Hybrid low salinity water and surfactant process for enhancing heavy oil recovery

Combining low salinity water (LSW) with surfactants has an enormous potential for enhancing oil recovery processes. However, there is no consensus about the mechanisms involved, in addition to the fact that several studies have been conducted in model systems, while experiments with rocks and reservoir fluids are scarce. This study presents a core-flooding experiment of LSW injection, with and without surfactant, using the core and heavy oil samples obtained from a sandstone reservoir in southeastern Mexico. The effluents and the crude oil obtained at each stage were analyzed. The study was complemented by tomographic analysis. The results revealed that LSW injection and hybrid process with surfactants obtained an increase of 11.4 percentage points in recovery factor. Various phenomena were caused by LSW flooding, such as changes in wettability and pH, ion exchange, mineral dissolution, detachment of fines and modification of the hydrocarbon profile. In the surfactant flooding, the reduction of interfacial tension and alteration of wettability were the main mechanisms involved. The findings of this work also showed that the conditions believed to be necessary for enhanced oil recovery with LSW, such as the presence of kaolinite or high acid number oil, are not relevant.

International law obligations for the disposal of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water under the principles of nuclear safety

The disposal of contaminated water from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant is a significant international nuclear safety issue with considerable cross-border implications.This matter requires compliance not only with the law of the sea but also with the principles of nuclear safety under international law.These principles serve as the overarching tenet of international and China’s domestic nuclear laws,applicable to nuclear facilities and activities.The principle of safety in nuclear activities is fully recognized in international and domestic laws,carrying broad legal binding force.Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea violates its obligations under the principle of safety in nuclear activities,including commitments to optimum protection,as low as reasonably practicable,and prevention.The Japanese government and the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA)have breached the obligation of optimum protection by restricting the scope of assessments,substituting core concepts,and shielding dissenting views.In the absence of clear radiation standards,they have acted unilaterally without fulfilling the obligation as low as reasonably practicable principle.The discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water poses an imminent and unpredictable risk to all countries worldwide,including Japanese residents.Japan and the IAEA should fulfill their obligations under international law regarding disposal,adhering to the principles of nuclear safety,including optimum protection,the obligation as low as reasonably practicable,and prevention through multilateral cooperation.Specifically,the obligation to provide optimum protection should be implemented by re-evaluating the most reliable disposal technologies and methods currently available and comprehensively assessing various options.The standard of the obligation as low as reasonably practicable requires that the minimization of negative impacts on human health,livelihoods,and the environment should not be subordinated to considerations of cutting costs and expenses.Multilateral cooperation should be promoted through the establishment of sound multilateral long-term monitoring mechanisms for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water,notification and consultation obligations,and periodic assessments.These obligations under international law were fulfilled after the accidents at the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear power plants.The implications of the principles of nuclear safety align with the concept of building a community of shared future for nuclear safety advocated by China.In cases of violations of international law regarding the disposal of nuclear-contaminated water that jeopardize the concept of a community of a shared future for nuclear safety,China can also rely on its own strength to promote the implementation of due obligations through self-help.

Pore network modeling of water block in low permeability reservoirs

A pore network model was used in this paper to investigate the factors, in particular, throat radius, wettability and initial water saturation, causing water block in low permeability reservoirs. A new term - ＇relative permeability number＇ （RPN） was firstly defined, and then used to describe the degree of water block. Imbibition process simulations show that the RPN drops in accordance with the extension of the averaged pore throat radius from 0.05 to 1.5 μm, and yet once beyond that point of 1.5 μm, the RPN reaches a higher value, indicating the existence of a critical pore throat radius where water block is the maximum. When the wettability of the samples changes from water-wet to weakly water-wet, weakly gas-wet, or gas（oil）-wet, the gas RPN increases consistently, but this consistency is disturbed by the RPN dropping for weakly water-wet samples for water saturations less than 0.4, which means weakly waterwet media are more easily water blocked than water-wet systems. In the situation where the initial water saturation exceeds 0.05, water block escalates along with an increase in initial water saturation.

