Securing offshore resources development:A mathematical investigation into gas leakage in long-distance flexible pipes

Gas flexible pipes are critical multi-layered equipment for offshore oil and gas development.Under high pressure conditions,small molecular components of natural gas dissolve into the polymer inner liner of the flexible pipes and further diffuse into the annular space,incurring annular pressure build-up and/or production of acidic environment,which poses serious challenges to the structure and integrity of the flexible pipes.Gas permeation in pipes is a complex phenomenon governed by various factors such as internal pressure and temperature,annular structure,external temperature.In a long-distance gas flexible pipe,moreover,gas permeation exhibits non-uniform features,and the gas permeated into the annular space flows along the metal gap.To assess the complex gas transport behavior in long-distance gas flexible pipes,a mathematical model is established in this paper considering the multiphase flow phenomena inside the flexible pipes,the diffusion of gas in the inner liner,and the gas seepage in the annular space under varying permeable properties of the annulus.In addition,the effect of a variable temperature is accounted.A numerical calculation method is accordingly constructed to solve the coupling mathematical equations.The annular permeability was shown to significantly influence the distribution of annular pressure.As permeability increases,the annular pressure tends to become more uniform,and the annular pressure at the wellhead rises more rapidly.After annular pressure relief followed by shut-in,the pressure increase follows a convex function.By simulating the pressure recovery pattern after pressure relief and comparing it with test results,we deduce that the annular permeability lies between 123 and 512 m D.The results help shed light upon assessing the annular pressure in long distance gas flexible pipes and thus ensure the security of gas transport in the emerging development of offshore resources.

Underwater Gas Leakage Flow Detection and Classification Based on Multibeam Forward-Looking Sonar

The risk of gas leakage due to geological flaws in offshore carbon capture, utilization, and storage, as well as leakage from underwater oil or gas pipelines, highlights the need for underwater gas leakage monitoring technology. Remotely operated vehicles(ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs) are equipped with high-resolution imaging sonar systems that have broad application potential in underwater gas and target detection tasks. However, some bubble clusters are relatively weak scatterers, so detecting and distinguishing them against the seabed reverberation in forward-looking sonar images are challenging. This study uses the dual-tree complex wavelet transform to extract the image features of multibeam forward-looking sonar. Underwater gas leakages with different flows are classified by combining deep learning theory. A pool experiment is designed to simulate gas leakage, where sonar images are obtained for further processing. Results demonstrate that this method can detect and classify underwater gas leakage streams with high classification accuracy. This performance indicates that the method can detect gas leakage from multibeam forward-looking sonar images and has the potential to predict gas leakage flow.

Optimization of sensor deployment sequences for hazardous gas leakage monitoring and source term estimation

Nowadays, chemical safety has attracted considerable attention, and chemical gas leakage monitoring and source term estimation(STE) have become hot spots. However, few studies have focused on sensor layouts in scenarios with multiple potential leakage sources and wind conditions, and studies on the risk information(RI) detection and prioritization order of sensors have not been performed. In this work, the monitoring area of a chemical factory is divided into multiple rectangles with a uniform mesh. The RI value of each grid node is calculated on the basis of the occurrence probability and normalized concentrations of each leakage scenario. A high RI value indicates that a sensor at a grid node has a high chance of detecting gas concentrations in different leakage scenarios. This situation is beneficial for leakage monitoring and STE. The methods of similarity redundancy detection and the maximization of sensor RI detection are applied to determine the sequence of sensor locations. This study reveals that the RI detection of the optimal sensor layout with eight sensors exceeds that of the typical layout with 12 sensors. In addition, STE with the optimized placement sequence of the sensor layout is numerically simulated. The statistical results of each scenario with various numbers of sensors reveal that STE is affected by sensor number and scenarios(leakage locations and winds). In most scenarios, appropriate STE results can be retained under the optimal sensor layout even with four sensors. Eight or more sensors are advised to improve the performance of STE in all scenarios. Moreover, the reliability of the STE results in each scenario can be known in advance with a specific number of sensors. Such information thus provides a reference for emergency rescue.

