PETMiner - A visual analysis tool for petrophysical properties of core sample data

The aim of the PETMiner software is to reduce the time and monetary cost of analysing petrophysical data that is obtained from reservoir sample cores. Analysis of these data requires tacit knowledge to fill ‘gaps’ so that predictions can be made for incomplete data. Through discussions with 30 industry and academic specialists, we identified three analysis use cases that exemplified the limitations of current petrophysics analysis tools. We used those use cases to develop nine core requirements for PETMiner, which is innovative because of its ability to display detailed images of the samples as data points, directly plot multiple sample properties and derived measures for comparison, and substantially reduce interaction cost. An 11-month evaluation demonstrated benefits across all three use cases by allowing a consultant to: (1) generate more accurate reservoir flow models, (2) discover a previously unknown relationship between one easy-to-measure property and another that is costly, and (3) make a 100-fold reduction in the time required to produce plots for a report

How, in what contexts, and why do quality dashboards lead to improvements in care quality in acute hospitals? Protocol for a realist feasibility evaluation

Introduction: National audits are used to monitor care quality and safety and are anticipated to reduce unexplained variations in quality by stimulating quality improvement (QI). However, variation within and between providers in the extent of engagement with national audits means that the potential for national audit data to inform QI is not being realised. This study will undertake a feasibility evaluation of QualDash, a quality dashboard designed to support clinical teams and managers to explore data from two national audits, the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) and the Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network (PICANet). Methods and analysis: Realist evaluation, which involves building, testing and refining theories of how an intervention works, provides an overall framework for this feasibility study. Realist hypotheses that describe how, in what contexts, and why QualDash is expected to provide benefit will be tested across five hospitals. A controlled interrupted time series analysis, using key MINAP and PICANet measures, will provide preliminary evidence of the impact of QualDash, while ethnographic observations and interviews over 12 months will provide initial insight into contexts and mechanisms that lead to those impacts. Feasibility outcomes include the extent to which MINAP and PICANet data are used, data completeness in the audits, and the extent to which participants perceive QualDash to be useful and express the intention to continue using it after the study period. Ethics and dissemination: The study has been approved by the University of Leeds School of Healthcare Research Ethics Committee. Study results will provide an initial understanding of how, in what contexts, and why quality dashboards lead to improvements in care quality. These will be disseminated to academic audiences, study participants, hospital IT departments and national audits. If the results show a trial is feasible, we will disseminate the QualDash software through a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial

Impact of faults on fluid flow in carbonates

To fully characterise the behaviour of carbonate rocks in the subsurface it is important to understand their textural heterogeneity, and how their textures may be modified by faulting. A number of fault zones were investigated in detail, firstly analysing the microstructural, petrophysical as well as mechanical properties of the host rocks. Secondly, describing the fault zone architectures by mapping fault rock distributions and fracture patterns. Lastly, correlating the deformation mechanisms forming the faults to the initial rock properties and the stress conditions during faulting. Moreover, triaxial laboratory deformation was performed on a large number of host rock samples covering all carbonate rock types, as well as the whole range of porosities (10%, and may be either increased or decreased for lower porosity samples. Higher porosity (>10%) carbonates fail due to distributed or localized cataclastic flow or focused damage around the macropores, resulting in porosity reduction. Lower porosity (<10%) carbonates fail in a brittle manner due to brecciation and transitional- or brittle-shearing, leading to porosity increase. Significant reduction in permeability, however, may only be produced by diagenetic processes, such as recrystallization and cementation, or very high-strains, which are able to create vi fine-grained cataclasites. However, even though these fault rocks gain very low permeability, they become prone to brittle deformation. Therefore, these potentially sealing fault rocks may be cut by open fractures if were subjected to further faulting or uplift, and hence, while creating permeability anisotropy in the reservoir, they may not form good seals. Nevertheless, several fault examples in this study showed fracture blunting at the surface of the fault rocks suggesting that fault sealing is possible both in highly-porous and very tight carbonates