Enhanced oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs by spontaneous imbibition of low salinity water

An experimental study was performed to investigate the impact of low salinity water on wettability alteration in carbonate core samples from southern Iranian reservoirs by spontaneous imbibition. In this paper, the effect of temperature, salinity,permeability and connate water were investigated by comparing the produced hydrocarbon curves. Contact angle measurements were taken to confirm the alteration of surface wettability of porous media. Oil recovery was enhanced by increasing the dilution ratio of sea water, and there existed an optimum dilution ratio at which the highest oil recovery was achieved. In addition, temperature had a very significant impact on oil recovery from carbonate rocks. Furthermore, oil recovery from a spontaneous imbibition process was directly proportional to the permeability of the core samples. The presence of connate water saturation inside the porous media facilitated oil production significantly. Also, the oil recovery from porous media was highly dependent on ion repulsion/attraction activity of the rock surface which directly impacts on the wettability conditions. Finally, the highest ion attraction percentage was measured for sodium while there was no significant change in pH for all experiments.

Impact of Untreated Sedimentation Tank Sludge Water Recycle on Water Quality During Treatment of Low Turbidity Water

The overall purpose of this research is to examine the impact of untreated sedimentation tank sludge water( USTSW) recycle on water quality during treatment of low turbidity water in coagulation—sedimentation processes. 950 m L of raw water and different concentrations of 50 m L USTSW are injected into six 1 000 m L beakers without coagulant.The results indicate that USTSW characterized as accumulated suspended solids and organic matter has active ingredients,which possess the equivalent function of coagulant. The optimal blended water turbidity is in the range of 10-20 NTU,within which USTSW recycle achieves the highest save coagulant rate. The mechanism of strengthening coagulation effect when USTSW recycle mainly depends on the chemical effect and physical effect. What is more,through scanning electron microscopy( SEM),it is found that the floc structures with USTSW recycle are more compact than those without USTSW recycle. Besides,the water quality parameters of color,NH3-N,CODMn,UV254,total aluminum,total manganese when USTSW recycle is better than the raw water without recycle,indicating that USTSW recycle can improve water quality with strengthening coagulation effect.

Pilot study on treatment of low turbidity and low temperature water by coagulation-immersed membrane process

The objective of this paper was to investigate the practicability of coagulation-immersed membrane process during low-temperature period through the study of steady operation,chemical cleaning methods,water quality and agent consumption.Experimental results showed that:membrane performance decreases with the reduction of temperature,but low temperature has little effect on stable operation of immersed membrane when coagulation as pretreatment.EFM with 1200 mg/L sodium hypochlorite after every 48 filtration cycles was made for reducing membrane fouling efficiently,and the method,with 1.5% sodium hydroxide and 3500 mg/L sodium hypochlorite for 10 h and then 2% hydrochloric acid for 4 h,is an appropriate cleaning method under low temperature.Compared with convention treatment process,immersed membrane process not only has same agent consumption,but also permeated water quality is more superior such as fine removal effect on turbidity with average 0.10 NTU.Therefore,coagulation-immersed membrane process is more appropriate for increasing water quality demand and the treatment of low turbidity and low temperature water.

Numerical Simulation and Dynamical Analysis for Low Salinity Water Lens in the Expansion Area of the Changjiang Diluted Water

The low salinity water lenses（LSWLes） in the expansion area of the Changjiang diluted water（CDW） exist in a certain period of time in some years. The impact of realistic river runoff, ocean currents and weather conditions need to be taken into account in the dynamical analysis of LSWL, which is in need of research. In this paper, the POM-σ-z model is used to set up the numerical model for the expansion of the CDW. Then LSWL in summer 1977 is simulated, and its dynamic mechanism driven by wind, tide, river runoff and the Taiwan Warm Current is also analyzed. The simulated results indicate that the isolated LSWL detaches itself from the CDW near the river mouth, and then moves towards the northeast region outside the Changjiang Estuary. Its maintaining period is from July 26 to August 11. Its formation and development is mainly driven by two factors. One is the strong southeasterly wind lasting for ten days. The other is the vertical tidal mixing during the transition from neap tide to spring tide.

Performance of low-salinity water flooding for enhanced oil recovery improved by SiO_2 nanoparticles

Low-salinity water injection has been utilized as a promising method for oil recovery in recent years. Low-salinity water flooding changes the ion composition or brine salinity for improving oil recovery. Recently, the application of nanoparticles with low-salinity water flooding has shown remarkable results in enhanced oil recovery(EOR). Many studies have been performed on the effect of nanofluids on EOR mechanisms. Their results showed that nanofluids can improve oil recovery when used in low-salinity water flooding. In this work, the effects of injection of low-salinity water and low-salinity nanofluid(prepared by adding SiO_2 nanoparticles to low-salinity water) on oil recovery were investigated. At first, the effects of ions were investigated with equal concentrations in low-salinity water flooding. The experimental results showed that the monovalent ions had better performance than the divalent ions because of them having more negative zeta potential and less ionic strength. Also, low-salinity water flooding recovered 6.1% original oil in place(OOIP) more than the high-salinity flooding. Contact angle measurements demonstrated that low-salinity water could reduce the contact angle between oil and water. Then in the second stage, experiments were continued by adding SiO_2 nanoparticles to the K+ solution which had the highest oil recovery at the first stage. The experimental results illustrated that the addition of Si02 nanoparticles up to 0.05 wt% increased oil recovery by about 4% OOIP more than the low-salinity water flooding.