Dynamic leakage mechanism of gas drainage borehole and engineering application

Borehole leakage not only affects the gas drainage effect but also presents considerable risk to human security. For the research on the leakage mechanism of gas drainage borehole, the rheological and visco-elastic-plastic characteristics were considered to establish the mechanical model of coal mass around borehole, which is used to analyze the leakage mechanism and deduce the dynamic leakage model. On the basis of the real coal seam conditions, the variation rules of the stress, leakage ring, and air leakage amount were analyzed through numerical simulation, and the influence factors of air leakage amount were also investigated to provide the theoretical basis for the sealing technology. Results show that the air leakage amount of borehole is inversely proportional to the increase in supporting stress and sealing length, and directly correlated with the increase in borehole radius and softening modulus. Using theoretical analysis, we design a novel active supporting sealing technology that can use grouting material to seal the fractures to reduce the leakage channels and also provide supporting stress to prevent borehole deformation. The engineering test results indicate that the average gas concentration with the novel active supporting sealing technology is increased by 162.12% than that of traditional polyurethane sealing method. Therefore, this technology not only effectively resolves borehole leakage but also significantly improves the gas drainage effect.

Gas leakage recognition for CO2 geological sequestration based on the time series neural network

The leakage of stored and transported CO2 is a risk for geological sequestration technology. One of the most challenging problems is to recognize and determine CO2 leakage signal in the complex atmosphere background. In this work, a time series model was proposed to forecast the atmospheric CO2 variation and the approximation error of the model was utilized to recognize the leakage. First, the fitting neural network trained with recently past CO2 data was applied to predict the daily atmospheric CO2. Further, the recurrent nonlinear autoregressive with exogenous input(NARX) model was adopted to get more accurate prediction. Compared with fitting neural network, the approximation errors of NARX have a clearer baseline, and the abnormal leakage signal can be seized more easily even in small release cases. Hence, the fitting approximation of time series prediction model is a potential excellent method to capture atmospheric abnormal signal for CO2 storage and transportation technologies.

CO_2 Leakage Identification in Geosequestration Based on Real Time Correlation Analysis Between Atmospheric O_2 and CO_2

The paper describes a method for monitoring CO2 leakage in geological carbon dioxide sequestration. A real time monitoring parameter, apparent leakage flux(ALF), is presented to monitor abnormal CO2 leakage, which can be calculated by atmospheric CO2 and O2 data. The computation shows that all ALF values are close to zero-line without the leakage. With a step change or linear perturbation of concentration to the initial CO2 concentration data with no leakage, ALF will deviate from background line. Perturbation tests prove that ALF method is sensitive to linear perturbation but insensitive to step change of concentration. An improved method is proposed based on real time analysis of surplus CO2 concentration in least square regression process, called apparent leakage flux from surplus analysis(ALFs), which is sensitive to both step perturbation and linear perturbations of concentration. ALF is capable of detecting concentration increase when the leakage occurs while ALFs is useful in all periods of leakage. Both ALF and ALFs are potential approaches to monitor CO2 leakage in geosequestration project.

A new numerical approach of coupled modeling for solid deformation and gas leak flow in multi-coal-seams

From the viewpoint of interaction mechanics for solid and gas, a coupled mathematical model was presented for solid coal/rock deformation and gas leak flow in parallel deformable coal seams. Numerical solutions using the SIP (Strong Implicit Proce- dure) method to the coupled mathematical model for double parallel coal seams were also developed in detail. Numerical simulations for the prediction of the safety range using protection layer mining were performed with experimental data from a mine with potential danger of coal/gas outbursts. Analyses show that the numerical simulation results are consistent with the measured data in situ.

Numerical simulation of solid circulation mechanism and gas flow paths in a chemical looping combustion system

To study the gas-solid flow characteristics in a chemical looping combustion system integrated with a moving bed air reactor,a 3D full-loop numerical model was established using the Eulerian-Eulerian approach integrated with the kinetic theory of granular flow.The solid circulation mechanism and gas leakage performance were studied in detail.The simulation results showed that in the start-up process,the solid circulation rate first increased to approximately 5 kg/s and then dropped to approximately 1.2 kg/s;this observation was related to the dynamic control of the pressure distribution.In this system,the gas leakage between the inertial separator,upper air reactor,and lower air reactor was restrained by adjusting the pressure difference,thus obtaining optimal gas flow paths.When the pressures at the outlets of the inertial separator,upper air reactor,and lower air were 7.4,11.0,and 14.6 kPa,respectively,the gas leakage ratio was less than 1%in the system.

Mathematical modeling for coupled solid elastic-deformation and gas leak flow in multi-coal-seams

Based on the new viewpoint of solid and gas interaction mechanics, gas leakage in a double deformable coal seam can be understood. That is, under the action of geophysical fields, the methane flow in a double deformable coal seam can be essentially considered to be compressible with time dependent and mixed permeation and diffusion through a pore cleat deformable heterogeneous and anisotropy medium. Based on this new viewpoint, a coupled mathematical model for coal seam deformation and gas leakage in a double coal seam was formulated and numerical simulations for gas emission from the coal seam are presented. It is found that coupled models might be closer to reality.

