Estimation of Multiple Petrophysical Parameters for Hydrocarbon Reservoirs with the Ensemble-Based Technique

The ensemble-based history matching technique has been successfully applied to simultaneously estimate multiple petrophysical parameters for hydrocarbon reservoirs. The tuning petrophysical properties include horizontal and vertical permeability, porosity and three-phase relative permeability curves. Four scenarios with different combination of the tuning parameters have been evaluated. The ensemble-based history matching technique is found to be capable of estimating multiple petrophysical parameters by conditioning the reservoir geological models to production history. The uncertainty range of production data generated from the updated models is reduced compared to that of initial models. However, the history-matched models may not always provide good production prediction results, especially when absolute permeability and relative permeability are tuned simultaneously. This further illustrates the non-uniqueness of the history matching solutions. In addition, three-phase relative permeability curves are found to be estimated with good accuracy when absolute permeability fields are known.Key words: Petrophysical parameters; Assisted history matching; Ensemble kalman filter (EnKF); PUNQ-S3 mode

Quantification of Viscosity for Solvents−Heavy Oil/Bitumen Systems in the Presence of Water at High Pressures and Elevated Temperatures

In this study, a new and pragmatic methodology has been developed to accurately predict the viscosity for light solvents (i.e., methane, ethane, propane, n-butane, n-pentane, N2, and CO2)–heavy oil/bitumen/water systems as a function of pressure in the temperature range of 287.9–463.4 K. The LV and ALV (L is the oleic phase, V is the vapor phase, and A is the aqueous phase) phase equilibria of the aforementioned systems are calculated using the Peng–Robinson equation of state (PR EOS) with modified alpha functions and binary interaction parameters (BIPs). The six widely used mixing rules for predicting viscosity of solvents−heavy oil/bitumen systems pertaining to vapor–liquid equilibria are compared and evaluated, while the linear mixing rule is used for hydrocarbons−water mixtures. Plus, effective density is for the first time successfully introduced into the volume-based mixing rules. The volume-based power law, weight-based power law, and weight-based Cragoe’s mixing rules are found to well reproduce the viscosity for the aforementioned systems with AARDs of 15.5%, 19.0%, and 32.6%, respectively. Effective density rather than real density of dissolved gas(es) should be used for all of the volume-based mixing rules, while the adjustable parameter in the power law mixing rule has a potential to achieve high generalization if adequate measurements are made available. Although water has a lower diluting ability than other solvents in the same amount of dissolution, it can outperform methane and CO2 in diluting heavy oil/bitumen at high temperatures due to its high solubility. Addition of water can reduce or increase the viscosity of a solvents–heavy oil/bitumen mixture, depending on the ability of solvents and water to dilute heavy oil/bitumen and effects of water on the solvent dissolution. Water molar fraction in feed can exert an effect on the mixture viscosity in LV equilibria through affecting the solvent dissolution but cannot impose an impact on the mixture viscosity at ALV equilibria

Designer Amphiphilic Short Peptides Enhance Thermal Stability of Isolated Photosystem-I

Stability of membrane protein is crucial during protein purification and crystallization as well as in the fabrication of protein-based devices. Several recent studies have examined how various surfactants can stabilize membrane proteins out of their native membrane environment. However, there is still no single surfactant that can be universally employed for all membrane proteins. Because of the lack of knowledge on the interaction between surfactants and membrane proteins, the choice of a surfactant for a specific membrane protein remains purely empirical. Here we report that a group of short amphiphilic peptides improve the thermal stability of the multi-domain protein complex photosystem-I (PS-I) in aqueous solution and that the peptide surfactants have obvious advantages over other commonly used alkyl chain based surfactants. Of all the short peptides studied, Ac-I5K2-CONH2 (I5K2) showed the best stabilizing effect by enhancing the melting temperature of PS-I from 48.0°C to 53.0°C at concentration of 0.65 mM and extending the half life of isolated PS-I significantly. AFM experiments showed that PS-I/I5K2/Triton X-100 formed large and stable vesicles and thus provide interfacial environment mimicking that of native membranes, which may partly explain why I5K2 enhanced the thermal stability of PS-I. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic group length of IxKy had an important influence on the stabilization of PS-I. Our results showed that longer hydrophobic group was more effective in stabilizing PS-I. These simple short peptides therefore exhibit significant potential for applications in membrane protein studies