Pilot scale treatment of low turbidity water using compound bioflocculant and polymerized aluminium ferrum chloride

To investigate the application of compound bioflocculant (CBF) in drinking water treatment at pilot plant,CBF and polymerized aluminium ferrum chloride (PAFC) coagulant were used to treat raw water taken from Longhupao Reservoir in Heilongjiang Province for the removal of turbidity,COD,UV254 and residual Al. Coagulation test shows that the coagulation enhanced by CBF and PAFC exhibits more effective performance than that enhanced by the individual of them,and the total combination dosage is lower than that of the individual. The residual Al from PAFC can be removed efficiently by CBF. The removal efficiency of turbidity reaches 76.6% by combining CBF of 2 mg/L and PAFC of 15 mg/L,COD is decreased from 3.80 mg/L to 1.62 mg/L,and the concentration of residual Al is only 0.033 mg/L in the product water. It can be speculated that adsorption-bridging and sweep-coagulation processes are predominant in the flocculation process by the combination of CBF and PAFC.

How much would silica nanoparticles enhance the performance of low-salinity water flooding?

Nanofluids and low-salinity water(LSW)flooding are two novel techniques for enhanced oil recovery.Despite some efforts on investigating benefits of each method,the pros and cons of their combined application need to be evaluated.This work sheds light on performance of LSW augmented with nanoparticles through examining wettability alteration and the amount of incremental oil recovery during the displacement process.To this end,nanofluids were prepared by dispersing silica nanoparticles(0.1 wt%,0.25 wt%,0.5 wt% and 0.75 wt%)in 2,10,20 and 100 times diluted samples of Persian Gulf seawater.Contact angle measurements revealed a crucial role of temperature,where no wettability alteration occurred up to 80 ℃.Also,an optimum wettability state(with contact angle 22°)was detected with a 20 times diluted sample of seawater augmented with 0.25 wt% silica nanoparticles.Also,extreme dilution(herein 100 times)will be of no significance.Throughout micromodel flooding,it was found that in an oil-wet condition,a combination of silica nanoparticles dispersed in 20 times diluted brine had the highest displacement efficiency compared to silica nanofluids prepared with deionized water.Finally,by comparing oil recoveries in both water-and oil-wet micromodels,it was concluded that nanoparticles could enhance applicability of LSW via strengthening wettability alteration toward a favorable state and improving the sweep efficiency.

Geochemical evaluation of low salinity hot water injection to enhance heavy oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs

Although low salinity water injection(LSWI) has recovered residual oil after the conventional waterflood, highly viscous oil has remained in heavy oil reservoirs. Hot water injection is an economic and practical method to improve oil mobility for viscous oil reservoirs. It potentially controls temperature-dependent geochemical reactions underlying the LSWI mechanism and oil viscosity. Therefore, this study has modeled and evaluated a hybrid process of low salinity hot water injection(hot LSWI) to quantify synergistic effects in heavy oil reservoirs. In comparison to seawater injection(SWI) and LSWI, hot LSWI results in more cation ion-exchange(Ca^(2+) and Mg^(2+)) and more wettability modification. Hot LSWI also reduces oil viscosity. In core-scaled systems, it increases oil recovery by 21% and 6% over SWI and LSWI. In a pilotscaled reservoir, it produces additional oil by 6% and 3% over SWI and LSWI. Probabilistic forecasting with uncertainty assessment further evaluates the feasibility of hot LSWI to consider uncertainty in the pilot-scaled reservoir and observes enhanced heavy oil production. This study confirms the viability of hot LSWI due to synergistic effects including enhanced wettability modification and oil viscosity reduction effects.