Experimental and numerical investigation on the gas leakage regime for ventilated tail cavity of an underwater vehicle

The objective of this paper is mainly to investigate the ventilated tail cavity flow of an underwater vehicle with focus on the gas leakage regime by experimental and numerical methods.A high-speed camera and pressure measurement system are used to record the cavity flow patterns and pressure behavior,respectively.The numerical simulation is carried out with volume of fluid(VOF)model and Filter-based turbulence model(FBM).Good agreement can be obtained between the experimental and numerical results.There are three gas leakage types in the evolution of the intact tail cavity,i.e.,twin-vortex tube entrainment(TVTE),toroidal vortex shedding(TVS)and hybrid twin-vortex tube entrainment and toroidal vortex shedding(TVTE-TVS).With the increase of Fr,the unsteady behavior of the cavity with different gas leakage types becomes more apparent.The internal flow characteristics revealed three distinct regions including the ventilation influence region,the reverse flow region and the high shear flow region and have an important effect on the transition of gas leakage regime.

Rock engineering problems related to underground hydrocarbon storage

Oil and gas can be stored underground by a variety of means,such as in depleted oil and gas fields,in aquifers,in rock salt caverns,in unlined mined rock caverns,in lined shallow caverns and abandoned mines.Different types of underground storages require different geological and hydrogeological conditions and are associated with different rock engineering problems.However,the common issue is to ensure the gas-and oil-tightness of storage caverns.In other words,the stored oil and gas must not escape from the storage caverns.This may be realized by different means according to the types of storages and the sites geological conditions.There are basically two approaches of gas leakage control,i.e.permeability control and hydrodynamic containment.The latter involves the use of a water curtain system in many cases,which creates an artificial hydraulic boundary condition and helps to establish the required groundwater condition when needed.In addition to the common problems,the underground storage of liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) requires special attentions to the opening of rock joints,which result from the tensile thermal stress induced by the low storage temperature.Great care must be taken in choosing abandoned mines for oil and gas-storage since it is quite rare that the natural site conditions can meet the usual requirements,in particular for the gas tightness.The paper provides a general description of the gas leakage control for underground oil and gas storage projects,and addresses various rock engineering problems associated with selected types of storages in detail.

Modeling co-seismic thermal infrared brightness anomalies in petroliferous basins surrounding the North and East of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Co-seismic gas leakage usually occurs on the edge of seismic faults in petroliferous basins,and it may have an impact on the local environment,such as the greenhouse effect,which can cause thermal infrared brightness anomalies.Using wavelet transform and power spectrum estimation methods,we processed brightness temperature data from the Chinese geostationary meteorological satellite FY-C/E.We report similarities between the co-seismic thermal infrared brightness(CTIB)anomalies before,during and after earthquakes that occurred at the edges of the Sichuan,Tarim,Qaidam,and Junggar basins surrounding the North and East of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in western China.Additionally,in each petroliferous basin,the area of a single CTIB anomaly accounted for 50%to 100%of the basin area,and the spatial distribution similarities in the CTIB anomalies existed before,during and after these earthquakes.To better interpret the similarities,we developed a basin warming effect model based on geological structures and topography.The model suggests that in a petroliferous basin with a subsurface gas reservoir,gas leakage could strengthen with the increasing stress before,during,and even after an earthquake.The accumulation of these gases,such as the greenhouse gases CH4 and CO2,results in the CTIB anomalies.In addition,we conclude that the CTIB anomalies are strengthened by the high mountains(altitude^5000 m)around the basins and the basins’independent climatic conditions.This work provides a new perspective from which to understand the CTIB anomalies in petroliferous basins surrounding the North and East of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.

Gas leakage mechanism in bedded salt rock storage cavern considering damaged interface

During the long-time operation of salt rock storage cavern,between its formations,damaged interfaces induced by discontinuous creep deformations between adjacent layers will possibly lead to serious gas leakage.In this paper,damaged interfaces are considered as main potential leakage path:firstly in meso-level,gas flow rule along the interface is analyzed and the calculation of equivalent permeability is discussed.Then based on porous media seepage theory,gas leakage simulation model including salt rock,cavity interlayers and interface is built.With this strategy,it is possible to overcome the disadvantage of simulation burden with porous-fractured double medium.It also can provide the details of gas flowing along the damaged zones.Finally this proposal is applied to the salt cavern in Qianjian mines(East China).Under different operation pressures,gas distributions around two adjacent cavities are simulated;the evolvement of gas in the interlayers and salt rock is compared.From the results it is demonstrated that the domain of creep damage area has great influence on leakage range.And also the leakage in the interface will accelerate the development of leakage in salt rock.It is concluded that compared with observations,this new strategy provides closer answers.The simulation result proves its validity for the design and reasonable control of operating pressure and tightness evaluation of group bedded salt rock storage caverns.

