are derived to realize the elastic least-squares reverse time migration based on the P-and S-wave mode separation.The model tests verify that the proposed method can obtain high-quality images in both the P-and S-velocity components.In comparison with the traditional elastic least-squares reverse time migration method,the proposed method can readily suppress imaging crosstalk noise from multiparameter coupling.

Modeling of flow of oil-in-water emulsions through porous media

Formation and flow of emulsions in porous media are common in all enhanced oil recovery tech- niques. In most cases, oil-in-water （O/W） emulsions are formed in porous media due to oil-water interaction. Even now, detailed flow mechanisms of emulsions through porous media are not well understood. In this study, variation of rate of flow of O/W emulsions with pressure drop was studied experimentally, and rheological pa- rameters were calculated. The pressure drop increases with an increase in oil concentration in the O/W emulsion due to high viscosity. The effective viscosity of the emulsion was calculated from the derived model and expressed as a function of shear rate while flowing through porous media. Flow of O/W emulsions of different concentrations was evaluated in sand packs of different sand sizes. Emulsions were characterized by analyzing their stability, rheological properties, and tem- perature effects on rheological properties.

A Phase II Study of Antineoplastons A10 and AS2-1 in Children with High-Grade Glioma. Final Report (Protocol BT-06), and Review of Recent Trials

Standard treatment for high-grade glioma involves surgical resection followed by radiation therapy and temozolomide. Unfortunately, there are no standard treatment recommendations after recurrence and new therapies are needed for patients whose tumor recurs after first-line treatment. This single-arm, two-stage, interventional Phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of a combination of antineoplastons A10 and AS2-1. Nineteen patients were enrolled in the study (safety population), but fifteen patients with a median age of 9.4 years who met eligibility criteria were evaluated. The majority of subjects (12/15) were Caucasian and 8/15 (53%) were female. More than half (53%) of patients were diagnosed with glioblastoma and 33% with anaplastic astrocytoma. All patients had failed standard therapy including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Antineoplastons were administered intravenously every four hours (median dose of A10 6.9 g/kg/d and AS2-1 0.30 g/kg/d) until objective response was documented and thereafter for a further 8 months. Clinical evaluations were performed every 8 weeks. All patients enrolled in the study were included in the safety analysis but only patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in the efficacy evaluation. The duration of treatment with antineoplastons ranged from 2 weeks to 120 weeks. A complete response was documented in 2/15 (13%), partial response in 2/15 (13%), stable disease in 3/15 (20%). Progression-free survival at six months was 47% and overall survival (OS) at one year was 33.3%. One patient (6.7%) survived 10 years from treatment start. A small group of patients suffered reversible Grade 3 and 4 toxicities including hypernatremia 2/19 (11%) and decrease of neutrophils 1/19 (5%). There were no chronic toxicities. There was improvement of quality of life in patients who had objective response. It is concluded that antineoplastons show efficacy with an acceptable profile in this cohort of patients with recurrent high-grade glioma.

A Phase II Study of Antineoplastons A10 and AS2-1 in Adult Patients with Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme: Final Report (Protocol BT-21)

Treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (RGBM) creates one of the most difficult challenges to neuro-oncology. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcome of adults with high-grade glioma with special attention to RGBM patients treated with Antineoplastons (ANP) A10 and AS2-1 injections. The study was conducted according to Protocol BT-21, which accrued patients who failed standard radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy. There were 40 candidates registered in the study. Among the intent-to-treat (ITT) population, there were 30 cases of RGBM that progressed during and after prior treatment, 4 patients with anaplastic astrocytoma (AA), 1 with anaplastic mixed glioma (AMG), and 5 with persistent GBM. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the responses, survival and toxicity of all 40 patients, the efficacy in 30 patients with RGBM, and in 24 patients with RGBM who received at least 28 days of ANP (ERGBM). All RGBM patients were treated before with RT and chemotherapy, except one patient who only had surgery (patient refused radiation). In this group, 63% had one recurrence, 30% had two recurrences, and 7% had three recurrences. The median duration of ANP and ITT was 12 weeks and the median dosage of ANP A10 was 6.52 g/kg/d and ANP AS2-1 was 0.23 g/kg/d. Responses were assessed by gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) repeated every eight weeks. In the ITT population, objective responses (ORs) were determined in 10% of cases (complete response—CR, and partial response—PR in 5% each). Progression-free survival (PFS) in ITT at six months was 17.5%. Overall survival (OS) was 28.3% at one year, 2.6% at two years, five and ten years. In the RGBM population, objective responses (ORs) were determined in 13.3% of cases (CR and PR in 6.7% each). PFS in RGBM at six months was 16.7%. OS was 34.7% at one year, 3.47% at two years, five?and ten years. In the ERGBM population, ORs were determined in 16.7% of cases (CR and PR in?8.3% each). PFS in ERGBM at six months was 20.8%, OS was 39.3% at one year, 4.4% at two years, five and ten years. The treatment was well-tolerated with reversible Grades 3 and 4 toxicity in 17.5% of patients (7 patients who experienced multiple toxicities) and no chronic toxicity. In conclusion, the study reached efficacy endpoint. ANP is well-tolerated and compares favorably to the current treatment for RGBM.