Enhanced treatment of water with low turbidity:Combined effects of permanganate, PAM and recycled sludge

The effectiveness of enhancing treatment of water with low turbidity through combined effects of permanganate oxidation, PAM aiding coagulation and sludge recycling was investigated through continuous bench scale studies. In comparing with ferric chloride coagulation, only recycling sedimentation sludge was ineffective in enhancing treatment of water with low turbidity. PAM with recycled sludge showed positive effects, and the additional permanganate dosing exhibited the best potential of favoring coagulation, which leaded to much lower effluent turbidity and CODMn. Additionally, it was observed that the optimal permanganate dosage was 0.4 mg/L and the higher permanganate dosage exhibited inhibiting effects for pollutants removal. SEM analysis indicated that the flocs were loosely formed and the particle diameter was critically low for ferric chloride coagulation process. Comparatively, the addition of PAM and permanganate with recycled sludge facilitated the aggregation of tinny particles onto compact PAM polymer chains, therefore contributing to the formation of compact flocs with high particle diameter. The combined employment of recycled sludge, PAM and permanganate showed the best potential of favoring coagulation, mainly through synergistic effects between seeding, polymer bridging and increasing effective collision in mechanism. Additionally, the variation of Fe and Mn concentration after recycling and sedimentating units was studied for the processes, and the main species was also investigated for elements Fe and Mn. Sludge recycling and permanganate addition did not increase Fe and Mn concentration in the sedimented water.

Low Mantle Perovskite:Solid Solution, Spin State of Iron and Water Solubility

Silicate perovskites（（Mg, Fe）SiO 3 and CaS iO 3） are believed to be the major constituent minerals in the lower mantle. The phase relation, solid solution, spin state of iron and water solubility related to the lower mantle perovskite are of great effect on the geodynamics of the Earth＇s interior and on ore mineralization. Previous studies indicate that a large amount of iron coupled with aluminum can incorporate into magnesium perovskite, but this is discordant with the disproportionation of（Mg,Fe）SiO 3 perovskite into iron-free MgS i O3 perovskite and hexagonal phase（Mg0.6Fe0.4）SiO 3 in the Earth＇s lower mantle. MnS iO 3 is the first chemical component confirmed to form wide range solid solution with Ca SiO 3 perovskite and complete solid solution with MgS i O3 perovskite at the P-T conditions in the lower mantle, and addition of Mn Si O3 will strongly affects the mutual solubility between Mg Si O3 and CaS iO 3. The spin state of iron is deeply depends on the site occupation of the Fe3＋or Fe2＋, the synthesis and the annealing conditions of the sample. It seems that the spin state of Fe2＋ in the lower mantle perovskite can be settled as high spin, however, the existence of intermediate spin or low spin state of Fe2＋ in perovskite has not been clarified. Moreover, different results have also been reported for the spin state of Fe3＋ in perovskite. The water solubility of the lower mantle perovskite is related with its composition. In pure Mg SiO 3 perovskite, only less than 500 ppm water was reported. Al–Mg Si O3 perovskite or Al–Fe–MgS iO 3 perovskite in the lower mantle accommodates water of 1100 to 1800 ppm. Further experiments are necessary to clarify the detailed conditions for perovskite solid solution, to reliably analyze the valence and spin states of iron in the coexisting iron-bearing phases, and to compare the water solubility of different phases at different layers for deeply understanding the geodynamics of the Earth＇s interior and ore mineralization.

Self-supported Ni2P nanosheets on low-cost three-dimensional Fe foam as a novel electrocatalyst for efficient water oxidation

Electrochemical water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen is a promising strategy for future renewable energy conversion devices.The oxygen evolution reaction(OER)is considered as the bottleneck reaction in an overall water splitting system because it involves 4e- and 4H+ transfer processes.Currently,it is highly desirable to explore low-cost alternative catalysts for OER at ambient conditions.Herein,we report for the first time that nickel phosphide(Ni2P)nanosheets can be facilely grown on Fe foam(FF)as an efficient electrocatalyst for OER with excellent durability and catalytic activity under alkaline conditions.To reach a current density of 10 m A/cm2,the Ni2P-FF catalyst required a low overpotential of only 198 mV for OER.The catalyst’s high OER activity and durability were well maintained at a high current density.The required overpotentials were only 267 and 313 mV to achieve the current densities of 100 and 300 m A/cm2,respectively.The combination of low-cost Fe foam with Ni2P provides a promising low-cost catalyst for large-scale application of electrocatalytic water splitting.