A Robust and Efficient Compressed Sensing Algorithm for Wideband Acoustic Imaging

Wideband acoustic imaging,which combines compressed sensing(CS)and microphone arrays,is widely used for locating acoustic sources.However,the location results of this method are unstable,and the computational efficiency is low.In this work,in order to improve the robustness and reduce the computational cost,a DCS-SOMP-SVD compressed sensing method,which combines the distributed compressed sensing using simultaneously orthogonal matching pursuit(DCS-SOMP)and singular value decomposition(SVD)is proposed.The performance of the DCS-SOMP-SVD is studied through both simulation and experiment.In the simulation,the locating results of the DCS-SOMP-SVD method are compared with the wideband BP method and the DCS-SOMP method.In terms of computational efficiency,the proposed method is as efficient as the DCS-SOMP method and more efficient than the wideband BP method.In terms of locating accuracy,the proposed method can still locate all sources when the signal to noise ratio(SNR)is−20 dB,while the wideband BP method and the DCS-SOMP method can only locate all sources when the SNR is higher than 0 dB.The performance of the proposed method can be improved by expanding the frequency range.Moreover,there is no extra source in the maps of the proposed method,even though the target sparsity is overestimated.Finally,a gas leak experiment is conducted to verify the feasibility of the DCS-SOMP-SVD method in the practical engineering environment.The experimental results show that the proposed method can locate both two leak sources in different frequency ranges.This research proposes a DCS-SOMP-SVD method which has sufficient robustness and low computational cost for wideband acoustic imaging.

Numerical and experimental analyses of methane leakage in shield tunnel

Tunnels constructed in gas-bearing strata are affected by the potential leakage of harmful gases,such as methane gas.Based on the basic principles of computational fluid dynamics,a numerical analysis was performed to simulate the ventilation and diffusion of harmful gases in a shield tunnel,and the effect of ventilation airflow speed on the diffusion of harmful gases was evaluated.As the airflow speed increased from 1.8 to 5.4 m/s,the methane emission was diluted,and the methane accumulation was only observed in the area near the methane leakage channels.The influence of increased ventilation airflow velocity was dominant for the ventilation modes with two and four fans.In addition,laboratory tests on methane leakage through segment joints were performed.The results show that the leakage process can be divided into“rapid leakage”and“slight leakage”,depending on the leakage pressure and the state of joint deformation.Based on the numerical and experimental analysis results,a relationship between the safety level and the joint deformation is established,which can be used as guidelines for maintaining utility tunnels.

Experimental and numerical investigation of gas diffusion under an urban underground construction

Rapid increase of urban underground constructions has a great consideration of underground environment safety and how to expel toxic gasses out of tunnels effectively.The utility tunnel is a typical urban tunnel construction with multiple underground pipelines including gas pipelines,and it is necessary to investigate characteristic of gas diffusion and monitor gas leakage to ensure tunnel safety.In this study,the experimental measurements of airflow and gas distributions were conducted in a 10 m full-scaled utility tunnel mockup,and gas diffusion characteristic was also investigated.Numerical simulation of utility tunnel leakage was also conducted by computational fluid dynamics(CFD).Different turbulence models and different air supply diffuser models were compared via the experimental results based on visualization and the relative root-mean-square error(RRMSE)index,which quan-titated the difference between the numerical and experimental results.The results showed that the standard k−εturbulence model and random air opening model could provide better results than other models.According to the experimental data analysis,it was necessary to consider the optimization of monitoring detector arrangements in actual utility tunnels.This study provided basic experimental data and the validated numerical model for the leakage source identification and underground tunnels simulation research.

Performance test of the low-pressure thin window multi-wire chamber

A flow gas low-pressure multi-wire proportional chamber（LPMWPC） with an active area of 180 mm× 80 mm has been developed for the flying time test of the recoil nuclei on super heavy nuclear experiments. The LPMWPC detector can be operated in single as well as double step operational modes. In the case of double step operational mode with a high gas amplification factor, signals from α-particles reside well above the electronic noise. The gas leakage rate and time resolution obtained from the α239Pu source are shown and discussed at the condition of 3 mbar Isobutane gas. It was shown that the time resolution was better than 2.9 ns at the best work condition, and the detecting efciency was larger than 98% at the low energy α particles. So the LPMWPC is fit to measure the flying time in the super heavy nuclear fragments experiment.