Reduction of Precursors of Chlorination By-products in Drinking Water Using Fluidized-bed Biofilm Reactor at Low Temperature

Objective To investigate the reduction of chlorination by-products （CBPs） precursors using the fluidized-bed biofdm reactor （FBBR）. Methods Reduction of total organic carbon （TOC）, ultraviolet absorbance （UV254）, tfihalomethane （THM） formation potential （THMFP）, haloacetic acid （HAA） formation potential （HAAFP）, and ammonia in FBBR were evaluated in detail. Results The reduction of TOC or UV254 was low, on average 12.6% and 4.7%, respectively, while the reduction of THMFP and HAAFP was significant. The reduction of ammonia was 30%-40% even below 3℃, however, it could quickly rise to over 50% above 3℃. Conclusions The FBBR effectively reduces CBPs and ammonia in drinking water even at low temperature and seems to be a very promising and competitive drinking water reactor for polluted surface source waters, especially in China.

The Preliminary Study on the Converting Measures between the Four Waters in Wet and Low-lying Farmland

Most of China's wetland areas are located in the Sanjiang Plain.This area has 207×10 4 hm 2 of wet and low lying farmland,of which 59% is cropped.During the 1970s and 1980s,the Chinese government organized intensive scientific research into potential changes to existing natural resources conditions for these farmlands.The aim was to change the water resources regime to one that was beneficial to crop production.Arterial drainage,field drainage and appropriate sub soil treatments were required.The relation between plant products industry and the Four Waters distribution,also the main measures of the Four Waters converting in wet and low lying farmland were discussed in the paper.

Low-Cost Stormwater Filtration System to Improve Urban Water Quality: The Case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Urbanization in developing countries often negatively impacts water re-sources by polluting surface waters. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is currently experiencing rapid urbanization accompanied by significant water shortages, unmanaged stormwater, and increasing river water pollution. To supplement the need for non-potable water and address stormwater runoff pollution, we constructed a low cost stormwater filtration system. The filtration system is comprised of a sedimentation area followed by three gravel grain sizes arranged horizontally from coarse to medium to fine filter media. We compared the quality of pretreatment water with post-treatment water by measuring physicochemical parameters, heavy metals and nutrients. We found that the filtration system reduced turbidity by 87%, TSS by 80%, Cu by 87% and Zn by 90%. Further, it positively increased the concentration of DO by 42%. However, the filtration system did not remove nitrates and nitrites. Implementing this system at outfalls in the rapidly expanding condominium housing areas can increase residents’ supply of non-potable water and reduce the amount of polluted stormwater entering nearby streams and rivers.

Efficiency of enhanced oil recovery by injection of low-salinity water in barium-containing carbonate reservoirs

When low-salinity water containing sulfate ions is injected into carbonate reservoirs, rock dissolution and in situ precipitation occur, altering rock permeability and wettability. Particularly, when barium ions are present in formation water,they react chemically with SO;, and BaSO;is precipitated. These reactions can cause a serious impact on the efficiency of enhanced oil recovery（EOR）. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to identify EOR efficiency induced by lowsalinity waterflooding（LSWF） when Ba;is present in carbonate reservoirs. From the experimental results, it was confirmed that the permeability calculated by the measured pressure difference was improved because of rock dissolution predominating over in situ precipitation for the case of low Ba;concentrations. In the analysis of wettability alteration through the measurements of relative permeabilities before and after LSWF, the higher Ba;concentration case consumed more SO;in precipitating the BaSO;, resulting in weaker wettability alteration due to the reduction of sulfate activity.These phenomena ultimately influenced EOR efficiency, i.e., the oil recovery was greater for the lower Ba;concentration.

Ensuring water security by utilizing roof-harvested rainwater and lake water treated with a low-cost integrated adsorption-filtration system

Drinking water is supplied through a centralized water supply system and may not be accessed by communities in rural areas of Malaysia.This study investigated the performance of a low-cost, self-prepared combined activated carbon and sand filtration(CACSF) system for roofharvested rainwater and lake water for potable use. Activated carbon was self-prepared using locally sourced coconut shell and was activated using commonly available salt rather than a high-tech procedure that requires a chemical reagent. The filtration chamber was comprised of local,readily available sand. The experiments were conducted with varying antecedent dry intervals(ADIs) of up to 15 d and lake water with varying initial chemical oxygen demand(COD) concentration. The CACSF system managed to produce effluents complying with the drinking water standards for the parameters p H, dissolved oxygen(DO), biochemical oxygen demand(BOD5), COD, total suspended solids(TSS), and ammonia nitrogen(NH_3-N). The CACSF system successfully decreased the population of Escherichia coli(E. coli) in the influents to less than 30 CFU/m L. Samples with a higher population of E. coli(that is, greater than 30 CFU/m L) did not show 100% removal. The system also showed high potential as an alternative for treated drinking water for roof-harvested rainwater and class II lake water.